Starting pitchers Jeff Suppan of the Cardinals and lefthander Oliver Perez of the Mets were locked in a 1-1 pitching duel for 6 innings as the Cards almost took the lead in the 6th but for Met’s leftfielder Endy Chavez’s great, leaping, diving catch over the leftfield wall to rob Cards 3rd baseman Scott Rolen of a 2 run homer resulting in an inning-ending doubleplay.

Suppan then worked out of a bases loaded, 1 out jam in the Mets 6th inning which was exacerbated by Rolen’s throwing error, with a big strikeout of 2nd baseman Jose Valentin and Endy Chavez’s pop fly out to centerfield.

But in the 9th inning, with Mets reliever Aaron Heilman on the mound and Rolen on 1st base having singled with 1 out, catcher Yadier Molino blasted a shot to left which Chavez had no chance for. And so it is the St. Louis Cardinals and the Detroit Tigers in 2006 World Series beginning on Saturday. It will be their first World Series meeting since 1968 when the Tigers, led by pitchers Denny McLain who’s record was 31-6 that year, and Mickey Lolich and outfielder/1st baseman Al Kaline defeated the Cards led by pitcher Bob Gibson in his prime, Lou Brock, Curt Flood and Orlando Cepeda by 4-3 in games.

AP baseball reporter Mike Fitzpatrick recounts the event;

The first long drive to left field wound up in the webbing of Endy Chavez’s glove as he crashed against the wall.

The second one sailed clear over his head.

And that’s what sent Yadier Molina and the St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series.

“I just left it up,” Heilman said. “I was just trying to throw it down and away. Instead it stayed right over the middle of the plate.”

A .216 hitter with only six home runs during the regular season, Molina drove the first pitch he saw from reliever Aaron Heilman into New York’s bullpen for a 3-1 lead in the ninth.

“I just left it up,” Heilman said. “I was just trying to throw it down and away. Instead it stayed right over the middle of the plate.”

Chavez, who made one of the most memorable catches in postseason history just three innings earlier, could only stand and watch at the fence as the Mets’ title hopes were dashed.

The Mets got off to an early 1-0 lead on Suppan in the 1st inning on 3rd baseman David Wright’s RBI single scoring centerfielder Carlos Beltran.

The Cards tied the score in the 2nd inning as 2nd baseman Ronnie Belliard hit a 1 out sacrifice grounder to 2nd base scoring centerfielder Jim Edmunds.

The score remained 1-1 until Molino’s climactic blast in the 9th inning.

The Mets didn’t go down in the 9th without a battle in facing Cards reliever Adam Wainwright. Valentin and Chavez each singled putting runners at 1st and 2nd with none out. Reliever Heilman struck out looking for the 1st out. Shortstop Jose Reyes lined out to centerfield for the 2nd out. Catcher Paul Lo Duca was then intentionally walked to load the bases. Wainwright, who was awarded a save, then struck out Carlos Beltran looking for the final out sealing the Cards appearance in the World Series. Mets reliever Heilman, who surrendered Molino’s winning homer, was charged with the loss.  Cardinals reliever Randy Flores, who replaced Suppan in the 8th and retired the Mets in order striking out two posted the win.

Starter Jeff Suppan, who bested Roger Clemens in Game 7 of the 2004 NLCS, was awarded the MVP award this time for his two outstanding starts. In the series, he limited the Mets to one run and five hits in 15 innings. As with his previous start, he was again was at his best in a big game. Suppan joins Detroit 2nd baseman Placido Polanco as they each won their respective league’s LCS honors.

For a full recap, box score and play-by-play on Thursday’s decisive NLCS game click here.

Game one of the World Series will be played in Detroit. Pitchers have yet to be deterimined at this time.

for a full box score and play-by-plays on Saturday’s game, click here.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 20th, 2006 at 10:12 am and is filed under Real-Time Baseball News and Commentary, All Time Team Highlights, Post-Season Highlights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.