Tigers pushed to brink

ST. LOUIS -- Maybe this is the way it ends for a team that prepares for the season in a place called Joker.

The kid center fielder falls down. The goateed reliever makes Series history with a wild throw, the fourth error made by the pitching staff, a Series record. The Hall of Fame-bound catcher can't block a pitch in the dirt. The left fielder has the deciding hit tick off the end of his glove.

Get a grip? Outside of Kenny Rogers, it may be too late for the Detroit Tigers, who are in free fall in St. Louis after a 5-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, who seized a three games to one lead in the 102d World Series on David Eckstein's RBI double in the eighth.

The only safety net for the Tigers, who failed to hold a 3-0 lead against Jeff Suppan in the third inning, is now in the shaky hands of another rookie, Justin Verlander, who is scheduled to pitch Game 5 tonight against a former Tiger, Jeff Weaver.

"Obviously, we're all disappointed," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "We've done a few things to give them a run or a few extra chances, and they're obviously a good enough team to take advantage."

The Tigers' best chance of a reprieve tonight may come from the weather -- heavy rain is forecast again, though the latest forecast had the rain clearing out by 8 p.m. local time. But whether they play or not tonight, there are dark clouds gathering over the Sons of Jim Leyland.

"A lot of strange things happened tonight," said catcher Ivan Rodriguez, who was helpless to block rookie Joel Zumaya's wild pitch in the eighth that allowed Aaron Miles to move up and stroll home on Eckstein's double, his fourth hit of the night. "We've got to put it behind us and do the things we need to do."

The Tigers have been in this position before, against this team -- in 1968, they rallied behind Mickey Lolich to win in seven games. But in that Series, the center fielder who slipped was wearing Cardinal red: Curt Flood, who lost his footing on Jim Northrup's two-run triple off Bob Gibson that broke a scoreless tie in the seventh, Northrup maintaining to this day that Flood wouldn't have caught it anyway.

Last night, it was the Tigers' gifted Curtis Granderson who slipped as Eckstein's liner drifted his way to lead off the seventh with the Tigers leading, 3-2. Granderson was on the ground, and soon so was Epstein's ball, falling for a double.

"It was wet and soft," said Granderson, who said he was wearing metal cleats that were just two or three weeks out of the box. "I planted, and it just gave underneath."

Someone actually asked Leyland if he thought of the Flood slip. Leyland, showing admirable restraint, actually gave a civil answer. Yes, he said, he was familiar with the play. "But right now I'm not real interested in Curt Flood."

Pinch hitter So Taguchi then bunted back toward the mound, where reliever Fernando Rodney fielded it and promptly shot-putted it over the head of first baseman Sean Casey, Eckstein scoring and Taguchi taking second. "Part of the game," said Rodriguez, who was sitting on a shelf, deep in his locker, after the game. "The ball was wet, it was wet out there, and the grass was a little wet."

Rodney intentionally walked Albert Pujols and appeared on the verge of escaping further harm when he struck out Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen.

But Preston (son of Mookie) Wilson singled home Taguchi, giving the Cardinals a 4-3 lead.

"That was a bit of a freak inning," Leyland said.

The Tigers answered in the eighth when Rodriguez, who had three hits to end an 0-for-23 funk, doubled and scored when Brandon Inge doubled off Cardinals closer Adam Wainwright.

But there was more calamity in the eighth, when Zumaya walked Yadier Molina on four pitches. Miles grounded to short, forcing Molina, and just avoided being doubled up. Zumaya struck out the next batter, Juan Encarnacion, who had entered in a double switch, but the third strike skipped through Rodriguez's legs, allowing Miles to take second.

Eckstein then followed with a liner to left that ticked off the end of the glove of a leaping Craig Monroe, falling in for a double.

"The toughest player I've ever seen," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said of Eckstein.

Monroe said he was playing a little more shallow than usual because the 5-foot-7-inch Eckstein was at the plate. "Yeah, I do hit a lot of balls that are short," Eckstein said, "but I was fortunate enough tonight this one got just out of his reach."

Leyland had cracked wise, after closer Todd Jones booted a grounder in Game 2, about how he would make Jones take pitcher's fielding practice before he was allowed to get on the bus after the game.

You can be certain, whether or not the Tigers rally in the Series, that Leyland won't be smiling when the Tigers convene next spring in Lakeland, Fla., and commence spring training in Joker Marchant Stadium with PFPs -- pitchers' fielding practice. Tigers pitchers made 15 errors this season, a total exceeded only by the Indians (17) in the American League.

Gordon Edes can be reached at edes@globe.com