Stros' vs. Cards...

[rrj_gamz]

I can't wait for the game tonight...I'll be flipping back and forth from the Rox game...Although, me thinks the Rox will lose...

I hope Moehler and Redding bring it this weekend to set up Roy for another brilliant game this Sunday...

I know the Cards are 3-0, but heck, they played the freakin' Brewers...

My predictions...Astros will kick Cardinal azz...

Fri: Stros 7 Cards 5

Sat: Stros 8 Cards 9

Sun: Stros 4 Cards 1

I know we won't sweep, but 2 out of 3 would be great...

Let me know your predictions...

[Oski2005]

I predict that we are going to need a real third starter soon if we want to go anywhere this year.

[rezdawg]

Originally posted by Oski2005
I predict that we are going to need a real third starter soon if we want to go anywhere this year.

I predict Robertson will have a better start next time around.

I also predict that we win 2 of 3 against the Cards.

[Uprising]

Thank god for the 'Stros. They are around to pull me out of my Rockets depression.

GO STROS.
This game is gonna be good. I can't wait. THank goodness for the deal they have with FSSW, so I can watch many games. Compared to the rockes.

[Groogrux]

Loss, loss, win.

[MoBalls]

Originally posted by rezdawg
I predict Robertson will have a better start next time around.

I also predict that we win 2 of 3 against the Cards.

My predictions exactly

[Smokey]

Grand Slam Ausmus!!! Holy shiet!

5-0 Astros

[Uprising]

GRAND SLAM!!!!! AUSMUS!!!!!

[Smokey]

If something goes wrong, I'm blaming it on Deshaies.

Deshaies: "If I'm Moehler right now, I'm thinking I just won the game"

Way to jinx them in the 1st :rolleyes:

[Uprising]

well, we are still up, 5-1 after 2 innings.

Let's go 'Stros!!!!!:cool:

[kidrock8]

We are Edmonds' bitch.

[countingcrow]

Deshaies screwed us...Pujols 3-run HR to tie the game.

Moehler is very mediocre!

[Nick]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by countingcrow
Deshaies screwed us...Pujols 3-run HR to tie the game.

Moehler is very mediocre! [/QUOTE


Edmonds hit a 2 run shot. Pujols followed him w/ a solo shot.

But, you are right... Moehler is very mediocre.

[Nick]

Originally posted by countingcrow
Deshaies screwed us...Pujols 3-run HR to tie the game.

Moehler is very mediocre!


Edmonds hit a 2 run shot. Pujols followed him w/ a solo shot.

But, you are right... Moehler is very mediocre.

[Raven Lunatic]

Four games into the season and ONE of our starting pitchers has made it past the 4th inning.

Wonderful.

[Uprising]

12 straight astros are out, not making it to base.

Many of them are out from the same hit, to the third baseman and thrown out at 1st.
:mad:

[BmwM3]

Yeah, Brad with his second homerun. He is playing some Baseball!!

[Uprising]

Ausmus is the man!!!


De man in de house!!!!

Grand slam....homerun in 12 inning....WOW!!!:D

[Uprising]

Biggio with a hit off the Wall!!!!!


NEARLY ANOTHER HOMERUN FOR THE STROS!!!

too bad. 2 outs. Will see what Viz can do, if anything. come on ASTROS!!!

[Uprising]

HOLY SH!T!!!

What a great ending!!!


STRIKE OUT....and caught stealing!!!

[BmwM3]

Brad Ausmus is the man!!!!What an arm!!!

[gr8-1]

Lidge has electric stuff. Wow. I know it was a hit and run, but he blew away Pujols.

[Smokey]

Anyone find it funny the guy who lost the game for the Cards was a former Astro (Russ Springer)?

[JBIIRockets]

That had to be the best game Ausmus has ever played.

2 homers, both were big, and more amazingly, threw out 3 Cardinal runners in EXTRA INNINGS!

Ausmus is a big reason the Astros will always be a playoff contender.

[Mr. Mooch]

Ausmus for MVP!!!!!

I knew I wasn't stupid like everyone said I was for picking Ausmus in my Fantasy league.

[Mr. Mooch]

Originally posted by JBIIRockets
That had to be the best game Ausmus has ever played.

2 homers, both were big, and more amazingly, threw out 3 Cardinal runners in EXTRA INNINGS!

Ausmus is a big reason the Astros will always be a playoff contender.

2 homers, ALL RBI's, 3 cuaght stealing, 2 for double plays, WOW!

