That 6" outside strike was pure BS. I thought I was watching Eric Greg back there. Then, Wade Miller throws 2 NON called strikes to McGwire in the 8th inning and the ump doesn't call it. Horrid ....Horrid...umpiring.. A strike is a strike.....it is not supposed to be subject to interpetation. DaDakota PS. Why didn't those fans interfere with McGwire when he leaned into the stands on Castillas popup to end the game, I certainly would have caused him to miss it....a TRUE fan helps his team any way he can...just ask that kid who caught that homer (cough cough) in NY.
I know. The closer it got to the stands, the more I kept thinking somebody has to reach out and stop this. But they didn't. Oh and Ward didn't even look close to swinging on his K in the ninth.
Agree 100% on the McGwire calls. That strike zone was terrible. I wish Dierker would've kept Lance in left, and put Ward in right. Curious to sit Alou down, after he's starting to heat up, but Dierk was trying to get extra lefties in, and Hidalgo had a great game too. Did you see the Pitch Trax thing on Lugo? The pitch he got CALLED out on was the pitch that was farthest outside. Miller has gone from rookie fill in starter to ace horse so quickly. I would've pulled him after 7 since we could've pinch hit with Alou, but Wade got 2 down, and had the 3rd out down 0-2 in the count, should've struck out Mac twice, and then gave up a base hit off of his glove. Next year, we will have such a well put together young staff-Oswalt is the ace, Miller is the horse, Carlos is the lefty, Reynolds is the rock solid veteran, and the 5th spot will be the youngster with frontline stuff (Redding) or the crafty veteran (Mlicki). A solid Villone start would be HUGE. It would've been nice to have won tonight's game, and win the series. Now Villone needs to come through vs. Kile.
Big Mac is like 6'7" 250 lbs man, ain't nobody getting in that guy's way! Tough game tonight. Gotta bounce back and get them tomorrow to take 2 of 3.
A couple of things: I HATE the first inning sacrifice bunt after a lead-off double. Many pitchers have trouble in the first inning before they get into the flow of the game. Right off the bat you get a double and then follow it up by intentionally making an out. Granted, sometimes the bunter will reach first as Lugo did last week, but I'd rather see them try to hit in that situation. Worst case scenario is that Biggio would be on 2nd with 1 out and Bagwell up. Mlicki has done one of two things for next season. He has solidified his spot as the 5th starter in the rotation OR he has increased his value enough where they may be able to trade him. He is signed through next year with a salary similar to Lima's. I would suspect they would trade him just to lose his salary if any decent deal comes along, but if they don't, he has shown to be a capable 5th guy.
That was the second time this year that either Oswalt or Miller got squeezed against McGwire. On the McGwire at bat, strike two was IDENTICAL to ball 4. Predictably, the next guy lines one up the middle and Edmonds scores. Should have been out of the inning. As for the flip side, well Williams was getting that John Leiber/Glavine outside corner. I usually don't b!tch about the strike zone stuff cuz it evens out. It certainly didn't tonight. Tomorrow will be a tough game. I won't be too thrilled if the Cards take 2 of 3. I really wish one of the Stros would have b!tched about it enough to get tossed. But, maybe that will hurt in future games? You can tell by their body languages that they weren't happy, but that just gets you down and not ready to hit.
The Astros can either pick up Astacio's contract for $9,000,000 or buy it out for $1,000,000. I doubt they will pick it up for $9,000,000.
that vina throw to first base that got lugo out was also bullcrap. it wasnt even a tie, lugo beat that.
If I was there, I would have tickled him. Hey, I'm out of the field of play so I should be able to do anything.
