ST. LOUIS — Mike Piazza just might be the best-hitting catcher in history.

        His reputation obviously doesn't encompass the postseason.

        Piazza, the New York Mets' Most Valuable Player candidate, hit .324 in the regular season but only .214 (3-for-14) in the Division Series against San Francisco. His career postseason average is .211 (15-for-71).

        But Piazza insisted Tuesday that he won't try to goad himself into matching his regular-season numbers.

        “I don't think you should ever have a sense of urgency in this game when it comes to execution, because that's when you really tend to do things you shouldn't be doing,” Piazza said.

        “I've said before that the only important statistic right now at this time of year is the win/loss column. Anything I can do to help this team win is the most important thing.”

        ADVANTAGE METS?: New York was 6-3 against the Cardinals this year and 5-2 against them last year. But the last time these teams met, St. Louis swept a three-game series Sept. 1-3 at Busch Stadium, winning all three games by one run in the final at-bat.

        “I think it kind of stuck in our minds a little bit,” said Mets left-hander Mike Hampton, tonight's Game 1 starter. “We were in those games, which was a good thing. There were no blowouts, so we felt that with one little break either way we could have won those games.”

        Cardinals right fielder Eric Davis downplayed the importance of that series or any other. “I've never seen any regular-season series carry over to the playoffs,” he said.

        TANK MAY ROLL: Though the Cardinals haven't set their NLCS roster, manager Tony LaRussa is likely to go with 10 pitchers, one fewer than normal, to keep former Reds outfielder Thomas Howard on the bench as an extra bat.

        Howard, a Middletown native, batted just .211 this year but led St. Louis with 11 hits and 11 RBI as a pinch hitter.

        “I can't even put into words how excited I am about just being here,” said Howard, who played for the Reds from 1993-96. “There are only a hundred ballplayers playing right now.”

        Though Howard wasn't activated for the Division Series, he was thrilled by St. Louis' three-game sweep over Atlanta. Thomas played on Cincinnati's 1995 Central Division championship team that lost a four-game sweep to Atlanta in the LCS and suffered another playoff loss to the Braves as a member of the Houston Astros in 1997.

        “For me, personally, I guess it was a good omen just to get through Atlanta,” Howard said.

        PUNCH IN A PINCH: With 554 lifetime home runs, even with bad knees, it's obvious that St. Louis' Mark McGwire is no ordinary pinch hitter.

        “It's a whole X factor,” Mets manager Bobby Valentine said.

        Said LaRussa: “They'll be conscious of that one at-bat, whenever it may come. Every team has its dangerous hitter or pinch hitter. That's part of how you manage ... . I think it's fair to say he's dangerous, really dangerous.”

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