[Raven Lunatic]

Thank god LaGenius pinch ran for Edmonds. I think that saved 2 more ABs for him in this game...which might have spelled doom for us.

What really had me worried about Lidge was his total lack of confidence in his slider after that near wild pitch that Ausmus blocked with his kneepad. He only threw it one more time in the inning (for a strike). Going with pure fastballs is not going to be enough to save games like this one, on average.

[Special Patrol Group]

Originally posted by Raven Lunatic
Thank god LaGenius pinch ran for Edmonds. I think that saved 2 more ABs for him in this game...which might have spelled doom for us.


Not that I don't enjoy a good shot at LaRussa, but I think that was predetermined. I remember Brown or Deshaies saying early in the game that Edmonds probably wouldn't play 9 full innings.

[Kilgore Trout]

Originally posted by Raven Lunatic
Thank god LaGenius pinch ran for Edmonds. I think that saved 2 more ABs for him in this game...which might have spelled doom for us.


Edmonds was is playing hurt right now and larussa is trying limit his playing time. He was clearly in pain after the last double.

What really pissed me off is the Cards kept running on your gold glove catcher. Its not that hard to realize that Ausmus can gun down baserunners, why couldnt Tony figure it out.

[Raven Lunatic]

Originally posted by Kilgore Trout
Edmonds was is playing hurt right now and larussa is trying limit his playing time. He was clearly in pain after the last double.


Regardless of whether or not it was a good move, I'm just glad it happened. I mean, the guy had 4/5ths of your offense. He was the only one that was consistently crushing the ball. I fear him everytime he steps up to the plate against the Astros. Had he stayed in, the outcome could have been very different.

[Lil Francis]

Aumus won't hit more than 8 homers this year but I still think he is the best defensive catcher in baseball. If the Stros had a #3 starter they would be a legit World Series Contender.

[rrj_gamz]

What a game...It had me getting an ulcer...

But I was wrong...Instead of my prediction of 7-5 Stros', it was 6-5...;)

Now let's see how they respond...GO REDDING & GO ASTROS...

[rrj_gamz]

The Stros' will Sweep...I feel it...

[Truth]

I'm hoping youre right, but since we should have this game in the bag before it starts, we will probably lose.

[Truth]

Awwwww never mind, the game has been resheduled.

[codell]

Game today rained out ............to be made up May 29th :(

[RIET]

Cardinals are lucky as hell. No way Simontachi wouldve beaten Oswalt.

[rezdawg]

This blows nuts. I hate when rain interferes with play.

[Truth]

This why I always say, "Retractable roofs for everybody!!" :D

[dylan]

Originally posted by RIET
Cardinals are lucky as hell. No way Simontachi wouldve beaten Oswalt.

Just like there's no way that Redding would have beaten Morris? Baseball is a funny sport. Junebberno....

[Truth]

Originally posted by dylan
Just like there's no way that Redding would have beaten Morris? Baseball is a funny sport. Junebberno....

Well, Redding didnt beat Morris. He just did a servicable job of putting up 0's while Morris did. Morris was rolling yesterday, but the overmanaging of LaRussa strikes again.

[KeepJuaquin]

NO WONDER!!! Rain delay! They should have closed the roof! Dummies! Oh yeah...their stadium does't have one! Ha! Minute Maid Park is the Best!

[Raven Lunatic]

Originally posted by RIET
Cardinals are lucky as hell. No way Simontachi wouldve beaten Oswalt.

Do not temp the Baseball Gods, RIET. We have already been in their doghouse for quite some time now.

[KeepJuaquin]

I'm likin it too!

Keep it up!!!

Jeff Kent. Don't strike out 3 times again!

[RIET]

Originally posted by dylan
Just like there's no way that Redding would have beaten Morris? Baseball is a funny sport. Junebberno....

Redding didnt beat Morris.

Morris pitched awesome and shouldve gotten a win.

[kidrock8]

Originally posted by RIET
Redding didnt beat Morris.

Morris pitched awesome and shouldve gotten a win.

In most cases, if Redding pitched the way he did yesterday, he would have gotten the win in 90% of games.

Relatively speaking, Redding outpitched Morris. Anytime your #5 guy goes toe to toe with your rival's #1, that is a huge advantage.

[RIET]

Originally posted by kidrock8
In most cases, if Redding pitched the way he did yesterday, he would have gotten the win in 90% of games.

