KNOWING WHEN TO HOLD 'EM.

Byline: DOUG KRIKORIAN

DETROIT - On a cold, blustery, wintry evening, the third-oldest pitcher ever to start a World Series game, Kenny Rogers, continued his sweltering October much to the joy of the Detroit Tigers and frustration of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Less than a month shy of his 42nd birthday, the strapping left-hander pushed his postseason scoreless streak to 23 innings in shutting out the Cardinals for eight innings on a mere two hits, but the Tigers came ominously close to squandering Rogers' masterful performance in the ninth, when his manager, Jim Leyland, replaced him with the erratic reliever, Todd Jones.

Jones almost gave it all up -- the Cardinals had the bases loaded when Jones finally got the dangerous Yadier Molina on a game-ending groundout -- and the Tigers survived Leyland's unnecessary meddling Sunday night for a 3-1 victory to tie the World Series at a game apiece in front of 42,533 chilled spectators at Comerica Park who endured 44-degree temperatures.

But why would Leyland yank Rogers in the first place?

Why would Leyland bring in a guy with a 2-6 record and 3.94 ERA when Rogers was breezing methodically through the Cardinals' batting order, giving up only a first-inning single to Scott Rolen and an eighth-inning single to Molina.

He had thrown a mere 99 pitches, didn't appear to be tiring one bit, and, as Leyland himself would say afterward, ``I've never seen a guy so pumped up. He has so much adrenaline going for him these days. I think his big performance against the New York Yankees has vaulted him to another level.''

A level Rogers certainly hadn't reached in previous Octobers with the Yankees Minnesota Twins, and New York Mets when he never made it past the fifth in five starts, as he was roughed up for 20 runs in 20 1/3 innings.

Earlier this month, Rogers silenced the Yankees and then Oakland A's and even silenced intimations Sunday night by the Cardinal hitters after the first inning that he might have been employing a foreign substance.

It turned out to be nothing more than a clump of dirt, and the umpires after that first inning gathered and had Rogers wipe it off.

``There was no official complaint from the Cardinals, and there was no inspection by the umpires because there was no observation of anything illegal,'' said umpire supervisor Steve Palermo.

La Russa did have a brief discussion with the arbiters after that opening frame, but would say later, ``It's not important what I talked about. I don't want to take anything away from Kenny Rogers' performance. He was terrific. But some of my players did think the ball was acting funny in the first inning.''

Indeed, the ball seems to be acting funny to all hitters facing Rogers these days, as he continues to dominate them with almost scandalous ease.

``Kenny is now the professor,'' said Carl Monroe, who became the first player to hit home runs in his first two World Series games since Barry Bonds did it in 2002. ``To stand out there in the outfield and watch the way he changes speed and watch the way he lays everything on the line emotionally is a lot of fun. Kenny is a high-energy guy, and he gets a lot of us guys pumped up.''

Rogers can be a boorish guy, also -- he had a serious run-in with the law last year, when he roughed up a Dallas TV cameraman when he was with the Texas Rangers -- and curtly refused to answer a few questions during Sunday's postgame press conference.

But he did say of his remarkable October turnabout: ``With any athlete I think the longer you fail at something, the harder it is to turn that corner. Without a doubt going out there and having success against the Yankees was huge for me, huge for my confidence. As an athlete, it gives you a release to where you known you can refocus your energy, and not worry about all the other stuff.''

Rogers' biggest worry Sunday was having to sit in the dugout in the ninth inning and endure Jones' shenanigans that included his committing an error, plunking a batter and giving up two hits.

Incidentally, one of the intriguing sidelights of this match was that was it had a distinct Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim flavor, with four former Angels players, Jim Edmonds, David Eckstein, Scott Spiezio and Jeff Weaver (Simi Valley), in the starting lineup of the Cardinals.

Weaver was a member of the Angels until Stoneman finally dealt him to the Cardinals on July 5 to make room for someone named Jered Weaver, but he certainly wasn't a distinguished member, as he went 3-10 with a 6.29 ERA.

He has done slightly better in St. Louis, as he would win five of nine decisions in the final three months of the regular season and was 2-1 with a 2.16 ERA in the postseason going into Sunday's game.

He didn't embarrass himself in Game 2, although he was a closer resemblance to the Weaver who pitched for the Angels earlier in this season than the one who beat the Mets last Tuesday in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series.

In five innings Sunday, he gave up nine hits and threeruns, yielding two of them in the first inning on Craig Monroe's home run and a double by Carlos Guillen and another one in the fifth on a triple by Guillen and single by Sean Casey.

But it was Weaver's misfortune to go up against a guy now chasing the legendary Christy Mathewson, who holds the postseason scoreless streak of 27 innings.

Rogers insists he's no Christy Mathewson, but he certainly has been pitching like him the past three weeks.

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