IST NLDS - Nationals & Cardinals

[Frayed Knot]

Game 1: Gio Gonzalez vs Adam Wainwright

Nats jump out to a 1-0 lead but Gonzalez, suddenly showing some of the wildness that tainted his career in earlier seasons, walks 5 of the first 9 batters he faced including 3 in a row at one point, and it's 2-1 Cards heading for the 3rd.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Hell of a catch by Werth in the bottom of the 6th to rob Descalso of a two-run HR and keep it a one-run game. Almost makes up for his leaving six baserunners stranded with two outs today.

[Gwreck]

1st and 3rd, no outs, top of the 8th, Nationals down a run. What does Danny Espinosa do? He bunts. Not a squeeze play, either -- just a bunt. Moves the trail runner from second to third.

I thought Davey was doing a better job than that.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

What the hell what he thinking? Still, Nats get 2 runs.

[Frayed Knot]

Yeah, I'm betting that Espinosa bunted on his own there. Dude had, what, 25 HRs this year?

That game moved at the pace of plate tectonics.
Having both pitchers up around 100 pitches by the 5th inning had a lot to do with that, but still. One more mound conference and I was going to start peaking under catcher's masks to see if one of the backstops was Jorge Posada in disguise.


I was finding myself pulling for the Cardinals during the game. That kind of surprised me.

[ashie62]

Who is Wilbon rooting for?

[Frayed Knot]

Game 2 is 2-1/2 hours old and they're already in the 7th inning!!!!
They've got to do something about the pace of these games.

8-3 Cards following a LONG HR by Beltran - although the Nats are threatening.
And now 8-4, but the threat is diminished by a dumb base-running move by Harper. Possibly he was weighed down by all that eye-black.

[Guest themetfairy]

Beltran's second home run of the game gives the Cardinals an 11-4 lead in the 8th.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Thoroughly enjoying watching the Nats get pasted.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Just wish it was by the Pirates instead.

[Frayed Knot]

Considering that the Nats had no extra-base hits in game 1, made 2 errors, walked 7, and now haven't gotten good pitching in either game, they're lucky not to be down 2-0 at this point.

[Ceetar]

themetfairy wrote: Beltran's second home run of the game gives the Cardinals an 11-4 lead in the 8th.

That guy is so freaking awesome.

[Frayed Knot]

Ceetar wrote: themetfairy wrote: Beltran's second home run of the game gives the Cardinals an 11-4 lead in the 8th. That guy is so freaking awesome.

On the plus side, Wheeler will probably be among the top 5-10 pitching prospects going into next year.

[Edgy MD]

Ceetar wrote: themetfairy wrote: Beltran's second home run of the game gives the Cardinals an 11-4 lead in the 8th. That guy is so freaking awesome.

Yeah, but he never does it when it counts.
Yeah, well, NOW he does it when it counts, now that he's out of New York.

The hater is ready for you either way.

[Ceetar]

Edgy DC wrote: Beltran's second home run of the game gives the Cardinals an 11-4 lead in the 8th. That guy is so freaking awesome. Yeah, but he never does it when it counts. Yeah, well, NOW he does it when it counts, now that he's out of New York. The hater is ready for you either way.

That's why we have block buttons. :-D

[Frayed Knot]

Beltran, btw, becomes the first guy to hit two HRs in a post-season game for three different teams.
But, y'know, never when it was needed.

[Frayed Knot]

[u:31ph9ga5]GAME 3[/u:31ph9ga5]
Chris Carpenter vs Edwin Jackson

Cards get 6 hits from their first spin around the line-up and lead 4-0 after 1-1/2
3R HR from Pete Kozma is the big blow.

Kozma is one of those guys that seem to almost always pop up on winning teams. Hitting .214 and then .233 with no particular power during two seasons of AAA ball, he was called up on Aug 31 to replace the injured Rafael Furcal and hit .333/.383/.569 in the majors.
The '93 Phils had the same thing with Kevin Stocker. He was never as good in the minors, or even for the rest of his majors career, as he was for that 2nd half of the '93 season.

