What rhymes with "Carpenter"?

The old saying in Milwaukee was "Spahn and Sain, Pray for Rain." The Cardinals got a terrific pitching performance from Jeff Weaver tonight, and hand the ball to Chris Carpenter. If Carpenter pitches as well as Weaver, the 'birds should head back to St. Louis 1-1. Otherwise; well, all along (since about August, actually), I thought any wins after the regular season concluded were lagniappe (I didn't even try to get tickets to the WS or NLCS this year, after getting them the last two years.) So I'm pretty happy they are even still playing. Harder to imagine is that after the first NLCS game, the concern isn't the pitching, but the hitting.

One should, of course, recognize that Glavine pitched a great game. One mistake by Weaver (to a very good hitter), solid defense (and in one case, spectacular), a couple of balls that didn't get through, and Glavine and a good bullpen: the Mets followed the recipe that worked for them all year. The Cards have to figure out some way to break that up. Not having Glavine pitch should help.

Eckstein isn't getting on base, and hitting the ball into the air too much. (His lineout to short was, along with Preston Wilson's 8th inning popup, the crucial AB of the game.) Wilson strikes out too much for a number two hitter and doesn't inspire confidence at moving the runner along. Pujols is, well, Pujols; he has had some pretty ugly ABs recently, but hit it hard twice last night (both "at'em" balls). Encarnacion sometimes looks like he's thinking about video games, drifting along offensively and defensively (while giving him his props for his triple against San Diego). Edmonds is doing ok, but doesn't have too many folks on base in front of him; Rolen seems clearly to be injured, and isn't helping offensively at all (and thus is hurting the offense). Belliard is a non-factor (although playing well in the field, albeit right field). Molina seems to be hitting better, but the comparison here isn't one that is inspiring; Weaver is hitting better than Rolen. My son Henry wonders "where's So Taguchi?"

This isn't an offense to strike much fear in an opponent. The Mets don't need to pitch around Pujols at this point; tonight, I assume Duncan will be providing a bit more of a threat, both to pitchers and to any tricky balls that come his way in the outfield. I like our chances with Carpenter, but LaRussa needs a chance to try some moves. I have discovered, in many years of watching baseball, that it becomes exponentially more difficult to hit and run if there is no one on base.

The ALCS has been a bit different; the Tigers have, after their first game against Satan's Farm Team, clearly been the superior team, in all facets of the game. Now, of course, we have to see how well they play in the snow.