THE WORLD SERIES : On a 3-and-2 Count, Cardinals Go for KO : Although St. Louis Has the Lead, Twins Have a Dome-Field Advantage

Some go to Mecca; the Minnesota Twins go to the Metrodome. And they go, not only seeking salvation and sanctuary, but to send out an SOS:

Save Our Ship.

Save Our Straker.

Save Our Series.

Now, the Metrodome has meant many things to the Twins in 1987--60 victories and an American League pennant, to name two--but these last requests, on this late date, may be even too tough for Teflon.

There’s only so much a rag-top building can do.

Minnesota’s ship in this World Series has already run aground, and is taking water after three straight losses to St. Louis at Busch Stadium, after the artificial indoor climate had given the Twins artificial expectations and a sense that everything was all right. A 2-0 advantage is a 3-2 deficit, and elimination could arrive as soon as today.

Minnesota needs to be floated back on course immediately, but the Twins have already squandered Frank Viola and Bert Blyleven in losing causes. What’s left is Lester Straker, the most-maligned World Series pitcher since, well, Bob Stanley. Straker, a 28-year-old rookie of modest ability, instills such confidence in his manager that he was pulled from a six-inning shutout in Game 3 out of intense fear of what might happen in the seventh inning.

Today in Game 6, Straker will try to win for the ninth time in 1987--and for the first time since Sept. 20. He will be pitching on three days’ rest for the first time in his big league career. And he will be opposing the Cardinals’ John Tudor, the left-hander who beat Minnesota, 3-1, in Game 3.

“No doubt about it,” Twin third baseman Gary Gaetti admitted. “We’re the underdogs.”

And as for saving the World Series, that might already be a lost cause. Does anyone not armed with a Homer Hanky or a Cardinal red jacket really care who wins this thing? Has anyone been impressed with the mid-March caliber of play? Is anybody out there still awake?

Television ratings for this Series are down, and in the Busch Stadium and Metrodome press boxes, veteran reporters are calling it the worst World Series since the war years of 1944 and ’45.

Two years ago, the Cardinals made it to the World Series against Missouri rival Kansas City, and they dubbed it the Show Me Series.

This one will be remembered as the Show Me Something Series, if it’s remembered at all.

And what of the heroes?

In 1975, we had Carlton Fisk. In 1977, we had Reggie Jackson. In 1985, it was Bret Saberhagen.

So far in 1987, we’ve had Tom Lawless. And Tim Laudner. And Curt Ford. And Dan Gladden. And Jose Oquendo.

This almost-anonymous, plain-wrap cast has taken what used to be known as the Fall Classic and created something entirely in its own image. Three of the five games have been blowouts--all interest gone by the fourth inning. Another, Game 5, was a fundamental travesty--the Twins botching three ground balls in one inning, the Cardinals lousing up a squeeze attempt and the Twins scoring their only two runs on a dropped fly ball.

The only game approaching accustomed World Series standards was Game 3. And that brings us back to Straker.

Through six edge-of-the-seat innings, Straker put seven Cardinals on base and then tenaciously refused to let any of them score. It was a surprising, courageous performance that eventually provided the Series with its first--and so far only--controversy when Minnesota Manager Tom Kelly pinch-hit for Straker with a 1-0 lead.

Reliever Juan Berenguer came on in the seventh inning, pitched to five batters, got one out and laid waste to everything Straker had accomplished. St. Louis scored three runs in the inning; the Twins lost, 3-1, and Kelly was second-guessed all the way back to Minnesota.

Straker was on a once-in-a-career roll, and Kelly let the moment slip away.

“Second-guessing is all a part of the game,” Kelly said. “I understand that.”

Yet, he bristled when he read one critical column, typical of the Game 3 reviews, that portrayed him as the goat of the World Series.

“When you got people who don’t know baseball telling you that you screwed up and to have everybody read that in the papers, I don’t know about that,” Kelly said. “According to (the columnist), I screwed up the whole thing by taking Straker out of the game.

“Well, if he was with our ballclub all year, he’d know that Lester Straker gives us five or six innings and then he falls apart. But he didn’t know that. It’s a little disappointing to be criticized by guys who don’t know nothing.”

By failing to get a victory from Straker then, Kelly desperately needs one from him today. The odds are not in his favor. Straker has never before pitched on three days’ rest, and Thursday in St. Louis, he was complaining about arm and back soreness.

Meanwhile, the other guy on the mound, Tudor, is 2-0 in his last two postseason starts, having allowed 1 earned run in 14 innings.

Straker insists he isn’t intimidated.

“I’m not going to be scared,” he said. “I’ll do my job. . . . I think I’ll pitch the same way (as in Game 3). I threw my fastball for strikes. My curveball and changeup, too.

“I don’t feel any pressure. It’s a key game for me and the Twins. If we lose, we’re out. If we win, then we’re happy.”

One plus for Straker: He has recorded six of his eight victories at the Metrdome. He went 6-3 with a 4.12 earned-run average here during the regular season, compared to 2-7 with a 4.57 ERA on the road.

“It makes a big difference for me,” Straker said. “We play good at home all the time. I think that’s going to be the key.”

It may be the Twins’ only chance. St. Louis has better pitching, better defense and better team speed. But in the Metrodome, all that can get thrown out the air duct.

“Speed doesn’t mean too much in that dome,” Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog said. “We might go up there, steal five bases and lose, 5-4. We’ve got to keep the ball in the park.”

Herzog admitted that the larger, windier dimensions of Busch Stadium helped the Cardinal pitchers accomplish that goal during Games 3, 4 and 5.

“I think there were four balls hit (in St. Louis) that would have been out in the dome,” he said. “Basically, in our park, we take away the opposite-field power from them. We worry about that here.”

And then, in the strangest quote to come out of this World Series, Herzog added: “Twenty years ago, I thought that if there was such a thing as reincarnation, I’d like to come back as a woman. Now, I’d like to be a Twins outfielder, after seeing this dome. I think it’s a pretty good place to be.”

Let’s focus on that last thought for a moment. The image of Whitey Brunansky, going deep over the Hefty bag in right field, rests easier on the mind than that of Whitey in a dress and pearls.

The point Herzog was trying to make, in his folksy sort of way, is that it must be great to be a Twin with power under the dome. The Twins think so, having outscored St. Louis here, 18-5, before getting outscored in Busch Stadium, 5-14.

“We can play our style back home,” Minnesota first baseman Kent Hrbek said.

Once again, it comes back to the Metrodome. The Twins’ path to the World Series began here, so it’s probably appropriate that it end here, one way or another.

The big obstacle is today. Herzog has geared everything for Game 6, tossing Game 1 loser Joe Magrane out of the rotation and starting Tudor, on three days’ rest, in his place. Herzog is regarding Game 7 as an afterthought, with Danny Cox, who would have to pitch on two days’ rest, his emergency starter Sunday.

“It looks to me like Whitey is going for four (wins) in a row,” Kelly said. “It looks to me like he’d like to crank it out (in six games).”

Kelly, who has planned ahead to set up Frank Viola, his best starter, for Game 7, implies short-sightedness on Herzog’s part.

And what does Whitey say about Game 7?

“I don’t think there’s going to be one,” he said.

And so, the Cardinals are playing for today, Game 6 or bust. The Twins are playing for tomorrow.

TODAY’S STARTING PITCHERS JOHN TUDOR

RECORD ERA SEASON 10-2 3.84 PLAYOFFS 1-1 1.76 SERIES 1-0 1.29

LES STRAKER

RECORD ERA SEASON 8-10 4.37 PLAYOFFS 0-0 16.85 SERIES 0-0 0.00