Friday, October 13, 2000
Mets 6, Cardinals 5
New York goes home with 2-0 lead in NLCS
By Chris Haft
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ST. LOUIS — The image was difficult to see at first, obscured by Rick Ankiel's misfired pitches and the sheer duration of the three-hour, 59-minute game, a nine-inning record for the National League Championship Series.
But as Thursday night concluded, the Manhattan skyline grew clearer.
The World Series, or at least half of it, seems headed for New York as the Mets won Game 2 of the NLCS, outlasting St. Louis 6-5 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“We lost two two-run leads (3-1, 5-3) and came away with a victory,” Mets manager Bobby Valentine said. “That says a lot for the heart of that baseball team.”
Of the 13 teams to take a 2-0 edge in the NLCS, only the 1984 Chicago Cubs and 1985 Los An geles Dodgers failed to reach the World Series. The Mets have not only the past on their side but also the future, since they're assured of the next three games being at home in Shea Stadium.
New York sealed its fifth consecutive postseason victory by snapping a 5-5 tie in the top of the ninth inning with an unearned run off Cardinals reliever Mike Timlin.
Robin Ventura began the inning with a sharp grounder that St. Louis first baseman Will Clark kicked for an error. Benny Agbayani sacrificed Ventura to second base, where he was replaced by pinch runner Joe McEwing.
Rookie center fielder Jay Payton, who stranded runners on second and third in the first inning and marooned a teammate on second base in the seventh, produced this time. He singled to center on Timlin's 1-2 pitch, reaching third base as Gold Glove candidate Jim Edmonds misplayed the ball for another error as McEwing scored easily.
“There's no one on the team, maybe in the league, who has more confidence in himself than Jay Payton,” Valentine said. “I know he believed, right down to his hooves, that he was the best man in that situation.”
“I stay positive,” Payton said. “If I strike out 20 times, I go up there that 21st time thinking I'm going to get the job done.”
The Cardinals were doomed to their first back-to-back Busch Stadium losses in five NLCS appearances as New York relief ace Armando Benitez, who saved a franchise-record 41 games in the regular season, pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth.
The Mets appeared to cinch a win one inning earlier by scoring twice to break a 3-3 tie. With two outs and nobody on base, Timo Perez singled off St. Louis reliever Matt Morris. Perez broke from first base and scored on Morris' 3-2 pitch to Edgardo Alfonzo, who singled.
After Morris intentionally walked Mike Piazza, Alfonzo scored as Todd Zeile singled on an 0-2 pitch from St. Louis relief ace Dave Veres.
But the Cardinals rebounded with two runs in the bottom of the inning, on a wild pitch by John Franco and pinch hitter J.D. Drew's RBI double off Turk Wendell.
Mark McGwire batted for Veres but with first base open, Wendell intentionally walked him before striking out Craig Paquette to end the inning.
New York scored twice in the first inning as Ankiel, the rookie left-hander, continued to grope for pitching control.
Ankiel, who walked six and threw five wild pitches in 2ö innings in Game 1 of the Division Series Oct.3 against Atlanta, lasted only two-thirds of an inning this time. He threw five pitches to the screen behind home plate while walking three and being charged with two wild pitches.
“He said something about not "feeling' the baseball,” Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa said. “But a manager's job is to put people in the right position to succeed. I blame myself; I don't blame Rick Ankiel.”
After Piazza's third-inning homer nullified St. Louis' second-inning run, the Cardinals tied it 3-3 in the fifth.
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Mets 6, Cardinals 5
