Most important, Jose Lima pitches very well at Dodger Stadium.

He'll pitch there tonight against the St. Louis Cardinals in the most important start of his life.

After beating Los Angeles by identical 8-3 scores in the first two games of the best-of-five NL division series in St. Louis, the heavy-hitting Cardinals can put the Dodgers away with another victory.

Ever the optimist, Lima sees a bright side.

"If we win and push the series to Sunday, anything can happen," he said Friday. "I've got to come and give my heart to this team. If we lose, it's, 'See you in spring training.' I want to stay in the playoffs a little longer."

Lima sang "God Bless America" and the national anthem before the Dodgers' game against the Cubs May 13.

On the late-night flight from St. Louis to Los Angeles after the Dodgers lost Game 2, Lima behaved the same way he would have had his team won the first two games.

"He was thinking about this game at 4:30 this morning. He was playing his music on the bus, so he was getting fired up already," Dodgers closer Eric Gagne said. "He changed the mood a little bit because everyone was down."

That's understandable, especially considering how they lost the first two games.

First, the Los Angeles starters, Odalis Perez and Jeff Weaver, weren't effective, combining to allow 12 runs in 7 1/3 innings.

And the Dodgers failed to come through in the clutch.

They drew seven walks in Game 2, but their only runs came on three solo homers.

Lima, who went 9-1 with a 3.08 ERA in Los Angeles and was 13-5 with a 4.07 ERA overall, will oppose Matt Morris, 15-10 with a 4.72 ERA.

The Dodgers haven't won a postseason game since winning the 1988 World Series over Oakland.

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