Mets take Game 6 behind Maine's arm
BY DAVID LENNON
Newsday Staff Writer
October 18, 2006, 11:16 PM EDT
The sellout crowd of 56,334 came to Shea Stadium to celebrate the Mets, not bury them. And with the prospect of elimination hanging over the Flushing night like an unwelcome guest at the party, it wasn't long before the Cardinals realized they weren't in St. Louis anymore.
One swing from Jose Reyes and the Mets immediately found themselves dancing last night, spurred by the unbridled enthusiasm of their kid shortstop. When Reyes blasted a leadoff home run to the base of the rightfield scoreboard, an entire stadium laughed with him, and thanks to a solid effort from John Maine, the Mets hung on for a 4-2 victory over the Cardinals in Game 6 of the NLCS.
Maine allowed only a pair of singles in 51/3 scoreless innings and struck out five to help the Mets force tonight's Game 7. The Mets will start Oliver Perez on three days' rest, backed up by Darren Oliver and an all-hands-on-deck mentality from the bullpen. The Cardinals will counter with Jeff Suppan, who pitched eight scoreless innings to beat the Mets in Game 3. "We've got heart, no doubt about it," David Wright said after last night's season-saving victory.
In addition to Reyes' homer, Shawn Green supplied an RBI single in the fourth inning and Paul Lo Duca smacked a two-run single in the seventh as the Mets beat Chris Carpenter.
There was no denying the mismatch between Maine and Carpenter, but give manager Willie Randolph credit for his unflappable demeanor. Only hours before the first pitch, Randolph was asked if he would address his team before the potential elimination game. But Randolph just smiled and then delivered the line of the afternoon. "No," the manager said. "Our travel plans for Friday are what we are going to talk about."
Randolph was referring to their itinerary for Detroit, which would mean a trip to the World Series, and now the Mets are only one win away from boarding that charter flight -- in large part because of Maine. After Randolph took the ball from him in the sixth, Maine walked off to a standing ovation, and he raised his right hand briefly to acknowledge the fans for their salute.
"The fans here, if you need that little extra momentum, they will help you out," Maine said. "They will give it to you."
Reyes brought the crowd to its feet when he put the Mets in front with the fourth leadoff home run in the team's playoff history. As soon as the applause quieted some, chants of "Jo-se, Jo-se, Jo-se" replaced it until the shortstop poked his head from the dugout and acknowledged the curtain call. "That was a shot of energy," Wright said.
After Reyes handed him the early 1-0 lead, Maine stumbled a little in the third inning. He issued a leadoff walk to David Eckstein, who stole second on a pitch that short-hopped the plate. Unfazed, Maine whiffed Scott Spiezio on an 84 mph changeup, and with the base open, intentionally walked Albert Pujols.
That took care of Pujols, and Maine went right after the next two hitters -- getting Jim Edmonds on a fly ball to right and then blowing a 91 fastball right past a swinging Juan Encarnacion for strike three.
Maine retired eight of nine until another leadoff walk, this one to Edmonds in the sixth, but he got Encarnacion on a shallow pop to left before Randolph came to retrieve him. All that was left was for Chad Bradford to finish the inning, and he did by getting the slumping Scott Rolen to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play.
The bullpen's effort was seamless until the ninth inning, when closer Billy Wagner allowed a leadoff single to Encarnacion and double to Rolen.
Wagner recovered to get the next two outs when Ronnie Belliard grounded to short and Yadier Molina flied to center, but So Taguchi ripped a two-run double into the leftfield corner. Much to the relief of the anxious crowd, Eckstein finally tapped to second to end it.
