This time, Tony La Russa didn’t give Scott Rolen three games to struggle.
With Rolen in a 1-for-14 playoff skid and battling a balky left shoulder, the St. Louis manager benched his third baseman for Game 2 of the NLCS. Scott Spiezio replaced Rolen and batted fifth last night against the Mets.
“I start by saying it’s not an enjoyable decision,” La Russa said. “For one thing, he’s one of our core guys, Scott Rolen is. We definitely want to play key games with your core horses in the lineup. . . . He wants to play, he said he’s OK to go.
“But I watched him (Thursday). Just to me, something is prohibiting his stroke from being right, and I don’t think this is something that would be good for him or good for us.”
Rolen is 10-for-41 off Steve Trachsel, so he may start tonight in Game 3 in St. Louis. But this was the second time this week La Russa has pulled Rolen, who downplayed how bad his surgically repaired left shoulder was barking during the NL Division Series against the Padres. When the skipper found out, he yanked Rolen for Game 4. Rolen took a cortisone shot that night.
“This is a lineup that I think is our best chance to win,” La Russa said.
The 31-year-old righty slugger went a listless 0-for-3 against Tom Glavine on Thursday. Rolen walked on five pitches from Billy Wagner in the ninth, which wasn’t enough to keep Rolen in last night’s lineup. He disagreed with La Russa.
“I’m disappointed and surprised a little bit,” Rolen told reporters outside the visiting clubhouse before batting practice. “I thought I’d be in the lineup today.
“This is not a time for an individual to be upset, when you’re down 0-1 to the Mets in Shea Stadium. Me being personally upset, I can sit in the corner for a couple of seconds and then I’ve got to get ready to go and get out there.
“I felt like I had good at-bats, I felt like I was more in tune with the at-bats. I fouled a few balls back that I would have liked to put in play, but all in all I didn’t have any results.”
Spiezio, a hero for the 2002 World Champion Angels, had a penchant for the postseason. The 34-year-old collected 19 RBIs in 16 games that postseason. After ripping a sixth-inning RBI single in a Game 4 NL Division Series-clinching victory over San Diego, he was 12-for-18 with runners in scoring position in the playoffs.
“Every once in a while, I’ve got to jump in there and do my best,” Spiezio said, “and it’s exciting to play.”
Wire services contributed to this report.