Relatively speaking, Redding outpitched Morris. Anytime your #5 guy goes toe to toe with your rival's #1, that is a huge advantage.

In most cases, the Cards wouldve started Pujols and Jim Edmonds and wouldve had Steve Kline (and Isringhausen - later in the season)

We were extremely lucky to win yesterday for a variety of reasons. Luckilly LaRussa had his head in his arse and was cautious with Morris.

Redding pitched a fine game but when you take out the top 2 hitters in the lineup, that's a big blow to their offense.

The ironic thing about the whole thing is Im sure LaRussa wouldve started both players had he known today's game was going to be rained out.

Now Oswalt wouldve shut down the Cardinals and been his usual awesome self. It's possible Simontachi couldve stopped the Stros offense though highly doubtful.

I would take my chances with that matchup anyday.

[jtotheb]

Do not temp the Baseball Gods, RIET. We have already been in their doghouse for quite some time now.

Isn't that the truth Raven....

I never kept up with the Angels, but was Edmonds always that solid offensively? I mean, I know the guy was nails defensively...but I don't remember seeing him on Sportscenter because of his bat. Ever since he signed with the Cards, the guy's just flat out killing the ball. Looks like someone made a deal with the devil.....

[Fegwu]

Originally posted by RIET
Cardinals are lucky as hell. No way Simontachi wouldve beaten Oswalt.


Didn't Simontachi give us trouble last year? Hmmmm....even Oswalt wasn't crisp in his first either. I strongly dislike the Cards and I wish we beat heavily this season - I just cannot stand them.

2001 NL Central Co-Champions my behind :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:


Go 'Stros!!!

[Raven Lunatic]

John P. Lopez had a good article in today's chronicle about why the Cards really called yesterday's scheduled game.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/1855231

Forecast for St. Louis: There's an Astros alert

By JOHN P. LOPEZ
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
ST. LOUIS -- There were a couple of painful last at-bat losses, a couple of Cardinals outfielders who came up gimpy, and a chilling date with Roy Oswalt looming.

And so barely a week into the season, the Astros had St. Louis looking like a bunch of Scared-y Cards.

The Cardinals might call it what they want, but it seems Sunday's Astros-Cardinals game was called on account of reign.

The Cards, who likely would have had to play without Astros killer Jim Edmonds and slugger Albert Pujols, didn't want to give up their Central Division reign without a fair fight. And the Astros looked like they were ready to wrest the crown and stake a claim to the title even before Easter Sunday.

Officially, cold and mist were offered as the reasons for Sunday's cancellation at Busch Stadium. But anyone who watched this series had to know better, or at least that something else put a chill into the Cardinals.

It wasn't appreciably colder in St. Louis on Sunday than it was one day earlier, when the Astros spoiled a Matt Morris gem with a ninth-inning rally. Nor was it much colder than Friday night, when Brad Ausmus capped the game of his life with a 12th-inning game-winning home run.

And wet? Heck, when their roof leaks, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have played under wetter conditions than what hovered over St. Louis on Sunday.

The weather was blustery, but not impossible. The weather more than likely gave the Cardinals the perfect opportunity to regroup and re-evaluate the status of Edmonds' strained calf muscle, Pujols' strained hamstring and Tony La Russa's strained managerial touch.

It's early, of course. But if nothing else on the way to sweeping the first two games of the always-important season series with the Cardinals, the Astros outplayed and outmanaged the division favorites.

Except for Ausmus' NL Player of the Week-type performance, the Astros might not have inspired awe on the field, but they did nothing to dispel predictions they'll be in the race throughout.

In the dugout, skipper Jimy Williams didn't exactly reinvent the game. But most important, he didn't try to reinvent the game -- like La Russa often has attempted.

Several moves backfired on La Russa in these two showdowns with the Astros. Most notably, an attempted steal of third base in the bottom of the 12th in the opener that wound up as a strikeout, throw-out game-ending double play was ill-advised.

And in Saturday's second game, yanking Morris after the Astros had hardly touched him all day, and with his best inning the eighth, was questionable. So, too, was it questionable to pitch to Ausmus in the ninth with runners on second and third after Ausmus had been hammering the ball even on outs.

Ausmus provided the game-winning hit with first base open, and the Astros wrapped up the opening week of the season with a 4-1 record, half a game out of the NL Central lead.

It was just one week. The Cardinals no doubt will try to answer the Astros' strong statement in St. Louis with one of their own this weekend at Minute Maid Park. Edmonds and Pujols should be better, and La Russa has juggled his rotation in order to use his best pitchers in Houston.

