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Cardinals Shut Mets Down In St. Louis

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Oct 15, 2006 2:30 pm US/Eastern

Cardinals Shut Mets Down In St. Louis

Win 5-0 And Take 2-1 Lead In NLCS

ST. LOUIS (CBS/AP) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 4: The Cardinals' Scott Spiezio gave his team some early momentum in Game 3 of the NLCS with a two-run triple in the first inning.
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Click to enlarge 2 of 4: The St. Louis Cardinals dominated the New York Mets in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series.
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Click to enlarge 3 of 4: Logo for News Use only
AP
Click to enlarge 4 of 4: The Mets are struggling on the road against the St. Louis Cardinals.

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Scott Spiezio gave the Cardinals some early momentum, while Jeff Suppan hit a rare home run and pitched a tidy masterpiece that gave the Cardinals control in the NL championship series against the suddenly staggering New York Mets.

Scott Spiezio hit another key triple and the Cardinals dazzled on defense, dominating the Mets for a 5-0 victory Saturday night and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

New York lost yet another starting pitcher to injury when an ineffective Steve Trachsel was clocked by Preston Wilson's comebacker, and the Mets' imposing lineup hardly threatened against Suppan, who allowed only three hits in eight impressive innings.

During batting practice, the video scoreboards at new Busch Stadium billed Game 3 as "Gotham vs Gateway."

"No contest" would have been much more appropriate.

Only 24 hours earlier, the Mets were in great shape. After tagging Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter, New York led Game 2 by two runs with two outs and none on in the seventh inning.

But the Mets' vaunted bullpen faltered, and St. Louis rallied back to grab all the momentum with a 9-6 victory.

Now, the Mets, who had won eight straight games dating to the regular season before Friday night, will pin their hopes on erratic lefty Oliver Perez in Game 4.

With a 3-13 record and 6.55 ERA, he'll face Cardinals rookie Anthony Reyes.

And while the Mets keep losing key players to injuries, the Cardinals are beginning to get them back.

All-Star third baseman Scott Rolen, hampered by a sore left shoulder, was back in the lineup and snapped a 1-for-15 skid with a fifth-inning single. He also made a couple of strong plays in the field.