Mets Pleased That Braves Are Out of the Picture

A National League championship series rematch against the Atlanta Braves was not in the Cards, and the New York Mets were just fine with that. They will open the championship series Wednesday in St. Louis carrying a little less emotional baggage after the Cardinals eliminated the Braves.

“I’m glad we don’t have to answer questions from here through the first couple of games about why we can’t beat Atlanta,” Met pitcher Al Leiter said.

The Braves have edged out the Mets for the last three National League East titles, and they beat New York in last year’s NL championship series, four games to two, with three of the victories coming by one run and the other by two runs.

“I think a lot of the guys, like myself, were a little relieved, because that’s the team that mentally puts a lot of pressure on other teams,” Met reliever Turk Wendell said.

“Guys think they have to be perfect, and once they make an error, in the back of their mind they’re going, ‘Oh, gosh, we’ve opened the flood gates.’ It did a lot for our team, because whatever we have mentally against the Braves, we don’t have to contend with, and that’s a plus for us.”

Another potential plus for the Mets: Their top two pitchers, Game 1 starter Mike Hampton and Game 2 starter Al Leiter, are left-handed, providing a potentially favorable matchup against the middle of the Cardinal order, left-handed hitting Jim Edmonds and Will Clark.

“It may be a little bit to our advantage, but we still have to execute our all of our pitches, and we can’t leave fat ones over the middle,” Leiter said. “Those guys are great hitters.”

*

Giant left fielder Barry Bonds didn’t do much to enhance his shaky postseason reputation, going three for 17 (.176) with one RBI in four division series games against the Mets.

The three-time most valuable player and nine-time all-star is batting .196 (19 for 97) with one homer and six RBIs in 27 playoff games.

“People are going to point fingers at who they want to point fingers at, but we win as a team and lose as a team,” Bonds said.

“We believe in ourselves. We believe we’ll be back here again.”

*

The Giants went 97-65 during the regular season, the best record in baseball, and they won the National League West by 11 games over the Dodgers, but that did little to soothe second baseman Jeff Kent, who also had a fabulous season, hitting .334 with 33 homers and 125 RBIs.

“For me, it’s only a successful season when you win it all,” Kent said. “I have nothing to go home to except watching the games on TV, and there’s nothing I hate more than watching other guys play on TV. So, NBC won’t get my ratings.”

*

Kristi Jones, the wife of Met pitcher Bobby Jones, ran into Met Manager Bobby Valentine on Saturday night and asked him if her husband would be pitching Game 4 on Sunday.

When told he would, Kristi Jones told Valentine, “You won’t be sorry, he’s going to pitch the game of his life.”

Jones threw a one-hit shutout in a 4-0 victory, helping the Mets hold the Giants scoreless for the final 18 innings of the division series.

“It was a good call, because it was definitely the best game I’ve ever pitched,” Jones said. “I hope she’s always right like that.”

THE SERIES

Game 1: San Francisco 5, New York 1

Game 2: New York 5, San Francisco 4 (10)

Game 3: New York 3, San Francisco 2 (13)

Game 4: New York 4, San Francisco 0

Mets win series, 3-1