Friday, October 7, 2011

NLDS Game 5: Cardinals at Phillies

US Presswire photo
Roy Halladay faces Chris Carpenter in an epic pitchers' duel.
As the Phillies have assembled their star-laden roster over the last year -- signing Cliff Lee, trading for Hunter Pence -- they had one clear goal in mind: Win another World Series. Or, at the very least, reach the Fall Classic for the third time in four years. They did not do all this merely to win the NL East and get knocked out in the first round.

The Cardinals, on the other hand, didn't even have reason to think they'd reach the postseason as recently as three weeks ago when the Braves were running away with the NL wild-card. Then came the historic St. Louis run/Atlanta collapse ... and, well, here we find ourselves tonight. So, which team do you think feels pressure to win this do-or-die game at Citizens Bank Park, and which team is playing with house money at this point?

You couldn't ask for a better storyline, or a better pitching matchup, than this. The weight of the Phillies' lofty expectations all reside on the Roy Halladay's shoulder. Meanwhile, his former teammate from Toronto, Chris Carpenter, looks to extend the Cardinals' remarkable run.

Unfortunately, I'll be tied up at Yom Kippur services this evening, so I had to create this game thread in advance and set it to automatically post before lineups were announced. I trust one of you faithful readers will pass it along once it becomes available. Enjoy the game...

NL DIVISION SERIES - GAME 5
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS at PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Citizens Bank Park
Gametime: 8:37 p.m.
TV: TBS
Radio: WTEM (980 AM), WWXT (92.7 FM), WWXX (94.3 FM), XM 89
Weather: Clear, 60 degrees, Wind 3 mph out to LF
STARTING LINEUPS
CARDINALS
Lineup TBA
P Chris Carpenter

PHILLIES
Lineup TBA
P Roy Halladay

56 comments:

Don't I wish said...

Cardinals
--------

Lou Brock - LF
Enos Slaughter - RF
Albert Pujols - 1B
Stan Musial - CF
Rogers Hornsby - 2B
Scott Rolen - 3B
Ozzie Smith - SS
Tim McCarver - C
Bob Gibson - P

baseballswami said...

So Nyger was the hero - wow.

DCGuy7 said...

real heroes don't drop f-bombs with a mic and a camera in their face. good for him, but a bit....uncool

go cards.

baseballswami said...

Agreed - not classy at all.I posted before he reverted to his boorish self. Now Ryan Braun is a classy superstar.I generally like the Brewers, but the idea of Nyger getting a WS ring? Not so much. Phils still losing but a lot of game left. One evil empire knocked out last night, one to go.

John C. said...

A meaningful service and an easy fast to you, Mr. Zuckerman. I look forward to more posts on the flip side.

sjm308 said...

The people that drop F bombs on national tv are pretty much guaranteed to be emotionally disturbed.
What a surprise.

So glad he was not here this year.

Anonymous said...

Was listening to Brewers game on radio in my car and now have TV on. Have to comment on terrible announcers. Berman--how do they keep him on the air? TV announcer says the one run given up by Halladay is "harmless"! Ask the D-Backs how they'd like to have one harmless run.

The regular day-to-day team announcers are far superior to the TBS/TNT/ESPN/FOX once-a-week, playoff/allstar guys. They make more money and think they have enlighten us with their erudition. That's why Don Orsillo was so good in the Texas series--he's the regular Boston guy. FP could do better than any of these clowns.

Sorry for the rant.

SCNatsFan said...

On a bright note maybe Cutter Dykstra can have a game winning hit at Poyomac next year.

Regardless, glad he wasn't here.

Gonat said...

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/andy-macphail-leaving-baltimore-orioles-buck-showalter-future-uncertain-peter-angelos-100711

Looks like the Orioles fall further into a freefall as McFail got smart and is jumping ship.

Looks like the perfect job for Jim Bowden. If any GM job would fit JimBo's personality, it is a relationship with Angelos. 2 peas in a pod! I am sending Angelos an email to suggest it.

Could be good timing to poach Adam Jones!

baseballswami said...

This is pretty epic baseball - if (when?) we get to the post-season, I will definitely need to be medicated.

JaneB said...

