NY Mets at LA Dodgers 8:05 pm EDT National League Division Series Mets lead, 2-0
LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Despite losing two of their top starting pitchers to injuries, the New York Mets are cruising through the first round of the playoffs.
Steve Trachsel takes the hill for the Mets as they look for a sweep against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game Three of the National League Division Series on Saturday.
With Pedro Martinez unavailable because of upcoming rotator cuff surgery and Orlando Hernandez sidelined with a calf injury, New York turned to a young pitcher and old veteran in the first two games of the series.
In Thursday's Game Two, Tom Glavine pitched six scoreless innings and combined with three relievers on a five-hitter, following up a solid outing by John Maine on Wednesday. Jose Reyes drove in a pair of runs as the Mets defeated the Dodgers, 4-1, to take a two-games-to-none lead.
Glavine allowed just four hits with two walks and two strikeouts, working out of jams in the fourth and fifth. It was the first postseason appearance for the two-time Cy Young Award winner since 2002 when he was with the Atlanta Braves.
Pedro Feliciano pitched the seventh, Aaron Heilman allowed a home run to Wilson Betemit in the eighth and Billy Wagner worked a perfect ninth for his second save of the playoffs.
To make matters worse for Los Angeles, it will be without one of its best hitters as Nomar Garciaparra is sidelined with a torn left quadriceps. The former All-Star re-aggravated an injury from earlier in the season Thursday and will not start Game Three, but will be available to pinch hit, according to manager Grady Little.
"Nomar did go for an MRI this morning and there is a tear in his upper quad," Little said. "And he'll be very limited for the rest of this series. But he will be able to pinch hit, but the running part of it is very limited."
Trachsel (15-8, 4.97 ERA), who was on the mound when the Mets clinched the NL East Division title, will be called upon to close out a playoff series. He has struggled in the second half, going 7-4 with a 5.40 ERA in 13 starts after the All-Star break.
"I'm very excited," Trachsel said. "I've waited a long time for this. I'm trying not to approach it and make it a bigger event than ... it's still another ballgame, I prepare the same. The effort and all that is going to be the same.
"So the key is obviously going to be keeping emotions in check and once I'm able to do that then I should be able to continue to give our team a chance to win, like I've done all season."
He did not pitch well in his only start against the Dodgers this season, allowing four runs and five hits in 2 2/3 innings in a 9-1 loss on September 10.
He will be opposed by Greg Maddux (15-14, 4.20), who has gone 6-3 with a 3.30 ERA in 12 starts since being acquired from the Chicago Cubs at the July 31 trade deadline.
"They look to me like they were doing the same things that they were doing when we played them a month ago and when I was with the Cubs when we played them twice with the Cubs," Maddux said. "And they're just very good team, very veteran team, very disciplined. So I think you just have to have a good game plan and you got to throw good pitches."
In his only start against the Mets in a Dodger uniform, the four-time
