A four hit shutout by Tom Glavine, with help from middle reliever Guillermo Mota and closer Billy Wagner, and a two out, two-run homer in the sixth by Carlos Beltran, propelled the Mets to a 2-0 win over the Cardinals in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series Thursday in New York.
Glavine, making his 33rd post season start, threw 89 pitches through 7 innings, allowing Mets manager Willie Randolph to avoid going to his bullpen until the 8th. His counterpart on the St. Louis side, Jeff Weaver threw equally well through six and two-thirds innings before giving up the home run on a fastball right down the middle to Beltran, in what up until then was a scoreless pitchers duel.
Mets pitchers stymied the heart of the Cardinal batting order. Albert Pujols, Juan Encarnacion and Scott Rolen, their 3, 4 and 5 hitters, went hitless. Mets hitters got six hits total against four St. Louis pitchers.
The one sour note to the Mets victory was the possible loss of leftfielder Cliff Floyd. Floyd re-aggravated an Achilles tendon strain he suffered last Saturday in the NLDS batting in the second inning. If he is unable to play again in this series, his roster spot cannot be filled and the Mets will have to go with 24 men instead of 25. By rule, teams must submit their roster prior to the start of each post season series and stick with them. If the Mets advance to the World Series and Floyd remains injured, only then would they be able to replace him on the roster.
Because of Wednesday nights rain out, Game 2 will be Friday in New York, then Games 3, 4 and 5 if necessary, will be in St. Louis on Saturday, Sunday and Monday respectively.
After a week of off-the-field drama involving that other New York team, it is important to remember that the best New York baseball team is still playing.
Addendum
Friend, avid sports fan (writer, professor) and fellow blogger John Keenea St. Louis native and lifelong Cardinals fanhas agreed to share his thoughts on the NLCS over on his site and well cross promote. We have a gentlemens bet on this series, meaning no money will be exchanged, just a years worth of bragging rights. Unfortunately, this weekend finds him very busy. He was traveling east Thursday and missed Game 1 and may only have occasional opportunities to catch games this weekend.
John, for your sake, I hope the series isnt over before you get a chance to settle down.