2006 NLCS (Cardinals @ Mets) Game Two (Taguchi Plays Long Ball Hero)

It was the classic David vs. Goliath matchup in the 2006 NLCS: The 83-win Cardinals, who backed into the playoffs on the season's final day (despite losing), against the 97-win Mets that had the NL East wrapped up by early June.

The Cardinals lost Game One, despite a solid effort from starter Jeff Weaver, but were hopeful of evening up the series in Game Two with their ace, Chris Carpenter on the mound. They would be opposed by a young starter the Mets were very high on in John Maine.

Everybody expected a tight, low-scoring game. It turned out to be an offensive see-saw battle.

The Mets tagged Carpenter for a three-run homer by Carlos Delgado in the bottom of the first, but light-hitting catcher Yadier Molina single in two runs for St. Louis in the top of the 2nd to keep the Cardinals close. The Mets added a run in the bottom of the inning, before Jim Edmonds' two-run homer to center in the top of the 3rd tied the game at four. New York regained the lead in the bottom of the 5th, when Delgado got to Carpenter for another home run, then extended their lead to 6-4 on a Paul Lo Duca double in the bottom of the 6th.

In the top of the 7th, the Cardinals staged a two-out rally. Albert Pujols singled, and Jim Edmonds walked to bring up Scott Spiezio, was was playing in place of an ailing Scott Rolen. Spiezio came up big, hitting a two-run triple to knot things up at 6. Neither side scored in the 8th, and the Mets brought in their hard-throwing closer, Billy Wagner, to start the 9th.

Pinch hitting for the Cardinals to lead off the top of the 9th against Wager was a light-hitting outfielder from Japan, typically used as a late-inning defensive replacement named So Taguchi. Naturally, Taguchi hit his second home run of the postseason (which matched his entire HR output for the entire regular season) to put the Cardinals up by a run. St. Louis would tack on another two runs before the inning was over, and as a result, wound up taking a series that nobody thought they had a chance to win back home, tied 1-1.

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