Baseball

Padres, Cardinals get centerfielders back

By wire services
Published October 4, 2005

The Cardinals and Padres expect to get their injured centerfielders back for Game 1 of the division series today.

San Diego's Dave Roberts strained his left quadriceps on Sept.24 and St. Louis' Jim Edmonds didn't start the last two games of the regular season after hurting his shoulder making a diving catch on Wednesday.

"I'll be out there," Edmonds said. "I don't have a choice."

Padres manager Bruce Bochy said he would finalize his roster this morning, but expects Roberts to be on it and lead off in the opener.

The biggest star missing from the series is Cardinals third baseman Scott Rolen . Then again, Rolen wasn't at full strength because of a calf injury throughout the playoffs last season, and St. Louis has learned to get along without him since he played in only 56 games this year.

"If you look at last year, we had Scott playing and he had some really big hits, but overall he was really banged up, he wasn't the same the last two months," manager Tony La Russa said.

Abraham Nunez , who replaced Rolen at third and was impressive in the field and at the plate, will be making his playoff debut.

RELIEVER OUT: Cardinals reliever Al Reyes tore a ligament in his right elbow in the regular-season finale and will require reconstructive surgery, forcing him to miss the playoffs and next season. Reyes, who was 4-2 with a 2.15 ERA and three saves in 65 games, was the team's top middle reliever - and he was equally tough on right- and left-handed hitters.

BATTERED BRAVES: Eager to avoid another first-round exit, the Braves come into the playoffs with all sorts of worries.

John Smoltz 's shoulder has been ailing, so he'll apparently start Game 2 of the division series against the Astros instead of Wednesday's opener at Turner Field.

That's not all. MVP candidate Andruw Jones and celebrated rookie Jeff Francoeur are mired in slumps. Another rookie, Blaine Boyer , may be left off the postseason roster because of a sore shoulder - a major blow to the shaky bullpen.

The Braves' problems have been reflected in their play. They are barely above .500 (29-28) since the beginning of August and closed the regular season with a four-game losing streak and only seven wins in their last 19 games.

"We need to step it up another notch before Wednesday," second baseman Marcus Giles said. "It seems like we've been sitting around on our heels the past few weeks playing not to get hurt."

[Last modified October 4, 2005, 02:15:30]