Taguchi provides unexpected power

NEW YORK – So Taguchi laughed, and it felt so good.

“I can’t explain. It’s unbelievable,” he said. “Who expected that I would hit a home run? Maybe nobody. Even me.”

No power threat during the regular season, Taguchi is a playoff slugger – and St. Louis is heading to Busch Stadium tied with the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series.

After Scott Spiezio saved the Cardinals in the seventh with a two-run triple that was nearly a home run, Taguchi hit a tiebreaking homer off Mets closer Billy Wagner leading off a three-run ninth inning that lifted St. Louis to a 9-6 victory over New York on Friday night.

N.L. Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter faltered for St. Louis, allowing a pair of go-ahead home runs to Carlos Delgado that drove in four runs. But the Cardinals tied it after trailing 3-0 and 4-2, then came back again after falling behind 6-4.

“This may have been the best comeback on a club I’ve been around,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

During the regular season, the 37-year-old Japanese player homered just twice in 316 at-bats this year. But he’s 2 for 2 with a pair of homers in the postseason.

“He plays well late,” La Russa said. “He’s not intimated at all by pressure situations.”

Taguchi had entered as a defensive replacement in left field in the eighth.

Wagner entered with the score 6-all in the ninth. Taguchi, 0 for 5 against him in his career, fell behind in the count 0-2, fouled off a pitch, took three balls, fouled off two more and then drove a fastball from the hard-throwing Wagner over the left-field wall.

“He’s got a flair for the dramatic,” Spiezio said. “He’s a little guy, but he’s got a lot of power.”

Spiezio added an RBI double and scored on Juan Encarnacion’s run-scoring single off Wagner, who had earned the save in New York’s opening 2-0 win Thursday night but was booed when he walked back to the dugout after being removed with two outs.

“They must have fouled off 60, 70 pitches,” Mets manager Willie Randolph said. “We made some bad pitches at the wrong times.”

Spiezio nearly had a home run in the seventh, but right fielder Shawn Green got his glove above the wall and deflected the ball back onto the field.

Right field umpire Tim Welke got the call right and, after La Russa came out to question the ruling, the umpires huddled and upheld the decision. Replays showed the call was correct.

Yadier Molina had a two-run double in the second and Jim Edmonds hit a two-run homer in the third for St. Louis, and Josh Kinney got the win by pitching a scoreless eighth – getting Carlos Beltran to ground into an inning-ending double play with two runners on base.

Carlos Delgado drove in four runs with a three-run homer and a solo shot off Carpenter, but John Maine lasted just four innings and while he gave up two hits, each drove in two runs.

Because of Wednesday’s rainout, there is not a travel day. When the series shifts tonight to the new Busch Stadium, Steve Traschel (15-8) pitches for the Mets against Jeff Suppan (12-7).

It was 54 degrees at game time, down 13 from the opener. Shortstop Jose Reyes wore a black ski cap with a Mets logo during batting practice, and some of the umpires wore gloves.

Albert Pujols ended a 0-for-12 slide with a two-out single in the seventh.

New York got two on with one out in the eighth, but Beltran grounded into a double play.