| H O M E P L A T E October 2006 Game Log | |||||||
| The Mets Dream Dies On A Called Third Strike | |||||||
Molina's tiebreaking homer in the ninth inning and another Game 7 gem by Jeff Suppan helped St. Louis overcome Chavez's astounding grab, giving the Cardinals a 3-1 victory over the New York Mets on a rainy Thursday night for the NL championship. "I think this is the best team -- and we proved it," Molina said. Adam Wainwright wriggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth, striking out St. Louis nemesis Carlos Beltran to end it and leaving a stunned crowd in deflated silence just moments after it had Shea Stadium shaking. With that, the Cardinals earned their second pennant in three years and a date with the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night in Game 1 of the World Series. Hey Motown, here come the Cards. "I'm just so happy for Yadier. What a big hit for us," slugger Albert Pujols said. A .216 hitter with only six home runs during the regular season, Molina drove the first pitch he saw from reliever Aaron Heilman into New York's bullpen for a 3-1 lead in the ninth. "I just left it up," Heilman said. "I was just trying to throw it down and away. Instead it stayed right over the middle of the plate." Chavez, who made one of the most memorable catches in postseason history just three innings earlier, could only stand and watch at the fence as the Mets' title hopes were dashed. "Everybody said I don't hit, and I proved them wrong," said Molina, a standout defensive catcher. Scott Rolen, robbed of a homer by Chavez in the sixth, started the St. Louis rally with a single. But the Mets, resilient throughout their stirring season, nearly came back in the ninth. Jose Valentin and Chavez singled before pinch-hitter Cliff Floyd struck out looking. Jose Reyes lined to center for the second out, and Paul Lo Duca drew a walk that loaded the bases. That brought up Beltran, who homered three times in the series after hitting .417 with four home runs for Houston in the 2004 NLCS against St. Louis. Wainwright, a rookie filling in for injured closer Jason Isringhausen, got ahead in the count immediately and froze Beltran with a curveball for strike three. "I can't let my team down right there," said Wainwright, who has three saves in the postseason. "Our team deserves it. We battled so hard in the playoffs."
During the champagne celebration in their clubhouse, players gathered around several times and chanted "Jo-se, Jose, Jose, Jose," mocking the popular chant Mets fans crow when Reyes comes to the plate. St. Louis stumbled down the stretch and won the NL Central with only 83 wins. Many observers gave them little chance against the Mets, who tied the crosstown Yankees for the best regular-season record in baseball at 97-65. "I don't think anyone expected, especially late in the season, that the St. Louis Cardinals would be in the World Series," Rolen said. Suppan, who beat Roger Clemens in Game 7 of the 2004 NLCS, took home the MVP award this time for two outstanding starts. He limited the Mets to one run and five hits in 15 innings, and once again was at his best in a big game. Suppan, who won Game 3, is 106-101 lifetime, but 2-1 with a 1.69 ERA in five NLCS starts. He pitched into the eighth inning Thursday and allowed only two hits -- none after the first. "We never gave up. We always believed in ourselves," Suppan said. The Cardinals, seeking their first World Series title since 1982, ended a long postseason streak by winning Game 7 on the road after dropping Game 6. The previous 11 home teams that won Game 6 of an LCS or World Series to stave off elimination also won Game 7. The last road team to win a seventh game after losing Game 6 was Cincinnati's Big Red Machine at Boston in the 1975 World Series. Randy Flores worked a scoreless eighth for the win as the Cardinals' young bullpen came through again. Oliver Perez, an unlikely starter for the injury-depleted Mets, matched Suppan most of the night, yielding only one run through six innings. But New York's normally relentless lineup couldn't muster enough offense. "It's really disappointing. It was a great game," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "We just didn't get any big hits." With a runner on in the sixth, Rolen pulled Perez's first pitch deep to left and Chavez, a defensive whiz starting because Floyd has an injured Achilles' tendon, raced back to the fence as fast as he could. In one motion, the 6-foot Chavez jumped with all his might and reached his right arm up and over the 8-foot wall as far as it would stretch. His mouth wide open, he snagged the drive in the tip-top of his glove -- the white of the ball showing atop the webbing like a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Chavez banged into the padded blue wall, buckling a couple of panels, but landed on his feet and came up firing back into the infield. Jim Edmonds, who had walked, had already rounded second, so second baseman Valentin relayed to first for a spectacular double play that ended the inning with Pujols and the bewildered Cardinals watching from the top step of the dugout in amazement. "I had to check because my glove almost went out of my hand. I didn't know if I kept it inside," Chavez said. "I jumped as high as I can. Like a 10 percent chance in my mind I could catch it. I had to improvise myself and do it on the run. See the ball, see the wall and do the thing that I've got to do." Fans chanted "En-dy Cha-vez!" and roared "Whooaaa!" over and over again as the replay was shown several times on the big video board in left-center. Chavez watched, too, and finally came out for a curtain call -- a rarity for a defensive play. Perhaps still thinking about his near-miss but more likely bothered by a slick ball, Rolen, a Gold Glove third baseman, threw away David Wright's slow grounder for a potentially costly error in the bottom of the sixth. That helped the Mets load the bases with one out, but Suppan struck out Valentin. The light-hitting Chavez then had a chance to deliver with his bat, but he flied out, leaving him 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position during the series. "A little tumultuous inning there for No. 27," Rolen said. Perez, often leaping over the foul line on his way to the dugout, pitched the game of his life on only three days' rest. This from a guy who was demoted to the minors by lowly Pittsburgh in June and finished 3-13 with a 6.55 ERA this season. In fact, he was barely an afterthought when the Mets acquired him with reliever Roberto Hernandez at the July 31 trade deadline. Perez, however, won Game 4 in St. Louis and gave the Mets all they could have hoped for Thursday. "We went down fighting," said injured Mets ace Pedro Martinez, sidelined for the entire postseason. "That's all you can ask for. We went through a lot of troubles. I'm really proud of everybody. I guarantee next year, if we are healthy, we are going to be in the World Series."
