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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Mets made Tony La Russa pay double
for his decisions: They knocked out starter Darryl Kile, who was
pitching on short rest, and kept Mighty Mac on the bench.
New York pounded Kile with a record five doubles in a four-run
first inning and Mark McGwire didn't swing the bat for the third
time this series.
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Game 4 at a glance
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Every game a hero
Balls were jumping off the Mets' and Cardinals' bats in the early innings before New York turned to Glendon Rusch. Starter Bobby J. Jones allowed six runs in four-plus innings before Rusch came on and quieted St. Louis with three scoreless innings of middle relief for the victory.
Key move
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa chose to start ace Darryl Kile on three days' rest. The decision was disastrous. Kile, who had been 4-8 with a 6.66 ERA in his 13 appearances with three days between starts, allowed seven runs and eight hits in three-plus innings.
Key play
The Cards had shaved an 8-3 deficit to 8-6 in the fifth and were poised to chip away again with a runner on base -- and Mark McGwire looming in the on-deck circle -- in the sixth. But Todd Zeile smothered Carlos Hernandez's grounder in the hole between first and second and beat Hernandez to the bag to end the inning.
Key number
In the past two postseasons, there have been eight starts made on three days' rest. The combined record of those eight starts (by eight different pitchers): 0-5 with a 19.10 ERA. That's 46 earned runs allowed in 21 2/3 innings.
ESPN analysis
What happened to Darryl Kile in the first inning is the same thing that has happened to him all postseason. He gave up two runs in the first inning to the Braves, two runs to the Mets in Game 1 of the NLCS, and a four-spot in Game 4. Kile couldn't locate the fastball and couldn't get the curveball over. Timo Perez, Edgardo Alfonzo, Mike Piazza, Robin Ventura and Benny Agbayani all hit doubles on pitches in the middle of the plate.
To me, the crushing blow was in the second inning when Kile had a chance to steady the ship. With the bases loaded and Todd Zeile up, he threw a great curveball on the first pitch for a strike. On the second pitch he painted the outside corner with a fastball. And then for the first time in the game, he decided to go sidearm and hung a curveball in Zeile's eyes. It was a room-service pitch, and Zeile didn't miss it.
-- Dave Campbell
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That all added up to another Mets win, as New York moved within
one victory of the World Series, beating St. Louis 10-6 Sunday
night for a 3-1 lead in the NL Championship Series.
"He's the X-factor of X-factors," Mets manager Bobby Valentine
said of McGwire, who can only pinch hit because of tendinitis in
his right knee. "There were a few times he was standing there
lurking in the wings. I'm glad we kept him on the bench."
The Mets will try to end Big Mac's season and wrap up their half of
the Subway Series by winning Game 5 Monday night at Shea Stadium.
Mike Hampton starts for New York against Pat Hentgen, pitching for
the first time in 15 days.
Only eight teams have ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in a
best-of-seven series.
"We're 27 good outs away from being in the World Series," said
Glendon Rusch, who pitched three scoreless innings for the win.
La Russa hopes Hentgen's long break between starts works better
than bringing Kile back too soon. Kile, who had been 4-8 with a
6.66 ERA in his 13 appearances with three days between starts,
allowed seven runs and eight hits in three-plus innings.
"He's been so great this year. It was unusual," La Russa said.
It shouldn't have been considering Kile's own history and the
results of other pitchers going on short rest in the past two
postseasons. Nine times managers have brought starters back early --
eight times on three days' rest and once on only two -- and the
results are disastrous. The pitchers are 0-4 with a 17.51 ERA and
the teams have lost seven of the nine games.
"That has nothing to do with it," Kile said. "If you make
good pitches, it doesn't matter if you're pitching on one day's rest. I didn't make good pitches."
But because Bobby J. Jones fared little better with six days
between starts, the Cardinals stayed in the game. Jones allowed six
runs and six hits in four-plus innings before being replaced by
Rusch.
"Those are three huge innings," Valentine said. "We don't win
the game without those three innings."
