NEW YORK, Feb.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Mike Piazza is retiring from baseball following a 16-season career in which he became one of the top-hitting catchers in history.

For the Mets, a season-opening victory against the Cardinals wasn't about to make up for last October's NLCS loss to St. Louis. It was, however, a good place for New York to start.

The St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Mets will play one game tonight for the National League pennant. The Mets tied the National League Championship Series at 3-3 last night with a 4-2 win behind rookie pitcher John Maine. The rookie dominated the St.

Shawn Green and the hitters started fast, Billy Wagner closed it out quickly, and now the the New York Mets are headed to the NL championship series.