New York took the lead in the first when Wright blooped an RBI single.
But the Cardinals responded to New York runs throughout the series, and they did it again in the second. Molina dunked a soft single into short left, putting runners at the corners and setting up Ronnie Belliard's run-scoring sacrifice bunt.
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| Remember The Maine, Mets Force Game 7 | |||||||
The rookie dominated St. Louis with the poise of a veteran, Jose Reyes sparked the offense with a leadoff home run and the Mets rocked 'n' rolled at boisterous Shea Stadium to beat the Cardinals 4-2 on Wednesday night and force the NL championship series to a Game 7. Missing Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez? So what. Sending out a rookie to start Game 6 and Oliver Perez for Game 7? The Mets are sure they can find a way to make it work. With the season on the line, Mets manager Willie Randolph exudes an assured attitude that has filtered down throughout his roster. "I think if you're going to play the game and you want to be a winner, you have to believe that you can," he said. Maine outpitched reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter, escaping a bases-loaded jam in the first and two-on trouble in the third. Maine allowed two hits in the first and none after that, pitching 5 1-3 shutout innings, striking out five and walking four. "I knew everything was riding on it," he said. Reyes had three hits and two stolen bases, Shawn Green boosted the lead with a fourth-inning RBI single and Paul Lo Duca let the loud crowd of 56,334 exhale with a two-run, two-out single in the seventh off ex-Met Braden Looper that made it 4-0. That turned out to be key because Billy Wagner gave up a two-run, two-out double to So Taguchi in the ninth before retiring David Eckstein on a game-ending grounder. Now the pennant comes down to Thursday night, when the Cardinals start Jeff Suppan, who won Game 3 with eight scoreless innings. "This is what you dream," said Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, who has just one RBI in the series. "This is what it's all about." Perez, who won Game 4, was just 3-13 during the regular season. He didn't even join the Mets until July 31. "Everyone is going to pitch in. Everyone is going to maintain the lead," Perez said. Of 11 prior teams to trail 3-2 in the LCS and force a seventh game, eight won pennants -- the exceptions were the 1988 Mets, the 1992 Pittsburgh Pirates and 2003 Boston Red Sox.
Home teams that have won Game 6 to tie a postseason series have won 11 straight Game 7s since the 1975 Red Sox lost the World Series finale to Cincinnati. "If I could have written the script, I wouldn't have done it like this," said the Mets' Carlos Delgado, in the first postseason of his career. "We've battled. Hopefully, we can get that win." Maine and Carpenter had crossed paths on their way to New York -- both left ahead of their teams Tuesday to rest up for their starts. "Maine was on the same flight as me. We got delayed and sat for two hours in St. Louis and ended up not getting here until 11 o'clock," Carpenter said. "He said, `Hello,' and I said, `Hello' and that was about it. When we landed it was raining real bad, and we just talked about hoping we didn't get rained out." There was no rain, and the Shea Stadium crowd was feisty. The volume on the speakers were turned up, and the scoreboard flashed quotes from Mets players praising the fans. In the first Game 6 at the ballpark since the famous comeback against Boston that was capped by Mookie Wilson's grounder through Bill Buckner's legs, the spirit of '86 was invoked on several signs. "Uno, dos, adios," read another sign. The Mets even wore their traditional pinstripes, just like in their championship years of 1969 and 1986. "I looked in the stands a couple of times and it looked like a college students' section. People didn't sit down the whole game," Lo Duca said. "That's an unbelievable feeling. And when something goes your way, it's electric." Maine, a 25-year-old right-hander obtained in January's dump of Kris Benson to Baltimore, came up with the big outs early, perhaps the biggest of his life. St. Louis had runners at second and third with one out in the first, before Maine fanned Edmonds on three pitches and loaded the bases by hitting Juan Encarnacion. Lo Duca saved a run with a backhand stop of a pitch in the dirt on a 1-2 pitch to Scott Rolen, who then flied out. "We've got to get at least one there," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. Reyes' home run, a no-doubt-about-it drive to right-center, came when Carpenter left a cutter over the plate on his third pitch. It was Reyes' first in postseason play -- his first since Sept. 10. "As Jose goes, we go," Randolph said. "His energy is infectious." Eckstein walked leading off the third and stole second, but Maine struck out Scott Spiezio and, after intentionally walking Pujols, retired Edmonds on a flyout and struck out Encarnacion. "I think early we could have gotten on him," Spiezio said. "We kind of let him off the hook there, and then he started getting more confidence and started throwing the changeup and the slider for strikes." That left St. Louis 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. The Cardinals didn't get another runner past first until the ninth inning. "It's huge to pitch the way he did -- he has no fear," Mets third baseman David Wright said. When it was time to come out, Maine was circled on the mound like a conquering hero: Reyes slapped him on the back and Wright patted him on the shoulder. Maine acknowledged the standing ovation with only a small wave of his left hand as he walked to the dugout. "I try not to put too much pressure on myself," Maine said. "I just try to pound the strike zone and get them to put it in play."
Chad Bradford, Guillermo Mota and Aaron Heilman followed, with Bradford getting Rolen to hit into an inning-ending double play in the sixth and Mota retiring pinch-hitter Chris Duncan on an inning-ending double play in the seventh.
