Not that the rest of the world notices, but there are two playoff series occurring at the moment. The St. Louis Cardinals and their best record of the regular season welcomed the Houston Astros into Busch Stadium last night.
The Astros were able to grab an early 2-0 lead off of a Carlos Beltran homer. Beltran, who has hit three homers in the post season so far, is the only player to score and plate nine runs in a post season series and is quickly becoming the biggest free agent on the list come November.
The Cardinals didn't let the lead last long as phenom Albert Pujols retaliated with a two-run shot of his own in the Cards' half of the first.
With a 4-4 tie into the sixth, the Cardinals took off. They scored six runs off five hits and claimed a lead they would not relinquish. The vaunted combination of Walker, Pujols, Rolen and Edmonds combined for eight hits, and seven RBI in the game.
The Cardinals let in some meaningless runs late but won the game 10-7. Game two will be tonight at 7:19.
The Astros, who struggle somewhat with depth of pitching, will send first-time post season visitor Pete Munro, who is coming off 12 days rest, to the mound tonight.
Meanwhile, the rivalry everyone is talking about has taken a turn for the worse for the Boston faithful. Boston dropped game two of the series but were able to give the fans many opportunities to hope.
In the top of the ninth with the score at 3-1 Yankees, Manny Ramirez stepped to the plate against star Yankee closer Mariano Rivera. Ramirez stroked a double into the gap in left-center, and was followed by slugger David Ortiz.
That's where the momentum in the game switched. Rivera became his usual self, in spite of the his family's recent tragedy, and closed out the Red Sox striking out both Ortiz and Kevin Millar on his trademark pitch--the cut-fastball.
So, down 2-0 in the series, Boston must come up with an offensive effort against Yankees starter Kevin Brown in game three.
The boys from Beantown will send Pedro Martinez to face the Bronx Bombers in game three.
Unfortunately for the Red Sox, flamethrower Curt Schilling is having all sorts of problems with his ankle, so the Sox may be without their most dependable post season pitcher for a possible game five.
Game three of the storied rivalry will take place Friday at 7 p.m.
