Bat night

ST. LOUIS--The reality is, what other choice did he have but to give the ball to the pitcher who statistically, at least, was unrivaled as the worst ever to be called upon in October.

But manager Willie Randolph was not just relying upon blind faith -- and Oliver Perez -- to pull the New York Mets through Game 4 of their National League Championship Series last night. The Mets weren't ready to put their thunder sticks away for the winter, especially Carlos Delgado, who never has been in this position before and obviously intends to enjoy it as long as he can.

Delgado, a playoff novice at age 34, drove in five runs with a three-run home run and two-run ground-rule double, Carlos Beltran hit two solo home runs, and the Mets, who had not been behind anyone since the third day of the season, crushed the Cardinals, 12-5, to draw even in the NLCS, two games apiece.

``Carlos [Delgado] has always been a clutch player, he just hasn't been given the opportunity, playing all those years behind Boston and New York and Baltimore [in the mid-90s]," said Mets right fielder Shawn Green, who was once Delgado's teammate on the Toronto Blue Jays. ``When he gets hot, when you talk about guys being able to carry a team, he's right there."

Perez, whose 3-13 regular-season record and 6.55 ERA had prompted a run on smelling salts back in Flushing, was not the second coming of Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack, Al Leiter, or any of the other stellar lefties from Mets postseasons past. Perez gave up three home runs, including one to little David Eckstein, who kept alive the Cards' knack for homers from unlikely sources, Eckstein having hit just two home runs in 500 regular-season at-bats. He also had to contend with St. Louis base-runners in all six innings he began on the mound.

But Perez darted in and out of trouble long enough -- helped immeasurably when left fielder Endy Chavez short-circuited a second-inning Cardinals rally by throwing out Ronnie Belliard at third -- to profit when his teammates unloaded on Cardinals rookie Anthony Reyes and a bullpen that until last night had been nearly perfect.

``He's a good kid who's going to take some time for him to develop," said Mets GM Omar Minaya, who said he has been keeping an eye on the 25-year-old lefty ever since he was pitching winter ball for Yucatan in Mexico six years ago. ``He's not there yet, but he has the potential to be there.

``Our starting pitching is not what we planned to have early in the year. El Duque [Orlando Hernandez] gets hurt, Pedro [Martínez] gets hurt, so we're throwing young guys out there we didn't expect to be out there. But these guys have the ability to throw pitches, and to me it's about if you can hold them to the fifth or sixth, you've got to give our bullpen a chance."

The seven home runs hit by last night's adversaries set an LCS record. Jim Edmonds and Yadier Molina both homered off Perez in the sixth, knocking him out, but by that time the Mets had broken the game open with six runs in the top of the inning, five at the expense of Josh Hancock, a name that might register with Red Sox fans but will be better remembered in Cincinnati. Hancock was the Sox minor leaguer sent to the Phillies in 2002 for the other Giambi, Jeremy, who flamed out in time to keep David Ortiz from losing his sanity. Then this spring, Hancock was cut by the Reds just days into camp for showing up out of shape.

Hancock, who signed as a minor league free agent with the Cardinals, actually pulled himself together enough to have a solid season as a middle reliever in St. Louis, appearing in 62 games.

But the Mets stuck him with a line last night almost as painful as the pink slip delivered by the Reds -- five batters faced, five batters reached, five runners ultimately scoring on Delgado's ground-rule double off Hancock and a single and three-run double by Jose Valentin off Hancock's successor, Tyler Johnson.

Until yesterday, the bullpen had been the Cardinals' rock in the postseason, having allowed just one run in 20 2/3 innings. The tally last night was 10 runs in five innings, including nine in the fifth and sixth.

``It was huge to return the favor of them going through our bullpen the other day," Green said, referring to the Game 2 defeat in which the Cardinals scored five runs in the last three innings to come from behind to win. ``It puts us in good position, with [Tom] Glavine going [tonight]."

The Mets scored two runs off Reyes, who was taken deep twice in the third inning, first by Beltran, then by third baseman David Wright, who was hitless in 10 NLCS at-bats until he drove a fastball from Reyes 404 feet over the left-center field wall.

He was gone by the fifth, when the Cardinals' vaunted defense cracked with reliever Brad Thompson on the mound. Second baseman Ronnie Belliard, who had been so superb against the Padres in the division series, kicked a grounder by Paul Lo Duca for an error to open the inning. Beltran followed with a ground-ball single to right, and then Delgado teed up again, taking a 2-and-0 fastball the other way for his second three-run home run of the series.

Belliard later in the inning allowed a blooper to fall into center untouched for a single off the third St. Louis pitcher, Randy Flores, but he escaped further trouble.

``It was a rough night, especially for the two righthanders," said Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, referring to Thompson and Hancock. ``They're kicking themselves and beating themselves up in the clubhouse."

Delgado had homered twice in the Mets' 9-6 loss in Game 2. His 9 RBIs in the series set a Mets record, as did his five RBIs and six extra-base hits. The Mets also set a club record for runs scored in a postseason game, eclipsing the 11 scored by the Miracle Mets -- with Koosman on the hill -- in Game 2 of their 1969 sweep of Atlanta.

``For me," Delgado said, ``it's a good feeling, because I've played 12 1/2 years and never sniffed the playoffs."

Beltran now has seven home runs in 11 postseason games, including three in this series. All of the home runs have come against the Cardinals. ``Home runs, that's something I don't look for, they just happen," he said.

Rest assured that St. Louis is on red alert for more.