Hey national media - there's much more to this Cardinals team than Pujols. But then again, what can you expect from a national sports magazine that only cares about the biggest markets...

It looks as if Pujols is finding his stroke again after a few rough at bats. If so, watch out, because Edmonds is Mr. October for the Cardinals and Spezio is just clutch. This could spell serious trouble for the overhyped Mets.

The cards had been chasing pitches for the first sixteen innings, stuff that couldn't possibly be hit, and trying for the home runs. After that Pujols at-bat, it was an entirely different team.

This is what makes baseball so great. A seemingly trivial moment that changes the game.

So he got a base hit. Big deal.

Excellent points. Pujols does have an amazing self-correcting gyroscope in his play. In the end, it is So Taguchi that St. Louisans deeply admire because of his approach to the game. No Cardinal player is as fundamentally sound in every part of the game as Taguchi. When he enters the game, he seems to know what is needed and provides it.

In St. Louis, lots of teen girls wear a shirt that reads "You're Sooo Taguchi!" whatever that means. I've seen women wearing "Mrs Taguchi" jerseys, which I'm sure pleases his wife! Pujols is and will be the story for years to come in St. Louis, but for now, Taguchi will be remembered in St. Louis long after he returns to Japan.

The media focus has rightly been on the Cards' hitting last night, but to me the story of the game was that the Cards' relievers outpitched the Mets'. If anyone said that this game would come down to the bullpen, they would have assumed a Mets victory. But the Cards' no-name relievers shut down the vaunted Mets offense in the late innings and gave their hitters a chance to break through. Josh Kinney getting Carlos Beltran to hit into an inning-ending double play in the 8th with runners at 1st and 2nd was especially key. Now the Mets' bullpen is overtaxed, and with weak and tired (Weaver and Glavine on 3 days rest)starters coming up over the next three days, the bullpen matchup seems to favor the Cards, which could well be the difference in this series.

I'm a Mets fan, but good win for the Cards ina game they had to have. On a different note, is it just me or was the home plate umpire absolutely brutal last night? He squeezed Carpenter and Maine on every pitch for the first three innings and then expanded his strike zone in the middle innings to include everthing from the ankles to the shoulders withing six inches of the plate. Watching the game I felt he caused both teams to have to go to their bullpens early.

Another key play:
Bringing in Rolen to play defense. His diving grab in the bottom of the ninth nipped a rally short and bolstered the defense that Spezie can't provide. Smart calling by Lasorda comes through again!

Home plate ump Jim Joyce was all over the place. I loved how nearly every time FOX showed their strike zone graphic, Joyce's called strikes were nowhere near the zone.

By the way...the Mets are still POND SCUM! :)

I agree that the Umpire was horrific. It seemed with every new batter, there was a new definition of the strike zone. Hats off to the Cards for not phoning it in when they went down in the score for the second time.

Does it annoy anyone else to see that goofy 'I know something you don't' smirk on Pujols when he bats?

I still think the Mets have the edge, but its shaping up to be a beasty of a series.

Early in the game both pitchers and teams were clearly annoyed by Joyce's strike zone. No one could get a call on the corner. By the sixth McCarver was describing his strike zone as "liberal". Not exactly a monument to consistency.

I think the big story is Tony LaRussa is by far a much better manager than Willie Randolph. Tony's moves paid off last night, ie Rolen's play after he was inserted.

Willie has a pitching problem, starting rotation and more importantly in the bullpen. I would imagine that So's blast may have an effect on Billy Wagner's psyche, like AP's did on Brad Lidge last NLCS.

It was really great to see the cockyness and smirks dissapear from Degado and Reyes' faces after they realized they had not went up by 2 yet!

