MIRACLE WIN IN ST. LOUIS

All Manager Jerry Manuel wanted from Oliver Perez was for him to pitch better than he did against the Cardinals in spring training, and to last six or seven innings with the Mets in a close game. It was not an extravagant request, even for Perez, a mercurial left-hander, and he did everything Manuel asked. He went six and a third strong innings, gave up only one run — which scored after he left the game — on four hits, and he dominated the best hitter in the game. But while sitting in the dugout, Perez watched as the depleted Mets bullpen obliterated all his good work. With Pedro Feliciano out with a stomach ailment, Manuel called on Raul Valdes, a 32-year-old Cuban rookie left-hander, at the most critical juncture of the game. “If Feliciano is not available, you go with what you think is the right move,” Manuel said. Valdes did not get the out his team so desperately needed. Instead, he gave up a grand slam to Felipe Lopez, and the result was another demoralizing loss for the Mets, this one a 4-3 decision at the hands of the Cardinals, who took the first game of this series behind the power of Lopez, not Albert Pujols. But Valdes was not the only reliever who failed. When Perez left the game in the seventh inning, there was a runner at second base with one out after David Freese’s infield single and a sacrifice bunt. But reliever Fernando Nieve hit one batter in the foot after he had gone up 0-2 against him, and he walked pinch-hitter Matt Holliday. So, with the bases loaded, the game on the line and Feliciano ill in the clubhouse, Manuel chose Valdes because he felt that with Lopez batting right-handed, the Mets had a better chance of getting a double-play ball. His other choice would have been Hisanori Takahashi. “I was in the clubhouse and they said on TV it was me warming up,” Feliciano said. “I was laughing. I wish it would be me. Tomorrow.” Lopez had four career grand slams coming into the game, the last coming against the Mets on April 24, 2008. That statistic had to be updated after Valdes hung a breaking ball that Lopez drilled into the Mets’ bullpen beyond the left-field wall as the Cardinals seized a 4-1 lead. “I was trying to get the ball in,” Valdes said through catcher Rod Barajas, who interpreted for him. “The ball stayed elevated and that’s what happened.” The Mets scored twice in the ninth inning against closer Ryan Franklin, but with the potential tying run on second with two outs, Luis Castillo grounded out to short to end the game. Jeff Francoeur led off the inning with a single to left, and went to third on Gary Matthews Jr.’s double to right. Francoeur scored on Frank Catalanotto’s pinch-hit single, and Matthews scored on Jose Reyes’s groundout. The Mets also had runners on first and second with one out in the eighth after David Wright’s double, but Jason Bay struck out for the second time in the game and the 14th time this season, and Fernando Tatis’s line drive was snared by a diving Freese. For the Mets, the game was a wasted opportunity considering how well they handled Pujols, who did not have a hit. Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter earned the win, allowing only one unearned run in seven innings of work. He struck out 10. Perez was nearly as good, using his off-speed pitches to great effect and never falling into patterns, Barajas said. Most impressive, Perez held Pujols hitless and struck him out on three pitches in the sixth inning. “I’ve played against Albert about 40 or 50 times,” Francoeur said, “and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look as confused as he did tonight.” Already in possession of the last two National League Most Valuable Player awards, Pujols is playing as if he wants his fourth over all. He went into Friday’s game with a .400 batting average, and had 5 home runs among his 14 hits. Before the game, Manuel described how the Mets would pitch to Pujols. “Very carefully,” Manuel said. “He’s probably right now the best hitter in the game, so we have to hopefully not get in a situation where he has a chance to beat you.” He never did, but Lopez came through in his opportunity, and that was the difference. (NY Times)