By Craig Elliott
Zeke Astacio came out looking like the goat in Game Three, but honestly we should have never seen him. The Astros had more than enough chances to win. When you leave that many guys on base, especially in the late innings, then it may come down to Zeke Astacio and Geoff Fucking Blum.
But now we have to move along and take Game Four. Both bullpens got a workout last night, so let’s hope Backe can go deep into the game. Some Astro hitters going deep would be nice too.
When:
Wednesday, October 26, 7:00 p.m. CDT – Fox
Where: MMPUS
It looked a little tense in there Tuesday night; the deathly quiet at key moments is unnerving. But I have to say, I don’t think I?ve ever been so intent on one at-bat, and even one pitch, as when Ensberg had the 3-2 count with the bases loaded. But he whiffed.
Matchup
Freddy Garcia (14-8, 3.87 regular season) v. Brandon Backe (10-8, 4.76 regular season)
Garcia might have been an Astro at some point, but he went to Seattle in the Randy Johnson trade. He’s 0-1 in his career against Houston. He made 33 starts for the Sox this year, but hasn’t pitched in 10 days.
Current Astros are only 13-for-69 (.188) against him, with four doubles and no homers. Lance Berkman is 2-for-3 against Garcia, and Lamb is 5-for-17 (.294). But Palmeiro is 2-for-19 and Brad Ausmus is 1-for-12. Biggio and Bagwell are both 1-for-4 with a double.
Backe pitched 4 innings against the White Sox at some point in his career, giving up 2 earned runs in five innings. A few White Sox have seen him before for a handful of at-bats. Combined they go 3-for-12 against Backe, with a homer from Pencildick. Paul Konerko, Joe Dirt, and Geoff Blum are a combined 0-for-7 against Backe.
Backe has a 1-0 record in six career postseason appearances, with a 3.64 ERA. In his last start, he held the Cards to a run on two hits in 5.2 innings.
He also plans to knock two homers off the facade tonight, but I don’t think Andy Pettitte’s buying it.
Players to Watch:
– Carl Everett can go fuck himself. Geoff Blum and his fright wig can too, for that matter.
– And also Pierzynski, that asswipe. Did anyone else notice his limp-wrist mimic as he flipped the ball down after an inning-ending strikeout?
Other shit
* You know you’ve got a crackerjack stats crew working the broadcast with they put up their own fucking production stats and pass them off as relevant. Like telling us how many promos they’ve showed, or how many hours of “24” you could watch during Game Three.
* Great job by the fan to take a foul away from Konerko. He even earned an “attaboy” from Brandon Backe.
* Dustin Hermanson and Aaron Rowand have two shitty-ass goatees. It looks like they have testicles resting on their chins. Which they probably learned from Mike Piazza.