Just like in 2000, the Cardinals and Mets are the final two teams in the National League and are also less talented than their American League counterparts. The Mets have been the favorite for months now, but injuries to pitching and a relatively inexperienced playoff team has reopened the league for a team like St. Louis. This series will be decided with the hitters, with New York having a wealth of them. Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, David Wright, and Jose Reyes provide a solid base that is closer to the Yankees than some would like to believe. They can also go to Julio Franco as a pinch hitter, which is a luxury that most teams don?t have. The Cardinals aren?t as lucky with their only big bat being Albert Pujols, even though he is the best hitter in the game. The rest of the line-up lacks punch because of the overall talent level and the disappointing years from Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds. Both teams will have to rely on their offense to support pitching that has struggled with injuries and depth problems. The Cardinals will ride Chris Carpenter, who will be limited to two starts this series since he pitched in Game 4 against the Padres on Sunday. The Mets will counter with veteran Tom Glavine, who has been an average playoff pitcher before this season. This series could be won with the rest of the rotation and which team can have their starters go the most innings and keep the game close. This will set it up for a bullpen battle that the Mets are better suited to fight in. Manager Willie Randolph has done a great job of setting up the bullpen with each player have his role to lead up to closer Billy Wagner. The Cardinals look to have found a closer in Adam Wainwright, but he is inexperienced and the bullpen use of Tony La Russa leaves much to be desired. Each game in this series will be close and should be of the high-scoring variety. In this case, the advantage goes to the New York Mets, who have a deep and talented offense that can hit for power, move runners over, and score off of the running game that will even cause problems fort the Cardinals? excellent catcher Yadier Molina. Through the injuries, the Mets still have the most talent in the league and it will show through in the NLCS and onto the World Series. New York Mets in 5