Kevin Kernan

Kevin Kernan

MLB

Mattingly falls short of reaching Series as Dodgers lose NLCS

ST . LOUIS — Donnie Baseball was left off the World Series party list once again. Perhaps the Dodgers can go to Disneyland instead.

“Sorry, Mr. Mattingly, you can’t come in,’’ the baseball gods once again told Don Mattingly on this cool October Friday night at Busch Stadium as the Cardinals crushed the Dodgers, 9-0 to win the NLCS and advance to the World Series for the 19th time in franchise history.

Yes, this can be a cruel game.

It was Carlos Beltran, who finally got invited to MLB’s Big Dance. Beltran, who has been waiting since 1998, punched his own ticket with a huge single for the first run of the night against ace of aces Clayton Kershaw.

It was Cardinals rookie right-hander, the amazing Michael Wacha who shut the door on Mattingly and the Dodgers. Dodger Blue took on a whole new meaning.

For 14 years as a player with the Yankees, Mattingly was not able to get to the World Series and now another 10 as a coach and manager, one of baseball’s nicest guys, will not make it to the Fall Classic.

In true Mattingly form, the first thing he did was congratulate the Cardinals for being the better team.

Mattingly feels for his players, not himself.

“This is a team thing,’’ he said of the devastating loss. “It’s disappointing because of all the work that you put in from last winter and planning and trying to put a club together that has some depth and trying to plan if this guy gets hurt or that guy gets hurt, just trying to put all that together. Going through spring, the long season, and then it just comes to a crash.

“So it’s disappointing for all of us. We put a lot of time in. The players put a lot of time in, and it’s what you play for to make that next step.’’

The next step never came.

Mattingly didn’t throw a single pitch or take a swing. He didn’t make any errors in the field like the two made by reckless rookie Yasiel Puig.

Mattingly admitted there is much work to be done with Puig. That will be his biggest challenge next year as manager.

“Yasiel gets excited,’’ Mattingly said. “He’s going to try to make plays all the time, and that’s the way he is. But we’ve got to do a better job, I think, of helping him to mature and understand what we want done and the way to do it.’’

Puig got all of the attention, but Wacha, the NLCS MVP, was the real rookie deal.

It started to unravel for Mattingly and the Dodgers when Matt Carpenter put up a magnificent 11-pitch at-bat with one out in the third inning. That started the Cardinals on their way to a four-run explosion. On that 11th pitch from Clayton Kershaw, Carpenter doubled to right.

Ironically, it was a Mattingly-like at-bat.

Then Beltran got the hit that he has been waiting for his entire career, ripping a single past second baseman Mark Ellis. Here is where Puig’s recklessness got him in trouble. He made a high, late throw home, allowing Beltran to race to second.

Beltran had called Puig out after Game 3 for not doing the right things on the baseball field and now he was calling him out in front of 46,899 Cardinals fans. Mickey Mouse lost his way in the Heartland.

Mattingly did a good job getting these Dodgers off the canvas early in the season and into the NLCS. This is a franchise that is on the rise with tremendous ownership. But the manager heard a voice from the team’s Brooklyn’s past: “Wait ’til next year.

“I’m really proud of my club,’’ Mattingly said. “They were a great group to be around. I felt like these guys have a lot of fun, but they do get down to business, sometimes a little bit unconventional. But they do love to play, and I think they represent the Dodger organization well.’’

So does the manager, even if he has never been to the World Series.