A GO-GO OFFENSE BECOMES A NO-NO : Cardinals Can’t Cut It in the Slump Dome

Whenever the Minnesota Twins score a run at the Metrodome--and it has happened with astonishing regularity the last two nights--a sound effects specialist plays a tape of a runaway freight train. It is a sound of unstoppable power.

But for those rare times when the St. Louis Cardinals’ offense mounts a threat, perhaps the timid squeal of a bicycle bell should be the sound. That, too, would be appropriate.

The Cardinals’ offense, without slugger Jack Clark and with Terry Pendleton and Willie McGee hurting, has produced only five runs in the first two games of the World Series. It is a testimony to the Cardinals’ offensive impotence as much as the superiority of the Twins’ pitching.

Sunday night, in their 8-4 loss to the Twins here in Game 2 of the World Series, the Cardinals scraped up four runs off starter Bert Blyleven and reliever Juan Berenguer, but those came after the Twins exploded for a 7-0 lead.

Of the five runs the Cardinals have scored in the consecutive blowout losses, two came on ground-ball outs, one came after two outs had been recorded and only one involved the top of the order, which usually is the main manufacturer of runs. In fact, the top three hitters in St. Louis’ order--Vince Coleman, Ozzie Smith and Tom Herr--are a combined 2 for 24 so far.

All told, the 55,257 fanatics at the Metrodome waved their omnipresent “Homer Hankies” with more authority than Cardinal hitters swung their bats. When they swung, that is. Four times, Cardinal hitters were retired on called third strikes by Blyleven, with Coleman--the leadoff man--being a two-time victim.

“We aren’t aggressive, but we are frustrated,” said right fielder Curt Ford, who had two singles and scored a run.

The epitome of frustration for the Cardinals has to be Coleman. Unlike Pendleton (pulled rib muscle) and McGee (sore thumb and wrist), Coleman is healthy. He just hasn’t been productive.

Coming into his final at bat Sunday night, Coleman had been 0 for 7 in the series. Consequently, he hadn’t had any opportunities to steal bases, his specialty.

But in the eighth, long after any realistic hope of a win had been squelched, the Cardinals produced their first real rally.

It began when Coleman singled to left off Berenguer. He easily stole second base on the first pitch, then strolled to third on Ozzie Smith’s fly ball to center field. One out later, Dan Driessen doubled off the blue vinyl in right, scoring Coleman. McGee then knocked in Driessen with a sharp single to left.

At that point, the Cardinals almost resembled the potent club that, with the aid of Clark, built a 9 1/2-game lead in the National League East before they started running on empty.

But it was only a fleeting feeling of deja vu . Clark, ineligible for the series because of torn tissue in his right leg, has witnessed the reality of the present from the bench the last two games. Obviously, he is not encouraged by what he has seen.

“It’s a good sign, what happened in the eighth,” Clark said, shrugging. “At least we got something going. I sat there and kept thinking, a big hit would put us back in it. Something like a three-run home run, even a two-run double.

“Somebody has to hit the three-run home run for us, especially in this park, and we don’t have anybody doing that. But we got to start by getting our leadoff guys on.”

In their present state, the Cardinals don’t have anyone capable of the big hit. Clark was the sole practitioner of home runs, his 35 this season only one less than the combined total of the Cardinals’ lineup for Game 2.

Asked once more about the cumulative effect of Clark’s absence after Sunday’s debacle, McGee just sneered and said: “No comment.”

Asked about the dismal .083 combined average of the top three Cardinal batters, McGee said: “No comment.”

Asked about the 6-foot, 170-pound mass of frustration that is Coleman, McGee said: “No comment.”

As McGee so curtly illustrated, most Cardinals weren’t in the mood for deep analysis after dropping both games in the Metrodome.

But Coleman, Smith and Herr were quite talkative. They had, after all, a lot of explaining to do.

“The top of our lineup was very productive the whole year,” Herr said. The top of the lineup--any lineup--has to get on base so that they can be hit in. We haven’t done it.

“What can we say? (Twin pitchers) are getting us out. They are going right after Vince and Ozzie and me, too. They are not pitching around us. They are making us hit to get on base.”

Said Smith: “This happens to the top of a lineup occasionally. You just hope it doesn’t happen in the playoffs and World Series. They’ve pitched good, if you want answers. Hopefully, a change of scenery (to Busch Stadium in St. Louis) will get us on the right track.”

Not only are the Cardinals not on the right track, they’ve been almost totally derailed.

Coleman, who stole 109 bases this season has been unusually subdued in postseason play. He did not steal a base against the San Francisco Giants in the playoffs until the sixth inning of the seventh game. And that steal should carry an asterisk, because it came with a runner on third and did not draw a throw.

His eighth-inning steal off Twin catcher Tim Laudner came on the first pitch to Smith. Since it took him eight at-bats to reach first, Coleman was understandably eager.

“Look, this is how they’ve pitched to me all year long,” Coleman said. “They make me hit it and try to keep me off base. They know that’s the way to beat the Cardinals. If I get on base, we got a chance for a rally.

“I’m not worried about not hitting. I’ll feel more comfortable at home. But one hit in eight games is not maximizing my positives. I’ve got to minimize these negatives.”

Even without many sightings of Coleman on the basepaths, the Cardinals still tried to run on occasion Sunday.

One example: Smith singled off Blyleven with one out in the first and went to second on a hit-and-run ground out by Herr. But Driessen, batting in Clark’s cleanup spot, struck out on a Blyleven curveball.

Even though most Cardinals don’t like to speak of it, Clark’s loss still can be directly correlated to the losses on the field.

“I ain’t going to talk about Jack Clark any more,” McGee said. “How many times do I have to be asked about him.”

But Sunday, even Jack Clark felt the loss of Jack Clark.

“It’s no secret we’ve got some weaknesses,” Clark said. “But we’ve got to start getting the big hits from somebody and cut down on their big innings.”