NEW YORK — The New York Mets’ preparation for tonight’s Game 1 of the National League Championship Series involved a light workout yesterday at Shea Stadium and an endless series of questions about how to stop the St. Louis Cardinals’ fearsome slugger, Albert Pujols.
Just four wins away from the World Series, the Mets are prohibitive favorites against St. Louis, a team that nearly self-destructed during the final week of the regular season. But when it comes to Pujols, the Mets will be forced to play of giant killer, and stopping the MVP candidate is the key to eliminating the Cardinals.
“Right now, at this particular time,” Cliff Floyd said, “he’s the best player in the game.”
That may be true, but the Mets restored their reputation as the top team in the National League by completing a three-game sweep of the Dodgers in the Division Series. If the Mets ever felt vulnerable, it was at the start of the playoffs, when they lost Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez to injury.
But rolling over the Dodgers took care of any self-esteem issues, and even with Floyd’s status in doubt, the Mets are feeling more than ready for the Cardinals, a team making its third consecutive trip to the NLCS.
“I think we’ve got a little more confidence,” David Wright said.
“We’re a little more relaxed going into the second round.” The Mets also had the luxury of re-shuffling their rotation, something that St. Louis, which needed four games to knock out the Padres, could not do. The Cardinals were forced to use Chris Carpenter on Sunday for the clincher, leaving Jeff Weaver to oppose Tom Glavine tonight at Shea Stadium.
