I spend most of my time enjoying the messages, but I had to share this.
Out of curiosity I just watched the 8th and 9th inning of a 5-1 Astros road victory, but probably not the one you think. [The price of watching regular season games also includes watching the archived games during the off season.]
It was a [then] rare Astros win that was salted away by two-out hits in the 8th inning by Todd Self, Pigpen and Berkman, along w/ a wild pitch, turned a 2-1 lead into a 5-1 lead that was preserved by Wheeler and Lidge.
The interesting this about this victory is that the previous day, Qualls faltered and Lidge cratered while giving up a combined total of four runs, as the Astros bullpen blew a save and a potential 2-0 Clemens? shutout (and victory). Instead it became become a 4-2 loss.
The point of interest is the date and the Astros record at that time, as well as the location: The date of the 4-2 loss was 24 May 05, leaving the Astros record @ 15 ? 30 at that time. This loss was their 21st of 23 games on the road.
The following day, the 5 ? 1 victory over the Cubs in Chicago was the beginning of the magnificent run [I gave up looking for the w-l and winning %] that has led them to the WS.
Oh, yes, and you may not guess the name of the starting pitcher that served as the pivot point for this turning point game for the Astros. In fact, you might not even guess his name in three tries.
Cause his name is
Backe .
We had no idea how big that game would become, and what would happen from that point forward. Perhaps, it could have been a nice reminder after the heart-breaking end to Game #5 w/ the Cards.
Here are the links to the box scores of the end of the 15-30 crash and the first win that became the beginning of the WS run.
Feel the Burn: Cubs rally late (giving Astros a 15-30 record) Backe's gem snaps Astros' losing streak at seven Hope you enjoyed the brief history as much as I did. Now, let's see what it's like to actually have a reason to watch the WS.
Snuff
PS: Hasn't it been fun to see the Astros being discovered by sports writers across the country? Granted, more than a few wrote them off after the Pujols HR and most are not given them a chance against the "might" White Sox.
Read that someone in Chicago has a sign w/ this message: "SOX in the city".
