updated 12:01 p.m. ET Oct. 6, 2006

SAN DIEGO - Getting out of September intact was the hard part for the St. Louis Cardinals, who clinched a division title while stuck in reverse.

And the San Diego Padres? Well, after coming into the playoffs with all the confidence in the world — and rare home-field advantage — they may not make it through the weekend.

The Padres appear to be headed for their same ol’ postseason fate against the Cardinals, who won 2-0 on Thursday behind Albert Pujols and reclamation project Jeff Weaver to take a 2-0 lead in the NL division series.

“It’s very big because coming into these playoffs we didn’t really know what to expect,” Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein said.

Well, history suggests the best-of-five series will end Saturday in St. Louis, unless the popgun Padres can find their missing bats. The Padres are hitting an embarrassing .164 in the series, getting just 10 hits and one run so far, while striking out 20 times. They’re 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, and have stranded 13.

The crowd booed after Cardinals rookie closer Adam Wainright retired the side in the ninth.

“We’ve got to get on the board, score some runs,” said San Diego native David Wells, who may have pitched his final big league game. “I think one run in two games isn’t going to cut it. This continues, then you know that’s the end of it.

“Right now, I mean it’s about as flat as it can get,” said the 43-year-old Wells, who plans to retire when the season ends.

St. Louis, which barely avoided one of the biggest September collapses ever, improved to 8-0 in the postseason against San Diego. That includes division series sweeps last year and in 1996.

“I think it’s a huge step in the right direction to come into somebody else’s park and win the first two, especially in the short series,” said Weaver, who used his curveball to baffle a lefty-dominated Padres lineup. “We’re looking forward to getting back home and trying to make the series as short as possible.”

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Pujols had three more hits after homering in the 5-1 victory in Game 1. He and Jim Edmonds hit RBI singles off Wells in the fourth inning.

Weaver and four relievers, three of whom are rookies, combined on a four-hitter. Making his second career postseason start, Weaver outpitched Wells, who was making his 17th postseason start and 27th appearance dating to 1989.

Weaver gave up two singles in five innings, allowing only two Padres baserunners as far as second base. He struck out three and walked three.

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Aware that the Padres liked fastballs, Weaver didn’t throw very many. San Diego leadoff batter Dave Roberts estimated that more than 50 percent of Weaver’s pitches were curveballs.

“I just wanted to stay away from the extra-base hits and things of that nature, and was able to throw a lot of quality breaking balls to keep these guys off-balance,” said Weaver, who dodged jams in the first and fifth innings.

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