BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : NATIONAL: San Francisco vs. St. Louis : Mathews Forced Out by 5-Day-Old Injury : St. Louis Pitcher ‘Out of Kilter’ From a Pulled Muscle in His Right Leg

The injury that forced St. Louis starter Greg Mathews from Game 5 of the National League playoffs was really a carry over from five days earlier.

“I actually pulled it in the first game,” Mathews said of the quadriceps pull in his right leg. “But I thought I was going to be able to make it through. It was just a little tender, but after a while it got worse.”

Mathews started Game 1 as a last-minute replacement for Danny Cox who was unable to pitch because of a stiff neck. In Game 1, the left-hander won, 5-3, but San Francisco prevailed Sunday, 6-3.

St. Louis Manager Whitey Herzog said the extent of Mathews’ problem became evident Sunday when pitching coach Mike Roarke visited the mound after Kevin Mitchell had homered to tie the game, 2-2, in the third.

“He had a knot on it. It kept him from following through in his pitching motion on his right leg,” Herzog said. “He was all out of kilter.”

Herzog said he might have picked the wrong reliever when he chose Bob Forsch to replace Mathews, but he also saluted Giants reliever Joe Price, the winner who allowed one hit in five scoreless innings of relief.

“I probably asked too much of Forsch,” Herzog of the winner of Game 3 in relief. “But that’s not to take anything away from Price. He came in and blew us away. He looked like Rube Waddell.”

Forsch, who pitched two scoreless innings Friday night in Game 3, would not make any excuses for Sunday’s outing when he didn’t retire a batter, allowing three hits and a walk and was charged with four runs.

“I just didn’t pitch well, I just didn’t make good pitches,” the 37-year-old right-hander said. “I felt fine.”

Vince Coleman of the Cardinals praised Price’s pitching and compared him to Dave Dravecky, the Giants’ starter in Game 6 in St. Louis.

“He was pretty tough. He had good control and was in command of his pitches,” Coleman said of Price. “He used to have control problems against us. Today, he was like Dravecky in Game 2 (a 5-0, two-hit shutout).”

Coleman’s observations about Price were echoed by reliever Rick Horton who halted the Giants’ four-run rally in the fourth.

“Joe was tough. He really had a good breaking ball and he was throwing a good, high fastball,” Horton said. “It was tough to pick up.”

Several St. Louis players sat quietly in the clubhouse, thinking about their task in the two games in St. Louis.

“It wasn’t as bad as it seemed. We just got stopped by some good pitching,” catcher Tony Pena said. “We’ve still got a lot of baseball left. We’re going home, and I think we’ll bounce back.”

Whatever happens, Herzog said St. Louis is not likely to have the services of slugger Jack Clark for the playoffs.

“We put him on the roster with the hope he could play by the sixth game but I don’t think we will have him,” Herzog said. “We just haven’t been able to stick that big hit in there that would put us up by two or three runs.”

The Cardinals are limping home to Busch Stadium, but Horton says being at home will help.

“Naturally, we would have liked to win today, but I think playing at home will be an advantage for us,” Horton said.