And so it’s come to this: the least of New York’s pitching (pick an Oliver, Perez or Darren) against St. Louis’ most aggressively average (Jeff Suppan). Home teams have a substantial edge in Game 7’s, but I attended the Game 7 at Wrigley between the Cubs and Marlins, so you know, anything’s possible.
Give the Mets credit; they sent rookie John Maine out to battle Chris Carpenter, arguably the best pitcher in the National League, and came out on the winning end. In fact, the Mets won both games that Carpenter started in this series, a most impressive feat. Jose Reyes leading off the game with a home run was a good start.
The Tigers have to be loving this, watching both teams exhaust their pitching staffs like that. Then again, could the lengthy break make the Tigers pitchers rusty? Personally, I’ve never bought into that idea. There is no way extra rest at the end of the playoffs could hurt anyone, especially pitchers who are almost out of gas.
Everyone thought this was New York’s year. The only thing the Mets are hoping for is that tonight is their night.
