ST. LOUIS – It is supposed to be 91 degrees and overcast today in Oliver Perez’s hometown of Culiacan, Mexico.
Perez might have been there to see for himself this morning if Duaner Sanchez had taken a different cab in Miami back in July. Instead he is here, preparing for the biggest game of his life tonight as the Mets’ NLCS Game 4 starter, his team trailing the best-of-seven series 2-1 against the Cardinals.
In July, Mets fans hoped general manager Omar Minaya would land another frontline starter with an eye toward a day like this. Their wish list consisted of: Roy Oswalt, Barry Zito or Jason Schmidt. But none of those deals materialized. Instead, Minaya had to acquire Roberto Hernandez from the Pirates after his setup man, Sanchez, was lost for the season in a taxi accident on the eve of the trading deadline. He also got Perez in that deal.
By that point, the Pirates had given up on the 25-year-old left-hander, who just two years ago led the National League in strikeouts per nine innings and had a 2.98 ERA. Since then, things went south for Perez. Last year, his ERA grew to 5.85 in just over 100 innings. He injured his toe kicking a cart. This season he was the Pirates’ Opening Day starter, but he has bounced between the majors and Triple-A. He went 3-13 with a 6.55 ERA between the Pirates and Mets.
“I’m not thinking about what happened to me this season,” Perez said. “Right now, we’re in the postseason and this is an opportunity for everybody to forget what you did in the season. The season is over. Right now, we’re in the playoffs. We have to do everything we can to win.”
The Mets put Perez on the playoff roster after Orlando Hernandez was lost with a calf injury. Perez has shown glimpses of his potential with the Mets – a complete-game shutout of the Braves in September. But, more often than not, Perez struggles to find the strike zone.
The numbers indicate the Mets’ bullpen and offense better be ready to carry the day. Perez faced the Cardinals three times this season with Pittsburgh. He went 1-2 with a 4.82 ERA. On the road this year, Perez went 0-7 with a 9.45 ERA.
