Many, Many Pitchers Duel in WS G1

ST. LOUIS--As promised, Game 1 of this 2011 World Series ended up a chess match between the managers: stony LaRussa of Saint Lou and fist-pumping Washington of the Republic of Texas.  You wouldn't have guessed it from the beginning, though, as each team's starter threw solid scoreless innings to break in this Championship; three from the Lawmen's Wilson and four from Carpenter of the Redbirds.  Even more so, it was tied up at 2 runs apiece after Five, with both starters still kicking the mud behind the pitcher's plate.

All four of those runs were pretty runs to boot, with St. Louis striking first in their Fourth.  Slugger Pujols (though without a hit on the night) hopped aboard getting ankle-boned by a Wilson fastball.  Then a brace of knife-edge doubles sliced right along the first base line, one from Holliday to move Albert over to third, the second from the salt-and-pepper bearded Berkman to score them both.  The Redbirds pushed to tack on some more, but left Lance and eventually Punto stranded on the bags.

Then in Texas's Own Fifth, one tall dark and handsome home run sent deep into the seats off the stick of Catcher Napoli brought in Two Texans, himself and Cruz, who had reached on a standard-issue single two batters before.

On to the Cardinals' Sixth, alltiedup, and Third Baseman Freese wallops a double deep into the CF gap.  Catcher Molina is up next and he strikes out, but not before Freese moves over to third on Wilson's only wild pitch of the night.  Next up is Second Baseman Punto, who draws himself a walk, and then the chess strategy begins in earnest.  With runners at the corners, Washington offers up the impressive and right-handed Ogando Defense.  LaRussa counters with the Allen Craig Gambit, pinching for his pitcher's number 9 slot.

Here is the crux of the game, and like so many cruxes of good baseball or good chess, recognized as it occurs, but only seen for its true brilliance after it's reverberations resound through the rest of the game.  Here is the flame-throwing Dominican against the sophomore Craig, both just now tapped on the shoulder.  Here is Ogando, throwing hot and hard past Craig, until the erstwhile batter finally slices off just enough of a fastball to curl the ball like a wood shaving onto the very edge of right field.  Here is the outfielder Cruz, charging, leaping like a hurdler, his glove extended.  Here is the ball finding the lawn just in front of him, here Freese around to score, Cardinals ahead 3-2.

Now the two managers make steeples out of their fingertips and eye the board beadily.  The Ogando Defense, though broken, holds.  LaRussa plays a Salas Feint; Salas allows a hit by Cruz and walks Napoli.  LaRussa switches to a Rzepczynski Attack and shuts down the Rangers with two impressive strikeouts, despite Washington's attempt to make a Gentry Switch for Left Fielder Murphy.  Washington, from his list of pitchers, plays a strong Gonzalez Variation, then finishes out the Feldman Line.  LaRussa counters with the Dotel-Rhodes Combination, and grinds out the Series-opening win with a trademark Motte Endgame, and the advantage of Allen Craig's sixth inning pinch-hit RBI single remains the difference.

In this the first game between our two heavy-hitting pennant recipients, the combined eight relief pitchers worked a total of 6-1/3 innings, struck out four, and permitted just three hits and no runs.  Cardinals win 3-2, and lead the Series 1-0.

M's Try to Brake Skid Against Jays

SEATTLE--The Ancient Mariners slouched onto SafeCo Field last night with the ugly stench of seven straight losses swirling around them.  Even King Felix, Slayer of Dragons, was affected by the smog of defeat, and was harshly treated by his guests the Toronto Ten (DH included).

For those Maple-bedecked, lovable lugs from the North were playing Socialized Baseball for the first seven innings (“Line up here in an orderly fashion: everyone will get at least one run and one hit paid for at public expense”), and their portly hurler Litsch was moving at the pace of a Canadian hospital: slow but cruelly efficient.

