I've been as pissed as any Cardinals fan during this slide, but man I was elated this afternoon. Many people have been bashing the Cardinals Pitching but they do have 3 decent post season starters in Carpenter, Suppan and Weaver. Weaver and Sup have pitched well of late. Suppan has been dynamite since the break. Carpenter has caught hell because he has given up 6 in each of his last two starts. Well, his last start against SD he had given up 2 runs through 6. LaRussa left him in throughout the 7th even though he was on fumes. His loss against Houston he was up 5-4 and had no business being the game in the 8th. Weaver has given up 3 or less in 5 of his last 6 starts. Its the bully which is going to hurt these guys. Its obvious that LaRussa is afraid to go to his pen a lot of the time and that is why Carpenter has lost his last two decisions. Preston Wilson is hitting the ball better. If they can get Rolen hot then I think they have a shot to win a first round play off series. That is just me though.
Uh....the Cardinals suck....you in na-na land I just hope the Astros win tonite so that Carpenter has to pitch tomorrow and it totally phucks up their rotation in the playoffs....that's my WS title for the Astros....just win tonite
Ok, you just proved you have absolutely know idea of what u speak about Follow me on this...i'll type slowly.....had the umpire made the correct call, Roger Clemens would have been heading into the bottom of the 7th with a 1-0 lead,l thanks to Craig Biggio. He would have pitched another shutout inning. Qualls would have pitched the 8th and Wheeler would have shut them down in the 9th for a 1-0 victory. Also, the Braves would have come in with subpar relief pitchers because they would have been behind 1-0, not ahead 2-1, giving the Astros a decent chance to add on to the lead. Everything changed at that point, based on the umps call. You see, Nieve would not have seen the light of day had the Astros held a 1-0 lead. Thus, the 2 homers would not have occurred.
Astros win....Pettitte comes up big on 3 days rest Sampson will have a tough battle with Smoltzy tomorrow. Should be fun to watch. I just wonder if Garner has an ace card up his sleeve and plans to start Wheeler and have him go the first 5 innings. Wheeler hasn't pitched since the Wednesday 3 inning stint in Pittsburgh in which he only threw about 38 pitches (not counting the 2 intentional walks). So he should be ready to go unless he pitches the 9th inning tonite.
Carpenter won't be able to pitch until game 3 now. That's sweet. He's only good at home anyway. He a sub-par pitcher on the road. He'll be pitching next Saturday to avert a 3 game sweep at the hands of the Padres (they will be getting their revenge). By the way, to you St. Louis fans out there, I know you got to be so damn tired of LaRussa and his god awful managerial moves. He's got only 1 WS title to show for all the talent he's had on the A's and Cardinals. Dude is way overhyped and the most overrated manager in the history of MLB. What say you?
Listen to me slowly... If your manage doesn't pitch his best in the bullpen only down 1 run with the postseason on the line, he is a phucking idiot. Also, Renteria, Jones, and Jones were up in that 8th inning. I find it funny how a guy with an ERA of almost 4 (Qualls) is guaranteed to get out of the 8th, but yet a guy who's ERA going into yest was 4.09 (Nieve) isn't. Either way, what's done is done, and tommorrow, the Astros will be done... They are extremely stupid pitching Pettite today. Save Pettite for Smoltz, and put the rook up against subpar Lance Cormier.
Qualls is our setup man...he is proven over the past 2 seasons, and he has been extremely good the 2nd half of the season after a slow start. Nieve is a rookie.....so that takes care of that. You start Pettitte cuz you have to get to tomorrow. Had the rookie got knocked out the box with the Astros only putting up 2 runs in the first 8 innings, the season would be over. Smart decision Phil Garner. Thanks to that decision, there is a tomorrow. You take your chances and figure out what to do to win the game when that time arrives. It would be nice if maybe the Astros put up an early run or 2 instead of waiting til the late innings to score. That's one way to win tomorrow. We shall see. At least the Stros are still playing for something on the last day of the season. Even the Phillies can't say that. And many predicted them to win the WC. Hats off to the Astros for buckling down and doing whatever it takes. It will be a good feeling going into next season. Just sign Carlos Lee and solve your right handed power hitter problem in one transaction. Carlos can already foresee a 45-50 homer season with that short left porch. And please let Jason Lane go. Thank you.
I really wish they wouldn't start Carpenter. They should maybe try a committee effort or something. I hate the idea of losing Carp for the first two games. Oh and the Cardinals are getting better starting pitching lately. Suppan and Weaver are pitching much better. If the Cardinals suck and get in, what does that make Houston???
According to Bernie Miklasz of the STL PD, Carpenter is not starting today. It will be Narveson or Thompson I believe.
