ST. LOUIS – Oliver Perez will take the mound in the 1,163rd major league postseason game ever tonight in a class by himself. In the first 1,162 playoff contests, no starting pitcher has had a worse season ERA than the 6.55 the southpaw just produced.
Yet it is in that erratic left arm that a Mets season once filled with a sense of magic now rests.
Suddenly, the Mets look like the Yankees did a week ago, hung over from a stunning Game 2 loss and unable to regain traction due to the unsteady state of their rotation.
Steve Trachsel, in very possibly his final start as a Met, had the worst audition for free agency imaginable in what would become a 5-0 Cardinals triumph.
He walked five, allowed a homer to opposing pitcher Jeff Suppan, and never recorded an out before being lifted in the second inning with a contusion to his right thigh and more bruises to his soft reputation.
Darren Oliver was summoned and, due to Trachsel’s injury, by rule, had as much time as necessary to warm up. He should have taken two days, giving Tom Glavine enough time to pitch again.
Oliver could do nothing to prevent a second straight loss that gave the Cardinals a two-games-to-one lead in this best-of-seven series.
Nevertheless, he provided a vital service.
By stretching to work six shutout innings in relief of Trachsel, Oliver rested the key members of the Mets’ overexposed bullpen.
That means in this stretch of five NLCS games in five days, Billy Wagner, Aaron Heilman, Guillermo Mota, Chad Bradford and Pedro Feliciano all got a day off, making them fresher to work today.
But that cannot be in the second inning.
Perez must be the next Oliver to give the Mets more than expected. He must be the good Oliver Perez, which means not only wicked stuff, but also the poise and mechanics to deliver it with precision. You know that did not happen often this season, as Perez went 3-13 with that 6.55 ERA between the Pirates and Mets.
Perez battles with command in the best of times, and he has not pitched since Sept. 26.
Since then, 27 teams had their seasons end. The Mets will move to the brink of becoming No. 28 if Perez cannot muster the ability to keep them in Game 4.
“The pitchers, we want to go deeper into the game because we want the bullpen to get rested a little bit,” Perez said.
Perez last won on Sept. 6. That was long enough ago that you could still believe LaVar Arrington was an impact player. In the aftermath of losing both Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez, Willie Randolph had to decide whether to include Perez or Dave Williams as the fourth starter.
Randolph said he chose Perez because “he pitched well for us this year.” Boy, did Randolph lower the bar for “well,” since Perez was 1-3 with a 6.38 ERA for the Mets.
To help Perez, the Mets’ offense must do way better than in Game 3, when they allowed Suppan, a starter with a Trachselesque career, to deliver eight shutout innings.
So that allowed St. Louis’ overworked bullpen to rest, as well.
The offensive shutdown was another way in which the Mets hauntingly and suddenly looked like the Yanks.
Remember, the Yanks wanted to avoid the hot Twins and play the Tigers, who finished the season terribly and lost Game 1.
Detroit rallied to win Game 2 late, the Yankees rotation and offense went AWOL, and the Tigers have won seven straight games since, winning the AL pennant yesterday.
The Mets thought the Dodgers would be the stiffest NL competition, swept them in the first round and got the Cardinals, who nearly blew a gigantic lead late in the season and lost NLCS Game 1 to the Mets. But they rallied late to win Game 2, and now the Mets’ rotation and, perhaps, offense is derailed.
To stop the Cardinals from plowing right to a World Series meeting against Detroit, the Mets badly need Perez to keep them in Game 4 tonight. How tremulous is the Mets situation? They just might be asking the worst pitcher ever to start a playoff game to save their season.