The announcers don't hold a candle to our guys. Even having given up that one run, Doc is awesome. What pressure he just faced in the 8th. Still, to coin a phrase, GYFCG!

JaneB said...

Swami, so will I! LOL!

sjm308 said...

JaneB - agree that we have outstanding radio guys and even our tv team looks good compared to most of what I have heard so far. Can you imagine Dave and Charlie in the playoffs?? Should be great!!

Swami, I think there will be a run on Sunshine Bobby's maalox and bourbon in a year or two.

This is truly a great pitching duel.

NatsLady said...

I was listening on the radio, and not sure I heard what I heard. Thought it was f-bombs. The announcers said if he got a single he would be Tony Lush not Tony Plush and he would own that city. So he gets a single. Guess Milwaukee is now owned.

baseballswami said...

Gallardo did not get the win for the Brewers and Halladay is not eligible for a win for Philly -- very unexpected. The Yankees lost because all the offense in the world can't make up for a lack of pitching. The Phils are trailing because all the pitching in the world can't make up for a lack of offense. ( Nats - take note of that last one). The entire last month of the season and the beginning of the post-season has been absolutely surprising and exciting.

NatsLady said...

Wow, the Cards and Carpenter did it!

Anonymous said...

So how does that HARMLESS run look now, Doofus?!

baseballswami said...

I cannot believe that Carpenter and the Cards just shut out the Phls one to nothing to knock them out. Yanks and Phils both out! Shock!

Drew8 said...

And we're rid of both of the most obnoxious cities in baseball. Who saw that coming?

Congrats to all of those friendly Cardinals fans.

(Hope Ryan Howard's OK, tho.)

Grandstander said...

Is it wrong that watching the Phils lose at home and Ryan Howard limp off with some crazy injury is one of the highlights of the season for me?

Watching Carpenter tonight really gives me hope for Stras and JZimm.

Later Philly fans! Only a couple more years til they forget they have a team and we start invading Nats Park North!

Anonymous said...

This post game guy is making Debbie sound like Einstein!

ehay2k said...

Ooh, I hope Howard didn't pop his Achilles tendon. That looked scary.

Oh, and the Phillies can take their awesome rotation, and their huge payroll and watch the rest of the postseason with their brethren from the Yankees and Red Sox. So happy they are done.

baseballswami said...

Billion dollar payrolls, top win-loss records-- both Al and NL leaders knocked out in the first round. Priceless. Philadelphia will not be a nice environment tonight. I have a relative at the game - I think I will lay low on the gloating for a few days. Seriously, even though everyone is shocked - look how they played against us in September - look at that long losing streak they had - everyone said no worries, they would flip the switch -- they didn't. I don't love the cardinals, but they earned this.

Anonymous said...

Would you have believed even one month ago that on October 7th, the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, Braves , DBacks -- not a one of them in the LCS. I don't think many people saw this one coming.

natsfan1a said...

Happy flight! Happy flight! Bye-bye, Phillies, and the squirrel lives to rally another day.

(Also hope that Howard isn't badly injured.)

Anonymous said...

And the season gets weirder - Phils fans booing, Howard lying on the ground, the Cards trying to celebrate -- and the hero is ---- a squirrel.

natsfan1a said...

And yeah, I do believe that Nyjer pulled a Timmy Lincecum in the postgame and dropped an F-bomb. Not a fan of that whole exaggerated monster gesture thing that he and the Brewers have going on, either. I think I'll keep on rooting for the rally squirrel. Yep. Squirrels and tigers, that's the ticket...

waddu eye no said...

mark - shanah tovah. hope you all brought the kid to show him off.

philly fans - heh, heh, heh.

Anonymous said...

There will not be any games in our time zone -- Texas,St. Louis, Detroit, and Milwaukee - I am tired already.

waddu eye no said...

btw -
tony plush? or just pony tush?

natsfan1a said...

Crud. That hadn't occurred to me, Anon. I'd better get the DVR cleared off and warmed up, I reckon.

baseballswami said...

It's a shame that all everyone will talk about is that the Philies lost -- Chris Carpenter was absolutely masterful tonight - he held the Phils to 3 hits and no runs in Philadelphia. That is a huge accomplishment.

