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Game 5 Hampton, Mets positioned for pennant
FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- The New York Mets look to wrap up their first National League pennant in 14 years tonight as they host the St. Louis Cardinals in Game Five of the NL Championship Series. New York erased a two-run deficit by opening the bottom of the first inning with four straight doubles and scored seven times over the first two frames en route to a wild 10-6 triumph over St. Louis Sunday to take a three games to one lead in the series. A win tonight will give the Mets their fourth World Series berth and first since 1986 when they defeated the Boston Red Sox in an epic seven-game Series that featured the memorable Bill Buckner error. The Mets upset Baltimore in 1969 before falling to Oakland four years later. St. Louis, which drew within a game of evening the series with a 8-2 rout on Saturday, jumped out to a quick 2-0 Sunday on Jim Edmonds' two-run homer. But 20-game winner Darryl Kile, pitching on only three days rest, was tagged for seven runs and eight hits over three-plus innings. He remains slated to start a Game Seven, if neccesary. New York catcher Mike Piazza doubled and scored in the pivotal first inning, belted a long home run in the fourth on Sunday and is batting .462 (6-for-13) with two homers and four RBI in the NLCS. The Cardinals are trying to become the first team in NLCS history to win a best-of-seven series after losing the first two games at home. New York's Mike Hampton (1-1, 3.65 ERA) pitches for the Mets tonight and will be looking to defeat St. Louis for the second time in the series. He pitched well in helping the Mets to a 6-2 victory in Game One as he scattered six hits while striking out four in seven innings. After trading for Hampton in the offseason, the Mets never truly saw the pitcher that won 22 games for the Houston Astros in 1999. The 28-year-old lefthander pitched much better than his 15-10 record, but suffered New York's only loss in the Division Series matchup with San Francisco. "I was satisfied with the way things went but (Monday) will be a new ballgame," Hampton said. "I'll start at ground zero in the first inning. They can come out and have a different approach, or come out with the same approach. It's always a battle out there, but whoever's on will win." Hampton went 1-1 against St. Louis during the regular season and, including Wednesday's win, is 9-6 lifetime against the Cardinals. Pat Hentgen (NR) will be making his postseason debut for St. Louis. He is starting in the place of Garrett Stephenson, who injured his elbow during the Cardinals' ALDS series with the Braves. Hentgen was hammered in his last two starts of the regular season, allowing 11 runs and 16 hits in nine innings during losses to the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati. The 1996 American League Cy Young Award winner went 15-12 with a 4.72 ERA in his first season with St. Louis. "I struggled with my location," Hentgen said of his finish. "The second-from-last start, actually I was winning 5-2 going into the sixth and gave up four in the sixth, so it wasn't bad through five. Unfortunately, they're nine-inning games, not five." The veteran righthander made two starts for Toronto during the 1993 postseason, going 1-1 with a 7.00 ERA. He lost to the Chicago White Sox in Game Three of the ALCS before defeating Philadelphia in Game Three of the World Series. Hentgen has struggled against New York during his career, going 0-4 with a 5.79 ERA over five appearances. He made two starts against the Mets this season, losing one while allowing five runs and 10 hits with nine walks in 12 innings.
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