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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Mike Hampton and Mike Piazza quickly put their playoff problems in the past.
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GAME 1 AT A GLANCE
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Every game a hero
Mike Hampton and Al Leiter had never won a playoff game between them in 12 career starts, but Hampton got that monkey off his back. He tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing just six hits while striking out four.
Key play
Top of the first, Timo Perez led off with a double off Darryl Kile and went to third on a wild pitch. Edgardo Alfonzo then walked, bringing up Mike Piazza, who it seemed hadn't delivered a big hit since August. He smacked a double down the left-field line, scoring one run and sending Alfonzo to third. Alfonzo scored on a sac fly to make it 2-0.
Key number
The last seven teams to win the first game of the NLCS have gone on to reach the World Series. The last NL team to win Game 1 and not advance to the World Series was the Pirates in 1991.
ESPN analysis
Every major move Bobby Valentine has made in the playoffs has worked. Starting Bobby Jones in Game 4 of the NLDS was huge. It allowed the Mets to start two lefties in the first two games against St. Louis to try to negate their left-handed hitters. It worked to a tee in Game 1. Every time it looked like the Cardinals had a rally going Mike Hampton shut them down. He kept the ball down and got a lot of groundball outs
The Mets are in an enviable position. They've ensured a split in the visitor's ballpark and go into Game 2 with nothing to lose. The Cards have to win. Going back to New York down two games would be devastating. Expect the Mets to play loose tomorrow behind their best big-game pitcher in Al Leiter.
-- Brian McRae
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Pitching every bit like an October ace, Hampton won for the
first time in the postseason, leading the Mets past the St. Louis
Cardinals 6-2 Wednesday night in Game 1 of the NL championship
series.
"I wanted to be a contributor instead of a liability," Hampton
said. "I just wanted to do my part and help this team win. I
didn't do that in the first series."
Piazza, who had zero RBI in the opening round against San
Francisco, hit an RBI double in a two-run first inning that sent
New York on the way to its fourth straight postseason victory.
"He came out swinging tonight," Mets manager Bobby Valentine
said.
Behind Hampton, the Mets extended their postseason scoreless streak to a team-record 26 innings before allowing two unearned runs with two outs in the ninth.
Hampton kept the big guy -- pinch-hitter deluxe Mark McGwire -- on
the St. Louis bench and left after the seventh with a 3-0 lead. Relievers John Franco and Armando Benitez finished up.
"There had been some doubts cast over Mike because of a small
sample of postseason play, and I think he erased those doubts,"
Valentine said.
Todd Zeile and Jay Payton homered in the ninth and Edgardo
Alfonzo scored a run and drove in another for New York.
And it was a good-luck victory for the wild card Mets -- the last
seven teams to win the NLCS opener went on to reach the World
Series.
"I liked the way we played, I just didn't like the final
score," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "Hampton and the
Mets were a little better."
Game 2 will be Thursday night at Busch Stadium with Al Leiter
starting for the Mets against rookie Rick Ankiel.
Acquired from Houston last winter to win at crunch time, Hampton
delivered. He outpitched former Astros teammate Darryl Kile,
blanking St. Louis on six hits and silencing the sellout crowd of
52,255.
Hampton began the evening with a career postseason record of 0-2
and a 5.87 ERA in four starts.
A loser last week in the opening round at San Francisco,
prompting some to suggest Leiter should start the opener, Hampton
tamed a Cardinals team that averaged eight runs a game in its
first-round sweep of the Braves.
Not that St. Louis didn't have its chances. It went 0-for-13
with runners in scoring position, stranding 11.
|  | | With a Game 1 win, the Mets have stolen home-field advantage. |
The Cardinals left the bases loaded in the first when Carlos Hernandez grounded out.
"Everyone wants to score as soon as possible," Hernandez said.
"They had a big hit when they had men in scoring position, and
that was the ballgame."
Still, St. Louis threatened to tie it in the seventh. Trailing
3-0 with two on and one out, Edgar Renteria sliced a long fly that
right fielder Timo Perez ran down on the warning track.
Jim Edmonds followed with a high fly that left fielder Benny
Agbayani caught just short of the wall, and Edmonds gave an
"aw-shucks" skip as he rounded first base.
"I thought it had a chance of going out," Agbayani said. "The
ball kind of died down and tailed back."
Hampton struck out four and walked three. He also got the benefit of a defense that paid extra attention to its positioning, making subtle shifts that paid major dividends.
Meanwhile, not even the presence of a few St. Louis Rams -- the
NFL team scoring 43 points per game -- helped boost the Cardinals
hitters.
Several of the Mets recently expressed relief that their No. 1
nemesis, the Braves, were out of the playoffs. Secretly, maybe they
also thought about how well they matched up against St. Louis.
The Mets went 6-3 against the Cardinals this season, mainly
because New York's left-handed pitchers could cancel out the
Cardinals' lefty hitters. St. Louis was just 17-23 in games started
by opposing left-handers.
With nearly every Mets player in the dugout leaning on the top
railing, Perez got them off to a fast start. Keeping up his role as
late-season sparkplug, he led off the game with a double and took
third when Kile bounced a curveball for a wild pitch.
After Alfonzo walked, Piazza grounded a double down the
third-base line. It was a good sign for the Mets -- the All-Star
catcher began the night as a career .211 postseason hitter. Robin
Ventura's sacrifice fly made it 2-0.
"I swung the bat a lot better tonight, only because of my
teammates getting on ahead of me, giving me the opportunity to
drive in the runs," Piazza said.
"A good start for us, we know it's far from over," he said. "Got to keep the pedal down."
Hampton beat out an infield single in the fifth and later scored
on Alfonzo's single.
The Mets tacked on three runs in the ninth off Mike James. Zeile
led off with a home run, Agbayani singled and Payton homered over
the left-field wall.
Mike Bordick was up next, and James hit him with a pitch. There
was no trouble between the teams, though, and Bordick left for
X-rays on his right thumb, which were negative.
Those extra runs turned out to be meaningful, too.
In the bottom of the ninth, Kurt Abbott, who replaced Bordick, threw away Renteria's two-out grounder as a run scored. Edmonds
then hit a single that skipped past Perez for a two-base error, allowing another run to score.
Game notes
Hernandez was moved up to sixth in the batting order for the first time this season. Eli Marrero will catch Game 2 instead
of Hernandez. ... Mets reserve Joe McEwing, a popular player before the Cardinals traded him to New York in spring training, got a nice ovation. ... St. Louis third baseman Placido Polanco left early
with an injured hamstring. "He's ouchy," La Russa said.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
NY Mets Clubhouse
St. Louis Clubhouse
Stark: Win now, pay later
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St. Louis 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Mike Hampton talks to ESPN's Jeremy Schaap.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Mike Piazza talks to ESPN's Jeremy Schaap.
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 Mets players and coaches answer questions after their Game 1 win.
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Jim Edmonds felt like he had a chance for a home run in Game 1.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
John Franco was impressed with the performance of Mike Hampton.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Tony La Russa feels his team had a good chance to win Game 1.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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