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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A wild rookie pitcher, a big error by a sure-handed first baseman -- and now the New York Mets are heading home with a chance to lock up their half of a Subway Series.
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Game 2 at a glance
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Every game a hero
After Robin Ventura reached on Will Clark's error leading off the ninth, Jay Payton singled in pinch-runner Joe McEwing with a line drive to center. It was Payton's second game-winning hit of the playoffs and New York's third playoff win in its final at-bat this postseason.
Key move
How to get Mark McGwire in the game? In the bottom of the eighth, the Cardinals had runners at first and third with one out, down 5-3, with Shawon Dunston at the plate. La Russa let Dunston hit. A run scored on a wild pitch to make 5-4. Dunston grounded out. La Russa then used Placido Polanco and J.D. Drew to both hit for Ray Lankford. Drew's double tied the game. The pitcher's spot came up with Drew on second, and McGwire was now sent to the plate. But with first base open he was intentionally walked and Craig Paquette ended the inning.
Key number
Five pitches to the backstop in the top of the first inning by Rick Ankiel. The 21-year-old rookie once again had no clue where home plate was. He got just two outs, threw two wild pitches, walked three and put the Cardinals in a 2-0 hole for the second straight game.
ESPN analysis
Edgardo Alfonzo might be the MVP of these playoffs so far. No one on the Mets has been more clutch. He comes up in desperate situations and you almost assume he's going to get big hits. Tonight, he came up in the eighth with two outs and hit the ball exactly where it needed to be to get Timo Perez around. Every night it seems Fonzie comes up big.
The Cardinals are on life support. Losing the first two at home has put them in a hole that's just about impossible to climb out of.
-- Brian McRae
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With Rick Ankiel out of control, zinging the first pitch of the game to the backstop, the Mets took control of the NL championship
series.
Jay Payton hit an RBI single in the ninth inning and New York beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-5 Thursday night for a 2-0 lead.
The Mets won their team-record fifth in a row in the postseason, with three of the victories coming in their final at-bat.
"It's amazing, but we keep coming back," Mets pitcher Al Leiter said. "That's kind of been the way we're playing, very resilient."
An error by first baseman Will Clark on Robin Ventura's two-hop
grounder set up Benny Agbayani's first sacrifice bunt of the season. Payton followed with a single off losing pitcher Mike Timlin.
"It's a shame. I misplayed a ball and it caused us to lose the game," Clark said.
Clark's mistake did not rival Bill Buckner's error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, but the result was the same: Mets win.
New York returns to Shea Stadium for Game 3 Saturday, sending Rick Reed to pitch against Andy Benes.
The Mets' victory also kept them on track for a Subway Series, meaning they might not have to leave New York for the rest of the year. The Yankees and Seattle are tied at one game each in the ALCS.
"I don't care if I go 0-for-10. As long as we win the game, it's no big deal to me," said Payton, whose 10th-inning single won Game 2 of the division series at San Francisco.
Turk Wendell wound up with the win and Armando Benitez pitched
the ninth for a save in a game that lasted one minute short of four hours. Leiter got a no-decision, leaving him winless in nine postseason starts.
Ankiel made it difficult from the start, hitting the backstop with five of his first 20 pitches. His first one was 91 mph fastball that was so wild it drew gasps from the crowd.
"It's unfortunate. I feel like I let this team down," Ankiel said.
Said the Mets' Edgardo Alfonzo: "It was scary."
It was the same kind of meltdown that saw the 21-year-old lefty throw a record five wild pitches in an inning last week in Game 1 against Atlanta.
"Before anybody starts kicking Rick around, I think the blame is on me for putting him out there," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.
Timo Perez's mad dash around the bases helped New York take a two-run lead in the eighth.
The Mets' late-season sparkplug singled with two outs, took off
on Matt Morris' full-count pitch and hustled home when Alfonzo hit a soft single into the no man's land of shallow right-center field.
Todd Zeile greeted reliever Dave Veres with an RBI single for a 5-3 lead.
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Comeback kids
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Over the last two years in the postseason, the Mets have pulled out seven victories in their last at-bat. Below is a rundown of each of those games:
Game 1 of the 1999 Division Series vs. Arizona
Score four runs in the top of the ninth inning and go on to an 8-4 win.
Game 4 of the 1999 Division Series vs. Arizona
Todd Pratt's walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the 10th wins the game and the series 4-3.
