Let's start our focus of tonight's game and opening series with the Wild Card Picture. We're still a daunting 9.5 games back of the Brewers, but I (and some of you too) have pretty much discounted the notion that we'll ever catch the. However, I will still consider this season a success, and a thing of beauty, if we catch the Cardinals. It kills me that it was supposed to be us, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh battling for the NL Central basement, but somehow TLR has somehow managed to push the right buttons and still have a play-off contender on his hands. Just look at their rotation. Is there a single impressive name on it? Their bull pen has been a cluster fu...you get the picture...all season long, but somehow, there they are.
The positive in all of this, is that if we just take this series, we'd only be four games back of them and could conceivably be 3 if we manage to pull of a sweep (I won't hold my breath on that). With those hopes in mind, let's turn to the series preview:
Current Series
3 game series vs Cardinals @ Minute Maid Park
St. Louis Cardinals Friday, Aug 29, 2008, 7:05 PM CDT Kyle Lohse vs Randy Wolf Partly cloudy. Winds blowing in from right field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game Time temperature: Around 90.
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| Sat 08/30 | Braden Looper vs Brian Moehler | 6:05 PM CDT |
| Sun 08/31 | 1:05 PM CDT | |
I assume that Wandy will pitch Sunday, but I'm too lazy to see who's slated for the Cards. Either way, this isn't the strongest pitching match-up series ever. Lohse is enjoying a season in which command and a stellar Cardinals defense have made Lohse a sure fire candidate to get some multi/multi deal that will probably look insane by it's end and left Ed Wade looking like an idiot for taking Chacon over Lohse (do you think Lohse would have beat him up?). Looper and Moehler have both enjoyed anomalous seasons and could either be good or bad. We should just flip a coin to predict it. So this is a series in which hitting will be the main story and unfortunately, I think the Cards have us beat in that regard. So we'll need some great pitching performances.
For this series, I hope the Cecil Cooper remembers that Yadier Molina has a ridiculous arm and we should not run ("Please God, give Cecil Cooper a modicum of restraint. Thanks." I just violated Kevin Costner's rule from For Love of the Game, sorry Kevin.). Also, this is the debut of Instant Replay for the Astros -- thank God Bud Selig, et al., got off their high horses and did something intelligent.
Oh, and here's your starting line-up: