That's still not a reason to take him out... I don't think he was "laboring", and he certainly handled Lance and Morgan well.
In both cases, I'm betting it was a move for the future. Both of these pitchers are confidence pitchers. If they give up a run late, it shoots their confidence for their next game. As it is, they both pitched a great game and should be confident for their next starts (if they have one). If you trust your bullpen - and both teams do since they had the top 2 bullpens in the league - it's not a big deal. Both guys - Backe and Suppan - are liable to blow up at any time. Why take a chance?
Chris Everett has to be the MOST PATHETIC clutch hitter in the history of this team. How many times does he make the 3rd out with runners on base...TOO FRICKEN MANY !! At least he swung the bat though...UGH....too many chances for the Cardinals... We got them down....now STEP ON THEIR THROATS !! DD
This team is what it is.....a pathetic offensive club w/ outstanding pitching....at least we'll have the top of the lineup next inning.
That was my reasoning for it too... but, that's also a direct page from the Jimy Williams school of managing, and unfortunately I don't believe that being over-cautious in these situations helps you that much in the playoffs where you might not get a "next start", or you don't really have to coddle players on confidence for an entire 162 game stretch. Its one thing if you have Pedro in the bullpen ready to pitch for you (like Jimy did)... its another if you have guys like Wandy or Marquis as your long-releif.
Just love it when the Astros hitters are trying to pull everything and it ends up as a weak grounder to the SS.
im sorry man i accidently clicked report instead of reply..so if you hear something its my bad.. anyways my post was everett needs to learn to stop trying to pull everything in sight and that it is ok to go with the pitch sometimes
I kinda question why TLR decided to pitch Morris ahead of both Suppan AND Marquis. We've seen Morris enough over the last 5 years to have plenty of good games against him... and we've lit up Suppan some too... but rarely have we got to Marquis (besides game 3 last year... which was a differnt team than the one he mowed down this year). I guess Garner is not the only manager that deserves some criticism in the MLB playoffs... Marquis would have been tougher as a starter against us yesterday.
the first and third were on the corner, and didn't get much plate if any. but you still gotta get the bat off your shoulders at some point. though sparky anderson said, if you think you're going to ground into a double play, just strike out. so maybe that's what brad was doing. of course everett isn't going to get the hit anyway so may as well take a chance.
You make a good point, but why extend Qualls? He pitched 2 innings last night and you never know what will transpire tommorrow night. Backe's next start will be the World Series - I would manage for the NLCS before I worried about his confidence in his next start.
Last pitch was on the inside portion at the knees....and I believe Brad was thinking off speed pitch.
Well, just to be fair... why manage for game 5, before you're done with game 4? Seriously, though, its really because Qualls is just a badass.
