Cardinals 9
Mets 0
ST. LOUIS – Mo Vaughn couldn’t reach down and field a bunt last night, and the Mets couldn’t reach down and win a game and a series.
Pedro Astacio had a poor outing for the first time in more than six weeks, turning from mule to goat in the span of 5 1/3 innings.
The formerly reeling Cardinals found the Mets the perfect tonic for their recent woes. St. Louis drubbed the visitors 9-0 behind recent acquisition Chuck Finley’s seven shutout innings and recent acquisition Scott Rolen’s three-hit, three-RBI game.
The Mets have now lost three of their last four series, winning only in Milwaukee. They are 7½ games behind the Dodgers in the wild card standings. The only thing that remains is a “lost cause” rally that will almost inevitably be too little and come too late.
Trouble began for Astacio (11-5) in the second inning and lasted the rest of the way. One-out singles by Edgar Renteria and Mike Matheny loaded the bases for Finley, who had pitched his entire career in the American League prior to his acquisition in July. The southpaw laid down a perfect sacrifice that Vaughn botched, which eventually led to two runs.
Vaughn lumbered over from his position toward the mound, where Astacio was a few feet away from fielding the ball. The first baseman reached down on the backhand, but not low enough. The ball went off his glove for an error as Tino Martinez scored the first Cardinal run. Vaughn had a play if he had gathered the ball and fired home.
Fernando Vina followed with a sacrifice fly, leading to an unearned run and a 2-0 St. Louis lead.
Rolen, acquired from the Phillies at the trade deadline, augmented the advantage in the third. Rolen had entered the day in a 2-for-32 slump before singling in the second.
In his next at-bat, he reached down for a full-count offering from Astacio and crushed it into the Mets’ bullpen in left-center for a solo home run. It was Rolen’s 18th of the season, and first as a Cardinal. A crowd of 36,896 insisted on a curtain call, and Rolen complied, lifting his helmet with his left hand while on the dugout steps.
It wasn’t like the soft-serve Cardinals fans ever rode their new third baseman, however. The closest thing the Busch Stadium contingent ever gets to booing a home player is the “Drew” chant for J.D. Drew.
Martinez followed by singling off Astacio’s right foot, which made the night even tougher to endure for the Mets’ workhorse. The 32-year-old righty allowed another run in the fifth and left with runners at the corners and one out in the sixth. The Mets had won six of Astacio’s previous seven starts.
Reliever Scott Strickland entered with kerosene can in hand against Rolen, who bashed a triple that short-hopped the wall in the right-field corner to plate both of the inherited runners. The Cardinals went ahead 7-0 on a sacrifice fly by Renteria.
Rolen’s chance for the cycle was dashed in the seventh when he was intentionally walked.
The Mets loaded the bases in the second inning with one out, yet couldn’t produce a run. There were other missed opportunities. Timo Perez led off the third with a slow single to left but was gunned out trying to stretch it into a double when he slid past the bag.
In the fifth, Rey Ordonez led off with a double and advanced on a sacrifice. But he was gunned down at the plate by Rolen on Roger Cedeno’s grounder to third.