I’ll be honest with you, I was really worried here. The Cardinals had their ace, and the Mets had John Maine, who appears to have a bright future but who I thought might be over his head. I guess this is why they play the games.
Maine was nothing short of phenomonal. He threw 5 1/3 shutout innings and allowed the Mets to take a lead with their two early runs. Then the National League’s best bullpen did the job at least until the ninth inning when Billy Wagner gave everyone a scare by giving up two runs. Fortunately the Mets had four by then and the two runs the Cardinals scored only got them half way.
Jose Reyes gave the Mets a very early run when he led off the game for the Mets with a homerun. Shawn Green singled home Carlos Beltran in the fourth inning and then Paul Lo Duca came through huge with a two run single in the seventh inning.
Now, it’s all up to Oliver Perez. I can’t believe I just wrote that. Jeff Suppan throws for the Cardinals. It’s win or go home time.
