House Of Cards?
Admit it, you thought that this race was over ten days ago, too, didn't you?
With none of the three teams (yeah, the Reds still count) facing each other in the final days, it looks to me like the whole shebang is going to come down to whose pitching is less flammable than the others. That doesn't look good for the Cardinals.
The Cardinals have one top-notch starter, Chris Carpenter. Carpenter lost a four-run lead on Tuesday night to the Padres, and won't pitch again until Sunday. Jeff Suppan has been sort of ok; he's the next best they have, and will pitch on Saturday. To try and break the seven-game death spiral that the Cards are in, they will send out rookie Anthony Reyes tonight. Reyes is a terrific prospect, but is 5-7, 4.92 for the season and has alternated good starts with terrible ones. For Thursday and Friday, Jason Marquis (14-15, 5.80) and Jeff Weaver (7-14, 5.79) are the pitchers. Good luck with that.
The Astros, on the other hand, have three, count 'em, three, outstanding pitchers for the final five games. Roy Oswalt will pitch Thursday, Roger Clemens on Friday, and Andy Pettitte on Sunday. The other two starts will both be by rookies, both of whom are promising but neither of which have been very effective, Jason Hirsch and Matt Albers.
Even the Reds have one more strong starter left than the Cardinals, with Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Harang. But they are trailing both the Cards and the Astros, and the other three starts will be taken by Chris Michalak, Kyle Lohse, and Matt Belisle. It's certainly possible that they could all win, but I don't find it likely.
The Cardinals also have the possibility of having to play a makeup game on Monday with the Giants, should the matter not be decided by Sunday night. The Cardinals would probably have to bring Reyes back. The Giants have Jason Schmidt scheduled to pitch Sunday against the Dodgers, and he'll make that start if it matters in the NL West or Wild Card race. But if it doesn't, they may well hold Schmidt back a day. That's not what the Cardinals would want to see.
If I'm Astros fan, I like my chances.
With none of the three teams (yeah, the Reds still count) facing each other in the final days, it looks to me like the whole shebang is going to come down to whose pitching is less flammable than the others. That doesn't look good for the Cardinals.
The Cardinals have one top-notch starter, Chris Carpenter. Carpenter lost a four-run lead on Tuesday night to the Padres, and won't pitch again until Sunday. Jeff Suppan has been sort of ok; he's the next best they have, and will pitch on Saturday. To try and break the seven-game death spiral that the Cards are in, they will send out rookie Anthony Reyes tonight. Reyes is a terrific prospect, but is 5-7, 4.92 for the season and has alternated good starts with terrible ones. For Thursday and Friday, Jason Marquis (14-15, 5.80) and Jeff Weaver (7-14, 5.79) are the pitchers. Good luck with that.
The Astros, on the other hand, have three, count 'em, three, outstanding pitchers for the final five games. Roy Oswalt will pitch Thursday, Roger Clemens on Friday, and Andy Pettitte on Sunday. The other two starts will both be by rookies, both of whom are promising but neither of which have been very effective, Jason Hirsch and Matt Albers.
Even the Reds have one more strong starter left than the Cardinals, with Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Harang. But they are trailing both the Cards and the Astros, and the other three starts will be taken by Chris Michalak, Kyle Lohse, and Matt Belisle. It's certainly possible that they could all win, but I don't find it likely.
The Cardinals also have the possibility of having to play a makeup game on Monday with the Giants, should the matter not be decided by Sunday night. The Cardinals would probably have to bring Reyes back. The Giants have Jason Schmidt scheduled to pitch Sunday against the Dodgers, and he'll make that start if it matters in the NL West or Wild Card race. But if it doesn't, they may well hold Schmidt back a day. That's not what the Cardinals would want to see.
If I'm Astros fan, I like my chances.
posted by Jim at
12:14 PM
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