Let’s face it; the Mets just do not have the starting pitching to compete in this series.  You can’t win in these series if you have only one legitimate starter, and in this case that’s Tom Glavine.  Oh sure, they swept the Dodgers but it wasn’t like Los Angeles had stellar pitching either.  That series was a case of the Mets having the better of the two bullpens.  In this NLCS, the Mets had the Cardinals exactly where they wanted them having knocked out Chris Carpenter, their ace, in game 2 with the lead.  Of course when the bullpen gave up five earned runs and lost game two, you could almost feel that the tide had turned against the Mets. 

True some bad luck hurt the Mets in game 2.  In the 7th inning, Guillermo Mota recorded two quick outs then gave up a hit and a walk before Spiezio tripled in the tying runs.  Shawn Green tried to make the play and perhaps a better defensive outfielder might have caught the ball but most of the blame has to be laid on Mota who could not get the third out.  Billy Wagner gives up three runs in the 9th and of course everyone wants to vilify him.  Listen, it’s his first bad outing since July.  Give the bullpen a break; it wasn’t their fault as I will explain shortly.

In game 3 in the Cardinals first inning, once again Spiezio tripled and once again Green got the assist by pushing the ball a good ten feet away from him.  Had Shawn played that ball more intelligently most likely only one run scores.  Then in the Cardinals second inning of game 3, pitcher Jeff Suppan hits a ball that bounces off the top of the fence and into the bullpen for a home run.  Endy Chevez made a gallant try but to no avail.  You can site all of these plays as being the reason the Mets found themselves in big trouble down a game in the series at the time but the fact is the Mets real problem is the starting pitching.

Let’s take another look at game 2.  The Mets scored three runs in the first inning on a monster shot off the bat of Carlos Delgado.  In the top of the second, John Maine gives two runs right back.  The Mets tack on a fourth run in the second and then in the third, Maine groves one to Jim Edmonds who then promptly deposited the ball over the center field fence to tie the game.  You can talk about the bullpen’s problems all you want but in my opinion, the game was lost when Maine gave up the four run lead the Mets had given him.  The starting pitcher has to be able to shut the opposition down after the offense has put runs on the board especially early in the game. 

In regard’s to Game 3’s loss, two words—Steve Trachsel.  Here’s a career .500 pitcher who compiled a 15-8 season because for some reason the Mets scored a ton of runs for him during the regular season.  His one inning plus performance on Saturday night was atrocious.  He walked five batters and to top it off he gave up a home run to the pitcher after he had him in a two strike hole.  He took the Mets so far out of the game so early; the hitters never were able to get it going.  Since his fine performance to clinch the division back on September 18, Trachsel has simply been awful.  Is he hurt, who knows.  Did he really leave the game on Saturday night because he was injured of was it just an excuse to get him out of the game so Darren Oliver could get ready.  If that was the reason then who could blame Willie Randolph. 

Then down 2 games to 1 the Mets roled the dice and sent Oliver Perez to the mound in hopes of him pitching a gem.  Was the starting pitching good enough to win in game 4?  On this night, yes, because the Mets bats finally exploded and scored 12 runs.  Perez pitched tough, not stellar, but with a lot of poise and guts.  He went after hitters and was not intimidated.  At times he looked like he would start to cruise but then he would give up a run here and there.  He gave up five runs in all including three solo home runs.  But by the time he gave up two solo shots in the sixth it didn’t matter since the Mets had scored 11 runs by then. 

Now on three days rest and weather permitting Tom Glavine will try and get the Mets a one game lead before heading home.  He has pitched two great games for the Mets so far in the post season.  With last night’s win the Mets insured that the NLCS will be decided at Shea Stadium regardless of who wins.  It really comes down to a best of three with the Mets having the home field advantage.  Certainly the Mets would love to win tonight in St. Louis then the Cardinals would have to win both at Shea.  Heavy rain is predicted and could force game 5 to tomorrow.  While that would benefit Glavine giving him an extra day of rest, the Cardinals also would benefit by being able to pitch Carpenter instead of Weaver.   

The Mets could easily be up 3 games to 1 if they could have held on in game 2 Friday night.  You have to feel that game 3 was in the Cardinals hands because Jeff Suppan pitched wonderfully but I would have loved to see what the Mets hitters might have been able to do if Trachsel could have kept his team in the game.  Never the less, with last night’s win the Mets now know the series has to return to New York and that has to remove some of the pressure off of them while placing some on the Cardinals.  Game 5 is a crucial game and once again it will be decided on who has the better starting pitching.  The Mets have their ace ready to go.

Extra Innings:  I find Fox’s telecast absolutely abhorrent.  I am so tired of fan reaction shots, over the top graphics, statistics, and sound effects.  Could you please just show us the game?  The broadcasters are okay, McCarver is obviously well known to us for all the years he did Mets games but unlike Bob Murphy, McCarver has become a bit tiresome and predictable.  And that pre and post game show on Fox is awful.  It’s really a shame that SNY can’t telecast the game too.  In the next TV deal I wish the powers that be could work it out so that the teams in the playoffs can carry the games as well as the National broadcast. 

Here’s my solution.  I listen to the Mets broadcasters on the radio while watching the game on Fox.  There is no comparison when listening to Howie, Tom, and Gary.  Now you might notice that the radio is a bit ahead of the video but here’s what you can do.  Most cable boxes now of days are descramblers.  It takes a second of two for the conversion to occur and that is what causes the delay.  Try connecting the video cable directly to the TV and use your TV’s tuner to watch the game which of course is on channel 5 in the New York area.  I discovered that there is no delay when configured this way. 

This is the anniversary of the first Mets World Series title. On October 16, 1969 the Mets defeated the Baltimore Orioles by a score 5-3.  It was the Mets fourth straight win after losing the first game.  Left fielder Cleon Jones knelt down after catching a fly ball off of the bat of Davey Johnson who ironically would manage the Mets to their next world championship 17 years later.