Notes on Tuesday’s Scorecard: Cards-Astros Rivalry
Good afternoon … The Cardinals and Astros have an underrated rivalry. Many Cardinals fans dwell on the Cubs, which is understandable. But in terms of on-field competition, the Cardinals and Astros have gone at each other in many more meaningful, impact games dating back to the middle 1990s.
For partying and tourism, Cards-Cubs is No. 1. For baseball purists, it’s St. Louis vs. Houston.
Since 1996, when Tony La Russa became manager in STL, the Cardinals have won the division outight six times, and the Astros finished second to St. Louis five times. The Astros dominated the Cardinals and the division in the late 1990s, finishing first in ‘97, ‘98 and ‘99. The Cardinals lost out in a 3-way dogfight with the Cubs and Astros in 2003. And in 2001, the Cardinals and Astros finished tied atop the division, though Houston won the tie-breaker because it captured the season series, and the Cardinals were relegated to wildcard. One of my favorite memories was the Golden Oldies showcase in 1996, when Ozzie Smith and Willie McGee led the Cardinals to an 8-7 win in 10 innings on Labor Day. Smith and McGee combined for 7 hits, 4 runs and 6 RBIs in the game. The highlighits included Ozzie’s 2-run homer off Darryl Kile, and McGee’s game-winning single (scoring Smith) in the 10th. The Astros were swept in the three-game series and never recovered.
Of course, the teams went head-to-head in memorable, tense, NLCS showdowns in 2004 and 2005. Who can forget those captivating series and the Jim Edmonds homer (G 6, 2004), the Edmonds catch (G 7 2004), Jeff Suppan beating Roger Clemens (G 7, 2004), the Albert Pujols homer off Brad Lidge (G 5, 2005) and Roy Oswalt turning out the lights at the old Busch Stadium (G 6, 2005) ?
The rivals are at it again early in 2008, each surpassing the expectations to this point. As play begins Tuesday, the Cardinals are in second place a half-game behind the Cubs, and the Astros have zoomed to third, 1.5 games out of the lead.
The teams have combined for 59 wins so far — and in the history of the Astros-Cardinals rivalry, that’s their most combined wins through May 26. And their third-highest combined winning percentage through May 26.
It’s good stuff. When the Astros show up at Busch, the quality of the baseball, and the drama, tend to escalate. But Brandon Backe isn’t scheduled to pitch in this series for Houston — so who will make Pujols mad this time?
– OK, so how are the Astros doing it?
Offense, mostly.
They’re 16-7 in May. And this month they rank 6th in the majors in runs, 1st in batting average (.294), 3rd in OBP, 5th in slugging, 1st in stolen bases. The Astros team ERA, however, is only 21st in May (4.52). And for the season, their starting-pitching ERA (4.66) ranks 26th. Roy Oswalt is struggling, and Wandy Rodriguez is set to return from the DL. Jose Valverde leads the NL in saves, but he hasn’t been bulletproof. That’s the top question facing this team: if the bats cool down, will the Astros be able to pitch well enough to stick in the race?
- Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee rank No. 1 and No. 2 in the National League in RBIs, combining for 89. Berkman is batting a crazy .488 this month, and his May slugging percentage (.895) is second in the majors to Florida’s Dan Uggla.
And then there’s the ageless Miguel Tejada, who is batting .335 with 35 RBIs in a successful conversion to the NL. And Tejada has displayed surprisingly good range at shortstop.
– This series features three of the majors’ top five performers in OPS. Berkman is No. 1 (1.230), Ryan Ludwick is 3rd (1.134) and Pujols is 5th (1.067)
– The Astros start a 9-game road trip Tuesday. Though they’ve won 7 of their last 10 road games, they’re 14-14 on the road overall. And there is a noticeable dip in their road hitting stats. Their road batting average is 33 points less than the home average, and there are corresponding drops in OBP (minus 51) and slugging (minus 72).
– Astros leadoff man Michael Bourn is receiving a lot of attention for his MLB-leading 23 stolen bases, but those steals don’t seem to provide much value, considering his woeful .283 OBP in the leadoff spot. Because Bourn doesn’t get on base much, he’s scored only 18 times when he bats No. 1 in the lineup - and that’s amazingly low considering all of the robust RBI men who follow him in the HOU lineup. By comparison, consider this: Cardinals leadoff man Skip Schumaker has scored 34 times when he bats No. 1, and certainly his .364 OBP as a leadoff man is a factor in that. (Bourn and Schumaker roughly have the same number of at-bats).
- Update: We saw that formidable Houston firepower in the series opener. With La Russa inexplicably seating his best power hitter (Ryan Ludwick), the Cardinals were no match for the Astros’ big guns in an 8-2 loss.
- Inexplicable stat: Cardinals pitchers have a 3.10 ERA in night games, and a 4.92 ERA in day games.
- Incomprehensible scheduling: my Team 1380 radio partner Randy Karraker points out that this is Houston’s last visit to Busch Stadium this regular season. Just as bad, the Cardinals already are finished with their road games at Milwaukee. How does this schedule make sense?
Enjoy the series…
-B
Great column, Bernie. We Cardinals fans who live in the Houston area know what a big-but-one-sided-rivalry it is. Houston absolutely hates the St. Louis Cardinals. Older Houstonians still view themselves as step-children since they were originally a Cardinals farm club, and then, for the first 20 years of Houston’s MLB existence, there would be more red than rainbow in the stands at the Astrodome whenever the Cardinals came to town. The younger generation views the Cardinals, generally, and Albert Pujols, particularly, as obstacles to their destiny. All in all, it makes life interesting down here, and downright fun when the Cardinals beat them.