Different day, same result.

Mets 4, Cards 1.

Good news: Rolen Homered. Duncan threw out Valentin at the play (great play by Molina to get back and tag Valentin after Eckstein's relay tailed up the first base line).

Er, that's about it.

More errors. More non-clutch hitting with RISP. More outfield gaffes (this time Shumaker). And to add insult to injury, Chris Carpenter complained of elbow pain yesterday and will miss his next start. It's a good thing the team has a number of off-days this week; I'm not sure who would be tapped as the emergency starter by LaRussa.

Our hopes ride with Braden Looper to avoid the sweep tomorrow.

I know they're not going to go 0-162, but I'd like to get a win sooner rather than later.

Oh, and a note to the Cardinal management: concur with raising the world champs banner on opening day. I think, in hindsight, the ring ceremony could have waited until after the Mets left town. They really felt they were the better team last season; I'm SURE they were even more motivated to play well in this series after watching the Redbirds celebrate their championship on successive nights. Just an opinion.