Cardinal Starters Await Playoff Turn

Jeff Suppan spends no time fretting about when he’ll pitch next. The same goes for Jason Marquis.

After teaming for 29 regular-season victories for the St. Louis Cardinals, neither has pitched during the postseason.

“That’s the reality of the postseason,” Manager Tony La Russa said. “You have to deal with it.”

Suppan (16-10) and Marquis (13-14) joked about their status during Saturday’s clinching celebration at San Diego, saying the “No. 4 starters” should pose for a picture. St. Louis swept the Padres, 3-0; Cardinal pitching coach Dave Duncan said Suppan would have started Game 4.

La Russa’s pitching plans for the NL championship series against the Houston Astros are complicated by the line drive that went off left-hander Mark Mulder’s pitching arm in Game 2 on Thursday. After Chris Carpenter in Game 1, the Cardinals could go with any of the other four. Trainer Barry Weinberg said Mulder made a “big improvement” on Monday, throwing about 40 pitches in the outfield.

Suppan’s pitched the first-round clincher in Game 4 against the Dodgers in the playoffs last season. He also worked the clincher in the NL championship series to beat the Astros’ Roger Clemens. Suppan was 3-0 with a 1.93 earned-run average in the final month of the season but hasn’t pitched since throwing eight shutout innings against Milwaukee on Sept. 25.

Marquis emerged from a midseason stretch in which he won only one of 13 startsand was 3-1 with a 2.84 ERA in September. His last outing was in relief on Sept. 27 against the Astros, when he allowed a solo home run in two innings.