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Cardinals capitalize on Braves’ errors to advance

St. Louis Cardinals pinch runner Adron Chambers scores as Atlanta Braves catcher David Ross is drawn away from the plate by an errant throw from shortstop Andrelton Simmons in seventh inning of the National League Wild Card game at Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, October 5, 2012. The Cardinals defeated the Braves, 6-3.

By Joe Strauss, St. Louis Post-Dispatch –

ATLANTA — They were once America’s Team.

Thursday they were the Experts’ Team.

Friday night at upside-down Turner Field the Atlanta Braves became panicky road-kill when confronted with the Cardinals’ poise.

A game that offered a bit of everything ultimately produced a 6-3 win that sends the Cardinals to the NL division series against the Washington Nationals. In the first-ever winner-take-all wild card playoff, the Cardinals made their mantra stand: Experience counts.

An early 2-0 deficit, several late rallies by their opponent and a 19-minute delay caused by fan unrest over a disputed infield fly call failed to deter the defending World Series champions.

The inability to make basic defensive plays or to hit in critical situations exposed a club still waiting for its first postseason series win since 2001.

“We played to win,” said catcher Yadier Molina. “They played to lose.”

The Braves entered with 94 wins, the league’s best statistical defense, a pitching staff that led the league in September ERA and a pitcher who hadn’t lost a start since May 2009. The 88-win Cardinals advanced because the home club committed three errors leading to four unearned runs while starter Kris Medlen couldn’t hold a lead. The Braves lost behind him for the first time since May 10, 2010.

The game brought down a house of 52,631 when what appeared to be a misplayed pop fly that fell untouched was instead called an infield fly for the eighth inning’s second out. A play that might have allowed the Braves to load the bases with one out left them with runners at second and third with two outs.

Fans pelted the field with beer bottles to force an interruption. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez protested the call to no avail. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny pulled his team from the field. The Braves were threatened with forfeit. Shortly after the game team president John Schuerholz issued a statement apologizing for fan behavior.

“I understand the disappointment,” Gonzalez said. “But we can’t do that. As Atlanta Braves and people from Georgia, it doesn’t look good, and I’m a little disappointed in our fans from that point.”

The Cardinals derived two runs from a Molina right-side grounder, another on an infield single that allowed a runner to circle from second base and another that reached base on a mugged throw.

Accused of doing little with much during their oft-frustrating regular season, the Cardinals were the boys with poise Friday. The Braves retreated from a stage not to their liking.

“It’s not about what you did in the regular season. Now it’s about playing the little game,” Molina said. “You forget about the regular season. You forget about yourself. You think about the team.”

“We play with patience and focus,” said third baseman David Freese. “Whether that’s because of what happened last year, I don’t know. But the guys in here understand you’ve got to breathe. With this one-and-done NCAA feel to it, that’s huge. When you play a game like this, you’ve got to play clean baseball.”

The Braves have endured 11 years without winning a postseason series. The Cardinals last year reached the postseason berth by rallying against absurd odds to secure the wild card on the season’s final day. They won an elimination game in the division series and twice were down to their last strike before winning the World Series. Friday represented future Hall of Fame third baseman Chipper Jones’ last game. The Cardinals, however, didn’t buy into the narrative.

“We’ve been in that position where we don’t know what to do. You can’t play tight. You can’t do that,” said pitcher Chris Carpenter. “But we have a group of guys who can take pressure and go about it.”

“I think there’s value to it. Any time in life you’ve experienced something before you have an advantage over somebody who hasn’t,” left fielder Matt Holliday said. “I don’t know their mentality over there. But I think it definitely helps. We’ve got a core that has been through just about everything you can imagine. It helps.”

Trailing 2-0 after catcher David Ross reached Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse for a two-run, second-inning home run, the Cardinals jumped Medlen for three runs (two unearned) after Jones sailed a throw into right field on a could-be double play.

The misplay fed a rally that brought a run from first baseman Allen Craig’s double, another on Molina’s ground ball and a third when Holliday lofted a one-out sacrifice fly worth a 3-2 lead.

“Things just went a little better for us. Our guys capitalized on a couple missed plays,” said Matheny. “We got it done with a bunt and all the little things. Yadi was huge getting the run over and getting him in. We struggled big-time with that. We’ve been working on it hard.”

“It’s tough to say because it’s just one game. You’re dropped into a Game 7 experience with no buildup. Who knows what would happen tomorrow? But we played well tonight,” Craig said.

Holliday, who reached base four times, got to Medlen for a bases-empty laser shot in the sixth inning.

The seventh inning brought two more runs and Medlen’s exit as second baseman Dan Uggla mishandled David Freese’s leadoff grounder before a bunt and shortstop Andrelton Simmons’ boot of Pete Kozma’s two-hop roller. Kozma scored the third run when he motored from second base on reliever Jonny Venters’ futile lunge to tag pinch hitter Matt Carpenter after a 50-foot squib.

“I’m sure we were excited. It’s a playoff game, a one-game playoff and 50,000 people were in the seats. We just didn’t do what we normally do and it hurt us,” said Gonzalez.

The Braves brought the tying run to the plate in each of the last three innings but stranded seven runners during the span. They pulled only within 6-3 following pinch hitter Jose Constanza’s leadoff triple.

“They put themselves in a good position a couple years in a row,” said closer Jason Motte. “Tonight was a night when we got down early but that doesn’t matter to us. We’ve got the lineup. We’ve got the experience. We’re not going away. Motte worked a four-out save that left the bases loaded in the eighth inning and two runners in scoring position in the ninth.

Friday’s fourth inning hinged on an unusual, pivotal play called correctly. Botched, it probably spins the game out of control for the visitors. Handled adroitly by plate umpire Jeff Kellogg, it merely antagonized a sellout crowd that knew what it wanted to see.

Down a run, the Braves tried to exploit the Cardinals’ corner infielders. Two innings after giving the Braves the lead, Ross deadened a drag bunt toward third base, where Freese played well behind the bag. Even the slow-moving catcher easily beat Freese’s barehanded charge-and-throw.

Runners at first and third with one out suggested Simmons would swing away. He instead tried to angle a bunt toward first base a play manager Gonzalez described as a safety squeeze that surprised Freddie Freeman, the runner who stood fixed at third. Lohse fielded the ball and threw as Simmons angled inside the baseline. Turner Field convulsed when the throw ricocheted off Simmons’ helmet toward the tarp in foul territory. A run scored and a second might have as well if Kellogg hadn’t waved off the play as interference on Simmons.

The call re-set runners at first and third with two outs, leaving Medlen to strike out to end the threat.

Ever since clinching their postseason berth the Cardinals had spoken of winning with a combination of pitching, power and poise. Of the three, many believed their postseason battle scars the most valuable asset.

A poll of 29 ESPN experts found only four willing to endorse the Cardinals Friday, and only one pegged them to reach the NLCS. Used to such October slights, the visitors on Thursday dismissed underdog talk.

Adam Wainwright, who now will start Game 1 of the Division Series, advocated postponing any celebration until they disposed of the Braves, as if it were a given.

Friday night, the Cardinals took.

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