St. Louis had a shot against Rusch in the sixth inning, but
first baseman Todd Zeile made a big defensive play. With Ray
Lankford on first and Mark McGwire poised on deck, Carlos Hernandez
hit a grounder into the hole between first and second. Zeile dove
and made the play and beat Hernandez to first to end the inning and
preserve the 8-6 New York lead.
"It would have made it a lot more exciting if he had not made
the play," Valentine said.
La Russa chose not to use McGwire three times that inning as the
tying run. After the Mets added a pair of unearned runs in the
bottom half -- thanks to two errors by third baseman Fernando Tatis
-- Mighty Mac never got a chance to bat, leaving him 0-for-1 with
one intentional walk in four games.
"I felt like we'd get one more guy on base and there wasn't
going to be a way to avoid him," La Russa said. "That was the
place to take the shot."
St. Louis came close in the eighth, getting two runners on
against John Franco, but Craig Paquette grounded out to end the
threat.
Edgardo Alfonzo had chided his teammates for their loose play in
Game 3. They responded in Game 4.
Mike Piazza homered, scored three runs and drove in two for the
Mets. Robin Ventura had three RBI and Zeile and Benny Agbayani
drove in two apiece. The Cardinals outhit the Mets 11-9, but seven
of New York's hits went for extra bases.
"We came out more aggressive," said Piazza, who has finally
broken his postseason struggles by going 6-for-13 with five RBI in
the series. "We were determined to get back into the ballgame."
For the fourth straight time this series, the visiting team
jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Fernando Vina led off
with a double and moved to third on a bunt. Jim Edmonds, who had
been 0-for-7 in his career off Jones, then homered, giving the
Cardinals the lead four pitches into the game.
Kile gave it back, and more, in just nine pitches in a
record-setting inning for the Mets. Sparkplug Timo Perez led off
with a double and scored when Alfonzo grounded a double down the
first-base line.
Alfonzo could only make it to third when Piazza lined a double
over right-fielder J.D. Drew's head. Ventura put the Mets ahead 3-2
on New York's fourth straight double. Agbayani scored Ventura with
a two-out double -- the Mets' record fifth on the inning. No team in
LCS play had ever had more than four extra-base hits in an inning.
"We had good success getting to him early," Zeile said. "It
seemed like the balls he got hurt on were fastballs in counts that
he had to come in on."
As the Mets took the field, the scoreboard showed that Seattle
drew within 3-2 in the ALCS with a 6-2 win over the Yankees. The
fans cheered the news, apparently not looking forward to the city's
first Subway Series since 1956.
But they were backing their team enthusiastically as the Mets
tried to make the Series for the first time since 1986.
New York wasn't done against Kile, adding three runs in the
second on a two-run double by Zeile and an RBI single by Agbayani.
Piazza's second homer of the series -- and fourth of his
postseason career -- made it 8-3 in the fourth. Will Clark had hit a
solo shot for St. Louis in the top half.
The Cardinals knocked Jones out with three runs in the fifth on
an RBI double by pinch-hitter Eric Davis, a sacrifice fly by Edgar
Renteria and an RBI single by Edmonds.
Rusch held them there, keeping up the trend of New York's
left-handers dominating St. Louis. The Cardinals have scored 18 of
their 21 runs in this series against right-handed pitchers.
Game notes
Alfonzo has hit in 10 consecutive postseason games and
Agbayani in eight straight. ... Four teams have had four extra-base
hits in an inning during the LCS, the last being Baltimore in 1997
against Cleveland. ... Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan was
ejected in the fourth inning by second base ump Steve Rippley.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
St. Louis Clubhouse
NY Mets Clubhouse
Stark: And on the fourth day he pitched badly
Klapisch: 'This thing isn't over yet'
NLCS notebook: La Russa answers critics
Stark: Will Valentine be back?
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Mike Piazza and the Mets talk about their Game 4 victory over the Cardinals.
RealVideo: | 28.8
 Glendon Rusch was focused on getting hitters out.
wav: 114 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Bobby Valentine raves about the pitching performance of Glendon Rusch.
wav: 126 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Tony La Russa hopes to get the series back to St. Louis.
wav: 67 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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