Ensberg, Lidge unreliable when Astros needed them most
By STEPHEN HAWKINS, AP Sports Writer
October 27, 2005
Houston Astros first base coach Jose Cruz, right. talks with pinch runner Eric Bruntlett in the eighth inning single Game 3 of the World Series Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2005, in Houston. At left is White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko.
AP - Oct 26, 3:07 pm EDT
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HOUSTON (AP) -- Brad Lidge followed through with his pitch, then remained in a squatting position as he watched the ball -- and the Houston Astros' season -- dribble into center field.
The hard-throwing closer, so dominant all season, lost his second game in the World Series when he gave up the lone run Wednesday night. Jermaine Dye's RBI single in the eighth inning gave the Chicago White Sox a series-ending 1-0 victory.
``I felt I threw the ball well tonight, actually,'' Lidge said. ``They had a 12-hopper up the middle. He hit a decent breaking ball and it found a hole. That was it, that was the game.''
Lidge was 4-4 with 42 saves during the regular season, and saved three straight NL championship series games before giving up two ninth-inning home runs: to Albert Pujols in the NLCS Game 5 against St. Louis, and to Scott Podsednik in Game 2 of the World Series.
``I don't really feel I ended on a bad note,'' Lidge said. ``Put it this way: I'm real happy with the year I had.
``The only pitch I wish I had back the entire postseason was the pitch to Pujols. That was the only mistake I really made.''
After waiting 44 seasons to get into their first World Series, and overcoming a 15-30 start to make the playoffs -- the Astros will have to wait at least another year before a chance at winning a game in the Fall Classic. They are still the team that has been in one city the longest without doing so.
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Lidge had looked like his usual nasty self with two dominating innings in the Astros' 7-5, 14-inning loss Tuesday night.
Unfortunately, that coincided with the Astros' offensive shutdown. Houston didn't score a run in the final 15 innings of the series, and left 24 men on base the last two games.
Like Lidge, cleanup hitter Morgan Ensberg struggled when the Astros needed him the most.
After stranding five runners in the final six innings Tuesday night, Ensberg was 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position in Game 4.
``I did really poor in this series, and that really eats at me,'' said Ensberg, 2-for-18 with two RBIs overall in the series.
``I don't think Morgan felt comfortable (swinging), and it's very magnified in these situations,'' Jeff Bagwell said. ``Morgan's going to be all right. Morgan's a special animal, he can shrug stuff off with the best of them.''
Ensberg wasn't the only one who didn't hit in the World Series.
The Astros had only five hits Wednesday, and their last one in Game 3 was Jason Lane's tying two-out RBI double in the eighth inning.
Macedonia Garcia, known as "Madd Maxx", works his air brush paint gun to draw a Houston Astros logo on the windows of the cafeteria at the American General building in Houston, Monday, Oct. 24, 2005.
AP - Oct 24, 7:43 pm EDT
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Brandon Backe, the last chance after the impressive rotation of Roger Clemens, Andy Pet te and Roy Oswalt failed to get a victory, pitched seven shutout innings. He struck out seven and allowed only five hits.
But with Backe coming to the plate with two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the seventh, manager Phil Garner opted to send Bagwell up as a pinch-hitter. Bagwell grounded out to end the inning, and Backe was done for the night.
Pinch-hitter Willie Harris led off the eighth against Lidge with a single, advanced on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, and scored on Dye's third hit.
``He hit a slider where we like for Brad to throw it, and he got it up the middle,'' Garner said. ``All along in this series, we talked about they were doing a nice job of hitting, and that was a classic case of it.''
Added Lance Berkman: ``Brad is a great closer, and we wouldn't have been here without him.''
They also wouldn't have been there without Ensberg, who had 36 home runs and 101 RBIs during the regular season.
Berkman and Ensberg both failed to get Craig Biggio in after his leadoff double in the first. Mike Lamb then led off the second with a double, but was stranded there after two strikeouts and a groundout.
The tone was set, and now the season is over.
``I guess it's fitting -- how many times were we shut out this season? -- to get shut out in our last game,'' said Biggio, the 39-year-old second baseman who played in the World Series after a record 2,564 regular-season games to get there.
For the record: 17 times, plus the final game. And six of them were 1-0 losses.
Lidge is right. The only real mistake was the pitch to Pujols. Podsednik hit an inside fastball and Dye reached down to poke a grounder up the middle on a good breaking ball. Maybe his psyche was a little weaker after the Pujols homer, but I think he looked okay out there during the Series.
Garner came up short as a manager too. Pulling Pe e in game 2, leaving Oswalt in game 3, and then pulling Backe in game 4 were all decisions that backfired.
Thats it in a nuts !!
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