[EmpireWF]

A replay of the 2000 NLCS will see the underdog St. Louis Cardinals come to New York to play the Mets starting this Wednesday evening.

The Cardinals pitching may be a bit suspect after Chris Carpenter. Jeff Weaver had a great start against the Padres but will he start in New York? Jeff Suppan is their third starter. For the Mets, it's likely going to be Tom Glavine, John Maine and Steve Trachsel.

Which offense will get hot first? The Mets have a bunch of hot bats. The Cardinals, no doubt, will look towards Albert Pujols to lead them. Pujols and Belliard are about the only two Cards hitters who had good Division series'.

Needless to say, it should be a fun series.

My prediction: Mets in 5

[MJHMarc]

I would expect you to think the Cardinals would beat them, EmpireWF?

[MVB]

The Cardinal pitching only looked good against the pathetic San Diego offense. The Mets ( especially Beltran and Reyes) have hit the Cardinals hard this year. Even if the Cards score a bunch of runs, I doubt it'll be enough to hold off the Mets' onslaught.

Remember the Mets/Cards game early this year? Pujols hit 2 homers and drove in 7 RBIs in one night. The Cardinals lost the game.

[EmpireWF]

Here's what looks to be the pitching match-ups for the Mets/Cards series...

Game 1: Jeff Weaver vs. Tom Glavine
Game 2: Jeff Suppan vs. John Maine
Game 3: Chris Carpenter vs. Steve Trachsel
Game 4: Jason Marquis/Anthony Reyes vs. Oliver Perez
Game 5*: Jeff Weaver vs. Tom Glavine
Game 6*: Jeff Suppan vs. John Maine
Game 7*: Chris Carpenter vs. Steve Trachsel

Should be quite the high-scoring series.

[MJHMarc]

Pedro is always out when the Mets need him the most!

[EmpireWF]

Originally Posted by MJHMarc

Pedro is always out when the Mets need him the most!

He's been out most of the season and they've done just fine without him.

[MJHMarc]

Do you think that they will try to take back some of his contract during the off-season?

[EmpireWF]

Originally Posted by MJHMarc

Do you think that they will try to take back some of his contract during the off-season?

Of course not. Why would they? Pedro's signing has meant more for the franchise than anything else.

[MJHMarc]

No, EmpireWF, I mean some of his salary for the 2006 season. He only played half of his potential starts, so I would think that they would expect some of their money back.

[EmpireWF]

Originally Posted by MJHMarc

No, EmpireWF, I mean some of his salary for the 2006 season. He only played half of his potential starts, so I would think that they would expect some of their money back.

He's hurt on the job, so no. It's not like he got hurt riding a motorcycle.

[Zack Man]

Yeah that is true. I would really like to see Pedro pitch more often but he got hurt

[EmpireWF]

Well, the series comes down tonight to two young and far-from-perfect pitchers. Righty Anthony Reyes for St. Louis and lefty Oliver Perez for the Mets. This is expected to be a heavily offensive game so we'll see if either starter can help their team out.

[Trashed]

Big home run + Dominant pitching performance = Mets losing the NLCS unfortunately.

[chsbletz]

In my opinion, if the Cardinals win tonight, the Mets will be "dead men walking."

[Trashed]

Originally Posted by chsbletz

In my opinion, if the Cardinals win tonight, the Mets will be "dead men walking."

I second that.