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PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies put their varsity lineup on the field against the Cardinals on Sunday, even though they had clinched the National League East the night before, and their magic number to clinch home field was just two. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said the integrity of the game demanded his club play it out, since the Cardinals are still involved in races for the NL Central and Wil football tickets d Card. It would probably benefit St. Louis to see a lineup of backup players and Triple-A callups, but that's not the way the game should be played."I totally agree," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said prior to his club's 5-0 win over the Phillies. "That's the right thing to do; that's the game of baseball. We want to play that team."La Russa has, of course, been in that position several times. football tickets When playing a team that was out of contention, he could rest more players. But if the game impacts a race, he said, the manager has an obligation to play the best lineup possible."If you have a chance to rest guys who are sore or hurt, you do that," La Russa said. "You balance that with playing guys enough to maintain that competitive edge. You make sure guys know if they take the assignment, th football tickets ey compete like it's the first game of the playoffs. That's how you stay sharp. If you can't do that, if you're mentally beat, don't take the assignment." Theriot gets call against tough left-hander PHILADELPHIA -- The Cardinals had Ryan Theriot batting leadoff against Phillies lefty Cole Hamels in a 5-0 win on Sunday. Theriot, who had a hit and scored a run, finished the day hitting .294 agai football tickets nst left-handers, while usual leadoff hitter Rafael Furcal ended the day hitting just .230 against lefties. Furcal, who was batting seventh, bunted for a hit in the second inning.Theriot finished the day with a .989 fielding percentage at second base after he moved over to make room for Furcal, who was acquired from the Dodgers at the Trade Deadline. Theriot has made 17 errors in 87 starts at shor football tickets tstop. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said he talked with Theriot about the weight he put on in the offseason and said it appeared to cost him a bit in the field. Theriot added some extra muscle in a bid to gain some more power at the plate."He's a quality second baseman," La Russa said. "He got stronger to try to hit with more authority, and it cost him some quickness. I think he could lean out football tickets a little and play shortstop again. He could get some of that quickness back. But he's a competitive, tough, winning-type player." Cards haven't shrunk from quality opponents PHILADELPHIA -- The Cardinals have played the Phillies tough this season, finishing a 5-0 win on Sunday with a 5-3 head-to-head record despite missing Albert Pujols for one series and Matt Holliday for this one. They are 5 football tickets -1 against Atlanta, whom they trail for the Wild Card, 4-3 against National League West-leading Arizona and 9-9 against the NL Central leaders, Milwaukee. The Phillies have the league's best record -- although that's no guarantee of anything. The last time the team with the best record in the NL went on to win the pennant was the 2004 Cardinals, who won 105 games and beat the Dodgers in the Divisi football tickets on Series and the Astros in the League Championship Series. That team lost to Boston in the World Series. The last NL team to have the league's best record and go on to win the World Series was the 1995 Atlanta Braves, who beat the Rockies and the Reds to win the pennant and beat Cleveland in the World Series in a strike-shortened season (the Braves also had the league's best record and went to th football tickets e World Series in 1999 but lost to the Yankees).In all, that's only three times since baseball split into three divisions that had the NL's best record has reached the World Series. But Cardinals pitcher Jake Westbrook, 1-1 against the Phillies this year, thinks the Phillies are still the team to beat in the National League."Look at that lineup. They're one of the best in baseball," Westbrook said football tickets . "And the five guys they throw out there -- that's a tough team. They're one of the toughest teams out there. You have to be on top of your game to keep them down. As a starting pitcher, you can't make any mistakes against them. You've got make your pitches; one mistake can cost you the game." football tickets
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