Souldrummer said...

Thank you for your service to humanity Carpenter. The postseason is a brighter place because of you.

Have to say that I'm not enthused about my remaining choices in the postseason.

Milwaukee's got F-bomb Nyjer. (I was rooting for Arizona but if Milwaukee was going to win I would rather it have been on that Hairston near double than on a Nyjer walkoff.(

St. Louis has LaRussa and his ego and McGwire as batting coach.

The rest of it is the AL and the hated DH. I think that I'm rooting for Detroit at this point.

Who are you all rooting for and why? I need some help now that mission Get Rid of Philly and the Yankees is accomplished.

Souldrummer said...

@Anonymous
I don't think they change the games too much because of the time zone. Isn't it all about what the networks want? And that's prime time starts and daytime starts where nobody factors in the time zone or the shadows or anything like that.

NatsLady said...

Detroit is in our time zone. FWIW.

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=77

Joe Seamhead said...

I am just thrilled! OK, not to gloat, but....HA!

JaneB said...

My husband scored four tickets behind home plate, and I stayed home. Couldn't be in the park with Phillies phans. Jeff grew up a Cards fan, and some got to see one of the best Cards games ever. And he will be even happier when it's the NATS WHO DO THAT! And that game, I'll go to.

Dawn said...

Took last night off from baseball, missed a good one.

Nyjer has never had a filter, why start now? Monster claws the Brewers do after a hit is because of Fielder's kids. The asked him to do the gesture (Monsters Inc. related) for them after a hit. Rest of the team followed suit. Prince seems a little embarrassed about it, Nyjer not so much.

Who knows, if Cardinals/Tigers each take their next series (tough task) it might be a replay of the 2006 World Series, hopefully with a different outcome.

Soul Possession, PFB Sofa said...

I remember Will Clark's F-bomb in 86 (the year after they lost 100 games)

Gonat said...

About 2 months ago I mentioned that Chris Carpenter might be available if the Cards declined his option. Doesn't matter now as the Cards took the option. Carpenter's season is one of the most dramatic turnarounds in MLB history.

Chris Carpenter on 6/17 had a 4.47 ERA and a 1-7 W/L record then his fateful next game would be to the face the HOT Phillies. The Cardinals would smoke the Phillies 12-2. From that point forward Carpenter dropped his ERA 1.02 to finish the season at 3.45 and would go 10-2 in W/L + the huge win yesterday. So Carpenter appears to be the hottest pitcher not named Verlander.

I couldn't be happier seeing the Phillies fall. What a great 2011 season!

Gonat said...

Joe Seamhead said...
I am just thrilled! OK, not to gloat, but....HA!

October 8, 2011 12:30 AM
________________________________

Is that Gloat or Gload. Either way, Gload reaching base in the 8th set the stage to make sure that Ryan Howard would get an at-bat in the 9th.....and CHOKE. They say he may have torn his achilles. He still choked over and over the whole series.

How old did the Phillies look. I compared them to an over 40 men's league. Ibanez, Ruiz, Oswalt, They still have Halladay and Cliff Lee so I won't gloat too much!

baseballswami said...

I had to get up this morning and check to see if it had all been a dream. Emails from the philly relatives, some of whom were at the game. They are reacting about how you would expect. I may have to lurk on some of their blogs today. Of course, they keep reminding me that the Nats are terrible, yadda, yadda, yadda. Trash talking has ensued with me reminding them that we won the season series, etc. Wait until next year. They have great pitching and no offense. Sound familiar? I hope we fix ours first. But - we are young and on the way up -- they are old and on the way down.

Gonat said...

Just saw this on ESPN, on Sept 7 Nyjer Morgan sent a Twitter: "I hope those crying birds injoy watching tha Crew in the playoffs!!!"

and then this "Alberta couldn't see Plush if she had her gloves on!!! Wat was she thinking running afta Plush!!! She never been n tha ring!!!"

Then you have where Pujols and Braun were both HBP'd.

This should be a real rivalry series plus the Cardinals still remember Nyjer cheapshotting their catcher last year.

Gonat said...

