(I'm a Mets fan and therefore very biased in my opinion :)
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I'm a Phillies fan. Pity me. Feel my pain. |
We have dimwit for a GM and Walter Brennan for a Manager.
Posted on 04/24/2005 8:20:36 AM PDT by Enterprise1788
ST. LOUIS - Roger Clemens stepped out of the trainer's room Saturday afternoon with ice wraps around his right elbow, right shoulder and lower back.
The greatness the 42-year-old future Hall of Famer exhibits on the mound takes a toll on his body.
The wraps made it easy to see where the soreness would be. But it wasn't as easy to see the exhausting mental drain Clemens absorbed while trying to beat the Cardinals with a listless offense on his side at Busch Stadium.
Yet again, the Astros failed to capitalize on seven scoreless innings from Clemens, who settled for a no-decision as Larry Walker hit a single to center to give St. Louis a 1-0 victory in 10 innings.
For the third consecutive start, Clemens pitched seven scoreless innings, but for his third consecutive start, the Astros lost 1-0 in extra innings.
"I think my body was a little more run down than in the first three starts," said Clemens, who has watched his teammates lose his starts in 11, 12 and 10 innings since winning his first start of the season. "I know it's a fact your body feels different. You can win these games 6-1, and mentally it's not as hard on your body.
"Again, I'll do the things to prepare and get ready for my next start and be ready for that challenge again."
Clemens held the Cardinals to four hits and four walks with six strikeouts, extending his scoreless-inning streak to 23 innings.
St. Louis lefthander Mark Mulder (2-1) countered with 10 scoreless innings of four-hit ball with five strikeouts to give the Cardinals a chance to sweep the three-game series today.
"That's a great (St. Louis) lineup, so it just shows you how amazing Roger is and what he was doing," said Jason Lane, who was 1-for-4. "For us to not be able to scratch a run across for him is frustrating. But their guy was tough, too.
"I don't know many lineups that would have put up a bunch of hits with the way (Mulder) was throwing today. He was changing speeds, in and out, hitting spots. He had good stuff."
Chad Qualls relieved Clemens to start the eighth inning and forced extra innings before a crowd of 40,058. Reggie Sanders hit for Mulder (who threw 101 pitches) to leadoff the 10th and hit a tapper toward the third-base side for an infield single.
Sanders reached second on David Eckstein's groundout to second, prompting Astros manager Phil Garner to call on closer Brad Lidge. Walker greeted Lidge with a walk-off RBI single to center.
"Obviously Roger threw a great game, and Mark Mulder pitched incredibly," Lidge said. "That's kind of the story of the game, those guys battling. At some point, it's going to come down to the bullpens to see who gives in first. Unfortunately, they got to us."
Officially, Qualls (1-2) goes down as the losing pitcher, but the Astros realize the inept offense deserves the blame for wasting another brilliant performance from Clemens, who lowered his ERA to 0.32.
Despite throwing seven scoreless innings in each of his last three starts, Clemens remains tied with Steve Carlton for ninth place on the all-time victories list with 329.
Clemens has given up only one run through 28 innings this season, but his teammates have scored only three runs in games he has started. Since he drove in two of those runs in the sixth inning of his first start, the Astros have gone 35 consecutive innings without scoring a run in games Clemens has started.
If this were high school baseball, Clemens could follow his eldest son's lead. Koby Clemens did it all Friday night for Memorial High, going 3-for-3 with four RBIs while throwing a no-hitter in a 12-0 five-inning rout against Eisenhower.
But Roger Clemens pitches in the majors, where he needs teammates to contribute. Although Clemens' mound presence makes him seem invincible at times, each tight contest takes a toll.
"Especially when you know they have the last swing and the type of hitters they have, there's no doubt about it," said Clemens, who threw 126 pitches. "Your body just reacts differently. I can throw 120 pitches and win 5-1, 5-2, and not feel as bad as I will tomorrow.
"My body will feel it tomorrow, and I'll do the work that I need to do to make sure I get everything healed up and ready to go again."
Clemens worked out of bases-loaded jams in the first and third innings before settling in. He walked Scott Rolen to load the bases with two outs in the first inning, escaping unscathed when Roger Cedeño lined out to center.