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| Mets Bats Look Flat Again | |||||||
Pujols' rally-starting homer and another playoff gem by a rejuvenated Jeff Weaver sent the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-2 victory over the New York Mets on Tuesday night -- and a 3-2 lead in the NL championship series. Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter can close it out Wednesday night in Game 6 at Shea Stadium, which would give St. Louis its second pennant in three years and a date with the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. After saying Glavine "wasn't good at all" in the opener even though he pitched seven shutout innings, Pujols helped St. Louis finally touch up the soft-tossing lefty with a home run in the fourth. "He doesn't give in too much," Pujols said. "I'm just glad it went out of the park." The Cardinals got also timely hits from Preston Wilson and Ronnie Belliard, and an insurance homer by pinch-hitter Chris Duncan. With the red-clad crowd of 46,496 twirling white towels, St. Louis' young bullpen held on in the late innings after getting roughed up during New York's 12-5 victory in Game 4. Now, the Mets must count on rookie right-hander John Maine on Wednesday as they try to force a Game 7 at home. "We've got to come out swinging," David Wright said. "We're backed into a corner. We're going to go out there and play relaxed, play loose tomorrow. Try to come out swinging and break their hearts." The second rainout of the series Monday night gave Glavine and Weaver a chance to pitch on regular rest instead of only a three-day break. And for the second time in the series, the clubs will travel without a day off. Making his 35th postseason start, the most in major league history, Glavine got only 12 outs. "They hit my bad pitches. I made a few mistakes tonight and didn't get away with them," he said. "I didn't feel like they made all that many adjustments. I made a mistake to Albert, he hit it. I made a mistake on Preston and he hit it for a double. All the other ones were kind of bloopers and groundballs that went through holes." Weaver, on the other hand, earned his second impressive playoff victory. "I think one advantage of playing a team in a long series like this is the opportunity to pitch twice. You get a pretty good read off of their approach last time," Weaver said. "So I knew what they had hit before. And more than anything, just try to get ahead of them." Pujols' homer put St. Louis on the scoreboard and snapped Glavine's 22-inning scoreless streak that dated to his final regular-season start at Washington.
The 40-year-old Glavine threw four-hit ball in Game 1, beating Weaver 2-0 on Carlos Beltran's two-run homer. But Weaver got the best of this matchup. Cast off by the Los Angeles Angels this summer to make roster room for little brother Jered, the St. Louis right-hander kept Beltran and Carlos Delgado in check, yielding only two runs and six hits in six strong innings. "I don't even remember the first half of the season," Weaver said. "Just continued to believe in myself that eventually things would turn around." The Mets put runners at second and third with one out in the eighth, but Randy Flores retired Shawn Green on a shallow fly and rookie Adam Wainwright struck out Jose Valentin looking to preserve a two-run lead. Wainwright struck out Jose Reyes to end the game for his second save of the postseason. "He's got so much composure in the toughest situations, so we've gotten a tremendous lift from those guys," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said. In this postseason, Cardinals relievers have held opponents to 0-for-31 with two outs and runners in scoring position. "We didn't have too many opportunities," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "They did pitch well. The bullpen did a great job." Weaver is 2-1 with a 2.16 ERA in three playoff starts. He tossed five innings of two-hit ball to beat San Diego 2-0 in Game 2 of the first round. "The biggest key to our win was the way he pitched," La Russa said. "The more you think about what he did, the more credit he deserves. "By him being able to finish the sixth it really set up the last three innings for our bullpen." Weaver walked Delgado in the fourth, and Green's one-out double kicked up chalk on the right-field line. Valentin hit the next pitch just over a leaping Pujols at first base for a two-run double that put New York ahead. But while the Mets have scored in 10 innings during the series, seven times St. Louis has responded with at least one run in its next at-bat. Sure enough, Glavine couldn't hold the lead. Pujols pulled a 2-2 pitch barely over the left-field fence in the fourth, his first home run since Game 1 against the Padres and his 12th overall in the postseason. "Albert just got enough of it, and you get something going," La Russa said. "We were sitting on zero and that got us going and really perked us up." With two outs, Scott Rolen walked, Jim Edmonds singled and Belliard bounced a tying single through the right side as Delgado broke for first base instead of toward the ball. Glavine retired Weaver with the bases loaded to end the inning, but the Cardinals chased him in the fifth and took a 3-2 lead. Glavine threw only 40 of his 80 pitches for strikes, allowing three runs and seven hits in four-plus innings and failing to tie former Atlanta teammate John Smoltz for the most wins in postseason history at 15. "He had the one tough inning obviously in the fourth, but outside of that I thought he pitched pretty well," Randolph said. Left-hander Pedro Feliciano escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fifth, keeping the score 3-2. But La Russa sent the left-handed hitting Duncan up for Weaver in the sixth against Feliciano, and Duncan drove a 3-2 delivery down the right-field line to make it 4-2.
"Once I got him to 3-2, I knew in a close ballgame like that he couldn't walk me," said Duncan, the son of Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan. "He happened to leave a breaking ball up."