From Jim Salisbury: Long after the stadium had emptied, and after most of the players had dressed and left the clubhouse, Shane Victorino reached into his locker and pulled out a sheet of World Series tickets marked for games in Philadelphia. He looked at them wistfully then tore them in pieces and dropped them into the trash bin as he headed for the door and another cold winter. This is all happened Friday night. The new Black Friday.

Gonat said...

This is interesting on the 2012 Phillies and their aging roster:

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/Phillies_get_early_exit_from_playoffs.html

Eugene in Oregon said...

Thanks for the link. I noted that on their self-selecting on-line poll, 87.6 percent of Phllies fans consider 2011 a 'failure' now. Unscientific? Sure. But nevertheless noteworthy.

One other thought: Throughout most of the season (and certainly well into August, even early September), the working assumption was that the Eastern Divisions -- both NL and AL -- were the class of baseball. Biggest payrolls, strongest teams. The Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies and Braves all seemed destined to go deep into the playoffs. As it's turned out, two of those teams didn't even make the playoffs and no Eastern Division team in either league is still in the running. Baseball is a funny game.

baseballswami said...

Eugene - I had been thinking that exact thing about the 2 "strong" divisions. Maybe playing in those divisions and getting to the top of those divisions is just so tough that it beats teams up and leaves them exhausted? I certainly have noticed that it takes everything a team has to navigate those September in-division gauntlets.Teams like the Nats, the Orioles, the Rays really beat up on some of those teams late in the season and just kept wearing them down. As for baseball being a funny game - this September/ October has been the nuttiest time in baseball that I can remember. For the fan whose team is not in it this year - it's just a lot of fun to follow and watch. I love that it's so unpredictable. I am guessing that the gamblers among us are going to be losing a lot of money.

Anonymous said...

Correct me if I am wrong but I think this is accurate -- 2008 Phils win the WS, 2009 Phils go to the WS, but lose to the Yankees, 2010 - Phils lose in the lcs to the giants, 2011 - phils lose in the division series to the cardinals - still winning the division, but falling backwards. They seem to be stale and aging and having less endurance each year to make it through October - they already seemed to be sliding in September this year. Maybe instead of trying to contend again next year, they need to take a step back and rebuild, bring up younger players for experience, etc. It's a fascinating and sometimes puzzling story to be sure. They seem to be trying to hold on to something that is slipping out of their grasp.

Joe Seamhead said...

Hey, Folks, do we have less bus loads of Phans coming to Natstown next year? I think that between several long trips back to Philly this year, the loss in the first round, and hopefully the Nats being better and thus drawing more of our own fans, Citizen's Park South is a fading thing. At least I bet that there won't be quite so many buses on South Capitol Street with PA tags!

Anonymous said...

I certainly hope so - maybe the arrogance has taken a little bit of a hit. I think if they come, we should replay last night's game highlights ( excuse me, the Cardinals highlights of course) over and over again on the big screen. We could just show Howard writhing on the first base line ( I'm sorry , I know that's mean) and the Cardinals celebrating. Or maybe that first inning when the Cards scored before there were any outs? Or maybe those of us who remain can wear shirts that read Cardinals 1 Phillies 0 -- what do you think?

Joe Seamhead said...

Anon 2:48, I rarely comment on the anonymous posts, but if there was a like button I'd hit it.

natsfan1a said...

I like the Cards highlights idea, but I do feel bad for Howard. Weird ending to a great game.

Speaking of weird, before the game they were showing how a squirrel had shown up at CBP. An older gent was chasing and trying to catch it using a broom and a (lidless) five-gallon bucket. Dude, seriously? Just call Charlie and he'll take care of it for you. ;-) Evidently the rally rodent was removed from the premises before game time, but they didn't explain exactly how it was, um, apprehended.

natsfan1a said...

Well, I'll be, they did catch it that way after all.

natsfan1a said...

(And don't try that at home, kids.)

btharner said...

At least I bet that there won't be quite so many buses on South Capitol Street with PA tags!

As a Nats fan from PA, I hope me and my tags are still more than welcome.

Joe Seamhead said...

btharner, as long as you're not driving a Greyhound full of Phans you'll be ok!

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