ST. LOUIS (AP) – New York Mets pitcher Steve Trachsel was hit on his leg by Preston Wilson’s comebacker and left Game 3 of the NL championship series against St. Louis in the second inning Saturday night with a bruised right thigh.

Trachsel gave up a two-run triple in the first to Scott Spiezio, then allowed a home run leading off the second to pitcher Jeff Suppan – whose only other big league homer was off Trachsel on Sept. 10 last year at the old Busch Stadium.

David Eckstein walked and Wilson hit the next pitch hard, a sharp grounder that appeared to glance off Trachsel’s right leg. The ball was hit so hard it ricocheted into shallow left field as Eckstein went to third.

Mets manager Willie Randolph and a trainer came out to examine Trachsel, who stayed in and loaded the bases with a four-pitch walk to Albert Pujols – Trachsel’s fifth walk of the game.

New York, already short starters because of injuries to Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez, brought in Darren Oliver, who was given unlimited time to warm up.

because of the injury.

Oliver threw a wild pitch on his second delivery to Jim Edmonds, allowing a run to score, and Edmonds followed with an RBI grounder that boosted the lead to 5-0.

Trachsel threw just 21 of 43 pitches for strikes, gave up five hits and was charged with five runs. He is in line to pitch a possible seventh game on Thursday, if necessary.