Lets get something out of the way immediately, Steve Lyons is a yammerin ninny. Lucky for me I still have the worrell button.
The other thing that was immediately obvious was that Andy Pettitte was not the pitcher he has been since the All Star break. Maybe it was the effects of the flu but his pitches were drifting over the plate. (Mark Berman reports that Pettitte got hit in the knee during bp and Scraps said it swoll up during the game.) One of the signs of his being out of synch was the number of flyballs he threw.
The game started auspiciously, Anaheim Jim drifted on a ball hit over his head by Berkman and misplayed it into a double. They didn?t score on that when Ensberg, first pitch swinging, grounded to the pitcher.
In the bottom, Eckstein took a high fastball to right for a single. Then Sanders, with 2 strikes got a fastball right down the middle and homered. Sanders took a bow, insisted upon by the fatuous red lacquered fans.
In the 2nd, with Grudzielanek on 3rd, Pasadena and College Boy tried to get the runner to tip his hand by throwing wide to the Talapia. But with 2 balls they came in and he got the suicide squeeze down.
The Bank of America cartoon commercial has no idea how to pivot the dp at second.
The Astros were hacking until the 3rd, then they decided to watch what Carpenter was throwing and challenged. Ausmus singled up the middle. Carpenter tempted Biggio with breaking stuff away. He didn?t bite and walked. Then Taveras fouled off a number of 2-2 pitches and inexplicably worked a walk. Berkman, bases loaded, swung at the first pitch he saw, and ripped a tailor made dp right at Grudzielanek.
Much was made of the Cardinals defense. However, the Astros were hitting balls hard but right at people. When they didn?t, such as Berkman?s double in the 1st and Ensberg in the 4th, they didn?t make great plays. Hell, even Clank can make a nice scoop and turn the dp on a ball if it's scorched right at him.
In the 4th, Ensberg doubled over Sanders, who turned the wrong way. Lamb moved Ensberg over to 3rd with a groundout to 2nd. With one out, Lane got intentionally unintentionally walked. They wanted Everett. Maximus turned on a fastball and hit a bolt down the line to Nunez at 3rd. Ensberg broke on contact and actually beat the wide throw home. He was tagged high on the back of the thigh as his foot crossed the bag. No controversy as the out call was made.
In the bottom of the 5th, Eckstein and Pujols, going with the high fastballs Pettitte was offering, dropped a couple between 2nd and right and they padded the lead to 5-0.
In the 6th, Sanders ended the inning at the wall grabbing down a fly by Lamb that looked like it could?ve left the yard.
Chris Burke, carrying over the mojo, with a runner on pinch hit for Pettitte in the 7th and crushed a towering homer to left, creeping closer 5-2.
Charles Schwab expects us to take investment advice from cartoons?
Springer came on in the 7th, his walk of Edmonds the only blemish. A comical moment occurred in that atbat when Springer threw a high fastball right over the plate, Edmonds flew back as if it was aimed at his head. The chitin covered faithful obediently booed.
Astacio followed in the 8th, looking sharp and striking out 2.
Then the 9th, home plate umpire Tim Mcclelland seemed to lose the strike zone. The Boys tried to challenge. Lamb singled, Lane understandably mystified by the new low strike zone made the first out looking. Then Eckstein, getting the dp ball, winged the throw, putting runners 2nd and 3rd, 1 out. Ausmus got the run in on a sac fly. Vizcaino got the pinch hit call and he rolls out.
New game tomorrow, Oswalt v. Mulder. 7: closer to 30.