Or were Our Seamen just that inefficient?  There were signs of life in the First, with consecutive hits by the Itchy and Figgy Show, plus a two-out walk to Smoak to load the bases.  But then the catcher Olivo stepped in and bounced one right over to Lind manning first: full stop.  Fast forward to the Thrifty Third, and the bases were loaded again, this time with Figgins, Bradley, and Cust.  Now it’s Smoak and Olivo who partner to leave our noble base runners picking bright teal lint out of their navels, as Smoak fanned and Olive Oil flew out to left.  (Throughout the night, Catcher Olivo singlehandedly stranded a batting order’s worth of base runners in various and lonely positions among the bases.)

Manager Wedge was overheard in the dugout after the Third explaining through The Moustache to our young Mariner team the concept of What Is Home Plate and How Do I Score Runs With It.  (This isn’t Junior High any more, we should be getting past third base, he may or may not have scolded.)

In the Fourth, Luis Rodriguez came in for an injured Figgy, who had rolled wrong chasing a sharp grounder the previous inning.  Luis is clean cut and broad shouldered, and even as he was introduced I hoped he might be the Secret Sauce that would turn the tide for this obviously wallowing Mariners offense.

Meanwhile, the Birds spread the hits around to manufacture seven very blue-collar runs over six innings against Hernandez, and all of them but Lind earned a hit.

In the Stinky Seventh, as the Jays had already begun their walk down Bullpen Lane, and the Mariners, down 7-0, were coasting along a trajectory easily recognizable to any Seattle fan as Hopeless Defeat, Left Fielder Bradley hit what seemed at the time to be a freak home run, the clutch at the straw.  7-1.

But wait, what’s this?  With Reliever Laffey facing only four batters in the Toronto seventh, and Wilhelmsen pitching himself out of a jam in the eighth, this was starting to smell suspiciously like Solid Relief Pitching.

Then in the Easy Eighth, the M’s scored not one, not two, but five more runs!  Mind you, they didn’t so much score them, but were more so taken by the hand and gently guided around all the bases by three consecutive bases-loaded walks issued by an international alphabet soup of Canadienne relievers: Purcey, Dotel, Rzepczynski.  Oh, home plate, says First Baseman Smoak, and singles two more across for the 5-spot.

For those of you scoring at home, that’s 7-6 now, with the Good Guys’ eighth brought short by Catcher Olivo’s GIDP. 

Please, go the prayers of thousands of Seattleites who have seen all this before, Don’t let the bullpen fuck this up!  But Lueke came out looking sharp and throwing sharper, and sat down Toronto’s 5-6-7 batters in order.

Bottom of the ninth, and Saunders leads off with a beautiful double that pinballs into the RF corner.  Shortstop Ryan moves him over to third with a sac bunt neat as a pin.  Kennedy, batting for Wilson, grounds out to short.  Now Ichiro is the winning run, and they walk him on purpose to face Third Baseman Rodriguez, who is 0 for 2 with a walk on the night, and who subbed in mid-game for Figgins.  Rodriguez stands in against Toronto’s Camp, bottom of the ninth, two outs, down by one with two men on.  He works the count to 2-2, then starts fouling pitches, making Camp give him something.  Anything.

This is baseball.  This is why you don’t leave after the seventh inning, even when they’re down 7-0, so you can beat the rush to the parking lot.  This is why you don’t flip the channel to see who’s dancing with which star or who gets voted off the island--that’s all been decided before the season begins.  This is baseball.  This is Camp, shouldered with the responsibility of ending his bullpen’s slide tonight.  This is Rodriguez, shouldered with the responsibility of ending his team’s seven game embarrassment.  Both teams’ hopes rest on the outcome of a single pitch; the world narrows down to a sphere three inches across, and its potential intersection with a well-swung bat, and anything can happen.  Anything.

Finally, Luis reaches down low, out of the strike zone, and sends that ball deep and fat into right center, right where Nobody is standing.  Saunders around to score(!), Ichiro around to score(!), and Rodriguez walks off the field.  Secret Sauce.

Somewhere the sun is shining bright, the band is playing and hearts are light.  Tonight, that somewhere is Seattle; final score: M’s 8, Foreigners 7, and that, says The Moustache, is what we call a “win.”