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| The Two Carlos' For The Price Of One! | |||||||
So did David Wright. And Carlos Delgado. And then Beltran did it a second time. With four home runs, the Mets tied the NL championship series, making sure it will end back home in New York. "It's all even now. It's, 'Who wants it more?"' Wright said after the Mets battered the St. Louis Cardinals' bullpen in a 12-5 victory Sunday night that knotted up the series at two games apiece. Now that Delgado's in the postseason, he's starting to own it. He put New York ahead for good at 5-2 with a three-run homer in the fifth, then busted open the game with a two-run double in a six-run sixth. Beltran boosted his NLCS home-run total to seven in 11 games, Wright broke an 0-for-13 slump with his homer and Jose Valentin added a three-run double in the sixth as New York went ahead 11-3. "You create you own momentum," Delgado said. "You just have to approach every game like it's the last game you're going to play." After being held scoreless for 14 innings, the Mets came to life in the third and set a team record for runs and homers in a postseason game. It was more than enough offense to back Oliver Perez, who was forced into the rotation because of injuries to Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez. New York had 14 hits, one night after getting just three. "When you have good hitters like we do, you're not going to hold us down too often," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. But before the series returns to Shea Stadium, Tom Glavine (15-7) is to start for the Mets on Monday night, with Jeff Weaver (5-4) pitching for the Cardinals in a matchup of Game 1 starters. Both would be pitching on three days' rest, though rain is possible. Glavine has pitched 13 scoreless innings in the postseason. "He knows what it takes, and we're just going to come out tomorrow and play good ball again," Delgado said confidently. Beltran went 3-for-3 with two walks and is hitting .333 in the NLCS. Delgado is hitting .414 (12-for-29) with four homers and 11 RBIs in the postseason, batting .400 against the Cardinals with three homers and nine RBIs. "I played 12-and-a-half years and never sniffed the playoffs," he said. "I'm enjoying these playoffs. It's a blast. But I guess it's going to be that much sweeter when you win it." Perez, acquired July 31 from Pittsburgh along with Roberto Hernandez in the Xavier Nady deal, gave up solo homers to David Eckstein, Jim Edmonds and Yadier Molina. He never retired the side in order but lasted 5 2-3 innings. "I did my job, kept us in the game, and that's what's most important," Perez said. Only the second pitcher to start a postseason game in a year he finished the regular season 10 games under .500 (3-13), Perez had been 0-7 on the road this year. "We really needed that," Delgado said. "I think he did a fantastic job." Cardinals rookie Anthony Reyes, who like Perez was pitching for the first time since Oct. 1, allowed runners in all four of his innings, walked four and threw 86 pitches. But he gave up his only runs on the third-inning homers by Beltran and Wright, which put the Mets ahead 2-1. "I kept the team in the game and tried to do the best I could with every pitch, but I threw too many pitches and I got forced out of there early," Reyes said. Relievers Brad Thompson and Josh Hancock were lit up for eight runs, with the pair combining to get just one out. "They are kicking themselves and beating themselves up in the clubhouse," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. Delgado tied the Mets record for RBIs in a postseason series, set by Gary Carter in the World Series, and set a team record with six extra-base hits. All of his postseason homers have to the opposite field. "Very, very rare, very unique to see a hitter like him who can turn on you and pull the ball, and then can just stay out there and just serve the ball the other way," Randolph said. Beltran kept up his role as a Cardinal-killer: He batted .417 against St. Louis with four homers in the 2004 NLCS as a member of the Houston Astros. During the regular season, the Mets were 9-1 when Delgado and Beltran homered in the same game. Thousands of red-clad Cardinals fans waving white towels filled Busch Stadium on a cool night, hoping their team would move within one win of a World Series date with the Tigers. Detroit beat the Cardinals in Game 7 of the 1968 Series. Molina put St. Louis on top in the second with an RBI single and, after the homers by Beltran and Wright, Juan Encarnacion hit a tying triple in the bottom half. La Russa sent in a pinch hitter for Reyes in the fourth, and Thompson entered in the fifth. Paul Lo Duca reached when second baseman Ronnie Belliard misplayed his leadoff grounder for an error, Beltran singled and Delgado sent an outside 2-0 pitch a few rows into the left-field seats. "Hopefully this is a one-day thing for us," Thompson said. Eckstein, who homered just twice in the regular season, connected leading off the bottom half to pull the Cardinals to 5-3. But the Mets loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth against Hancock, and La Russa left him in to face Delgado. Delgado lofted a fly ball to deep left-center that Scott Spiezio took a bad angle on, and the ball bounced over the fence on a hop for a double. A walk to Wright reloaded the bases, Tyler Johnson relieved, and Shawn Green singled to make it 8-3. Valentin then cleared the bases with a double down the left-field line, sending many fans streaming up the aisles. "It happened quick," Hancock said. "I just didn't do my job. We make mistakes, they hit them." Perez left after allowing homers to Edmonds and Molina in the bottom half, and Beltran connected for his second solo homer in the seventh, a drive off former-Met Braden Looper.
"One swing of the bat," Wright said, "can get us going."
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| Suppan Shuts Down The Met Bats | |||||||
With Jeff Suppan doing just about everything for St. Louis, "No contest" would have been much more appropriate. Suppan hit a rare home run and pitched a tidy masterpiece Saturday night that gave the St. Louis Cardinals control of the NLCS against the suddenly staggering New York Mets. Scott Spiezio smacked another big triple and St. Louis dazzled on defense, dominating the Mets for a 5-0 victory and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. New York lost yet another pitcher to injury when an ineffective Steve Trachsel was clocked by Preston Wilson's comebacker. On offense, the Mets' normally imposing lineup hardly threatened against Suppan, who allowed three hits in eight crisp innings and homered against Trachsel for the second time in two years. "They say I don't smile in the dugout. I was smiling there, man," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "I thought we got a one-run gift." With a sea of red-clad Cardinals fans twirling their colorful towels, St. Louis moved within two wins of a trip to the World Series to face the Detroit Tigers, who polished off a four-game sweep of Oakland in the ALCS earlier Saturday. Only 24 hours before, the Mets were in great shape. After tagging Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter, New York led Game 2 by two runs with two outs and none on in the seventh inning. But the Mets' vaunted bullpen faltered, St. Louis rallied back and the Cardinals grabbed all the momentum with a 9-6 victory. "I don't think there's any real correlation or carry-over from last night to tonight," New York manager Willie Randolph said. Now the Mets, who cruised to an NL East title and tied the crosstown Yankees for the best regular-season record in baseball, will pin their hopes on erratic lefty Oliver Perez in Game 4. With a 3-13 record and 6.55 ERA, he'll face Cardinals rookie Anthony Reyes. "We've been in tougher spots than this," Randolph said. "We feel like we're in pretty good shape, even though we're down 2-1. Things could change real, real quick, so we'll get some rest tonight and I guarantee you we'll be ready to play tomorrow." But while New York keeps losing key players to injuries, the Cardinals are beginning to get them back. All-Star third baseman Scott Rolen, hampered by a sore left shoulder, returned to the lineup and snapped a 1-for-15 skid with a fifth-inning single. He also made a couple of fine plays in the field. Trachsel left with a bruised right thigh in the second after getting struck by Wilson's smash, ending a horrendous performance in what could have been his final outing with New York. "It