No fancy stats tonight. No spreadsheets, no SQL, no tables. I swear I could feel that one coming. Right after the Pujols grand slam that was my thought "Could they find the way to lose this?" I'm not claiming to have great instincts and I didn't just read Jonathan Livingston Seagull or something. I'm sure I wasn't the only one with this feeling, as obviously this team isn't good and it knows it isn't good.

Tonight's game felt like a Columbo episode. You knew who the killer is and you know Columbo will catch him. It's just a matter of how he'll catch him. After the Pujols slam, here's the plot:

(1) Staked to a six-run lead in the 5th, Jeff Weaver walked the first batter he faced
(2) During the next at-bat Yadier Molina made a lazy stab at a Weaver pitch for a passed ball.
(3) Still the same batter, Chris Duncan and Aaron Miles approached a popup to short left tentatively, both looking out of position. The pop dropped and, thanks to the passed ball, there was no force at second.
(4) Then after a clean single to load the bases with nobody out, Carlos Beltran -- who looks like he'll be the first Met to be named NL MVP -- grounded one right back to Weaver. An easy 1-2-3 double play, right? No, Weaver was so unprepared for something positive, he threw a 50-foot underhand lob to Molina to get only one.
(5) With the bases still loaded, a warm Randy Flores was not brought into face Carlos Delgado.
(6) Weaver fell behind 3-1 to Delgado, then gave in. Grand slam returned.
(7) Looking for some insurance on a two-run lead, Juan Encarnacion led off the 6th with a single and a stolen base. Two strikeouts and a groundout later, he was stranded at second.
(8) After a well-executed bunt single from Endy Chavez, Adam Wainwright walked 8th place hitter Chris Woodward (620 OPS coming into tonight's game) to move Chavez to second. Once he was sac bunted to third, Chavez would score on a groundout, bringing the Mets to within a run.
(9) In both the 8th and 9th the Cardinals had first and second with one out. Albert Pujols and Ronnie Belliard rolled over Chad Bradford's offerings for inning-killing double plays.
(10) It didn't cost a run, but Tyler Johnson plunked recent AAA callup Michael Tucker and then froze in the headlights on a hard sac bunt attempt. After staring at 2B for what seemed an eternity, he took the sure out at first.
(11) To start the 9th, So Taguchi played a line drive single tentatively. Maybe he should've had that, maybe Edmonds would've had it, I'm not sure. To add to the ugliness, Taguchi took his eye off the ball after it bounced, and barely managed to save an error.
(12) Jason Isringhausen served up his 10th homer of the year.

At some point Peter Falk turns and says "Just one more thing, Mr. Badguy." The negative waves actually started before the grand slam, when Belliard for some odd reason was thrown out at the plate with the Cardinals up 3-1 with nobody out in the 5th.

Pujols had a fantastic game, sadly reminiscent of the "Pujols Game" against the Cubs in 2004. That game was emblematic of the 2004 season, that you couldn't count the Cardinals out. With the lead over the Reds slipping to one game, tonight is a microcosm of the 2006 squad. They have their positives, one big positive in particular. Overall though this team lacks talent and lacks confidence, and that won't be solved before the season's end.

On a more immediate note, if the Cardinals make the playoffs, tonight also demonstrated they have some significant matchup problems with the best team in the NL. The Mets have two good switch-hitters, a good lefty and a good (if fading) right-hander, and Josh Hancock is the only reliever who in 2006 has shown the ability to get out both left-handed and right-handed batters. Hancock of course didn't pitch tonight, so we can see how highly his success is regarded. The Cardinals are right-handed-heavy with hitters too, which Chad Bradford can neutralize effectively.

Now let's see how the plot unravels with Mulder.