If the Houston Astros inadvertently allow Jerry Reinsdorf to fulfill yet another wish, it will be because they broke one of Ozzie Guillen’s rules of engagement.
“I always say, don’t let the monster wake up,” Guillen said.
Astros manager Phil Garner says he didn’t want Brad Lidge to challenge Albert Pujols in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the National League Championship Series on Monday night. But when Garner failed to simply defer to the major leagues’ best hitter and walk him intentionally, he awakened the monster.
Pujols’ three-run homer allowed the powerful St. Louis Cardinals to become the first team since the 1992 Atlanta Braves to stave off elimination when they were within one out of going home. But unlike the Francisco Cabrera single off Pittsburgh’s Stan Belinda in the ninth inning of Game 7, there is much more work for the Cardinals to do.
In terms of significance, Pujols’ homer was more like the Dave Henderson home run off Donnie Moore, which turned around the 1986 ALCS. It also came in Game 5, and after two victories at Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox had advanced past the shell-shocked California Angels.
Surprisingly, Reinsdorf hopes the Cardinals likewise can dig themselves out of a hole in the NLCS. They trail three games to two entering Game 6 on Wednesday night, when Thornwood High product Mark Mulder, a White Sox fan in his youth, faces Houston’s Roy Oswalt at Busch Stadium.
Given that St. Louis is the reigning NL champion and was the only team in the majors to win more games than the White Sox in the regular season, you’d figure Reinsdorf would be hoping to meet the Astros in the World Series. But the Sox’s chairman has thrown his support behind the Cardinals. They are managed by Tony La Russa, who was only 34 when Bill Veeck and Roland Hemond hired him to manage the Sox in 1979.
Reinsdorf’s wildest dream is to accept congratulations from La Russa after the Sox win the Series. He says the second-best finish would be for him to congratulate La Russa, who has remained a close friend even though Reinsdorf fired him in 1986, three years after La Russa led the “Winning Ugly” Sox to an AL West title.
Both scenarios seemed to have gone by the wayside after a three-run home run by Lance Berkman allowed Garner to turn a 4-2 lead over to Lidge in the ninth inning Monday night. After all, the Astros had not only won their last four consecutive postseason games at home but had lost only one game this season in which they had led in the ninth.
Lidge came within one strike of striking out the side. But after Lidge retired pinch-hitters John Rodriguez and John Mabry to get to the top of the order, David Eckstein fought off a 1-2 pitch and hit a grounder to the left side.
The ball rolled just past third baseman Morgan Ensberg, who for some reason was playing in, seemingly guarding against a two-strike bunt.
“He threw a fastball right underneath my hands that I really could not do anything with, so I took it for strike two,” Eckstein said. “I was just mainly trying to sit back and see a pitch. I just was able to sit back a little bit, and fortunately [the ball] found the hole.”
Lidge walked Jim Edmonds to bring Pujols to the plate.
Said Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter: “I’m sitting there thinking, `They’ve got the best closer in the game on the mound. But we also have the best hitter in the game at the plate.”‘
Garner could have ordered an intentional pass to load the bases but he hoped Lidge could get Pujols to chase a bad pitch and get himself out. Bad idea.
A city prepared to celebrate the first pennant ever won by a Texas franchise was forced to keep the champagne on ice. Houston knows the drill, having had it happen twice before, if never quite this suddenly.
Philadelphia won the final two games of the 1980 NLCS, both in extra innings. These same Cardinals won the last two games of the NLCS a year ago, overcoming a 2-1 deficit in the sixth inning of Game 7 to beat Roger Clemens.
The 2004 Astros had found themselves starting journeyman Peter Munro in Game 6. They can take some comfort in having Oswalt lined up in front of Clemens this time around.
When the Houston players prepared for the trip to St. Louis, they also packed clothes for a weekend in Chicago. It’s anyone’s guess whether they will need them now that they’ve awakened the monster.
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progers@tribune.com