stiffened up pretty quickly and I wasn't able to drive off that leg," Trachsel said. Already missing Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez, the Mets can't afford another serious injury to a starting pitcher. But if they don't regroup fast, Trachsel's next turn won't come up again anyway. "He had a little swelling and we'll keep it iced overnight and see how he feels tomorrow," Randolph said. "He seems OK." The lone positive for New York: long man Darren Oliver chewed up six scoreless innings, saving the rest of the bullpen a bit for Games 4 and 5. Suppan, who beat Houston's Roger Clemens in Game 7 of the 2004 NLCS, didn't need much help at all. After losing 3-1 to San Diego in Game 3 of the division series, the right-hander struck out four and walked one Saturday night, throwing 69 of his 99 pitches for strikes in an absolute gem. "He was so focused and kept making great pitches," La Russa said. Josh Kinney finished up with a perfect ninth, leaving New York scoreless in its past 12 innings. With no off day because of Wednesday's rainout in New York, the Mets and Cardinals had a short turnaround between Games 2 and 3. The Cardinals' charter landed at about 3 a.m. CDT, while the Mets got to their hotel about 4:30 a.m. And New York definitely looked like the tired team in a lethargic performance. Spiezio sparked St. Louis again with a two-out, two-run triple in the first inning. With Wilson and Albert Pujols aboard, Spiezio hit a drive toward the right-field line that dropped just in front of a diving Shawn Green and deflected away off his chest. Of course, it was Spiezio's two-out, two-run triple (on an 0-2 pitch from Guillermo Mota) off the glove of a leaping Green that tied Game 2 and turned the series. Leading off the second, Suppan connected on an 0-2 offering and the ball bounced off the top of the left-field fence, just beyond the reach of a leaping Endy Chavez, and into New York's bullpen. "I don't know. I swung, it ran into my bat," Suppan said. Suppan's only regular-season homer in 251 career at-bats also came against Trachsel on Sept. 10, 2005. The previous pitcher to homer in the postseason was Kerry Wood for the Chicago Cubs in Game 7 of the 2003 NLCS, off Florida's Mark Redman. Suppan also dropped down two successful sacrifice bunts, drawing chants of "Suuuupe!" from the crowd of 47,053. Wilson's hard comebacker hit Trachsel on the leg, and the ball ricocheted into shallow left field for a single that put runners at the corners. The right-hander was checked by Randolph and a trainer after hobbling off the mound. Trachsel remained in the game -- but not for long. He was removed after a four-pitch walk to Pujols, and Oliver was given as much time as he needed to warm up. Still, Oliver's second delivery to Jim Edmonds was a run-scoring wild pitch, and Edmonds' RBI groundout made it 5-0. Trachsel lasted only one-plus inning. He faced 12 batters, giving up five hits and five walks.
"I felt like I made some pretty good pitches. Just, I fell behind," he said. "I wasn't missing by a lot. I was probably trying to be too fine, too early."
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| The Bullpen Serves it Up | |||||||
No power threat during the regular season, Taguchi is a playoff slugger now -- and St. Louis is heading to Busch Stadium tied with the New York Mets in the NL championship series. After Scott Spiezio saved the Cardinals in the seventh with a two-run triple that was nearly a home run, Taguchi hit a tiebreaking homer off closer Billy Wagner leading off a three-run ninth inning that lifted St. Louis to a 9-6 victory over New York on Friday night. NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter faltered, allowing a pair of go-ahead home runs to Carlos Delgado that drove in four runs. But the Cardinals tied the game after trailing 3-0 and 4-2, then came back again after falling behind 6-4. "This may have been the best comeback on a club I've been around," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. During the regular season, the 37-year-old Taguchi homered just twice in 316 at-bats this year. But the Japanese player is 2-for-2 with a pair of homers in the postseason, also connecting off San Diego's Scott Linebrink in Game 3 of the first round. "He plays well late," La Russa said. "He's not intimated at all by pressure situations." Taguchi had entered as a defensive replacement in left in the eighth after La Russa saw Wagner warming up. "Right now?" he asked La Russa. "He said, `Yes."' Wagner entered with the score 6-all in the ninth. Taguchi, 0-for-5 against him in his career, fell behind in the count 0-2, fouled off a pitch, took three balls, fouled off two more and then drove a fastball from the hard-throwing Wagner over the left-field wall. "He's got a flair for the dramatic," Spiezio said. Spiezio added an RBI double and scored on Juan Encarnacion's run-scoring single off Wagner, who had earned the save in New York's opening 2-0 win Thursday night but was booed when he walked back to the dugout after being removed with two outs. "I just did not pitch up to standards," Wagner said. New York, which had won eight straight dating to the regular season, threw 200 pitches -- and St. Louis batters fouled off 55 of them. "We made some bad pitches at the wrong times," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. Spiezio, playing because slumping All-Star third baseman Scott Rolen was benched with a sore shoulder, nearly had a home run in the seventh -- but right fielder Shawn Green got his glove above the wall, and the ball ricocheted off the thumb, then hit the top of the fence and bounced back onto the field. "I felt like I had a shot, and obviously I did because it hit the glove," Green said. "It just didn't work out, unfortunately." Right field umpire Tim Welke got the initial call right and, after La Russa came onto the field, the umpires huddled and upheld the decision, which replays confirmed. "I felt I had the call correct the entire way," Welke said in a statement. "The entire crew was in agreement from their respective vantage points." Yadier Molina had a two-run double in the second and Jim Edmonds hit a two-run homer in the third for St. Louis, and Josh Kinney got the win by pitching a scoreless eighth -- getting Carlos Beltran to ground into an inning-ending double play with two runners on base. Carlos Delgado drove in four runs with a three-run homer and a solo shot off Carpenter, but John Maine lasted just four innings and while he gave up two hits, each drove in two runs. He walked five and threw 88 pitches -- one fewer more than Tom Glavine needed to get through seven shutout innings the night before. "It was a lost opportunity," the Mets' David Wright said. Carpenter had trouble controlling his curveball and struggled with plate umpire Jim Joyce's tight strike zone, allowing five runs, six hits and four walks in five innings. "It was crazy," he said. "Obviously I didn't do the job I wanted to do." Because of Wednesday's rainout, there is not a travel day. When the series shifts Saturday night to the new Busch Stadium, Steve Traschel (15-8) pitches for the Mets against Jeff Suppan (12-7). It was 54 degrees at gametime, down 13 from the opener. Shortstop Jose Reyes wore a black ski cap with a Mets logo during batting practice, and some of the umpires wore gloves during the game. New York broke on top quickly. Reyes doubled leading off, Beltran walked with one out and Delgado hit a 440-foot, opposite-field drive into the left-center field bleachers for a 3-0 lead. But Delgado made a key error in the second. Edmonds walked leading off and Spiezio hit a grounder down the first-base line that should have been one out and possibly two. The ball glanced off Delgado's glove for an error that put runners on second and third, and Encarnacion followed with a walk that loaded the bases. Maine got Ronnie Belliard to hit an infield popup, but Molina hit an opposite-field double to right, closing the Cardinals to 3-2. Endy Chavez, Floyd's replacement, was 0-for-11 against Carpenter coming in but doubled to right leading off the bottom half and scored on Reyes' single for a 4-2 lead. That was the last hit Carpenter allowed until Delgado's second homer. Paul Lo Duca hit an RBI double off Josh Hancock that scored the speedy Reyes from first in the sixth -- the first run in the postseason off the Cardinals' bullpen, which had thrown 16 scoreless innings. Albert Pujols ended an 0-for-12 slide with a two-out single in the seventh off Mota. Pujols singled, doubled and walked, scoring three runs.
