I actually told some co-workers yesterday that my main concern was Lidge's performance. Everybody talks about his dominance but he has not been that dominant in the playoffs. He has gotten out of jams and some games he has done pretty well but when the pressure has cranked up, I have noticed he really starts to feel the pressure. I told a person he needs to take a deep breath in between his pitches. The only reason he threw 2 sliders in a row is because when the pressure is cranked up he has no idea where his fastball is going and he knows Pujols can dial in to most fastballs. I hope Lidge gets a chance to redeem himself and I hope the Astros take the 6th game but I believe it will be an uphill battle.
The great thing about Oswalt is that he has ice water in his veins and I believe this will not effect him. I just wonder how this will effect the rest of the team. I am wondering if the Astros will be pressing more than usual and will struggle more on offense. I am wondering if the Cardinals will finally come out of their batting slump.
Lance Berkman will not be able to depend on 400 ft Crawford box homeruns anymore so I hope the Astros find a way to win. I think it will be an interesting Game 6. I bet FOX and MLB is loving this.
I was eating with my 6 year old girl and she knew I had been keeping up with all of this and she told me "Dad, don't worry about it, it is just a baseball game. It is not like someone is having a heart attack and dying.' She put it all in perspective but I am wondering how many people suffered heart attacks in Houston last night.
By the way, did you see the 2 second shot of Biggio with 2 outs in the 9th? I think he was crying thinking about getting to the World Series. I wonder what he was doing after the homerun was hit? I thought seeing Petitt's reaction saying "Oh my gosh" summed it up.
The crawford boxes can be misleading. Yes, they are shallow (but not as shallow as Yankee's RF), but they are elevated. Also, Berkman hits liner home runs, not the moonshots that Pujols hits. Berkman's homer was listed as 338' I believe--which would have been enough to carry it out of Busch, with LF listed as 330'.
I hope Lidge can bounce back. He is resiliant and a great talent and I would hate to see this negatively affect his career. Pujols and Eckstein were the heroes last night, but that can all change with Game 6. Can't wait.
I think Lidge will be fine, at least for the rest of the playoffs. He did get a K the next AB.
It's all on Oswalt, though. If he pitches three shutout innings to start the game, the Astros batters will be more patient and have better ABs.
I trust Oswalt to get the job done. And, I'd send in Pettitte from the BP in a heartbeat if that's what it takes to end this in 6.