Well, the Mets have finally lost one, and a crusher, sending them to St. Louis with Trachsel, Oliver Perez, and Glavine on short rest coming up. Ugh. The crucial mistake here was Randolph leaving in Mota too long – I knew after the marathon at bat to Pujols that something bad was going to happen to Mota in that inning. Someone should go back and count how many pitches the Cards fouled off tonight, between Pujols and Eckstein’s at bat against Heilman.
Off to bed – more on this game later.
5 thoughts on “First Blood”
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I turned it on during the Eckstein/Heilman face-off. That was really something, fun to watch. And for a Phillies fan like me, I have to admit, I smiled when Billy Wagner blew up.
I commented before the playoffs that the Mets were a shoo-in to the series unless they ran into a hot pitching staff. At the time I was thinking about the Astros or maybe the Dodgers. I would not call the cardinals pitching performance so far “hot”, but the bullpen has been outstanding and I like the matchups in St. Louis. The Mets may be in trouble.
vivaelbirdos.com’s moderator says the Birds fouled off 26 2-strike pitches. I wonder if Elias has a stat on that!
To me the big turn was when Mota shook off LoDuca, then they spoke. Either LaDuca won, which meant Mota threw a pitch he didn’t believe in, or Mota threw what he wanted anyway.
Rarely did Seaver shake off Grote, and LoDuca is a very smart catcher.
Detroit is in. They get to rest while Stl and NYM have to play at least three more games before the WS starts. A rested bullpen could be the difference in the World Series.