After the Mets offense put on a show in game 4, after getting shutout in game 3 by Suppan, I remembered that me and many Mets fans were feeling very confident in this game 5 with Glavine starting (who pitched great in game 1 against the Cards and pitched great in game 1 against the Dodgers), and we were facing a vulnerable Weaver (whom the Mets offense barely hit thanks to a Beltran late inning home run in game 1). But Weaver once again pitched nicely in this game 5, like he did in game 1. Mets get Glavine a two-run-lead in the top of the fourth inning. But then Glavine gives those two runs right back in the bottom of the 4th inning. And then the Cards took the lead again in the 5th inning and never looked back. What I remembered about this game 5 also was that the Cardinals had ANOTHER TRIPLE in this NLCS. I mean, triples is one of the Mets specialties, not the slow-running-Cards. In game 2, the Cards Spiezio hit a triple off Mota (im sure we all remember that at-bat). In game 3, Spiezio had another triple. In game 4, Juan Encarnacion had a triple. In game 5, Aaron Miles had a triple. The Mets then were making a rally in the 8th inning, as they were down by 2 runs with one out and runners on second and third, but then Shawn Green hit a fly ball out that wasnt deep enough, and then Wainwright came in to face Valentin with two outs and Wainwright struck out Valentin looking on a curveball to end the inning and the rally (signs of things to come in game 7)
I always thought that Jeff Weaver had great stuff from the very moment I saw him when he started out his MLB career in 1999 in Detroit. But he could never get it together in his career. Jeff Weaver is a pitcher who should have had a better career, with Cy Young voting credentials many seasons, but it never happened. At least Weaver has this 2006 postseason to fall on.
@@cardinalsbaseballclassics I love Buck's voice. I prefer it to announcers that try to be overly funny or light. Playoffs are tense times, and I prefer him to match the importance of the moment than be overly friendly to the viewers. Same with football.
Glavine wasn't nearly as sharp as he was in the first game or the NLDS and is somewhat fortunate he extended his scoreless streak to 16 1/3 innings with all of the changeups he left up in the first couple of innings. He missed with his location and left the changeup up on the Pujols home run, but also had some bad luck on the runs he did allow. The Pujols home run didn't get out by much and he had nearly gotten Pujols to pop out on a better changeup at 52:32, but it just carried out of play. Edmonds was out in front of the 79 mph changeup at 59:32, but it was up and got through for a 2 out hit. Glavine made a good pitch with the 88 mph fastball at 1:00:30 and Belliard didn't hit it well, but it got through the right side to score Rolen. Eckstein was also jammed and barely hit it over Reyes at 1:13:44 to leadoff the 5th before Wilson drove him in with a solid double. Glavine's velocity was slightly down, but he was effective earlier in the game with fastballs inside. He jammed Encarnacion and broke his bat with an 87 mph fastball for the routine groundout at 18:32 right after McCarver said Glavine didn't jam hitters or break many at bats at 16:51. Glavine had also jammed Rolen 3 times in the first game. The 78 mph changeup that struck out Edmonds was far enough outside at 26:45, and Glavine set that up by changing speeds and pitching inside effectively before that with Edmonds missing the 86 mph fastball inside at 25:15, and just getting a piece of the 76 mph changeup inside at 26:20 after the 2 previous strikes came on fastballs inside. Right on cue, Buck mentions Glavine coming inside more at 27:51 and Glavine comes down and in with a 79 mph changeup that was in the zone at 27:59, but didn't get the call. Good job coming back from down 3-0 as Belliard fouled the 76 mph changeup off weakly at 28:41 and Glavine came back inside with an 88 mph fastball to strike out Belliard looking at 29:31 while Lo Duca threw out Rolen for a double play. Glavine also finally started getting the changeup down before that 4th inning and threw a good one to Molina at 34:27 for the groundout. The 74 mph changeup down and away to Eckstein at 36:59 was Glavine's best and he threw another one with pretty good location down and away to Eckstein for the groundout at 37:41. The curveball at 37:24 was the only one he threw all game. Glavine left a changeup up to Wilson at 51:28, but got an easy flyout to start the 4th because he had Wilson's timing off as he got him to swing and miss on a 75 mph changeup away at 50:11 and threw an 86 mph fastball by him inside at 51:08. After the Pujols home run, the changeup to even the count against Encarnacion at 54:28 was much better. Valentin delivered with the double to drive in Delgado and Green in the 4th, but with Valentin at 2nd with 1 out, they could have used a big hit by Chavez, who had a 2 out double the last time. The Mets also had an opportunity in the 1st as Beltran's single put a runner in scoring position with 1 out in front of Delgado and Wright, though the Cardinals were happy to substitute Lo Duca for Reyes on Lo Duca's force out in the 1st. They made a mistake by not sending Reyes. At 26:35, 2006 may have been Glavine's best with the Mets when you consider his postseason, his consistency, and his strikeout rate being higher than any season since 1998 and virtually identical to 1998, but it wasn't by far his best. He allowed far fewer home runs in 2005 and was lights out in the 2nd half, but his record suffered because the Met bullpen blew 4 wins for him. He also pitched very well in 2004 as the Mets hung around in the playoff race until August and was leading the league in ERA as late as around the halfway point of the season, but received no run support.
I believe Albert was just being competitive and making the point that he and the Cardinals must hit anyone at 51:37 because Glavine was excellent in Game 1 and pitched Albert tough his first 2 at bats, particularly in the first at bat when he struck him out with a changeup. The hit they show by Weaver at 1:05:08 was the most solid of the 4 singles off Glavine. It worked because Albert's home run at 53:23 was the first run allowed by Glavine after 16 1/3 scoreless innings in the postseason. Albert was at the height of his powers in 2006 before he went down for 15 games with a strained oblique in early June. He could have hit 60 home runs. I believe the Mets had the best team this year, particularly in the first half with Pedro Martinez healthy, but it's fitting that Albert won in his best year and the Cardinals added to their great history.
Tom Glavine really broke my heart in this game 5 by not being able to hold the lead and go back to Shea with a 3-2 series lead. And the Mets offense in 4 of the 7 games in this NLCS was bad, scoring zero to two runs in four of the seven games. Mets offense (and their bullpen) was what made them a power team in 2006. But both the offense and the bullpen let the Mets down in this NLCS. I doubt Pujols would have hit 60, but definitely 55 home runs had he not gotten injured. The Yankees in my opinion were the best team in all of baseball in 2006. The Mets were the best team in the NL in 2006. Mets and Yankees offense was basically a tie, and both had great bullpens, but Mariano is clutch in important games while Billy Wagner was not clutch in important games. Starting pitching for both teams was basically the same. However, if they had made the postseason by winning the NL Wild Card, I think the Phillies (with their second half surge in 2006) would have been the most dangerous team in the postseason.
