It came with a scare, but the St. Louis Cardinals came through with a victory in the opening game of their 5-game play-off series against the San Diego Padres. A big day for Reggie Sanders led to an 8-0 lead for the Cardinals and it seemed it would be great day to relax and take in the play-off atmosphere at Busch Stadium – until the Padres came back, made it 8-5, and threatened to wipe out the deficit and take the lead as they loaded the bases in the 9th inning. But closer Jason Isringhausen struck out the final batter and nailed down the win. The two teams meet again in St. Louis tomorrow afternoon.