There's not much one can complain about in the Astros win yesterday. But one thing that bothered me was Clemens going out in the 7th inning after going over 100 pitches in the first 6 innings. This, plus after reading Garner's comments in the Chronicle today about Clemens' problems on short rest, seems to imply the Rocket will not start game 4. I'm really hoping this series would be a sweep. Or at the very least, be 2-1 going into the 4th game. Because I'm not particularly thrilled with Clemens on 3 days rest(after a 117 pitch performance) or Munro on the mound on Sunday.
Munro starts and goes 1 inning, followed by Harville for 1, Gallo for 1, Springer for 1, Wheeler for 1, Qualls for 2, Miceli for 1 and Lidge for 1
That's probably what I'm thinking. Start Munro and put him on an incredibly short leash. Then you can save Clemens for game 5 on normal rest.
What is all this Game 4, Game 5 nonsense???? I want to pull out the brooms baby!! Astros are gonna kick that ass!!
I'm pretty sure that I heard Clemens and Oswalt will pitch 4 and 5. And Im fine with that. The playoffs are no time to be messing around with crappy pitchers. Clemens is the horse that brought us. If he fatlers. Oswalt pictches game 5. So who cares. I'd rather lose with Clemens than Munro. In a seven game series. Maybe Munro because less pressure. But still, I'm a 3 man rotation guy myself.
Well, the problem is that Clemens has been quite mediocre on short rest. Perhaps not to the level of Munro, but certainly not nearly as dominant. And the guy's 42. Pitching Clemens on Sunday also means that Oswalt will pitch on Monday with short rest, as opposed to Clemens on full rest. Which could cancel out any advantage you get for pitching Clemens over Munro in game 4.
IMO, the only way Munro starts a game in the playoffs is if we are up 3-0 going into Game 4 or 3-1 going into Game 5 of the NLCS or World Series. I'd much rather have Clemens, Oswalt and Backe on short rest than Munro.
If he pitches on Sunday and doesn't fare well, it ain't because of the 10 pitches he threw in the 7th.
I think we should bring out one of the big guns like Darren Oliver, Brandon Duckworth, or Tim Redding.
The fact is that we are going to need a 4th starter no matter what (assuming that we get to the NLCS/WS). Might as well get Munro out there on the short leash that he has been on. As long as Backe can put in 5-6 innings, there is no reason we can't use the whole pen on Sunday (if necessary) and have Roger on 4 days rest for game 5 (which won't happen).
I would go with this. If a game 5 is necessary we would not only have Roger ready but Roy would be available out of the bullpen if Roger struggles early. But like others have said its not going to matter because the series will be over when Backe pitches a no-hitter saturday.
