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The Big Wait McGwire gets in the game, just in time to walk
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Big Mac is still waiting for his big chance. Meanwhile, his replacement at first base put the Cardinals in a big hole. In Game 1, St. Louis couldn't hit. In Game 2, the Cardinals couldn't field when it counted. First, Will Clark booted a leadoff grounder in the ninth. Then Jim Edmonds, a former Gold Glove center fielder, blew a chance for a play at the plate that could have stopped the go-ahead run. "It's a shame. I misplayed a ball and caused us to lose a game," Clark said after the Cardinals lost to the New York Mets 6-5 Thursday night, falling behind 2-0 in the NL Championship Series. Just after the Cardinals rallied with two runs in the eighth, Robin Ventura led off the ninth with a sharp grounder to first. Clark appeared to think the ball would take a higher hop, and it stayed low, kicking off his foot high into the air. "I was expecting the ball to come up and it didn't," he said. "I didn't get a glove on it. It got me on the shoe. Basically, your routine boot." Ventura advanced on Benny Agbayani's first sacrifice of the year and, after former Cardinal supersub Joe McEwing came in as a pinch runner, Jay Payton singled softly to center off Mike Timlin. Edmonds, a Gold Glove as recently at 1998 with Anaheim, tried to make a quick throw, and the ball popped off his glove and bounded high above his head. McEwing scored without a play and Payton went all the way to third. "With Jimmy's arm, that guy's not going to score," Timlin said. "Nine times out of 10, he throws him out at the plate. The ball just got by him. I guess the ball just bounced that way." As for McGwire, when he finally got to bat in Game 2 of the NLCS, first base was open, and the New York Mets walked the game's most feared slugger. "He was hot a couple times," manager Tony La Russa said. "I just couldn't get him that spot that would max him out." McGwire, limited to one at-bat per game by patella tendinitis in his right knee, didn't get into Wednesday night's series opener, a 6-2 Cardinals' loss. In Game 2, McGwire got ready to hit three times, then finally walked up to the plate after pinch-hitter J.D. Drew tied the game at 5 with an RBI double in the eighth. The sellout crowd of 52,250 rose to its feet when McGwire stepped to the on-deck circle. But after the walk came the letdown. "It's not frustrating at all," McGwire said. "If you know the game of baseball, you take what's given you. I've only been saying this for about 14 years." McGwire, who cannot run without pain, was replaced at first by pinch-runner Darryl Kile. Craig Paquette then struck out, ending the inning with the score still tied. "I was yelling at J.D. to stop at first," La Russa said. "Once he got to second, it's Mac and (Rick) Wilkins. So it came down to Paquette with a chance to put us ahead, and it's a shame." The Mets retook the lead in the ninth, and the Cardinals couldn't come back again. "This was a great game," McGwire said. "I don't have any problem with the way things happened. That's just the way it worked out."
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