Cardinals take 2-0 lead to Los Angeles.

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Mike Matheny, Edgar Renteria and the St. Louis Cardinals can win with singles, doubles and triples, too.

In Game 1, the Cardinals tied a postseason record with five home runs. They stayed in the ballpark for Game 2 on Thursday, but the result was exactly the same: another 8-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

(Yahoo!)

Instant Replay. "If you had told Dodger fans before the game that (a) they'd get three long bombs from Jayson Werth, Shawn Green, and Milton Bradley; and (b) that they'd hold the first five guys in our order to 3-for-20 on the night, I think they'd have bet their life savings on Los Angeles and even put up their first-born sons as collateral. Instead they got the same 8-3 drubbing at the hands of the Cardinals. How did it happen? Renteria, Sanders, and Matheny." (Redbird Nation)

Furcal's walk-off blast gets Braves even.

ATLANTA (AP) -- More than anyone, Rafael Furcal wants the season to last as long as possible.

He made sure the Atlanta Braves play at least two more games.

Set to report to jail once the postseason ends, Furcal hit a two-out, two-run homer in the 11th inning that sent the Braves over the Houston Astros 4-2 Thursday and tied their NL playoff series at one game each.

(Yahoo!)

Leaving a few ghosts in a ghost town. "It wasn’t pitching that lost the game for Houston today. Instead it was an offense that all but went to sleep halfway through regulation. You can’t expect to score a lot of runs against the likes of Hampton, Kevin Gryboski, John Smoltz and Antonio Alfonseca. But you still have to score every single one that you can, and the Astros just failed when those few chances presented themselves early in this contest." (Astros Daily)

Running Diary: October 7, 2004. Ben Jacobs watched both games. (The Hardball Times)