Max wrote:

APRTW wrote:

You cant always pull the plug at first sight of trouble.  That would cause your pitchers to try and be to fine.  I agree with sticking with Garcia.  If you go to the bullpen over and over you will get burnt.

who said always?  in a game like this i'd go with my gut.  my gut clearly told me danger was in the air and i posted as much.

I would have stuck with Garcia but you called it.  The only thing Garcia lacks is getting past 6th with running into trouble.  He just doesnt finish strong.

Max wrote:

APRTW wrote:

Nice!  Craig has been a though out today.

and if he can manage to not roll over into a DP, pujols hasn't been completely horrible today, either.

Fucking DP's.  How fitting that that issue cause the Cardinasl the game in the playoffs.

That is a catch.

Wow, even after 3 years at 2B Schumaker is still our best defensive CF.  Should have been a DP, though.

APRTW wrote:

He comes the Cardinals last chance. 

My prediction:  Pujols walk, Berkman homers and Westbrook gives up the losing homer in extra innings.

Nah.  Pujols is superhuman.  I see him hitting a leadoff 2 run homer.

well fuck, another double.  imagine if craig could have just nutted up and struck out like a man?

C'mon Yadi!

a gutsy move would be to send lohse and try to get him in scoring postion.

crap

i suppose the passed ball hurt.  Not getting anything when we had the bases loaded with one out in the 8th, after a base hit with a man in scoring position failed to score a run . . . now that was a killer.  get one run out of that and we would've been tied at the end of the 9th.

I would have pulled Garcia even sooner, and maybe even pinch hit for him, after his struggles in the 6th.

But another thing that another manager might have done differently was allow Craig to take the bat of Pujols's hand with the game on the line.  The only way the best offensive player of the decade does not come to the plate with the chance to do some damage that inning, with us down by two, is if Craig rolls over into a double play.  His first swing was awful, and it was only because the ball went foul that they didn't turn the double play right there.  On the other hand, with one out, go for the suicide squeeze and the worst that happens is that Pujols comes to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs, Pujols at that point having two doubles, a single, and fly out (his next AB was another double, FWIW).

Last edited by Max (10/04/2011 10:15 pm)

forsberg_us wrote:

"On the other hand, with one out, go for the suicide squeeze and the worst that happens is that Pujols comes to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs, Pujols at that point having two doubles, a single, and fly out (his next AB was another double, FWIW)."

What if Craig misses the bunt?  Runner is out, now you have 2 on, 2 out and Craig is still at the plate.

I can't imagine Craig has been asked to bunt a lot during his career. A suicide squeeze in that situation, especially with a force play at the plate (bases were loaded, correct?) strikes me more as suicide than anything else.
Taking out Garcia would have been a tough move to make for any manager. I agree with the contention that the way he worked the sixth probably meant he was low on gas, but he hadn't given up a run to that point. And as well as the bullpen performed on Monday, let's not forget that's been the team's weakness this year.
If we're going to second-guess the manager, I'm not sure the walk to Ruiz was the best idea. Ruiz has a hard time with off-speed stuff, and Garcia could have gotten him out without throwing fastballs.

I didn't see anything after around the 5th.  The game was over by the time we got back into the car after practice, but people were clamoring for Larussa's head.  That's not unusual, but it seemed worse last night than most.  It's tough to tell from the box score or the play-by-play, but I'm not sure what brought about the uproar. 

I understand there's some debate about whether you leave Garcia in to pitch to Francisco, but from what the guy on the radio was saying, the inning went Single, Passed Ball, Weak fly out to right, ground ball to 3rd.  It didn't sound like Garcia was getting hit hard, although as some of you have pointed out, his location could have been a bigger concern.  As Artie pointed out, it sounds like the passed ball was the real trouble-maker because it dictated the walk to Ruiz.

Craig hitting into a double play is an unfortunate occurrence, but I don't really understand what people are complaining about.  Craig hit over .300 this year.  He had homers in each of the last 2 "must-win" games in Houston.  He had a huge triple in Game 2 of this series.  The outcome sucks, but I don't get the criticism that has followed.  Are you seriously going to send Craig to the plate and tell him to not swing because Pujols is on deck and we don't want you to hit into a double play?