Wednesday, October 13, 2004 |
I'm Always Touched By Your Singles, Dear: Cardinals 10, Astros 7
The Astros' biggest advantage within the series would have been their two top starters, but because of the length of time Houston took to dispatch Atlanta, the rotation's bass-ackwards going into the NLCS. The good news is that if the series reaches Games 6 and 7, the Astros will probably be able to press Oswalt and Clemens into action on three days' rest apiece. Backe had his moment in the Divisional Series, but asking for that again is sort of the $64,000 question where the answer's more likely to come up 'Who was Les Straker?' It makes for a fun what-if, should the Astros get this series to Games Six or Seven. But where Garner could maximize the time he had his three really good pitchers--Clemens, Oswalt, and Lidge--on the mound, he doesn't get that in the early going in this series, and it's going to hurt.And why did the Astros take so long to cause another tomahawk chop-and-choke for the Braves? One theory beloved by yours truly is that Garner was afraid to go long with Clemens in game four; or maybe it was his pussyfooting around Brad Lidge in game 2. Garner's postseason moves have been borderline inexplicable, and dumb luck saved him in the case of the double switch in NLDS game 4 that nearly cost him game 5. But he can't afford to take pointless, expensive risks with little upside against a team as relentless as the Cards.
It's not like the 'stros didn't try; they got the game back to respectability, even scoring unto the final inning. Still, I just don't like this club's weak bullpen, and Garner's two-left-feet use of it. Perhaps the dumbest move was to give Backe the hook in the fifth with men on first and second; did he really think rookie Chad Qualls, who barely kept Atlanta's comparatively feeble hitters down, would suppress Scott Rolen? It was maybe defensible; Rolen, incredibly, didn't have so much as a single against the Dodgers. At 93 pitches, Backe was laboring for his outs. Too, Qualls had a 1.69 ERA in 5.1 innings, hardly a huge number -- so the Cards had barely seen him, another advantage. But nobody in that bullpen was going to mow down the Cards, so the attempt to Quall the St. Louis offense failed -- and miserably when, in the sixth, he would give up five more runs, all earned.
Jim Callis in Baseball America gripes today about the lousy scheduling of the games:
Can't wait for the FOX baseball contract to expire. If the network doesn't want to show two Championship Series games in one day, don't bid on the contract. Instead of enjoying both games separately today, we have to flip back and forth between them this evening. Why can't we have a Houston-St. Louis game in the afternoon? Because all the FOX stations have to show syndicated repeats of "The Simpsons"? What an outrage.I have to agree. However, I will give Fox credit: their handling of HD has been wonderful. No letterboxing, no sidebars, very good camera work, all Fox-scheduled games available in HD, and all in a superior format to ESPN HD. It's why we pay the extra moola for HD.
Newer› ‹Older
 |
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.