Not at all. He is valuable in how he handles the staff. All of our pitchers, veteran and rookie alike love having him behind the plate.
can't believe we won that. backe/nieve? the future of our bullpen? fernando's gonna start getting some heavy innings down there.
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Ditto on Nieve. He needs to be the #1 option out of the pen next to Lidge...so essentially Nieve needs to be the setup man. I don't mind the idea of Backe coming out of the pen either. I think he has the stuff, like Nieve, to be phenomenal an inning or two at a time. Hell, if Lidge starts sucking too much more (even though I still think he'll be okay), these two could be our setup/closer. The rest of the pen is garbage though. Qualls has the stuff but puts it in the exact wrong place at the exact wrong time. Wheeler has lost control as well. We already knew that Springer blows. Let Borkowski take over Springer's role, use Wheeler and Qualls as middle relief, and let Nieve/Backe/Lidge finish games.
We all know Springer is a scrub, but Lidge tonight was pure dark comedy. So sick it was funny in a way. I don't see many games on television, but am I the only one scared any time the starter leaves a game now for the Astros? What used to be a plus for the Astros has turned into a shop of horrors. The Astros used to be able to guarantee a win if the starter went six innings, turning the ball over to Qualls, Wheeler and Lidge. Right now, Lidge scares me as much as Springer, Miller and Gallo. Has Clemens ever thought about becoming a closer? Smoltz anyone?
man i feel for oswalt. the last game was arguably blown by preston wilson and of course today's clusterf@#k. he's probably going to have to get a win in every single start for the rest of the year to get to 20. sorry if somebody else posted this, but i'm not about to read this thread and re-live this game.
I'm not going to lie, I didn't really believe. The situation I compared this to was 2003 ALCS Game 7 between the Red Sox and Yankees. Between the teams' recent history in those kind of pressure situations with each other as well as the incredible comeback the Yankees pulled off, the game felt like it was over... even when it was tied. Watching the extra innings of that game felt like a formality... it was just a matter of when, who and how it would happen. That's how I felt tonight... given last October, yesterday and the two unreal shots today (Tad Iguchi, are you kidding me?) I was just waiting around to see who the other hero would be. It was like watching a game where you already knew the final result. But somehow, between Adam, Willy and a little help from Russ Gload, we won this game and Nieve shut the door. It was terrible on me as a fan... I can't imagine how it was for the players. But to win a game like this... that's incredible mental toughness under the most adverse of conditions. I've never been more proud of the guys and this is the kind of win that can really pull these guys together. If we do go on to make the playoffs, I think we can point to this game as a turning point. By the way, I've been hard on Willy all season, but I have to give him props tonight. He seems to have really grown up recently. He laid off some borderline pitches to work a walk in his first extra-inning AB, got the game-winning RBI single in the second, and successfully stole bases both times. And on the first time, Pierzynski made a perfect throw... Willy just beat it out because of great baserunning for the first time in a long while. There's no way you can put him in the starting lineup with how Burke is playing, but as other players slump and/or tire (Preston, Biggio, etc.) it may lead to some shuffling of the lineup to get more time for Willy. He gets my MVP for tonight... he was nails when everything else was falling apart.
I can't believe the Astros are only 5 back of the Cards and 3 of the Wild Card. Lets hope they get hot again and turn the damn pen around. Looks like another gut wrenching second half coming up!!
Thats actually how i felt too. Just waiting for the Sox to win, knowing they were going to come out on top. With that said im still glad we ended up pulling it out, surprised a bit as well. As far as Willy T, its good to see him in the lineup again putting pressure on opposing pitchers when he is on base. Hopefully he can catch an occasional start, but i guess there is no one to take out. Burke would still be better suited in a clutch situation, but Willy T did come through today.
can you ladies wait until we actually lose the game before you start whining about it next time? thanks in advance.
Oh...so Nieve is the new closer? At least, until he blows a save and everyone calls for his head on a platter? You guys are funny. It's ironic that Everett is one of the main reasons we won this game yet, earlier in this thread, he was being picked apart for his lack of offense and timely hitting. Yet, he had three hits in the game and has been on an offensive tear lately. Sure, beat the hell out of Lidge and Springer if you want but Everett has been playing well lately and deserves some kudos. His average is up to .242 . Cut the guy a break! I'm just glad we are out of Chicago. For all the crap we went through in this series, we could have, as unfathomable as it sounds, won 2 of 3. The Detroit series couldn't possibly be worse than this...even if they do have the better record.