"We've had much bigger challenges than this and we always respond," Randolph said. "We've responded all year. I don't think we're going to change now."
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| Glavine, Beltran Lead Mets To Game 1 Win | |||||||
Carlos Beltran rocked Shea Stadium with a homer that crashed off the scoreboard to back another gem by Glavine, and the Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 in Game 1 on Thursday night. "Tommy was the key," New York manager Willie Randolph said. "He's quiet, goes about his business and is one of the leaders on our staff." Making his 34th postseason start, Glavine shut down Albert Pujols and extended his scoreless streak to 13 innings in these playoffs. Beltran, who wore out St. Louis in the NLCS with Houston two years ago, hit a two-run shot off an otherwise impressive Jeff Weaver in the sixth. That was all the offense New York needed to win its eighth straight game, dating to the regular season. "It pains me," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "No way to suggest that he's a losing pitcher. ... Jeff was outstanding. So was Glavine. We hit too many balls in the air. I mean, it's tough to win when you do that." After rain postponed the opener Wednesday night, the Cardinals bumped up ace Chris Carpenter, who will pitch on regular rest Friday night in Game 2. Rookie right-hander John Maine will be on the mound for the Mets. Missing injured starters Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez, the Mets are counting heavily on Glavine as they chase their first World Series title in 20 years. The cagey left-hander has delivered in a big way. He threw six scoreless innings in Game 2 of the first round, helping the Mets to a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. And the two-time Cy Young Award winner, who waited four seasons to reach the playoffs with New York after doing so year after year in Atlanta, was just as good against St. Louis. "I understand the importance of when I pitch now. But at the same time, I'm trying my best to mentally play games with myself and dismiss that," Glavine said. "I don't want to go out there with any added pressure on myself." Helped by two inning-ending double plays and a sprawling catch by super sub Endy Chavez, Glavine yielded only four hits and two walks. He struck out Pujols in the first, walked him in the fourth and retired him on a liner to shortstop in the sixth. Still, the slugger wasn't impressed. "He wasn't good. He wasn't good at all," Pujols said. "I think we hit the ball hard. We didn't get some breaks." Guillermo Mota worked a hitless eighth to avoid facing Pujols himself, instead passing the reigning NL MVP along to Billy Wagner. But the Mets' closer got Pujols to line out to first, and Juan Encarnacion followed with a hard groundout. Wagner then walked Scott Rolen, who is 1-for-14 this postseason, and retired pinch-hitter Scott Spiezio on a popup for his third save of the playoffs. Glavine matched Andy Pettitte for the most postseason starts in major league history. Glavine also improved to 14-15 in the postseason, tying Pettitte for the second-most wins behind former Braves teammate John Smoltz (15). "He made a lot of hitters tonight look foolish, kept them off balance," Mets star David Wright said.
But Paul Lo Duca bounced a hit through the left side in the sixth, and Beltran drove a 2-2 fastball an estimated 430 feet off the giant scoreboard in right-center -- the ball clanging off Jose Valentin's No. 18 in New York's lineup. "Every time you do something in October it means a lot," Beltran said. "Hitting the home run today, of course brings memories." It also woke up a curiously quiet crowd of 56,311 at Shea, which was plenty noisy during two home games in the division series, and left them chanting "Wea-ver! Wea-ver!" "I'd been feeding him fastballs all day and he finally caught up to one," Weaver said. "If you would have told me I'd have allowed one hit through five innings, I would have liked our chances. But it just didn't go our way." The right-hander knows all about tough crowds in New York after an unsuccessful stint with the Yankees from 2002-03, when he was often booed lustily in the Bronx. Weaver, lifted in the sixth after 98 pitches, is scheduled to come back on only three days' rest in Game 5 -- as is Glavine, who threw 89 pitches. "There's no question I feel better about coming back on a small pitch count like I had tonight as opposed to getting over 100," Glavine said. The Cardinals have seen all too much of Beltran in October. He batted .417 with four homers and five RBIs for the Astros in the 2004 NLCS, a series St. Louis won in seven games. Beltran also hit a game-ending homer against the Cardinals in August. "He's a big-game guy. He's shown what he can do in the postseason," Randolph said. "He has a beautiful swing. He's a very special individual. You don't see the ball jump off the bat like that with many hitters." La Russa has his team in the NLCS for the third straight season and fifth time in seven years overall -- a run that began with a loss to the wild-card Mets in 2000. But St. Louis is 1-3 in its last four NLCS appearances and is still looking for its first World Series championship since 1982. The winner of Game 1 in the NLCS has reached the World Series 12 of the last 13 years. The 2005 Cardinals were the exception. The Mets lost left fielder Cliff Floyd early when he aggravated his injured Achilles' tendon while running out a foul fly in the second. After feeling two pops in his foot, he will have an MRI on Friday. He is day-to-day. Floyd was replaced by Chavez, a defensive whiz, in the top of the third. Chavez got a late break on Ronnie Belliard's fifth-inning looper, but recovered in time to make a diving, snow-cone grab. Poor baserunning by Pujols cost the Cardinals in the fourth, when he was doubled off first base by Beltran on Encarnacion's soft fly to a center.
