MLB Playoffs

Starting Carpenter in Game 2 was a no-brainer, even for a master of over-analysis like LaRussa.

He's the best pitcher left in the playoffs, one of the best in the game, so you use him as often as possible, home or road be damned. Game 6, if there is one, is just as big as Game 7 becuase you are either playing to clinch or to stay alive.

Also, the other option is Suppan, who has big home-road splits as well. He was 7-2 with a 3.18 ERA at home during the regular season, 5-5 with a 5.36 on the road.

Now which of those guys is good enough that you should just throw out situational stats and expect him to be good no matter what? Another no-brainer....

 

I can't hear you. LALALALALALALA. I can't hear you. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

The series is not over until one team wins four games. Wins three and four are always the toughest to get.

[/appeasing the baseball gods]

 

As a Mets fan, I'd much rather be seeing Jeff Suppan tonight than Chris Carpenter.
Although I will say this, it's gonna get pretty cold at Shea tonight (not Detroit cold. but mid to low 40s anyway).

 

You may be right. It's just not as obvious a call as it might appear, is all I'm saying. La Russa must have considered it, or he wouldn't have originally said he was still going to pitch Carpenter in Game 3 after the rainout. Carpenter's not John Maine, but he's not Johan Santana, either. I don't think he's a slam-dunk, and I think his chances of beating the Mets improve dramatically if he's at Busch rather than Shea.

 

Understood, but I would rather the series be tied at 1 when going home. Carpenter gives the Cardinals the best chance to do that. It's better than sitting him and basically accepting an 0-2 hole going home before your best pitcher ever starts.

 

I agree with you, Oz, but the other side of that coin is when the Mets beat Carpenter tonight, the Card go home in an 0-2 hole with Suppan and Reyes.
Even with the Mets throwing Trachsel and Oliver Perez, chances are when Carpenter loses tonight the series is not coming back to Shea.

 

Dear Casty: If the Tigers do roll on to a championship, I hope they vote Mike Mussina a share. Is there any doubt in your mind that if Mussina had held the 3-1 lead he was given in Game Two the Yankees would be playing in Oakland this afternoon?
On the other hand, Detroit had the best record in the AL for most of the season. Maybe September was the fluke and now they're reverting to the mean.

 

Well, yeah, but you make them beat Carpenter to get that 2-0 lead. In the playoffs, you try to apply pressure and the best way to do that is use your best pitcher as often as possible. If Suppan goes tonight, the Cards are very likely down 2-0. With Carpenter, they at least have a shot. Plus, Suppan vs. Trachsel at Busch is a toss-up.

 

As my Pittsburgh buddy outofplace noted, if you want to play home-road stats, Suppan was 7-2 with a 3.18 ERA at home during the regular season, 5-5 with a 5.36 in road games. I would rather lose with my best pitcher -- and my best chance to steal a game -- on the mound than wonder what if on the flight home.

 

Agreed on all counts jag and oz. When Tony the Genius originally said after the rainout that he was still holding Carpenter for Game 3, I thought he was nuts. Carpenter tonight is the only way to go.

 

*IF* Mussina holds a 6-1 lead in game 3 of the 2002 ALDS when the teams are tied 1-1 in games, perhaps the Yankees would have won that year, too.

May be more of a trend than an isolated incident.

 

Very true. Just another $20 million a year Yankees bust.