Author: David Medsker (Page 4 of 20)

There is no joy in Metville, for the mighty Carlos has struck out. Looking. On a 55 mph curveball.

The baseball gods will surely punish me for being so pun-heavy – God knows, I smack around the BE writers when they get out of control with them – but someone needs to ‘splain to me how Carlos Beltran, a Cardinals killer if ever there was one, could stand frozen, with two strikes, on the most hittable curve ball in the history of playoff baseball. For crying out loud, at least pretend to swing at the damn thing. Otherwise, you render fellow outfield Endy Chavez’s incredible catch of Scott Rolen’s home run in the sixth – which Chavez turned into a double play – completely pointless.

To be fair, it’s not as though Beltran is the only one that didn’t come through in the clutch in Game 7. Cliff Floyd, pinch hitting for losing pitcher Aaron Heilman (can’t really blame him for throwing a belt-high fastball to the youngest Flying Molina Brother, when only nine pitchers got away with that all season), was also frozen by an Adam Wainwright curveball. And let us not forget the bottom of the sixth, right after Chavez’s incredible play (which Floyd never, ever would have been able to make). After a throwing error by Rolen with a runner on first – loved his joke post-game about hitting the bull, a sly “Bull Durham” reference – Jeff Suppan intentionally walks Shawn Green to load the bases. Jose Valentin strikes out, and Chavez, the most eager beaver you’ve ever seen, swings at the first pitch, only to hit a meek flyout to Jim Edmonds in center field.

While the Cubs fan in me is angry to see the Cards advance, I have to take my hat off to them. Everyone said they were the weakest team that La Russa’s brought to the postseason in years, maybe ever. Well, maybe that’s what it will take for them to win it all. After all, the Yankees have proven that the biggest lineup isn’t necessarily the best one. Are the 2006 Cardinals the 1996 Yankees in disguise? We’ll find out Saturday.

You know, it’s funny. I just remembered that my friends and I were all rooting for the Yankees in that Series, because the Braves were the heavy favorites and we wanted to see the underdog Yankees win. How odd to call the Yankees underdogs at anything. But that’s what they were, and they won it handily. Note to Detroit: don’t get complacent. You have a much more difficult Series ahead of you than you think.

And so it’s come to this: the least of New York’s pitching (pick an Oliver, Perez or Darren) against St. Louis’ most aggressively average (Jeff Suppan). Home teams have a substantial edge in Game 7’s, but I attended the Game 7 at Wrigley between the Cubs and Marlins, so you know, anything’s possible.

Give the Mets credit; they sent rookie John Maine out to battle Chris Carpenter, arguably the best pitcher in the National League, and came out on the winning end. In fact, the Mets won both games that Carpenter started in this series, a most impressive feat. Jose Reyes leading off the game with a home run was a good start.

The Tigers have to be loving this, watching both teams exhaust their pitching staffs like that. Then again, could the lengthy break make the Tigers pitchers rusty? Personally, I’ve never bought into that idea. There is no way extra rest at the end of the playoffs could hurt anyone, especially pitchers who are almost out of gas.

Everyone thought this was New York’s year. The only thing the Mets are hoping for is that tonight is their night.

The Mets have to be shaking in their boots right now, down 3-2 and staring down Chris Carpenter on the mound for the Cardinals. There was always a risk of the Mets being in this position the moment the news leaked that they would be losing not just Pedro but El Duque as well. Tom Glavine’s dandy, but Pedro’s mean. And mean is what wins in the playoffs.

It would be a shame, really, if the Mets came this far, only to fall apart before taking their shot at the brass ring. It would be an even bigger shame to lose to the weakest Cardinals team in years. Though to be fair, the Cards remind me of the mid-‘90s Yankees teams, the ones that had some star players (Paul O’Neill, a young Derek Jeter), but more importantly, they had a clutch supporting cast of guys like Scott Brosius and Shane Spencer. Notice that the bigger the Yankees got, the sooner their fortunes would turn in the postseason? Just a thought.

Fox is surely rooting for the Mets, not just because it would mean an extra game of playoff baseball, but because it would mean more New York baseball. As much as fans love seeing teams like the Tigers, White Sox, Marlins and Angels appear out of nowhere and win it all, Fox hates not having one of the New York teams in the Big Show. Detroit and St. Louis are ranked #11 and 52 respectively in population. Tulsa is actually bigger than St. Louis. Who knew?

I wonder how much the strike zone is going to grow/shrink tonight…

Mets SMASH! Carlos Beltran homered twice and Carlos Delgado hit a clutch three-run homer (along with a 2-RBI ground rule double) to break a 2-2 tie. After that, the Mets never looked back, blowing it open in the sixth inning when the first seven batters reached safely. Single, single, walk, double, walk, single, double. Three outs later, this game was over.

The Mets needed this in the biggest way imaginable. They were staring down elimination in Game 5, and having to bring Tom Glavine back on three days’ rest to not just keep them alive but save the series. This way, they get some semblance of momentum as both teams head back to New York.

Either way, the Motor City Kitties are relaxing in Day-trois awaiting whichever NL team decides to attend the slaughter.

And just like that, the Mets are in big, big trouble. The Mets’ bullpen threw about four times as many pitches last night as the Cardinals pen, and tonight, starter Steve Trachsel had to leave after loading the bases without recording an out in the second inning. He even started the second by giving up a solo home run to Cardinals pitcher Jeff Suppan (!). Two more runs scored on a wild pitch and a fielder’s choice, and that was more than enough for the wheeling and dealing Suppan, who would scatter five hits over eight innings. Not that there was any need to watch after the second inning. Oh, and who knocked in those two runs in the first? Scott Spezio, with another 2-RBI triple. Think he’s playing for a fat new contract?

After four innings of sluggish hitting on the part of the Mets, I started to drift toward my TiVo queue, so I watched the back halves of the first two “SNL” episodes from this season. Man, is that show in a bad way. All of that talent in the cast, and they can’t write a skit to save their lives. Come back Tina Fey. You’re sorely missed.

The Mets send the erratic Oliver Perez (3-13, 6.55, 102K/68 BB) to the mound for Game 4. And at once it hits me that the Mets may not play another game in Flushing this year. Good pitching always beats good hitting. Go ask the AL champion Detroit Tigers about that one.