Cardinals sweep Braves to early playoff exit

ATLANTA -- Pandemonium arrived for the St. Louis Cardinals as late afternoon shadows began creeping across the field, their opponents and this entire region.

Catcher Carlos Hernandez squeezed his glove around strike three, Paul Bako turned and began walking back toward the Atlanta Braves' offseason and then Hernandez underhanded the ball back to closer Dave Veres. Then, the pitching mound disappeared under a sea of red.

A resurgent Will Clark is a big reason the Cardinals swept the Braves in three games.(AP)

Turner Field, land of the free, home of the ... Cardinals?

As several hundred fans wearing red shirts and carrying Missouri drivers' licenses converged behind the St. Louis dugout, Mark McGwire delivered a bear hug to Jim Edmonds and lifted him off of the ground. McGwire then turned and fired his cap into the stands. So did pitcher Andy Benes.

Easy as one, two, three, sweep!

Cardinals 7, Braves 1 in Game 3 of the NL Division Series.

Over and out.

"We've got to keep playing well, that's what we've got to do!'' screeched first baseman Will Clark, who has provided the physical presence at first base to match McGwire's leadership since the Cardinals acquired him on July 31. "The team we're going to play next is going to be on a roll! We've got to execute just like we did in this series!''

In the clubhouse, utilityman Shawon Dunston planted a kiss on Tony La Russa's right cheek and enveloped the manager in a bear hug.

"We're not finished yet!'' Dunston told La Russa. "We're not finished yet!''

Moments later, Clark was hugging La Russa.

"I'll tell you what!'' Clark said. "This gets better and better the more you do it, I'll tell you that!''

Who would have thought? A dream season for St. Louis now gets even dreamier. Here comes the NL Championship Series, either the San Francisco Giants or the New York Mets, right through the St. Louis Arch. Everyone knew the Cardinals were good, but dusting the Braves in three games?

Of all the scenarios for which he planned, was La Russa prepared for this?

"Hell, no,'' La Russa said, champagne spray soaking him. "Our goal was to play hard five times.''

Three did the trick.

"From the first pitch of this series, we took it to 'em,'' Clark said. "We came out here and we flat-out beat 'em.''

In as lopsided an October series as you'll ever see, the Cardinals outscored the Braves 24-10, out-hit them 28-18 and out-pitched them in compiling a 3.00 ERA as compared to Atlanta's 7.92.

One, two, three, sweep.

"I have such respect for their ballclub, their success for this year, for years and years and years,'' La Russa said. "They earned it. People come out to beat them and they beat them. I also learned, you do not put any limits. What you try to do, don't get too cute. We would try as hard as we could every time we played.

"Once we got the first game we said, 'Let's try and play hard the second game. Why stop now?'

"If I had to bet a dollar, I would definitely not have bet (on the sweep). If you go out, play hard and things fall your way, you never know how it works out.''

The Cardinals popped for six runs against Greg Maddux in the first inning of Game 1, more than Maddux had ever allowed in a first inning in his major-league career.

They clobbered Tom Glavine with seven runs in 2 1/3 innings in Game 2.

And knowing that Atlanta desperately needed an early lead to gain momentum and juice a Turner Field crowd of 49,898 early in Game 3, Cardinals second baseman Fernando Vina slammed Kevin Millwood's second pitch of the game for a home run.

Then, after the Braves tied it at 1-1 in the bottom of the inning, Jim Edmonds, who had a torrid series, walloped a two-run homer in the third.

The Braves didn't have a chance after that.

Again.

"Over the long haul, they were just as good as we were -- they won just as many games (95),'' Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones said in a stunned Braves' clubhouse. "I thought we were pretty evenly matched. It was just a question of who swung the bats better.''

The Cardinals scored in the first inning of each of the three games.

Incredibly, they led at the end of 25 of the 27 full innings played in the series (minus the two bottom-of-the-ninths that weren't played in St. Louis).

In three games, they trailed just once in this entire series -- and for just one-half of an inning. Atlanta scored twice in the top of the first of Game 2 ... and the Cardinals came roaring back with three runs in the bottom of the inning.

"This is what I've been saying for years, this is why everyone plays sports,'' said McGwire, who has enjoyed tremendous individual success over the past few seasons but hasn't appeared in the postseason since 1992, when he was with Oakland. "To jump on the mound saying you're the National League Central division champs. To jump on the mound at the NLCS, and to go to the World Series.

"That's why you play.''

Because of the most severe case of knee tendinitis that Cardinals physicians have ever seen, McGwire is relegated to simply being the most famous pinch-hitter in the land. But the way Edmonds and Clark are playing, as strange as it sounds, the Cardinals don't even miss him.

For now, at least.

"Hey, MVP is better than 70, dude,'' McGwire leaned over and told Edmonds amid the champagne celebration, referring to Edmonds' MVP-like season and clear MVP status in this first-round series as well as to McGwire's own 70-homer summer in 1998.

Every time the Braves even thought about showing signs of life, Edmonds was there with a stake and a hammer. After batting .295 with 42 homers and 108 RBI during the season, Edmonds batted .571 (8 for 14) with four doubles, two homers and seven RBI in this series.

"Phenomenal,'' Jones said. "He swung the bat great. He's playing great defense, and he's playing with a lot of confidence. ...

"You can see it in his eyes. There's a lot of intensity. He's been waiting for this for a long time, and now he's on stage.''

Matter of fact, the Cardinals have a stranglehold on intensity right now. You can see it in all their eyes. Garrett Stephenson, who has nursed a sore elbow since August, gave St. Louis 3 2/3 solid innings Saturday before his pain returned and Clark literally ordered him off the field.

The Cardinals had just completed a strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out double play in the fourth and were leading 3-1 when Clark, who had noticed subtle signs that Stephenson was aching, approached the pitcher.

"Listen,'' Clark told Stephenson. "We don't need any heroes right here. If you're hurt, you've got to come out of the game.''

Stephenson peered right back at Clark.

"I'll make it,'' he said.

Atlanta's Reggie Sanders fouled off the next pitch and, when Clark spied Stephenson rubbing his elbow afterward, he marched straight to the mound and pointed to the dugout in full view of the 49,898 fans and a national television audience.

"That's it!'' Clark screamed. "You've got to get off of the field! If you're hurting, we don't need any Supermen!''

Britt Reames replaced him and, along with Mike James, Matt Morris and Veres, they neutered the Braves the rest of the way.

Now, the Cardinals get three days of rest before opening the NLCS either at San Francisco or at home against the Mets on Wednesday. They can get organized, plot their rotation and lie in wait.

"It's been the Mets and Braves all year long, but it's obvious we have a good team here,'' Edmonds said. "Now it's the playoffs, and this team has stepped up even more. That's the way it's supposed to go.''

One, two, three, sweep.

Whew.