New York – John Maine was simply Amazin’ – with a capital A.
With the New York Mets’ season at the edge of extinction Wednesday night in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series, they turned to the rookie right-hander.
With eight major-league victories on his résumé, all he did was conjure up the spirit of Hall of Famer Tom Seaver and his 311 career victories.
“Johnny, to me, is not scared,” said catcher Paul Lo Duca, who met Maine on the mound for a pregame pep talk moments before the first pitch. “He wants to be out there and I just wanted to let him know that the team wanted him out there. I told him, ‘Just do your job, and we’re going to win this game for you.”‘
Maine outpitched St. Louis Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter, allowing no runs on two hits with five strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings as the Mets held off the Cardinals 4-2. Game 7 is set for tonight, with the winner advancing to meet the Detroit Tigers in the World Series beginning Saturday night.
Despite the magnitude of the moment, Maine said the butterflies in his gut were no bigger than normal.
“I wasn’t that nervous, I knew what I had to do,” he said.
Manager Willie Randolph sees Maine evolving, game by game.
“You can see that he’s getting more and more confident and trusting his stuff,” Randolph said. “I just told him to go out and let it go. Don’t try to hold anything back. Just empty the tank for me.”
Maine, who didn’t allow a hit after the first inning, left in the sixth to a thunderous standing ovation from the Shea Stadium crowd. His defining moment? Ending the Cardinals’ fifth by striking out Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols on an off-speed pitch that left Pujols flailing in the dirt. His critical moment? Escaping a first-inning jam after giving up singles to Scott Spiezio and Pujols.
Speed-demon shortstop Jose Reyes, quiet most of the series, opened the bottom half of the first for the Mets with a homer to right off Carpenter. It was the first postseason homer of Reyes’ career. He went 3-for-4 and scored two runs.
“My teammates told me today that I had to get on base,” Reyes said. He added that he wasn’t thinking about hitting a homer or setting the game’s tone in his first at-bat.
“I don’t put that kind of stuff in my mind,” he said. “I just try to put the ball in play and try to use my speed.”
New York’s lead grew to 2-0 in the fourth when Carlos Beltran punched a single, advanced on a David Wright single and scored on Shawn Green’s base hit to center.
Carpenter, who has failed to get the Cardinals a victory in two games this series, pitched six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits.
New York seemingly buried St. Louis in the seventh by scoring two runs on consecutive two-out singles by Michael Tucker, Reyes and Lo Duca to open a 4-0 lead. As it turned out, they needed those bonus runs.
While the Mets’ middle relievers didn’t allow Maine’s dream game to evaporate, struggling closer Billy Wagner nearly did. In the ninth, after Juan Encarnacion singled and Scott Rolen doubled, Cardinals pinch-hitter So Taguchi launched a two-out, two-run double to left. Wagner escaped when David Eckstein grounded out to end the game.
If the Cardinals lose tonight’s Game 7, a lot of fingers will be pointed in Rolen’s direction. Although a sore shoulder has hampered the third baseman, he’s continued to insist he could contribute with his bat. But he’s 4-for-25 in the playoffs with no homers and no RBIs. In that crucial first inning, with the bases loaded and two outs, he had a chance to jump-start the Cardinals, quiet the raucous crowd and unnerve Maine. Instead, he popped out to center.
“You know, when we’re good, we’re an execution club,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “So we’ve got to get at least one run there. We had second and nobody out and (Maine) made a great pitch to Scott and we didn’t score.”
Staff writer Patrick Saunderscan be reached at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