"Albert is an outstanding baserunner and I'm not exaggerating," La Russa said. "That was the exception."
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| The Mets Win In Three! | |||||||
After rolling in the first round, the Mets will open the NLCS at Shea Stadium on Wednesday against the San Diego-St. Louis winner. The Cardinals lead 2-1 in that best-of-five series. "We played all kind of ball," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "We played long ball, small ball. Whatever it takes to get it done." Green had three hits and two RBIs in a game decided by the bullpens after starters Steve Trachsel and Greg Maddux made early exits. Wagner got the final out in all three games, retiring pinch-hitter Ramon Martinez on a fly ball to Green to finish the series. "The irony of this is crazy, to be celebrating in the visiting clubhouse," said Green, who played for the Dodgers from 2000-04 and was acquired by the Mets from Arizona on Aug. 22. "It's a little weird, after doing this in '04 on the other side of the field," he said. "I was actually out there hoping that the last ball came to me, and it did. It feels incredible." Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca was moved to tears when he was traded by the Dodgers to Florida in July 2004. Sent to the Mets last offseason, he has no regrets now. Pedro Feliciano, the fourth of seven New York pitchers, earned the victory. He got just one out, but it was a big one, as he retired pinch-hitter Nomar Garciaparra on a grounder to the box with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth and the Mets trailing 5-4. The Mets took a 7-5 lead in the sixth by scoring three runs off losing pitcher Jonathan Broxton on consecutive one-out RBI singles by Jose Reyes, Lo Duca and Carlos Beltran -- all softly-hit balls that fell in front of charging outfielders. Lo Duca blooped another run-scoring single off Brett Tomko in the eighth, and the Mets got their final run on third baseman Wilson Betemit's throwing error. The Mets scored three times off Maddux in the first on consecutive two-out singles by Beltran, Carlos Delgado, David Wright, Cliff Floyd and Green. It could have been worse for the Dodgers, but Lo Duca, who drew a one-out walk, was thrown out trying to take third on Beltran's hit, and first baseman James Loney made a leaping catch of Jose Valentin's liner to end the inning.
Loney, a rookie replacing the injured Garciaparra at first base, hit a two-run single in the fourth to chase Trachsel. Darren Oliver, who relieved with one out and the tying runs in scoring position, speared pinch-hitter Andre Ethier's liner and threw to third to complete an inning-ending double play. The Dodgers took a 5-4 lead by scoring three runs in the fifth after Oliver retired the first two batters. Anderson singled and Kent followed with a two-run homer. J.D. Drew singled to chase Oliver, Russell Martin singled off Chad Bradford, and Betemit walked to load the bases. Feliciano relieved and walked Loney to force home the tiebreaking run before retiring Garciaparra, who was limited to pinch-hitting duties after tearing his left quadriceps in Game 2. "We've been doing that all year," Wright said of the Mets' success in rallying. "We're a resilient team. It seems when we get down, it pushes us, motivates us more to take the lead." Kent's ground-rule double in the sixth put runners at second and third with two outs, but Guillermo Mota retired Drew on a fly to center. Mota, another former Dodger, worked two scoreless inning before Aaron Heilman and Wagner finished with one inning each. Neither starter lasted long. Trachsel, making his postseason debut at age 35, allowed six hits and two runs in 3 1-3 innings. The 40-year-old Maddux, a winner of 333 career games and making his 30th postseason start, gave up seven hits and four runs in four innings.
"I think a lot of guys were trying to hit the first good strike," Green said. "Everyone knows how crafty he is. But we came right out that first inning and got a bunch of hits in a row, and that was the key."
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| Old Guys and Home Grown Star In Win | |||||||
Making his 33rd postseason start -- but first since joining the Mets in 2003 -- Glavine tossed six shutout innings and New York scratched out enough runs to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 Thursday night for a 2-0 lead in their NL playoff series. "This is the opportunity that I wanted to have here in New York," said Glavine, grateful to be healthy after a blood-clot scare in August. "I understand the opportunity that's in front of me and I understand the expectations on this team, and certainly on me as a player." Jose Reyes drove in two runs from the leadoff spot, 48-year-old pinch-hitter Julio Franco hustled to beat out a potential double-play ball for an RBI, and Billy Wagner earned his second consecutive save. Two days earlier, the NL East champions lost starting pitcher Orlando Hernandez to a calf injury -- leaving him on the sidelines with ace Pedro Martinez all postseason. But suddenly, New York is one win from the NL championship series. "A beautifully pitched ballgame," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "Big-money pitcher." The Mets will go for the sweep Saturday in Los Angeles against Greg Maddux, who has 333 career wins. Steve Trachsel will pitch for New York. "We're in a tight spot," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "We've got to come out ready to win three in a row." The Dodgers dropped to 1-11 in the postseason since winning the 1988 World Series. They also lost Nomar Garciaparra in the sixth inning because of a leg injury -- he hobbled across first on an infield hit in the fourth. The All-Star first baseman has been playing with a strained left quadriceps. His status for Game 3 was uncertain. The matchup at Shea Stadium was the second of two playoff games in New York on Thursday. Up in the Bronx, Detroit beat the Yankees 4-3 in the afternoon.
