PEDRO Martinez and Orlando Hernandez went down, but the Mets didn’t in the first round because their bullpen is even deeper than the puddles last night at Shea.
Fearless Willie Randolph didn’t shorten his hook, yanking John Maine and Steve Trachsel with leads before they could complete the fifth inning, ending up using his relievers for exactly the same amount of innings as his starters in the series.
The Mets turned out the Dodgers’ lights in three, not a bad idea when you got two starters out, and even your best set-up guy, Duaner Sanchez, out, too.
Extra games mean additional innings, which is not a good thing when you are trying to win three rounds, not just one.
So last night’s rainout, forcing the Mets and Cardinals to play on five straight days, was not an especially good thing, unless of course, you consider the Cardinals, who could afford the postponement less than the Mets could.
The Cardinals will be without Mark Mulder and Jason Isringhausen for the entire series, and may be without reigning Cy Young Winner Chris Carpenter until Game 3. So, it would seem the Cardinals would be without hope, until, of course, they look ahead to Game 4 and see Oliver Perez as the Mets 4 starter, for lack of anybody else.
To further illustrate the CarDinals’ pitching problems, we need look no further than tonight’s possible Game 1 starter for St. Louis -Jeff Weaver.
Yes, that Jeff Weaver, last seen, or let’s just say, last noticed in these parts putting the first bullet hole in Joe Torre’s reputation for impeccable postseason judgment. Leading 2-1 in games in the 2003 World Series with Florida, and tied in Game 4, 3-3, Torre, the recipient of an unexpected scoreless inning from his demoted starter, felt frisky enough to go for a second and lost on an Alex Gonzalez home run.
That winter, the Yankees unloaded Weaver to the Dodgers for Kevin Brown.
You know how that worked out, but certainly nobody in New York figured the Yankees had given away the store, even if Weaver pitched decently for the Dodgers, going 27-24 over the nest two years before signing last winter with the Angels.
He was 3-10 when he was waived in favor of a roster spot for his brother Jared, before the desperate Cardinals picked him up. At 5-4 (5.18 ERA) he has exceeded expectation, which tells you what those expectations remain. But after beating the Padres in the postseason, here he is today, a potential Game 1 starter in the NLCS.
“I pitched against St.
Louis in the first round with L.A. a couple of years ago. I had a tough time with that start, too. So having the opportunity again, when you accomplish something that you haven’t done before, it’s just added confidence.
“[I once] went from Detroit, a small-market team to the biggest market in baseball where I went through my toughest seasons as a professional. So those experiences are something that I can always go back to, remember that I was able to get back to who I was.” Uh, that’s a guy who can hold a job, not be a frontline starter for a team looking to be a World Champion.
“These guys are men, not machines, so when they get out of whack it gets into their coconut and they start pressing and they try stuff and it just drives you nuts,” said Tony La Russa.
“He’s healthy and he’s a competitor and every time he’s out there. He’s had success and gotten more confident.” That’s quite a long statement from a manager while holding his breath. It must be of great consolation to La Russa that he can look into the Mets dugout and know Randolph is doing the same thing. The Mets have the deeper bullpen and should win, but if the Cardinals get it to Game 7, they will have Carpenter on full rest.
Of course, Randolph could always come back with a short-rested Tom Glavine and his bullpen.
Just wonder what his bullpen is going to look like by then.