Oh What A Night, Cardinals Tie NLCS 1-1

Co-conspirators in the improbable, third baseman Scott Spiezio and replacement left fielder So Taguchi loosened control of the National League Championship Series from the New York Mets on Friday in a late-night finish that left the Cardinals 9-6 winners and the Shea Stadium crowd of 56,349 stunned into silence.

Leading off the ninth inning, Taguchi jumped Mets closer Billy Wagner for a game-winning home run after fouling off four two-strike pitches. Taguchi's home run landed atop a tent covering the visitors' bullpen and gave the Cardinals their first lead of the series. It represented a season's moment to a player who managed just six regular-season RBIs after June.

Spiezio started in place of Scott Rolen, who was benched after a one-for-14 start to the postseason. Rolen insisted hours before the game that the move surprised and disappointed him.

Where the series ultimately carries the 83-win Cardinals is unknown. But without the late-inning contributions of Spiezio and Taguchi, its return to Queens for Games 6 and 7 would have been nothing more than a wild guess.

This could be the momentum shift that the Cards most definitely needed to have a chance in this series.

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