ST. LOUIS — Nothing quite says “October” like Carlos Beltran turning into Superman.
The former Mets outfielder has never had a bad postseason moment — as far as the Cardinals are concerned. All he did Thursday was launch a three-run home run off A.J. Burnett into the seldom-reached mezzanine level at Busch Stadium that set the Cardinals rolling to a 9-1 victory over the Pirates in Game 1 of the NL Division Series.
“We’ve played against [Beltran], now we’ve played with him,” Adam Wainwright said after holding the Pirates to one run over seven innings. “He’s been such an amazing player during the regular season, it’s really not surprising he does it in the postseason.
“I mean, this guy is just a postseason monster. That just adds to your confidence level. He has a lot of confidence going in here, I would say.”
Beltran’s homer, as part of a seven-run third inning for the Cardinals, was his 15th in 35 career postseason games. He entered play as the active leader in postseason batting average (.363), on-base percentage (.470) and slugging percentage (.782).
Of course, those numbers are overlooked by a good faction of Mets fans because of Beltran’s biggest playoff failure: Taking a nearly-perfect Wainwright curveball for strike three to end Game 7 of the NLCS in 2006.
Last year, Beltran hit three homers and drove in six runs for the Cardinals in his first postseason since leaving the Mets. And his 2004 postseason with the Astros — eight homers and 14 RBIs in 12 games — ranks among the greatest of all-time. Even in the Mets’ infamous 2006 postseason, Beltran produced, hitting three home runs in the NLCS against the Cardinals.
“For me, it’s simple,” Beltran said. “It’s God giving me the opportunity to play in meaningful games and hard work through the years. As a ballplayer, you always dream to be able to play in postseason games and try to win a World Series.”
Wainwright was absolutely filthy, allowing one run on three hits over seven innings with nine strikeouts and no walks.
Burnett, in his first postseason start since Game 5 of the 2009 World Series for the Yankees, lasted two-plus innings and allowed seven earned runs on six hits and four walks.
”Obviously you want to come out and put your foot down, and that wasn’t the case today,” Burnett said. “I was able to execute a pitch here and there, but never to repeat my delivery.”
The Pirates’ only run came in the fifth, when Pedro Alvarez smashed a leadoff homer against Wainwright to pull the Pirates within 7-1. Wainwright had retired the first 11 batters he faced before Andrew McCutchen singled with two outs in the fourth.
The Cardinals sent 11 batters to the plate in the third. Wainwright walked leading off to set the tone for the inning against Burnett before Matt Carpenter’s single and Beltran’s 443-foot blast.
Matt Holliday’s double began the ensuing rally. Matt Adams was plunked and Yadier Molina walked to load the bases before Jon Jay walked to force in a run. David Freese then slapped a two-run single to right, and a third run scored as a result of Marlon Byrd’s throwing error. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle then summoned Jeanmar Gomez to replace Burnett.
“Given the situation, with A.J. and his work, we felt we were going to give him that last hitter, Freese, get the ground ball double play, see if we could get some balance and keep the game right where it was,” Hurdle said. “Three feet to the left, ball is by us. Three more runs score after that. Please, put it all on me. That was my decision.”