forsberg_us wrote:

This is probably a stupid analogy, but it feels a little like that moment in Rocky whatever when he hits the Russian and cuts him. The Cardinals needed to prove to themselves they could beat the Sawx, and they needed to remind the Sawx that they could lose.

Are you kidding? That's a great analogy.
Hear me out. Peavy has a tight sphincter anyway, and he's going to have a 2,000-mile airplane trip and two days to think about Game 3, and Buchholz is already talking about how he might have one more start left in him. If Waino can out-pitch Lester at home in Game 5, it might end there.
 

artie_fufkin wrote:

Brilliantly-managed game by Matheny.

 
I thought his moves after deciding to leave in Wacha to face Ortiz were strong, but there are no words for how much I hated that. If Wacha is going to pitch to him, for chrissakes walk him.

Going with Martinez for two innings (for the second time) was a move I absolutely loved, though. I was definitely for letting him face Ortiz, because it's not like the Red Sox were touching him.

Somehow I felt confident in Descalso there. No rhyme or reason, I just thought he was going to come through.

Just so you guys don't think I'm armchair quarterbacking, I'll explain why I thought they should have removed Wacha:

-During the fourth and fifth innings, he got one swinging strike on his change-up.
-He labored through the fifth inning and threw fewer than 60 percent of his pitches for strikes.
-Pitchers fare worse against hitters a third time through the order. If it's June 21, I'm fine with Wacha pitching in that spot. In the World Series, take no prisoners.
-As good as Wacha is, he has two pitches. There was no way on earth Molina was going to call a curve, and he wasn't going to blow a fastball by Ortiz. Not when he had reached the point he did.
-So you have one of the best hitters in baseball, who is scorching hot, who knows all he has to do is sit change-up. Wacha was fooling nobody with his change to that point, so he had to put it in the zone and just pray that Ortiz wouldn't get a hold of it.

 

On another note, there's been some chatter this morning on talk radio about Good Guy* Gomes. He's not hitting his weight in the playoffs, including an 0-7 in the Series so far, and he couldn't make even a half-decent throw to the plate from 175 feet on Carpenter's sac fly last night.
I'd expect to see him back in his usual capacity in the dugout as a good luck charm and Daniel Nava in left field, especially with the Series moving to the bigger ballpark.

*-as dubbed by the Boston Herald

Ortiz scares the hell out of me right now.  Nothing is getting past him.  Perdria is somewhat bothersome but he doesnt worry me to much.  He doesnt have the power. Not to discredit the red sox and their lineup but if u control ortiz i think u win 80% of the time.

So, warm afterglow aside, I have to bring up this story calling out Jay's baserunning on "the play". http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/10/25/the-cardinals-took-the-lead-by-not-playing-the-cardinal-way/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

Gomes could have flipped to second and ended the inning with a DP. What do the Cards have against tagging up at second? They so often seem to be too far up the line I must be missing something obvious. I suppose they could be trying to draw a throw but that would have backfired terribly in this case.

Last edited by JV (10/25/2013 1:36 pm)

artie_fufkin wrote:

So isn't the onus on Gomes for throwing to the plate instead of to second?

BTW, this "Cardinal Way" thing is starting to get annoying. It reminds me too much of the "Patriot Way" nonsense that the Krafts foisted on the football world.
 

 
Yes on the Gomes thing, but I'm trying to imagine whether the story would have been "brilliant heads-up Gomes play saves game" or "Jay strays too far from bag on easy fly to LF". Anyway, I can see why you aren't thinking about tagging up, since getting to third with two outs isn't a priority. And I don't mean to obsess over stuff that didn't happen, but I hope Jay knows that could have gone much, much differently.

The "Cardinal Way" thing may not be intended to get more people to dislike the club, or people to dislike the club more, but I doubt it's winning them many followers. I wish that narrative would just go away.

"the "Best Fans in Baseball" nonsense"

The best fans in baseball are the ones who show up to that hellhole in Oakland hoping the toilets don't explode and cover them with shit every time they go to the rest room to take a leak.