October 18, 2006
Cardinals in the Ninth
The Mets failed to score in the bottom of the eighth. The Cardinals have three outs to score four runs and send Encarnacion, Rolen and Belliard to the plate in the ninth.
Update: Wagner starts the ninth for the Mets. It's not a save situation so he could implode.
Update: Encarnacion singles to right-center to start the ninth.
Update: Rolen doubles off the wall in left. The Cardinals have runners at 2nd and 3rd with none out.
Update: Belliard grounds to third. Wright holds the runners and throws out Ronnie. Molina is up.
Update: Molina hits the first pitch to shallow center where Beltran catches it. Encarnacion can't advance from third. Taguchi pinch hits.
Update: Taguchi does it again as he rips a double down the leftfield line. That makes the score 4-2 and brings the tying run to the plate.
Update: Wagner falls behind Eckstein 2-0. But he gets David to ground to second base to end the game and force a game 7. I can't wait. It's a fun series so far.
5 Reasons Cardinals Will Win Game 7
(1) Jeff Suppan shut them down in Game 3, and other than Game 4, the Mets' bats haven't been all that impressive.
(2) Oliver Perez or Darren Oliver cannot be expected to pitch well. Come on.
(3) Less pressure on them being the underdogs and all. The Mets will be nervous that their magical season might go up in flames, while having gotten this far is already amazing for the Cards.
(4) Mets middle inning relievers will be tired from all their work these last few days.
(5) Better defensive and better fundamental team.
5 Reasons Mets will Win Game 7
(1) Home field advantage has been huge historically.
(2) Cardinals have only one hitter who scares you - Pujols. The Mets have three - Beltran, Delgado, and even Reyes.
(3) If they can beat Carpenter, they can easily beat Suppan, who is clearly not as good as the '05 Cy Young winner.
(4) Having won Game 6, they have momentum going.
(5) The Cardinals bullpen is unreliable. Great one night, lousy the next. None of their relievers scare you.
Have you seen Suppan's splits? He had a 5.36 ERA and 1.38 WHIP (including HBP) on the road, 3.18/1.06 at home. Away from Busch, he's mediocre.