[Frayed Knot]

Nats keep getting chances to get back into it, but also keep leaving runners all over the place.
They've had at least three different two-out/two-on ABs but are oh-fer in all of them.

5-0 Cards top of 7

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

Bleepin' Cardinals. They shouldn't even be in the playoffs.

[bmfc1]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs/2012/story/_/id/8487066/2012-nlds-jim-joyce-misses-call-1st-base-game-3-st-louis-cardinals-washington-nationals
How the hell is this guy still a major league ump?

I guess he's going to write a book with Espinosa.

[Frayed Knot]

Joyce has had at least five different 'Bang-Bang' calls at 1st today and the Espinosa one (which was quite close and discernible only after slo-mo replay) appears to be the only one he missed.
Implying, as AP/ESPN does by first running that piece and then linking it to the Galaraga play and the blown IFR call from last week, that this is part of a larger pattern is both a cheap shot at Joyce and is pretending to see a trend where none exists.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

8-0 Cardinals. Stomp on their necks. Make the tears run into their excessively applied eye-black.

oe: Christ, I can't type.

Edited October 10, 2012 by Guest

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Swan Swan H wrote: 8-0 Cardinals. Stop on their necks. Make the tears run into their excessively applied eye-black.

lol

[HahnSolo]

Frayed Knot wrote: GAME 3 Kozma is one of those guys that seem to almost always pop up on winning teams. Hitting .214 and then .233 with no particular power during two seasons of AAA ball, he was called up on Aug 31 to replace the injured Rafael Furcal and hit .333/.383/.569 in the majors. The '93 Phils had the same thing with Kevin Stocker. He was never as good in the minors, or even for the rest of his majors career, as he was for that 2nd half of the '93 season.

The Cardinals are starting to remind me a bit of the Torre Yanks in this way (Ledee, Spencer, Small, Chacon, Curtis, etc.).

[Frayed Knot]

Like I said, winning teams almost always have one of those - it's part of why they become winning teams.

But, yeah, that doesn't change the fact that I could go on and on (as could most of us here) about the MFYs getting out-of-nowhere contributions exactly when they needed it from guys who were never as good either before or after but I try to avoid it because it sounds too much like sour grapes even though I'm convinced they got more of it than anyone.

Gooden having his only good stretch as a Yanqui match up almost perfectly with Cone's absence when he had his aneurysm surgery is just one example.

[Ceetar]

Frayed Knot wrote: Like I said, winning teams almost always have one of those - it's part of why they become winning teams. But, yeah, that doesn't change the fact that I could go on and on (as could most of us here) about the MFYs getting out-of-nowhere contributions exactly when they needed it from guys who were never as good either before or after but I try to avoid it because it sounds too much like sour grapes even though I'm convinced they got more of it than anyone. Gooden having his only good stretch as a Yanqui match up almost perfectly with Cone's absence when he had his aneurysm surgery is just one example.

Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon winning like 18 of 20 games they pitched in..2007?

[Frayed Knot]

Y'see, now you're getting me started.

GlenAllen Hill in 2000. A power hitter at one point but also a 35 y/o .270 career hitter who suddenly hits .333 as a Yank with 16 HRs in 132 ABs (after hitting .262 w/11 HRs in more ABs with the Cubs in the first half of the season).
The following season (w/Anaheim) he hit .116 with ONE HR and was released at the end of May never to play in the majors again.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

FK, why wouldn't they respond when they donned the pinstripes? They all got to play under the leadership of the greatest captain since Hornblower, or at least Stubing. Maybe Kangaroo.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

It may be this Armstrong stuff I'm reading now but I have a good idea of what's happening there.

[Ceetar]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: It may be this Armstrong stuff I'm reading now but I have a good idea of what's happening there.

Are you suggesting that the greatest city on earth and the team with the highest payroll might know the best ways to get an edge?

What also helps, at least for the hitters, is that when you want to give the old guys a handicap, just like you would a child, you move the walls in. Getting to play at Yankee Stadium is like playing on the kiddie field.