CARDS' SUPPAN IS ACE OF DIAMOND

Cardinals 5, Mets 0 (STL leads NLCS, 2 games to 1)


Stadium organists. Stadium vendors. Sports bar owners. Opposing hitters. They all must love Steve Trachsel. The first three because he takes so long between pitches that they can all make careers out of his starts. The fourth group because he is awful.

Early on in the year, Trachsel wondered why he wasn't getting more respect from Willie Randolph, and why he's been treated the way he has - starting behind rookies, being passed over for playoff starts by the likes of John Maine. This is why, Steve. This is why. You lucked out all season with some outstanding run support, and the Mets hitters made you look so much better than you are. Now, when it counts, you didn't even give them a chance.

1+ inning. Not even 2. Not even an out in the second inning! And I'll tell you what - Randolph left you in too long. Trachsel should have been gone before the ground ball off his leg. Darren Oliver should have been brought in before the bases were loaded. Trachsel should take a lesson from Oliver - you bring your 'A' game to the post-season. (Although Oliver has had his 'A' game all season.) P.S. - I'm pretty sure Trachsel hurt his mouth biting his glove as he was being pulled from the game - he covered his mouth as though he hurt it walking off the field.

The problem here is the Mets kind of need Trachsel. They might be able to slide through the rest of the NLCS without using him again (if they win a couple more games), but if they make it to the World Series, unless El Duque comes back, they're going to need another starter - and Trachsel is it.

The Mets now need Oliver Perez to come through in their biggest game of the year - a year in which they haven't had many - if any - back-to-the-wall type games like they will in Game 4 Sunday night. The good news is that Perez faces the Cardinals' Anthony Reyes, who is untested in the playoffs himself, and might be just what the Mets bats need to wake them up.

As for Game 3, even the good went bad for the Mets. The Mets had a chance to set the tone early - in the first inning, Trachsel picked off David Eckstein (and though he wasn't called for the balk - it looked like he did balk), and that had the potential to be a huge momentum swing. Instead, Trachsel went on to give up 2 runs.

The Mets bats were silenced by Jeff Suppan, and as well as he pitched, I'm sure the early deficit sucked some of the wind out of the Mets' sails. That, coupled with the fact they were coming off a tough loss and a very late night of travel.

Trachsel left with the bases loaded, no out in the second, and Darren Oliver pitched six outstanding innings, after a wild pitch and a groundout resulted in the final St. Louis runs. The bullpen kept the Mets in the game, but (I can't believe I'm about to write this) Jeff Suppan was too much for them.

I praised him after Game 2 - but I'm starting to wonder about Shawn Green's decision-making in right field. Nothing has come of it, but I noticed two very odd things in the past couple of games. He seems to be throwing to the wrong place, missing cutoff men, and in general making bad decisions. The one that comes to mind in Game 3 is after Scott Speizio's triple (I don't fault him for missing the ball on the dive) Green threw the ball home, trying to get Pujols, when it didn't look like he had a play, and the throw allowed Speizio to go to third. (Speizio ended up stranded.) In the 9th inning of Game 2, he came up like he was going to throw home, where it looked like he had a play after a single into right, and didn't throw the ball. (Nothing came of that either.) Not sure what's going on there - I just hope it doesn't hurt the Mets at some point this post-season.

Endy Chavez continues to impress, and make you scratch your head about the Cliff Floyd roster spot. He nearly ran down Suppan's home run (oh, by the way Trachsel - a homer to Suppan!?!??! Really?), when he was playing very shallow, and nearly robbed it. He's a great outfielder - I hope he's the Mets' starting rightfielder next year.

The Cardinals' defense, meanwhile, was flawless. David Wright has yet to get a hit in the NLCS, but he was robbed a couple of times by Scott Rolen after hitting the ball hard. Rolen made a couple of defensive gems, and David Eckstein killed a possible Mets rally in the eighth inning, robbing Endy Chavez of a hit by diving to his right, then getting a force at second. Preston Wilson also gunned down Jose Valentin at second base, as he tried to stretch a single into a double.

After Game 2 I called on Steve Trachsel to lighten the load for the bullpen. It's funny (not really) that the bullpen ended up lightening the bullpen's load. Darren Oliver's outing may have been in vain in Game 3, but it could end up strengthening the bullpen in the long run. Because of Oliver, Randolph only had to use Roberto Hernandez for one inning, and had the chance to rest everyone else. The bullpen use shouldn't be an issue the rest of the series - unless Oliver Perez's outing is a disaster.

A couple of final things:

• I'm not sure if it was the FOX sound or what, but for "the greatest baseball fans in the world", the St. Louis crowd seemed awfully quiet all game. Am I the only one?
• The Mets being on the road shouldn't be an issue. Remember that in the first week of June, the Mets put together a 9-1 road trip in LA, Arizona, and Philadelphia that put them on the fast track to a dominant season. They are capable of going on a run on the road - and the most important thing for them that road trip is what will be important for them in Games 4 and 5 - getting a run in the first inning and jumping out to early leads.
• Finally, I have this sick feeling right now watching the Mets be pretty much dominated the past 11 or 12 innings. I hope the Mets have that same feeling, and go out there angry on Sunday night. Maybe they won't need a dominant outing by Perez, because they'll put up 10 runs. That's what I want.

ALCS: I should mention that the Tigers won earlier on Saturday, in dramatic fashion, advancing to the World Series. They could be waiting a very long time for their opponent. I have to say, it seems a lot different for the Tigers to be waiting all this time for a World Series opponent, than, say, the Mets after the Dodgers series. The Tigers are hot right now. The only benefit to a layoff like this is that they might get Sean Casey healthy. Other than that, it's only liable to cool off their hot pitching. If I'm a fan of the National League team who is going to face them (please, please, please be the Mets), I'm feeling OK about Detroit having a long layoff.

**FINAL, FINAL THING: I just saw David Wright's post-game comments. First of all, he was ornery - about as ornery as David Wright will get, anyway. And I like that - take that into Sunday's game. Secondly, he said it's not the end of the world - the Mets are only down 2-1. And he said no one is panicking. That's all good news. So hopefully Sunday night's posting is a recap of a win.