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Mets, Cardinals open 2007 season with NLCS rematch

Apr 1, 2007 - 12:55 PM NY Mets (0-0) at St. Louis (0-0) 8:05 pm EDT

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Carlos Beltran and the New York Mets were left looking the last time they faced the St. Louis Cardinals.

Beltran and the Mets open up baseball's 2007 season against the Cardinals on Sunday night in a rematch of last season's National League Championship Series.

The Cardinals won the NL Central with an 83-78 record last season while the Mets tied for the most wins in the majors with a 97-65 mark. But St. Louis won the NLCS showdown, four games to three, en route to beating the Detroit Tigers in the World Series.

In Game Seven of the NLCS last October, Adam Wainwright struck out Beltran looking with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to end the game. The Mets were forced to watch the Cardinals celebrate at the Shea Stadium infield.

The star center fielder and his New York teammates will have to watch a celebration again on Sunday as St. Louis hangs its first championship banner in 24 years. Festivities at the Cardinals' Busch Stadium will feature members of St. Louis' World Series-winning teams in 1967 and 1982.

Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter will oppose lefthander Tom Glavine, who will head the Mets' shaky rotation. New York is counting on Glavine to anchor a young staff which does not have injured stalwart Pedro Martinez until later in the campaign.

While Carpenter won the NL Cy Young Award in 2005 and was the runnerup last season, Glavine is a two-time winner of the award and needs 10 wins to reach 300 for his career.

New York's 41-year-old lefthander was 15-7 with a 3.82 ERA last season, and Carpenter posted a 15-8 mark with a 3.09 ERA in 2006.