CARDINALS 5
METS 0
ST. LOUIS – Steve Trachsel pitched last night and Oliver Perez is pitching tonight. There’s legitimate danger now.
The Mets had a nightmare game in St. Louis last night, as Murphy’s Law was realized and they were blasted by the Cardinals 5-0 in Game 3 of the NLCS at Busch Stadium.
The Mets’ season isn’t on the verge of ending just yet.
But they’re down 2-1 in with the risky Perez pitching a critical Game 4 tonight against Card righty Anthony Reyes.
It’s not only not your ideal scenario, but it’s one of the poorest scenarios you could have.
Last night, Trachsel authored a horrible outing that didn’t provide the Mets with either innings or a positive performance. In what may have been his final start as a Met, the freeagentto-be was roasted for five runs on five hits and five walks in just one-plus inning.
The right-hander faced 12 hitters and a remarkable 10 reached, with one getting picked off. He also suffered a right thigh contusion when he was drilled with a Preston Wilson line drive in the second inning. Trachsel left the game after the next hitter walked, though it was probably performance-related and not thigh-related.
With Trachsel not going deep into the game, the Met bullpen had to toss seven innings, with Darren Oliver taking care of six of those in an important and valuable effort that allows Aaron Heilman, Guillermo Mota, Chad Bradford, Pedro Feliciano and Billy Wagner to be used tonight in relief of Perez.
Perez, the former Pirate, hasn’t been in the playoffs and probably shouldn’t be now. The Mets have Tom Glavine set to go on three days rest in Game 5 tomorrow, but right now their spirit in St. Louis has to be low.
Trachsel – who had poor command, throwing just 21 of his 43 pitches for strikes – began by allowing David Eckstein’s leadoff single, though he picked the shortstop off first. But then Trachsel walked Wilson, gave up Albert Pujols’ single and, one out later, served up a two-run triple to Scott Spiezio.
On Spiezio’s triple, Shawn Green tried to grab it with a diving attempt in right field, but for the second straight night, he couldn’t glove a key hit by Spiezio. On Friday, Spiezio also hit a tworun triple to right, tying the game in the seventh.
Trachsel left the bases loaded in the first inning, but in the second, he gave up a leadoff homer to opposing pitcher Jeff Suppan.
The only homer Suppan had hit in the majors before last night was off Trachsel last September.
Trachsel then walked Eckstein, gave up Wilson’s smack off his right leg and walked Pujols to load the bases before he left. Oliver let two more runs come in on a wild pitch and an RBI groundout.
The Mets got shut out in their final three innings in Game 2 and were blanked last night by Suppan, who hurled eight innings. They had only three hits (Carlos Beltran single, Jose Reyes triple, Jose Valentin single) and one walk (Green) and also had a foolish baserunning play in the fifth, as Valentin was thrown out at second trying to stretch a one-out single into a double.
It’s remarkable the Mets are down 2-1 in the series with Pujols tallying no homers or RBIs in three games. It’s hard to believe that’ll continue. So Murphy’s Law might too.
METS VS. CARDINALS
NLCS glance
x-if necessary; WFAN – 660 AM; WQEW – 1560 AM; ESPN – 1050 AM
Game Date Site Time TV Radio
Game 1 Thursday Mets 2, Cardinals 0
Game 2 Friday Cardinals 9, Mets 6
Game 3 Last night Cardinals 5, Mets 0
Game 4 Tonight @STL 8:15 Ch. 5 WFAN/ESPN
Game 5 Tomorrow @STL 8:19 Ch. 5 WFAN/WQEW
x-Game 6 Wednesday @NY 4:19 Ch. 5 WFAN/ESPN
x-Game 7 Thursday @NY 8:19 Ch. 5 WFAN/ESPN
