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Home > ajcsportstalk > Archives > 2006 > October > 18
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Mets even series, send it to Game 7
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New York — The St. Louis Cardinals needed one more win to finish the job, just one more win to upset the New York Mets, the National League superpower all season, and punch their ticket to the World Series.
But a few things got in their way Wednesday night in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series: Jose Reyes’ dynamic talent, rookie pitcher John Maine’s cool under fire, and just maybe Scott Rolen’s pride.
Maine was effectively wild for 5 1/3 innings, and Rolen was ineffective when it counted in a 4-2 Mets win in front of the rowdy Shea Stadium crowd. The win evened the series and set up Game 7 for the NL pennant Thursday night.
“This is awesome,” said catcher Paul Lo Duca, whose two-run, two-out single in the seventh inning put the Mets ahead 4-0. “I can’t imagine what [Thursday’s] going to be like. This has been an unbelievable series.”
The Cardinals will start Jeff Suppan, and the Mets will counter with Oliver Perez on short rest instead of struggling Steve Trachsel or Darren Oliver, who pitched six scoreless relief innings in Game 3 but hasn’t started since 2004.
“I’m not in real good shape to talk about [Game 7],” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said, “because I was convinced we were going to find a way to win and not have to go through this again.”
The teams have alternated wins for four games, and each is 2-1 at home in the series. The Mets won home-field advantage by virtue of their league-best 97 wins, while St. Louis hung on to win the Central with an 83-79 record.
Thursday night, the Mets could enjoy the perk of their season-long superiority.
Reyes, the electric leadoff man, went 3-for-4 with a home run and two stolen bases. He homered on the third pitch delivered by Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter, who settled down and threw six solid innings but received no offensive support.
So Taguchi’s two-out double in the ninth accounted for the Cardinals’ runs.
La Russa pulled Carpenter for a pinch hitter in the seventh because of the 2-0 deficit.
The Cardinals wasted a prime opportunity in the first, when they had runners at second and third with one out. Maine struck out Jim Edmonds and, after hitting Juan Encarnacion, got Rolen on a fly to medium right field.
“When we’re good, we’re an execution club,” La Russa said, lamenting that his team let the rookie off the hook. “We’ve got to get at least one [run] there.”
Rolen, playing with a sore shoulder, grounded into a double play to end the sixth inning, and then Lo Duca’s single stretched the lead to 4-0 in the seventh.
Rolen keeps saying his surgically repaired left shoulder is strong enough to play, but his performance says otherwise. He struck out with the bases loaded and none out in the Game 5 win at St. Louis.
He stranded four runners Wednesday and doesn’t have an RBI in the playoffs. Since the 2004 World Series vs. Boston, he’s 5-for-43 with one RBI in 13 postseason games.
His ninth-inning double was the second extra-base hit of this postseason for Rolen, who’s 4-for-25, including 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Maine walked four but allowed only two hits. He received a thunderous ovation from 56,334 when he was replaced with one out and one on in the sixth inning.
