Thursday, October 19, 2006

Superstitious or not, Friday the 13th was bad luck for the New York Mets.
Their late collapse in Game 2 gave the St. Louis Cardinals a 9-6 win and
guaranteed that the NLCS would go at least five games, a scenario New York
was hoping to avoid. Manager Willie Randolph now has no choice but to hand
the ball for tonight's Game 5 to veteran Tom Glavine, who also started Game
1 of the series. The 40-year-old left-hander will pitch on only three days
rest because of last Tuesday`s rainout. MLB officials were subsequently
forced to schedule games on five straight days. Glavine has been outstanding
in his last three starts stemming back to the regular season. He`s pitched
19 consecutive scoreless innings and allowed only 11 hits over that span.
Glavine is the crutch propping up the Mets` rotation after they lost Pedro
Martinez and Orlando Hernandez prior to the postseason. "He`s done that for
us all year," Randolph told reporters. "Tommy wants the ball in a big spot,
and as far as I`m concerned, you always feel real confident when you give
him the ball." Sportsbooks echo Randolph`s confidence in Glavine as they
prepare to set the line for Monday's Game 5. Oddsmakers are looking at
pitchers' playoff performances so far as the biggest factor for any moves in
favor of the Mets. "Rest won`t really come into play for this line as
Glavine looks at the top of his game thus far in the playoffs," say
bookmakers for Bodog.com. "Although he's older than the rest of the bullpen,
it`s also important to remember a lot of veterans have experience deep in
the playoffs and that is often more of an edge than the fatigue that
everyone is experiencing." Glavine has made 34 postseason appearances for a
record of 14-15 with a career playoff ERA of 3.23, but he struggled in his
last postseason start on limited rest. Glavine allowed seven earned runs in
less than three innings for the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the 2002 NLDS
against the San Francisco Giants.

"I`ll worry about this game," Glavine said before Game 1, "and worry about
Game 5 if and when I get into that situation and make whatever adjustments I
have to make. I`ve done it before. I know what to expect. I know how to
prepare for that next start."

New York may need another lengthy performance from their newly-appointed ace
after the Mets` bullpen showed signs of fatigue in Game 2. Their relievers
gave up five earned runs, including three off usually 'lights-out' closer
Billy Wagner.

"This is more the collapse of Wagner than the bullpen for the Mets," say
Bodog.com's bookmakers. "Although (Guillermo) Mota gave up two runs, the
Mets were still holding a 6-5 lead before Wagner stepped onto the mound.
This was especially out of character for Wagner, so don`t expect a trend out
of this."

Wagner allowed a home run, two doubles and a single in the ninth leading to
the Mets` sticky situation for Game 5. Wagner told reporters he felt
confident with his pitches but it seemed that the Cardinals batters just hit
everything.

With questions surrounding his bullpen and the thinning rotation, Glavine is
facing a situation that he has never seen in his long 20-year major league
career.

"I`ve never had a postseason where I haven`t been surrounded by a pitching
staff with three or four guys who could be a number one starter," Glavine
told Newsday. "But it doesn`t change the way I go about things. My game is
my game and that doesn`t change because I don`t have Pedro or Orlando
[Hernandez], or Maddux or Smoltz for that matter."