You can't say pitches weren't strikes because they werent within the FOX indicator because the strike zone isn't just the home plate extended up--you have to give a few inches each way. You can't call yourself a fan if you don't know that.

this is a completly different team now, Billy Wagner was lights out the whole season but gave up a homerun to So Taguchi, the Mets are shaken up

GO CARDS

im not a cardinals fan but nonetheless i hate mets fans. give pujols some credit for that at bat is was great. wanna talk about overhyped? how bout willie randolph. how is he so great, i mean their was no other team in the eastern division that had the talent that the mets have (because of a high payroll)so i dont see how is really good in anyway. hes overusing his relievers and by next year all of those guys are going to be innefective despite the fact that the mets cant win this year.

Hey Luft,

Does Pujols know that you're in love with him? I think he should know. It would be a tragedy if you two did not hook up. It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. :)

This Cards team may have an edge nobody is looking at. LaRussa is the ultimate "outsmart" himself manager. When he's got all the "pieces" he does some crazy things with his bullpen and starting line-up. Right now he's got few options and he's holding his moves until they REALLY count. In that situation, Tony is about as good as they come. I still don't think the Cards have the firepower to overcome the Mets, but I think the Mets will be running on fumes if they advance and will get wiped out by the likely AL Champion Tigers.

But didn't the Cards Expect to win with Carpenter? All we have heard is what a shut-down pitcher he is... Didn't see it.

Most folks predicted Mets in 5 or 6, so there is your bone... chew on it a bit, but both teams gotta long way to go before this is over.

"Does it annoy anyone else to see that goofy 'I know something you don't' smirk on Pujols when he bats?I still think the Mets have the edge, but its shaping up to be a beasty of a series."
Well, if Pujols is annoying to you, just zap his at bats; it will be a lot of "zapping"; this series is going the distance. And, the Mets never had the edge; in my book these teams are even; all the experts forgot to compare the managers. TLR is way above Randolph. Cards in 7 games; very annoying indeed!

Any comparison of Wagner to Lights out Lidge? Let's see if Wagner holds together or if he's shaken for good.

As many big plate apperances as the Cardinals had late, none was bigger than the 4 pitch walk drawn by Edmonds in the 7th. Edmonds has a tendency to try to do too much himself. His plate discipline and faith in Spezio and his .700 career AVG in the playoffs with RISP proved to me Edmonds is clicking on all cylinders.

I believe you cannot emphasize too much the toll this game exacted from the Mets' relief corps. Essentially, in terms of pitch count the Mets pitched two entire games -- one from Maine, and one from the relievers.

And it is not just a toll in tired arms -- the more pitches the Cardinal batters see from the relievers, the better they do the next time they face them. When Eckstein went through that 13 pitch at-bat, you could almost feel him improving his timing and focus with each new pitch.

These two teams are closely enough matched that I don't believe either can dominate. As we saw in games 1 and 2 both, a few inches either way in a couple of pitches or a couple of line drives, and the outcomes might have been quite different.

I have to laugh at all the detailed analysis of the starting pitchers' performances -- couldn't find the strike zone, didn't have their stuff, etc. -- when Game 2 made it obvious to anyone previously unaware that the home plate umpire plays arguably almost as big a role in how a pitcher SEEMS to have pitched as the performance of the pitcher himself. Don't believe me? Watch any game with Tom Glavine (or Jeff Weaver, for that matter). Their success is largely predicated on the size of the strike zone allowed by the umpire. Switch the umpiring in games 1 and 2 and the first would likely have been the 9-6 game, and the second the 2-0 game, even though the pitchers stayed the same.

A seven game series always has ebbs & flows / momentum swings. A key at bat or single defensive play can carry over to the next game. After Glavine & Carpenter neither starting staff is gonna scare anybody. This series is still gonna come down a battle of the bullpens with 5 straight games. Mets have to be concerned about pitch counts and long at bats the cards are taking.

I already knew Pujols was a great player. But I've now discovered what a jerk he is. His comments about Glavine and his surly attitude to the media. Yet he gets fellated by Luft's ilk. He's pond scum!