The Los Angeles Dodgers won 5-1 Saturday to complete a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals and progress to the National League Championship series. Unemployed in August, L.A. pitcher Vicente Padilla shut down St. Louis slugger Albert Pujols and the rest of the Cardinals lineup. He dominated in his first career postseason appearance. After escaping a bases-loaded jam in the first inning he was dominant, retiring 19 of 21 hitters. Andre Ethier had a homer, a triple and a double, while Manny Ramirez had three hits and two RBIs as the Dodgers swept a division series opponent for the second straight year. The Cardinals never recharged after becoming the first National League team to clinch a division title this year. St. Louis was 1-9 after wrapping up the NL Central, and was swept in the playoffs for only the third time ever. Los Angeles awaits the winner of the Philadelpia-Colorado series that is even at a game apiece. The scheduled game three in that series was called off Saturday due to wintry weather in Denver. The Phillies beat Los Angeles 4-1 in the NLCS last season. Ramirez, only 1 for 8 the first two games amid suggestions by manager Joe Torre that he was trying too hard, gave the Dodgers the early lead with a two-out RBI double in the first. Ethier, who had only one homer in the last 12 gams of the regular season, jumped on a 3-1 pitch for a two-run shot that made it 3-0 in the third. It was his second homer of the series. Ronnie Belliard singled to start the fourth, stole second and scored on Rafael Furcal's single for a 4-0 cushion. St. Louis starting pitcher Joel Pineiro, a 15-game winner and the last of the Cardinals' big three starters to come up empty in this series, allowed four runs in as many innings – an outing that matched his shortest of the season. The sinkerball specialist allowed only 11 homers in the regular season, but surrendered five in his last three starts. The Cardinals' demise, though, was due to the failure of an offense beefed up with the acquisitions of Matt Holliday, Mark DeRosa and Julio Lugo since late June. St. Louis was 4 for 30 with runners in scoring position, totaling six runs and stranding 28 runners. Game 3 of the Philadelphia-Colorado series was postponed a day because of weather better suited for cross-country skiing. About an hour before the scheduled start it was minus 4 degrees (24F). The delay prompted a pitching switch by the Phillies, with left-hander J.A. Happ going to the mound Sunday instead of the 37-year-old Martinez who was going to pitch Saturday. The Rockies are sticking with Jason Hammel.