The 40-year-old Glavine, with 290 major league wins, was facing a 25-year-old rookie who owns one. Hong-Chih Kuo shut out the Mets for six innings on Sept. 8 at Shea in his only big league victory. That was one reason he got the start in this one. The Dodgers also figured a lefty might have success against New York's lineup -- the Mets struggled down the stretch vs. left-handed starters. But this time, New York fouled off many of Kuo's tough pitches and chased him in the fifth. "He was tough again," Randolph said. "We just made him pitch a little bit. We had some at-bats where we taxed him a little bit." Glavine was at his deceptive best -- changing speeds, nipping the corners and escaping jams. With runners at first and third in the fifth, he got Kenny Lofton on an inning-ending grounder, then calmly handed Lofton's shattered stick to a Dodgers bat boy. "It was the wrong guy for us to face," Dodgers slugger Jeff Kent said. "A lot of pitches just off the plate, and you get frustrated." Glavine, who beat Los Angeles twice during the regular season, gave up only four hits in his first playoff win since 2001 with Atlanta. After making the playoffs year after year with the Braves, he improved to 13-15 in the postseason with a 3.34 ERA. "I know I've lost a lot of close games in the postseason," Glavine said. "For me, I don't feel as though I have anything to prove. I'm proud of what I've done. I'm proud of what I've accomplished. I'm just trying to live in the moment." Wilson Betemit homered for the Dodgers off Aaron Heilman in the eighth.
Super sub Endy Chavez, starting in right field instead of Shawn Green, dropped a beautiful drag bunt for a hit to start the third. He scampered around the bases on a wild pitch and Glavine's tapper, then scored on Reyes' RBI groundout. "I told you I like Endy. I love him, actually," Randolph said. "The guy can play, that's why he's in the game. No more questions about Endy. He's a big part or our offense and a big part of our team. It's been that way all year." Garciaparra's infield single with one out in the fourth was the first hit off Glavine. Garciaparra didn't even run out a grounder in the sixth, and was removed before the bottom half. Jose Valentin drew a leadoff walk from Kuo in the fifth, Chavez singled and Glavine put down a typically perfect sacrifice. Paul Lo Duca's sacrifice fly made it 2-0. The Mets loaded the bases in the sixth on two singles and a throwing error by reliever Brett Tomko. Franco beat out a potential double-play ball to make it 3-0.
"He's stolen a few bases for us. It's amazing how he competes," Randolph said. "That was a huge play for us." Reyes added a two-out RBI single for New York's final run. | |||||||
| Met Power and Baserunning Blunders | |||||||
Minus two top starters, the Mets capitalized on a wild baserunning blunder by Los Angeles and a perfectly respectable performance from emergency replacement John Maine in a 6-5 victory Wednesday over the Dodgers. Billy Wagner closed Game 1 of this NL series for his first postseason save, fanning Nomar Garciaparra with a runner on second for the final out. "A lot of guys have been waiting for this time in their life, and I think everybody stepped up today," said 34-year-old catcher Paul Lo Duca, another newcomer to the playoffs. Playing in the first postseason game of his 14-year career, Delgado had four hits, a mammoth homer and the go-ahead RBI in the seventh inning. Wright drove in three runs, helping the Mets jump ahead in the best-of-five series. "I was very excited," Delgado said. "I had butterflies in my stomach the first couple innings. I was saying, `Whoa, what is going on here?' But I was able to kind of control my emotions and just go out and play." The Mets started a rookie in the opener after Orlando Hernandez tore a muscle in his right calf while jogging in the outfield Tuesday. He is expected to miss the entire postseason.
Yet he probably would have been left out of the playoff rotation altogether if Martinez hadn't gone down. "My nerves I think were worse in the second inning than they were in the first," Maine said. "It wasn't too bad." Lifted with a 2-1 lead in the fifth, Maine got a break on a bizarre play when the Dodgers had two runners cut down at home plate in the second. With two on and none out, rookie Russell Martin hit an opposite-field drive off the base of the right-field wall. But Jeff Kent hesitated at second base, apparently thinking the ball might be caught, and got an extremely late jump. That left J.D. Drew, who was on first, practically running up Kent's back as coach Rich Donnelly waved one -- or both -- around third. A quick, accurate relay from right fielder Shawn Green to second baseman Jose Valentin to Lo Duca nailed Kent, who attempted a headfirst dive into the plate. The Dodgers tied it at 4-all with three runs in the seventh against reliever Guillermo Mota. Anderson got the rally going with a bunt single, and a throwing error by second baseman Valentin helped Los Angeles. Rafael Furcal's RBI single made it 4-2, and Garciaparra's two-out, two-run double tied it. Delgado's fourth-inning drive landed on top of an elevated camera stand behind the center-field fence and was estimated at 470 feet. Cliff Floyd, hobbled by a score Achilles' heel, added his first postseason homer later in the inning for a 2-1 Mets lead.
Wright hit a two-run double off starter Derek Lowe in the sixth to make it 4-1, and gave an enthusiastic fist pump of his own.
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| Good-Bye Frank, Hello Post Season | |||||||
Thousands of spectators stood, applauded and shouted good wishes, including yells of, "We love you!" The Hall of Famer smiled and waved, then doffed his cap and put his large right hand over his heart. Sunday's farewell was the sort Robinson wanted when he asked the Washington Nationals to let him know before season's end whether he'd be back in 2007. Instead of the usual day-after-the-last-game announcement, the Nationals made what seemed clear would happen completely official before Saturday's game, allowing Robinson, his players and his fans to treat his last weekend as a tribute. Well, for the record: David Wright and Shawn Green each had two hits in the second inning, when the playoff-bound Mets scored six runs on nine hits, New York's season high for an inning. Guillermo Mota (3-0) pitched a perfect eighth and was credited with the win. "It's nice to finish up strong and get a nice little streak over the weekend," said Mets manager Willie Randolph, whose team has won four consecutive games. "We're going into the real season, and I'm excited about it, looking forward to it. It's what you play for." The Mets will start the playoffs at home, taking on the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 Wednesday.
Ramon Ortiz (11-16) left what might have been his final appearance for the Nationals after getting only four outs -- his shortest start of the season. That meant Robinson made one last deliberate walk to the mound to yank an ineffective pitcher. | |||||||