Game 4 of the 1999 NLCS vs. Atlanta
John Olerud's two-run single in the bottom of the eighth allows the Mets to overcome a one-run deficit and win 3-2
Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS vs. Atlanta
Score two runs in the bottom of the 15th inning, the last of which came in on Robin Ventura's grand single, in a come-from-behind 4-3 victory.
Game 2 of the 2000 Division Series vs. San Francisco
Jay Payton's RBI single in the top of the 10th plates the game-winner as the Mets overcome J.T. Snow's game-tying three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to win 5-4.
Game 3 of the 2000 Division Series vs. San Francisco
Benny Agbayani ends a five-plus hour marathon with the game-winning home run in the bottom of the 13th, propelling the Mets to a 3-2 win.
Game 2 of the 2000 NLCS vs. St. Louis
Jay Payton snaps a 5-5 tie with a run-scoring single in the top of the ninth as the Mets outlast the Cardinals 6-5.
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The Cardinals came back to tie it in the bottom half, with a run
scoring on John Franco's wild pitch and another on pinch-hitter J.D. Drew's double. After pinch-hitter Mark McGwire was
intentionally walked, Wendell struck out Craig Paquette to end the inning.
Bad omens abounded for Ankiel, even before he took the mound. There was a full moon above the ballpark and former St. Louis star shortstop Ozzie Smith bounced the ceremonial first pitch.
Ankiel was officially charged with only two wild pitches. All of his crazy tosses, however, came in the same place -- the spot that would be high-and-away to a right-handed hitter.
Ankiel was mercifully pulled after getting only two outs in the first inning. He seemed to be biting his lip as he walked off to sympathetic applause.
Mike Piazza hit his third career postseason homer, a solo shot off rookie Britt Reames that put the Mets ahead 3-1 in the third.
In the fifth, the Cardinals came back to tie it behind Edgar Renteria's hitting and Ankiel's cheerleading.
Renteria, who had three hits and stole three bases, got it going
by grounding an RBI double into the left-field corner. Ankiel led
the shouting in the dugout, pumping his fist for emphasis.
Renteria stole third and stayed there when Jim Edmonds hit a shallow fly ball, but Fernando Tatis delivered a double that made
it 3-all and further revved up the red-clad faithful.
The Mets barely had to swing to score twice in the first against Ankiel.
After Ankiel winged his first pitch, he came back to strike out a looking Perez. Any thought that Ankiel was merely effectively wild ended quickly.
Ankiel threw two more pitches to the backstop while facing Alfonzo, and walked him. At that point, second baseman Fernando
Vina trotted to the mound for a brief chat.
When Ankiel let loose with a wild pitch on next offering to Piazza, a cluster of Cardinals visited the rattled rookie. It didn't help, as Ankiel went on to walk Piazza with another wild
pitch on a 3-2 count.
At that point, pitching coach Dave Duncan walked out to talk to Ankiel and, after ball one to Zeile, La Russa called the bullpen to get Reames warmed up in a hurry.
"It's a mystery," Zeile said. "Obviously, he's got something in his mind."
Zeile eventually hit a sacrifice fly and after Ventura walked on four pitches, Ankiel got his fourth visit of the inning, this one from Clark.
"I had to tell him, 'You know, that backstop is not a pitch-back,'" Clark said.
When Agbayani followed with an RBI double, it was painfully apparent that this was not Ankiel's day, either. Duncan made his way out and removed Ankiel.
Game notes
Bordick entered in the bottom of the eighth at shortstop.
... Tatis finished the season in a 3-for-36 slump and did not play
in the division series. ... The Mets' 26-inning scoreless streak,
which ended in Game 1, tied the 1991 Pirates for the fourth-longest
in postseason history. ... The sellout crowd of 52,250 included Republican vice presidential nominee Dick Cheney, who spent the day campaigning in the Midwest. "I just wanted to come and watch the ballgame," he said.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
NY Mets Clubhouse
St. Louis Clubhouse
Klapisch: Mets can start to taste World Series
Stark: Ankiel's house of horrors
Stark: Finding a spot for Big Mac
Cards' uncharacteristic errors proving costly in NLCS
Phillips, La Russa exchange words
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Mets players and coaches answer questions after their Game 2 win.
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 Edgardo Alfonzo talks to ESPN's Jeremy Schaap.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Jay Payton is proud of his team's effort in Game 2.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Will Clark knows there is a limit to his patience in the postseason.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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