Results tagged “nationalleaguechampionshipseries”

For a team used to making miracles, conjuring up a disaster had an especially bitter taste. With a sloppily played 8-1 loss to Florida and the Phillies' 6-1 win against the Nationals, the Mets' season ended about a month too early. The loss capped an agonizing stretch of two and a half weeks in which the Mets played some of the worst teams in the National League and still played their worst baseball of the season.

• Mets 2, Cardinals 1 (11 innings): No matter how many times the Mets beat the Cardinals in the regular season, the sting from last year's loss in the National League Championship Series won't disappear until New York takes a pennant. Going 4-0 in their first four games against the Cardinals this season doesn't hurt, though. Shawn Green hit a 3-2 pitch off the scoreboard in right field to give the Mets a walk-off win. The Cardinals won the World Series last year, but the Mets can take solace in not hitting someone like Scott Spiezio in the cleanup spot. Jorge Sosa and the Mets bullpen combined to shut down the Cardinals lineup, which consisted of Albert Pujols and not much else.
• Staten Island 7, Hudson Valley 3: Luis Nunez went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and the Baby Bombers scored in every inning from the second through the sixth.
• Brooklyn 5, Aberdeen 4: Down a run entering the eighth, the Cyclones rallied when Will Vogl singled in the tying run and scored the go-ahead one at home. David Koons threw three innings of one-run ball for the win in relief.

With his teammates and fans crossing their fingers, John Maine held the Cardinals scoreless over 5 1/3 innings, and the Mets bats scratched their way to a 4-2 win over St. Louis on Wednesday. The win forces a deciding seventh game in the National League Championship Series on Thursday.

Mother Nature didn't agree with the scheduled off-days in this year's National League Championship Series. Monday's rainout was the second of the series, and the Mets will stay in St. Louis to play Game 5 against the Cardinals today instead of being back in New York. The more recent postponement removes the imbalance the first created -- the starting pitchers will be working on normal rest instead of three days' worth. Early speculation that Chris Carpenter would be moved up to start today's game was ruled out by Tony La Russa.

Given the pitching matchup entering Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, Sunday's high-scoring affair should come as no surprise. With a slugfest win over the Cardinals, the Mets tied the series at two games apiece before Monday's Game 5. They can thank Carlos Delgado, who hit a three-run homer in the fifth to snap a 2-2 tie before adding two-run double during a six-run sixth inning.

Steve Trachsel's 15 wins during the regular season didn't help him Saturday. The luck that gave him that total despite a 4.97 ERA abandoned him. The righty gave up five runs without getting an out in the second inning, and his Mets trail the Cardinals two games to one in this best-of-seven National League Championship Series.

Tom Glavine twirled six shutout innings and the Mets' offense patiently worked over the Dodgers' pitchers in a 4-1 victory that gave them a 2-0 lead in the three-of-five National League Division Series. The Dodgers have to think they lost this series when they had two players tagged out at home plate in the second inning of Game 1. If they didn't, they could have lost it with offensive impotence against Glavine, who showed that the Mets made the right move in holding him back until Game 2 before starting him.