For those of you who say Ensberg & Lamb can't bunt I call BULL**** ! They are both PROFESSIONAL hitters and practice bunting all year long. But, if you aren't going to bunt there, at least do a decent job and hit a fricken fly ball. This game was SOOOOO winable, you can not lose games like this in the World series.... We lose Roger early, and then fail to score when we were tatooing the ball all over the field...but mostly down the 3rd baseline..GRRRR.. I have never seen a team that has such a hard time hitting behind the runners, or to the opposite field....just horrible baseball. And why is Everett in there again? His defense? Didn't he have ANOTHER error..... VIZ time baby !! DD
You can pin this lost on Phil Garner. How about Ensberg bunting?? Take advantage of Willy Taveras speed & the element of surprise. The Ensburg was 0-2 or 3 at the time. That is when it is time to "manage". Two wasted opportunities to tie the game or take the lead. I guess Phil Garner is just happy to be there and is not thinking of actually winning the dam thing! NO, I am not giving up b/c if the Astros can hang with WRod pitching they are in good shape the rest of the way. They will win Game 2.
If we're going to "blame" anyone, it's definitely Ensberg, who has stunk up the entire postseason since game 1. I think without that game one he's hitting under .200 and very few runs batted in. Pitchers have realized that as long as you pitch outside to him he will try to hit it the other way and fail miserably. I hope he doesn't pull a RIchard Hidalgo and suck the rest of his career after one good season.
Ensberg is thinking too much and not letting his bat fly - and when he does, he's swinging so wildly, no way he makes contact. He's so tentative even when he's ahead of the count which is always a sign of a player who's uncomfortable.
Any kind of bunt not directly to the pitcher would have done! Do that on the first and second pitchs and try fly out if goes 0-2. instead, 3 strike outs and two ground outs to the 3rd. Greedy and stupid!
To be fair for Ensberg, he absolutely tattooed the ball on the last at bat. You are not playing for a tie here, when you have 1st and 3rd with no outs with your #1 RBI guy, you do not bunt the ball. I wasn't really sure about that 2-1 strike pitch, it was an inside pitch that wasn't called strike throughout the game, but I guess it's not the umpire's fault. As far as Lamb, a bunt may make sense, but I certainly don't want an inexperienced bunter up there considering how easy it is to pop out on fastballs. I may have gotten Viz or Palmeiro out to try the sqeeze. It made even more sense when Burke stole second putting the winning run on second. I don't think Guillen would dare to put his infielders in and risk losing the game on a single. Anyway, just some tough luck today and that Jenks guy is an absolute stud. He is a pure fastball thrower and I think we may be able to adjust to him and get some extra base hits later in the series. I was praying that his arm would cool down after sitting between 8th and 9th, and it did (considering his 100 mph fastball went to 95), but he has dominating stuff. Another shame was that Burke was used for pinch running, so he couldn't bat in the 9th. He may just be our best fastball hitter on the team right now, and I want him in in the 9th if Jenks is pitching. I still think we can steal one in Chicago with Pettite on the mound. We haven't seen the best of him so far in the playoffs, and he is bound for a dynamite performance.
To be fair to Ensberg, Crede made a nice play on him in the fifth, or sixth inning when Taveres was on third. He absolutely smoked the ball. His last AB put the pyew in putrid, but it's not over.
7nth and 8th inning killed us. What the hell has happened to Morgan?! He is starting to be like the old Bagwell and Biggio (in the post season)
I was thinking the same thing. I think what has happened is that he is too one dimensional, last year he hit all over the field, and this year became a dead pull hitter, that may work when you are facing a teams number 4 or 5 starter quite often, but when you are getting the other teams best.....you have to expand your game or they will take away what you do best. Berkman is a great example, he simply goes with whatever the pitcher is giving him.... DD
We'll be alright. If you would have told me Roger would only go two or three innings and we'd still be in position to win it late I'll take that any day. Pettitte will get them tomorrow. I think Ensberg just isn't getting any breaks (although that at bat against Cotts was terrible)...remember, he led the team in RBI against Atlanta (if I'm not mistaken...he had quite a few anyway). I think he'll break out before this series is over. Even though this should have been 4-4 going into the bottom of the 8th, you have to give credit to their defense...especially Joe Crede. I thought that pickup on the grounder by Bidge was huge for them. Like I said though, we'll be alright. I still like our chances. Edit- By the way, I love what Taveras did tonight...he's holding his ground while he swings instead of hitting it off balance with one hand. I'd consider letting him leadoff again if he keeps swinging like that.
True, Berkman's hits are all over the field. Man, I hope we can get the Morgan of the season back next game. This game was sooooo winable. But damn it all to hell, they get multiple strikeouts in a row to get out of the jam!!!!!! Two innings in a row, we had a lead off double. And ZERO runs scored.
We did not have one 1-2-3 inning the whole game. We lost our starting pitcher in the 2nd and We had to rely on a rookie and we still almost won. I am encouraged and I think we will win tmrw if ensberg shows up.
In an interview on 610...Ensberg took total responsibility for failing. He said his situation was different than Lane's and Bagwell's. He said under no circumstance can you not get the ball in play with a runner on 3rd with no outs. At least he's a man and can admit it.
so what did happen to Clemens? he injured? his hammy? I was at a bar and it was too loud to hear the tvs.
