2011 MLB Season Discussion

A much closer game tonight than I anticipated. Neither starter looked particularly good, especially early. On to game 4!

Phishposer wrote:

A much closer game tonight than I anticipated. Neither starter looked particularly good, especially early. On to game 4!

Yeah, that was nuts. Afterthe first inning I was thinking the Cards were going to hit double digits again. And I really thought they might need it because Carp did not look good at all.

But man, the cards bullpen is on freaking fire, retiring the final 12 outs in a row. And it has been a long time since they had a lights out closer like Motte grew into this season.

I still feel pretty darn good about the Cards chances eliminate Milwaukee, but this game made it clear that it is not going to be a walk in the park.

I wonder how much correlation there is between wet, cold weather and performance of pitchers that rely heavily on curves and sliders for their kill pitches. As cold and nasty as it was, I didn't think that the starters would get too deep in the game.

Man, was Motte looked good!

This should be a good game tonight, though I doubt Loshe will make it past 6 innings either.

I'm glad the Brewers won. Hopefully, they can win it tomorrow and then finish up the Cards up here. Now, I have the choice between selling my tickets for Sunday's game or going myself.

The Brewers cooled the Cardinal bats and have assured themselves of at least one more game in Milwaukee. This series is looking to be as tight as the Philly series.

Feel pretty good about tomorrow night's game. It's the flipside of Greinke's and Garcia's last match-up. This time Garcia gets home cooking, where he dominates, and Greinke gets to pitch on the road, where he struggles.

And with Greinke's comments about Carpenter, I'm sure he is going to get an earful from the Cardinal faithful. St. Louis hit him hard enough and scored enough runs to normally win up in Milwaukee. Hopefully he is the ticket to get the Cardinal bats back in shape.

I'm calling the Brewers winning on Sunday and losing on Monday.

Ulairi wrote:

I'm calling the Brewers winning on Sunday and losing on Monday.

It wouldn't surprise me, as that is exactly how the Cards have been playing since late August.

But the bats are alive and the Brewers have to chose to throw Marcum, who is like throwing meat into a pack of wolves, or Gallordo on three days rest. But Edwin Jackson could get lit up himself. So Game 6 may be a 12-10 type of game, in which case it will go to the team that catches the most breaks. Although I would still side with the team with the deeper bullpen. While the Brewers have a tough core of three tat can shut down the seventh, eighth, and ninth, St. Louis can roll out a bullpen starting n the 5th inning that no one is worried about.

I really can see Roenicke going with Gallordo and Wolf in these last two games, as they are the only starters that have held the Cardinal bats at bay. But that is risky for the ame reasons I fretted when La Russa through Carp on three days rest against the Phillies. He gave up 4 run and lasted just three innings. The Cards won the game because their bullpen threw six shutout innings, and they somehow managed five runs against Cliff Lee. But a strategy that might involve extended bullpen use leaves the Brewers pretty vulnerable.

So I think the Cards are going to nail this down on Sunday, and have a great rotation heading into the World Series. Carp can take the mound in Games One and Five, which would just be huge. If he has to pitch Monday, that means another juggled rotation.

Four errors?? That was a crazy game. Milwaukee looked kinda dazed out there.

Benticore wrote:

Four errors?? That was a crazy game. Milwaukee looked kinda dazed out there.

Shades of Detroit '06.

Woooooooo!
Rangers!
Woooooooo!

Man, I hate the Rangers. I'm not really sure why but I just hate them so much. The Cardinals between win so that I can actually watch the World Series. If it's Rangers/Brewers, I might just puke.

iaintgotnopants wrote:

Man, I hate the Rangers. I'm not really sure why but I just hate them so much. The Cardinals between win so that I can actually watch the World Series. If it's Rangers/Brewers, I might just puke.

I hate them cause they just beat my Rays.

And cause they're from Texas maybe? Something about Cowboys fans always rub me the wrong way, so might as well hate on the rest of the state's teams a bit right?

I usually hate Texas, but I really do like the Rangers. They were my pick to make the WS this year.

I have had a ton of Rangers on my fantasy team over the last few years. They have just put together a really nice team, and it is fun to see them reap so much success.

Of course, this means the Cards are going to play when I was planning on watching The Walking Dead at the Moolah tomorrow night. So that kind of blows. But beer and brats at our friend's house will be good.

IMAGE(http://a1.twimg.com/profile_images/1555184656/Torty_the_Tortoise.jpg)

The Brewers ripped off the Homer Hanky. I want them to lose even more now.

Three errors in a single inning. Impressive D, Brewers.....

"That's a winner." "Go crazy, folks! Go crazy!" - Jack Buck

Jayhawker wrote:

World Series
Cards win WS over the Rangers in six games

Here's hoping I nailed it!

Ulairi wrote:

And the Phillies are done!

AND SO ARE THE BREWERS

Kush15 wrote:
Ulairi wrote:

And the Phillies are done!

AND SO ARE THE BREWERS :-)

IMAGE(http://i55.tinypic.com/302cjzb.jpg)

So where does Prince Fielder end up? I have a hard time disliking the big lovable bear, with his crazy hair and cave-man beard...

2008: Phillies win World Series
2009: Yankees beat Phillies in the World Series
2010: Giants knock Phillies out, win World Series
2011: Cardinals knock Phillies out...............

Anyone see a pattern?

Kush15 wrote:
Ulairi wrote:

And the Phillies are done!

AND SO ARE THE BREWERS :-)

I'm not a Brewers fan. I'm an Athletics fan, I just had series tickets for the Brewers that I coud sell.

Jayhawker wrote:

"That's a winner." "Go crazy, folks! Go crazy!" - Jack Buck

Jack Buck. Voice of my summers growing up. What a legend.

And I think he'd be proud of these guys. They're playing like they mean it. Go Cards.

I love that Scrabble got the win in that last game to eliminate the Brewers. Loved watching the kid pitch for the Jays, and am thrilled to see him continuing his success this late in October.

Yeah, I've been kind of a fan of his all season, even before he came to the Cards. My fantasy league includes Holds, so I'm always looking for good lefties that gets K's. He's been a staple of my team all season.

Word is, La Russa and Duncan are considering him as a starter in the future.

That would be smart. He came up as a starter, and the Jays (blogs at least) had always talked about returning him to the role next year.

AndrewA wrote:

That would be smart. He came up as a starter, and the Jays (blogs at least) had always talked about returning him to the role next year.

It really depends. I can tell you it is nice to have a lefty in the bullpen that can also be counted on to get righties out. As much as La Russa like to mix and match, it really gives him some flexibility.

And it is really unclear what the rotation will be next year. Hopefully Wainright will be back. Carp signed an extension, and Garcia, Lohse and Westbrook are under contract. I'd love to see them keep Edwin Jackson, but I'm not sure where he fits in. And how do you fit Scrabble in? The Cards have a nice problem rolling into next season.

I...uh...Scrabble?

...Are you referring to Rep-chin-ski (but spelled with way more Z's and such)?