Wednesday, Jul 9, 2008
The Astros join the Red Sox in the world of serious trouble. Plus: NFL Week 6 picks.
Oct 15, 2004 | You know what really needs to happen now? The underdogs in the two League Championship Series really need to start winning some ballgames, toot sweet, or else we're going to be in for a long week of watching the Yankees and Cardinals taking infield practice and being interviewed about their pets.
The Cardinals made it 4-for-4 for the overdogs Thursday by beating the Astros 6-4 in a steady drizzle. St. Louis leads the NLCS two games to none. The Yankees lead the Red Sox two games to none in the ALCS, and the series now shift to Houston and Boston, where the home teams had better win Game 3.
Heavy rain was threatening to postpone the game in Boston Friday night, which would push a game to Monday, a scheduled off day.
Stranger things have happened than the Astros and Red Sox coming back to win these series. Or at least things just as strange. At this exact point in 1985, it was looking very much like a Dodgers vs. Blue Jays World Series, with Los Angeles and Toronto both having won the first two games at home. But the Cardinals and Royals both rallied to win, and then the Royals did the same thing to the Cards in the World Series, losing the first two, this time at home, and then winning in seven.
Which leads to this important question: Why am I talking so much about 1985?
Maybe it's because 2004 isn't looking so hot at the moment. I think that's temporary. The Astros appear to be a team capable of losing 50 straight to the Cardinals, but that perception will likely change over the weekend when they'll be back home and sending Roger Clemens and Roy Oswalt to the mound.
The Red Sox I'm not so sanguine about. I wouldn't be shocked if they managed to scrape together two wins over the weekend to send the series back to the Bronx. But I also wouldn't be surprised if they did so without ever appearing to have a chance to win. The Sox announced Thursday that Curt Schilling, struggling with a torn tendon sheath in his right ankle, would not make his Game 5 start, but everyone involved is still hoping he can be ready for a possible Game 6 or 7.
Translation: Unless there's enough rain to postpone Game 6 till after his surgery, Schilling's done for the year.
The Yankees were supposed to be the team with the rotation problems, but in the first two games they've given up one single in the first six innings, and they've beaten the Red Sox's two big guys, Schilling and Pedro Martinez. With Schilling out and Martinez only able to start one more game, where are the wins going to come from for Boston?
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