Cards Are in a Fine Mess

They have 22 Gold Glove awards among them, these St. Louis Cardinals, seven for right fielder Larry Walker, six for center fielder Jim Edmonds, five for third baseman Scott Rolen and two each for shortstop Edgar Renteria and catcher Mike Matheny.

But what good is all that leathery luster when Cardinal gloves have been rendered almost irrelevant in this World Series by pitchers who seem to have forgotten who is playing behind them?

The Boston Red Sox made four errors in each of their World Series victories over St. Louis in Games 1 and 2, their miscues causing grave concern in Red Sox Nation. But while Boston’s shortcomings were glaring, splattered across the sports pages and highlight shows, the Cardinals’ mistakes have been far more insidious.

St. Louis pitchers walked 14 and hit three other batters in the first two games of the Series, which shifts from Fenway Park to Busch Stadium for Game 3 tonight; eight of those runners eventually scored. The Cardinals issued 440 walks this season, an average of 2.7 a game, second-fewest in the National League.

“We have all those Gold Gloves, but you can’t defend a walk,” Cardinal reliever Ray King said during Monday’s off-day workout. “We have to pitch more aggressively ... and we have to have more focus as a staff.

“This late in the season, you’ve got to get ahead in the count and pitch to where you put them on the defensive. When you go to 3-and-0 and 3-and-1 counts, you turn .200 hitters into .300 hitters. We’ve got to attack the strike zone early and often.”

That responsibility will fall tonight on right-hander Jeff Suppan, who was St. Louis’ most effective starting pitcher late in the season and pitched in the Cardinals’ division series- and league championship series-clinching wins over the Dodgers and Astros. He will square off against Red Sox right-hander Pedro Martinez, who is scheduled to make his first World Series start.

The Cardinals have pitched around some batters in the series, most notably David Ortiz, the red-hot designated hitter who smashed a three-run homer in his first World Series at-bat and was walked in three of his next eight plate appearances.

But they also have been too careful with some hitters, nibbling at the strike zone instead of attacking it, allowing the Red Sox to do what they do best -- be patient, drive up pitch counts and get to the opposing bullpen early.

“The key when you have a lineup like ours is you realize you have a guy behind you who can do some damage, so you take your walks,” Boston reserve outfielder Dave Roberts said. “When Ortiz walks, he allows Jason Varitek to drive him in, so Ortiz isn’t going to chase pitches out of the strike zone.

“If they throw more strikes early in the count, that’s good too, because we’ll have more pitches to hit. It’s a matter of taking what they give you. If the pitcher is not around the plate, take the walk. If he’s pounding the strike zone, we’ll be aggressive with the bats.”

The key for Suppan -- and every Cardinal pitcher for the rest of this series -- is to throw quality strikes early in the count, not just fastballs down the middle. Strike one on the corner, 0-and-1 and 1-and-2 counts, will force the Red Sox to expand their zone in an effort to avoid strikeouts.

“I think at times we’ve tried to do too much, to make the perfect pitch when you don’t need to make a perfect pitch,” St. Louis pitching coach Dave Duncan said. “We’ll try to be more aggressive, and see how that works.”

For the Red Sox to take another huge step toward their first World Series championship since 1918, they will need to make adjustments to how the Cardinals pitch them.

“We have to be ready to hit,” said Johnny Damon, Boston’s center fielder and leadoff batter. “If they throw fastballs early in the count, we have to be hacking. But we like to work pitchers, make them throw a lot of pitches, get them tired. That way, we see a lot of their bullpen and get a better feel for them.”

Whether it was an attempt at gamesmanship or just frustration, Duncan was skeptical about Boston’s approach after Game 2.

“We’ll see how patient they are in St. Louis,” Duncan said. “If they’re the same, then I’ll be impressed.”

Said Varitek, the Red Sox catcher: “Maybe that’s his reverse psychology. Mr. Duncan is a very bright man.”

Boston first baseman Kevin Millar laughed off Duncan’s quote.

“I don’t know why he would say that, because this club is patient, one through nine,” Millar said. “If you’re patient at Fenway, with 310 [feet down the left-field line] staring you in the eyes, you can be patient here. You can’t play head games this time of year. What, you’re going to play head games with [flaky left fielder] Manny Ramirez? He didn’t even know we were practicing [Monday].”

For the Cardinals to become the first team since the 1981 Dodgers to win a World Series after losing the first two games on the road, they also will need more production from the heart of the order.

Albert Pujols, Rolen and Edmonds, the three, four and five hitters, were 0 for 9 with a sacrifice fly with runners in scoring position in the first two games, giving the trio that combined for 358 runs batted in this season only one RBI in the series. As a team, St. Louis is four for 21 with runners in scoring position.

“Right now, [the Red Sox] have to be feeling good being up, 2-0, but our guys haven’t got hot yet, we haven’t clicked as a team,” King said. “But we could see on the plane ride home [late Sunday night] that no one has given up. No one has called to get their furniture picked up. There’s no panic. We’re going to take this to the limit.”

The Red Sox, of course, want to close out the Cardinals and get on with the business of ending curses and bringing joy to their legions of long-suffering fans, who have tasted nothing but bitter disappointment and heartbreak for 85 years.

“We don’t want the series to keep going and get those St. Louis fans hot,” Damon said. “We need to win [tonight]. We’re playing like we have to win. It’s great that we’re up, 2-0, but the job is not done yet.”

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Beating the Odds

Teams that have rallied from a 0-2 deficit to win a best-of-seven World Series:

*--* Year Result 1955 Brooklyn d. N.Y. Yankees, 4-3 1956 N.Y. Yankees d. Brooklyn, 4-3 1958 N.Y. Yankees d. Milwaukee Braves, 4-3 1965 Dodgers d. Minnesota, 4-3 1971 Pittsburgh d. Baltimore, 4-3 1978 N.Y. Yankees d. Dodgers, 4-2 1981 Dodgers d. N.Y. Yankees, 4-2 1985 Kansas City d. St. Louis, 4-3 1986 N.Y. Mets d. Boston, 4-3 1996 N.Y. Yankees d. Atlanta, 4-2

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