Todd Zeile hits .368 and drives in eight. Rookie Timo Perez scores a record-tying eight runs. Four times, he scores on his leadoff at-bat. Benny Agbayani hits .353. Will Clark tops St. Louis with a .412 average.
None come with the game in doubt.
2 Busch Stadium Mike Piazza's and Mike Hampton's awakenings lull St. Louis to sleep. Piazza, near comatose in the post-season, rips two hits, including a RBI double in the first, to stake Hampton to an early lead. Hampton, who rebounds from an LDS loss, tosses seven scoreless innings. He hushes the Cardinals, who strand 11, on six hits. They leave the bases loaded in the first and runners in scoring position in the third, fifth and sixth while New York builds a 3-0 lead.