[Chron] Astros aware trip to St. Louis is next hurdle

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3265664

Astros aware of next hurdle
Big lead makes series less critical for Cardinals
By JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

DETROIT - Directly across from each other in the National League clubhouse at Comerica Park on Tuesday, the St. Louis Cardinals' and Astros' All-Star closers had different perspectives regarding their upcoming series at Busch Stadium.

Brad Lidge readily admitted that the three-game series, which starts Friday, could be one of the most important of the year for his surging Astros. St. Louis' Jason Isringhausen wasn't quite so sure.

"Is that who we're playing?" Isringhausen said. "I didn't know, really. The Astros are playing a lot better."

But Lidge knows the Astros' schedule well.

"It's a very important series for us," he said, "but I think overall that 10-day (11-game) trip is extremely important for us."

If the St. Louis and Houston All-Stars are any indication, it's clear the Astros enter the weekend with much more to prove against their 2004 National League Championship Series opponent.

The Astros are a game over .500 and five games behind the Atlanta Braves in the wild-card race.

"We want to really get off to a great start," said Astros owner Drayton McLane, who points to his past acquisitions of Randy Johnson and Carlos Beltran as examples why he is not ruling out a trade for another bat. "You know our objective is to catch the Cardinals. We're aiming to catch up to the Cardinals in the second half.

"You always want to improve our team. I think if you look at our record in the last eight years, we've made significant trades."

In second place 11 1/2 games behind the Cardinals in the NL Central, the Astros don't have a luxury of being able to overlook any opponent.

"Each series under our circumstances is just as important as the next," said third baseman Morgan Ensberg, who got his All-Star nod after St. Louis' Scott Rolen pulled out last Sunday. "I think what happens is when you're seeing the St. Louis Cardinals, who are such a good team, obviously there's going to be more attention put on that.

"They're a solid team. It's much more difficult to beat a solid team than it is to beat a team that is really struggling."

Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols refused to discuss the series, saying "you don't talk about that stuff here. This is to forget about that."

St. Louis center fielder Jim Edmonds was a bit more pleasant though he admitted not knowing the Astros entered the All-Star break as one of the hottest teams in baseball.

"We've been kind of on a whirlwind so I don't know how they've been doing lately," Edmonds said. "But we definitely respect them."

The mutual respect is obvious between the NL Central rivals, especially between Chris Carpenter and Roger Clemens, the former Toronto Blue Jays teammates who will face each other Sunday. Carpenter, who started for the NL on Tuesday, has said repeatedly that he learned a lot from Clemens during their days in Toronto.

Clemens and St. Louis manager Tony La Russa also share a mutual admiration, which is why La Russa persuaded Clemens to pitch though Clemens volunteered to sit out so other NL pitchers could make their first All-Star appearances.

"He said from the get-go, he's had his share of opportunities and experiences like this and he didn't want to take an opportunity away from a young guy," La Russa said of Clemens. "You know, my response was, that, first of all, I mean, I don't know, I hope he retires because he pitches for the Astros and this may be the last chance."

La Russa often jokes that he wants Clemens to retire so the Cardinals don't have to face him anymore.

Unless Andy Pettitte hasn't recovered from the left elbow strain that knocked him out of his previous start after five innings, the Astros will throw their top three starters at the Cardinals. Pettitte is scheduled to face Mark Mulder in a duel of lefthanders Friday. All-Star Roy Oswalt will face Jason Marquis on Saturday.

"We need to win it, for sure," Oswalt said. "We need to get started out on the right foot. Hopefully we get a couple of wins and put ourselves more above .500 and hopefully gain some ground. The closer you get the more pressure it's going to put on teams."

The defending NL champion Cardinals, who have the best record in baseball, don't have as much to lose this weekend as the Astros.

"They're a great team," Ensberg said of the Cardinals. "Hopefully we can play the way we've been playing the last two weeks."