After collecting the first two outs in the third, Clemens gave up a single to Albert Pujols and consecutive walks to Jim Edmonds and Rolen to load the bases again for Cedeño.
Cedeño stranded the bases loaded with a slow roller to Clemens, who took the grounder and tossed to catcher Brad Ausmus for the force at home.
"We didn't do a good job offensively. Obviously," Garner said. "I think (Mulder) pitched a pretty decent game, but we swung at a lot of balls that if we lay off of some of those, maybe it's a different story."
Clemens would gladly trade a higher ERA and keep the no-decisions if it meant another teammate earned the victory in relief.
"We lost, and I think that's the thing that's upsetting," Clemens said. "I've got enough wins by my name, so I'm not concerned about that. When you're able to go deep into these games and keep them close, especially on the road, you'd like to take advantage of that."
Yeah man. What a bummer.
Roger Clemens is a punk. Sure he is a great pitcher but he's a little punk.
(I'm a Mets fan and therefore very biased in my opinion :)
I know how you feel! lol
I'm a Sox fan and a tad more biased.
Cedeño, the Cardinal who left the bases loaded, twice, against Clemens is a reserve who was playing precisely because his career batting average against Clemens was over .400. He did get a single in his 3rd at bat against Clemens. Clemens was very good in this game. Mulder was better: gave 4 singles and no walks in 101 pitches over 10 innings and allowed no base runners beyond 2nd base.
I'm a Cardinals fan. We won in the tenth. Those are the breaks Rocket.
Look at it from the Cardinals' pitching staff point of view. The team only produced one run in the game.
(I'm a Mets fan and therefore very biased in my opinion :)
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I'm a Phillies fan. Pity me. Feel my pain. |
We have dimwit for a GM and Walter Brennan for a Manager.
I'm a Sox fan who thinks he is the best pitcher Boston has seen since Cy Young. It was Dan Duquette who didn't want to resign him and told him he was in the twilight of his career. It was funny, though. I heard someone on Baseball Tonight mention that there is a remote possibility of Clemens being traded to New York or Boston if the Astros are out of the running by the trade deadline.
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Proves my point. Where do you think the geniuses in the Phillies' front office got their new manager from??? |
(I'm a Mets fan and therefore very biased in my opinion :)
Your more than a little bias. I looked up the definition of Punk in the dictionary and found this picture.
Zim's steroid needle must have slipped and went into his gut.
A lying punk as well. "I`m retiring from the Yankees and baseball, so please applaud me as I pitch for the last time...Woops, hello Huston."
When the Marlins won game 7, I literally locked my friend from Miami in the garbage closet of where we were living.
My sympathies to you.
He should have come back to the Red Sox for one last year. He would have been welcomed with open arms - and run support wouldn't be an issue.
No that's not it. The Punk figured an old man with a steel plate in his head was a fair fight.
Last year Clemens was evicted from his kid's little league game after becoming angry and abusive toward an ump. An alltime great pitcher but also surely a punk.
Roger Clemens was given an emphatic apology Thursday for "unjustly" being ejected from his 10-year-old son's baseball game last weekend in Colorado.
David King, president of tournament organizer Triple Crown Sports, said "Mr. Clemens was a non-aggressor and a victim of mistaken identity and confusion" by an upset umpire.
Clemens was asked to leave son Kacy's game Saturday in Craig, Colo., when a 22-year-old ump said the Houston Astros pitcher spit a sunflower seed at him. Moments earlier, Kacy was called out on a stolen base attempt _ the fielder later admitted he missed the tag _ and the Rocket watched the rest of the contest from a parking lot.
"Mr. Clemens never raised his voice, never physically confronted our official, nor was he ever on the field of play," King said in a written statement, underlining those words.
"Mr. Clemens was unjustly asked to leave the field of play," King said. "For all of this, we apologize to Mr. Clemens."
King spoke to the future Hall of Famer by telephone to apologize personally.
"I'm pleased with their statement," Clemens said through agent Alan Hendricks before Houston played Atlanta.
Earlier this week, Clemens became upset when discussing the episode, saying, "This is a shame and it's not even an issue."
Clemens was away from the Astros, as his deal with the team allows when he's not pitching, to watch his son play for the Katy (Texas) Cowboys in a 10-and-under tournament.
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