But the first week of the season showed just how strong this Astros team can be while offering only hints of potential trouble spots.

Williams and general manager Gerry Hunsicker have to be watching closely the middle of the infield and opponents testing Craig Biggio's arm in center. They also must be crossing fingers over the Nos. 3 and 4 starters, Jeriome Robertson and Brian Moehler.

There were no catastrophes on any of those fronts the first week, just warning lights flickering. If anything, the big bats and Ausmus' cool and clutch ways showed any shortcomings defensively or on the hill can be overcome.

Still, for all his offense, Jeff Kent has not been smooth defensively at second, nor has Julio Lugo at short -- and Lugo has yet to start swinging the bat, either.

Biggio, while adapting nicely defensively and swinging a good stick, will have his arm tested often on singles up the middle and drives to the gap.

No. 5 starter Tim Redding showed the most promise in the bottom part of the rotation. Robertson pitched like a rookie finding his way. Moehler was decent to begin with in his start, but he blew up in the fifth inning.

Still, things could have gone worse for the Astros in the first showdown with their big division rival -- they could have been the Cardinals.

[Surfguy]

So, the Cards called this one in sick and used weather as an excuse? How can that happen? Is that the rule...home team can call the game if they want because it looks like it could rain heavily? What a joke, man!

[codell]

Originally posted by Surfguy
So, the Cards called this one in sick and used weather as an excuse? How can that happen? Is that the rule...home team can call the game if they want because it looks like it could rain heavily? What a joke, man!

I thought the same thing. Arent the umpires the ones that make the decision?

[rezdawg]

Yeah, no way the Cards make the decision. I think he just tossed that in there for some added touch.

[Puedlfor]

Home team makes the decision until the lineup cards are turned into the ump. It was LaRussa's call to make, and he made it.

Official MLB Rules :

4.01
Unless the home club shall have given previous notice that the game has been postponed or will be delayed in starting, the umpire, or umpires, shall enter the playing field five minutes before the hour set for the game to begin and proceed directly to home base where they shall be met by the managers of the opposing teams. In sequence_ (a) First, the home manager shall give his batting order to the umpire in chief, in duplicate. (b) Next, the visiting manager shall give his batting order to the umpire in chief, in duplicate. (c) The umpire in chief shall make certain that the original and copies of the respective batting orders are identical, and then tender a copy of each batting order to the opposing manager. The copy retained by the umpire shall be the official batting order. The tender of the batting order by the umpire shall establish the batting orders. Thereafter, no substitutions shall be made by either manager, except as provided in the rules. (d) As soon as the home team's batting order is handed to the umpire in chief the umpires are in charge of the playing field and from that moment they shall have sole authority to determine when a game shall be called, suspended or resumed on account of weather or the condition of the playing field. Obvious errors in the batting order, which are noticed by the umpire in chief before he calls "Play" for the start of the game, should be called to the attention of the manager or captain of the team in error, so the correction can be made before the game starts. For example, if a manager has inadvertently listed only eight men in the batting order, or has listed two players with the same last name but without an identifying initial and the errors are noticed by the umpire before he calls "play," he shall cause such error or errors to be corrected before he calls "play" to start the game. Teams should not be "trapped" later by some mistake that obviously was inadvertent and which can be corrected before the game starts.

[rezdawg]

what a bunch of pu$$ies!!

[Surfguy]

That's piss poor on the Cards part. Injuries are a part of the game. So...what...next time they are going to be all healthy and Roy Oswalt may not be the pitcher due up and we may be the ones with injuries. Translation...an almost sure win could turn into a loss because of pussy postponements like this. That rule sucks donkey d*cks. And, how could we ever do something like this considering we have a retractable roof? "Uh...our roof won't retract cause it's broke and there are clouds in the sky so we're calling the game". The truth is the Cards got their asses whipped by the Astros and instead of being swept under the carpet they weaseled their weaseling arses out of the game. They should rename them the St. Louis Weasels. I won't be forgetting this any time soon. Larussa just made my sh*t list for life.

[PhiSlammaJamma]

I thought St. Louis was a baseball city. This is ridiculous. Play ball man.

[Svpernaut]

Sorry dylan but Oswalt owns the Red Birds, and that was a win no matter how you look at it. Also, Redding is a hell of a lot better pitcher then most people think... he has the best stuff on the staff, he just needs to get the control down. I'd take a Redding over a Simontachi anyday.