Cardinals Nation Weeps!
Posted by: kdc
Saturday I was literally at a beautiful outside wedding all afternoon/evening & it was just as well, as my Cards lost Game 3 in ugly fashion evidently. Having completely missed it, there was nothing of insight to report (and we had company over until Sunday morn). Sorry, wasn’t dodging my commitments. (I hope this doesn’t blow my coming New York Times gig.)
Game 4
Frankly, between superior pitching and greater poise, the Astros have been impressive.
Sunday, they pieced together a win w/a variety of pitchers while the Cards again couldn’t get the hits when men got on base - & often in scoring position.
The last two innings were especially exciting, as with the score 2-1, 2 outs, 1 man on base, & a 3-1 count, Jim Edmonds argued strike 2 so vociferously that he was tossed from the game. (You aren’t allowed to argued strikes & balls, although umpires usually allow a complaint or 2. Frankly, it did look like a ball & w/Pujols on deck, I was dying to see what would occur.) In any event, it’s a nightmare for a pinch hitter, who wasn’t even warming up, to be put into a full count, 2 out situation & we couldn’t capitalize.
Ninth inning Pujols, who was a very human 2-11 in the series (if I remember correctly) before this bat, singled, Larry Walker singled him to third, then Reggie Sanders hit a one-hopper to the third baseman, allowing Pujols to get nailed at the plate. (Alas, Pujols should not have been running, as there were no outs & the 3rd base coach told him not to run.) However, Walker alertly got to third as the Astro covering 3rd comically starting calling time-out as he slid into the base. (It’s comic only because he obviously wasn’t prepared for Walker & so instinctively wanted to stop his advancement.)
So with one out and a man on 3rd, John Mabry hits into a double play, a hit that would’ve scored Pujols is he’d of just stayed at 3rd. Though honestly, the throw to the first baseman to complete a double play looked like a tie on the replay to me, though no one disputed it very hard, so maybe it wasn’t quite so close as the replays indicated…
To say that Cardinals Nation is in disrepair is an understatement.
The only good news, according to www.si.com:
Game 5 Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter loves Minute Maid Park. He is 4-0 with a 1.85 ERA against the Astros in five starts during the regular season, and at Minute Maid Park he was 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA. In four total career starts at Minute Maid, Carpenter is 4-0 with an 0.84 ERA. "I actually enjoy pitching here," Carpenter said on Sunday. "I think it's a nice place. I like the park. The mound is good. Everything about it is good. If you start concerning yourself with that short wall in left, the next thing you know, you go away from your game and they have still got to hit it out there."
Maybe it's time for me to set up a Rams-Texans wager?
Saturday I was literally at a beautiful outside wedding all afternoon/evening & it was just as well, as my Cards lost Game 3 in ugly fashion evidently. Having completely missed it, there was nothing of insight to report (and we had company over until Sunday morn). Sorry, wasn’t dodging my commitments. (I hope this doesn’t blow my coming New York Times gig.)
Game 4
Frankly, between superior pitching and greater poise, the Astros have been impressive.
Sunday, they pieced together a win w/a variety of pitchers while the Cards again couldn’t get the hits when men got on base - & often in scoring position.
The last two innings were especially exciting, as with the score 2-1, 2 outs, 1 man on base, & a 3-1 count, Jim Edmonds argued strike 2 so vociferously that he was tossed from the game. (You aren’t allowed to argued strikes & balls, although umpires usually allow a complaint or 2. Frankly, it did look like a ball & w/Pujols on deck, I was dying to see what would occur.) In any event, it’s a nightmare for a pinch hitter, who wasn’t even warming up, to be put into a full count, 2 out situation & we couldn’t capitalize.
Ninth inning Pujols, who was a very human 2-11 in the series (if I remember correctly) before this bat, singled, Larry Walker singled him to third, then Reggie Sanders hit a one-hopper to the third baseman, allowing Pujols to get nailed at the plate. (Alas, Pujols should not have been running, as there were no outs & the 3rd base coach told him not to run.) However, Walker alertly got to third as the Astro covering 3rd comically starting calling time-out as he slid into the base. (It’s comic only because he obviously wasn’t prepared for Walker & so instinctively wanted to stop his advancement.)
So with one out and a man on 3rd, John Mabry hits into a double play, a hit that would’ve scored Pujols is he’d of just stayed at 3rd. Though honestly, the throw to the first baseman to complete a double play looked like a tie on the replay to me, though no one disputed it very hard, so maybe it wasn’t quite so close as the replays indicated…
To say that Cardinals Nation is in disrepair is an understatement.
The only good news, according to www.si.com:
Game 5 Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter loves Minute Maid Park. He is 4-0 with a 1.85 ERA against the Astros in five starts during the regular season, and at Minute Maid Park he was 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA. In four total career starts at Minute Maid, Carpenter is 4-0 with an 0.84 ERA. "I actually enjoy pitching here," Carpenter said on Sunday. "I think it's a nice place. I like the park. The mound is good. Everything about it is good. If you start concerning yourself with that short wall in left, the next thing you know, you go away from your game and they have still got to hit it out there."
Maybe it's time for me to set up a Rams-Texans wager?
