EVIL~! alkeiper

I would withhold my excitement until I hear who the new General Manager is.

Let me repeat what I said at NMB. This series is a mismatch, and the Astros do not have a prayer. The Astros finished 11th in runs scored in the league, in a hitters' park. The Cardinals finished third. The Astros' rotation is impressive, and they did lead the league in least runs allowed. The Cards finished second and unlike the Braves, they feature the best bullpen ERA in the National League. Jason Marquis's 4.14 ERA was the highest ERA on the team, and he hit .310 to make up for it. Whereas the Astros have the big names, the Cardinals have a low-walk staff and a highly effective defense that makes it difficult for the opposition to score runs no matter who is on base. And the results show the difference here. The Cardinals won 11 of 16 head-to-head meetings this year between the two teams.

That Farnsworth shored up the closer's role for Atlanta may have won them the division title in the first place. They only ended up two games ahead and a single additional loss to the Phillies would've meant a tie. Farnsworth is now eligible for free agency so it is unclear if he will return for Atlanta. Farnsworth has his warts, but a pitcher who strikes out a batter an inning clearly has something going for him.

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Put Farnsworth in a tough home run park and he can be a terrific reliever.

About time the Astros scored a run for Clemens.

That's the worst idea I've ever heard.

I've never heard of a baseball team running out of players. Either team would use a starting pitcher in the field. For the pitching staff, the last arm goes the distance.

Jorge Sosa would be eligible too, I believe.

I did. I also see a Houston team with Jose Vizcaino, Raul Chavez, Eric Bruntlett, Brad Ausmus, and Roger Clemens left in their lineup right now. Hardly a murderer's row.

No runs allowed in six innings. Damn that bullpen sucks.

That's correct. Mussina's in Anaheim as well.

It is, because we had posters on this board saying WHEN the Braves lose, before the game even started! And you guys pissed on that bullpen BEFORE they blew the lead. All I want to know is how the hell this team with such a deplorable bullpen won 90 games? Fuck it. If the Braves win, I'm suspending you and Smues for 12 hours on general principle.

Gladly. Astros down three games to two, but would send Mike Scott to the mound in game seven, who was practically unhittable. The Astros led 3-0 in the ninth. Dykstra led off with a triple and Mookie Wilson singled him in. After Kevin Mitchell grounded out, Keith Hernandez scored Wilson with a double. Gary Carter and Darryl Strawberry walked, and Ray Knight drove in the tying run with a sacrifice fly. Roger McDowell pitched five scoreless innings for the Mets. The Mets scored a run in the top of the 14th thanks to an RBI single from Wally Backman. However, with one out in the bottom of the 14th, Mickey Hatcher hit a solo home run off of closer Jesse Orosco. The Astros' bullpen collapsed in the 16th, as the Mets plated three runs. Craig Reynolds led off the bottom of the inning with a strikeout. Davey Lopes walked, and Bill Doran singled. Mickey Hatcher followed with an RBI single. 6-4 Mets. Denny Walling hit into a fielder's choice. Glenn Davis hit an RBI single. 6-5 Mets. That left the tying run on second and the winning run on first. Finally, Jesse Orosco struck out Kevin Bass, ending the game.

I'm certain it is not simply a sore throat. And Jarrod Washburn is not Michael Jordan.

Jarrod Washburn's got a fever, and the prescription is John Lackey on short rest!

I agree with this. If the Braves win this game, it will be sad to see their so-called "fans" cheer.

The NLDS continues today, live from the only dry place left in America!

Have I mentioned that misquoting the Sports mod is a bannable offense?

Indeed. Czech, what have I told you about gimmick accounts in Sports?

Smart move to call it now. With the rain here in the northeast, its not a good idea even to have more people on the road than you need.

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One evil empire down, one to go.

Mound conferences, countless pickoff attempts, batter calling for time, multiple pitching changes, ugh. Stop fucking around and just play baseball.

Al dont you know there is an ESPN bias for Ortiz. If Espn played a fair amount of clips for Ortiz as well as Arod there wouldn't be any debate. Big homerun for Konerko especially since Ortiz just missed a 3 run homerun. Other than trade I dont know how Boston plans on improving their starting pitching. Who is even available via free agency. AJ Burnett? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I did a quick top ten. I used win shares to credit three for this year, two for last year and one for 2003. This puts weight on this year but also gives consideration to past performance, thus avoiding putting too much emphasis on flukes. 1. Roger Clemens 2. Kenny Rogers 3. Jarrod Washburn 4. Jamie Moyer 5. Jeff Weaver 6. Kevin Millwood 7. Paul Byrd 8. A.J. Burnett 9. Jason Johnson 10. Brett Tomko