GaryMrMets
10-22-2005, 03:43 PM
Pitching expected to dominate in World Series
SportsTicker
By Jim Keller SportsTicker Baseball Editor CHICAGO (Ticker) - Both the Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox literally will make their pitch to end years of futility.
The Astros are appearing in a World Series for the first time in their 44-year history, while the White Sox have not won since 1917 and have not appeared since losing in six games to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1959.
But one of these championship-starved cities will be celebrating in a week or so, and it doesn't take a genius with a calculator to know what the keys to both teams' success has been - pitching, pitching and more pitching.
It all begins Saturday, when Houston sends venerable Roger Clemens, who has 341 regular-season wins and is 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA in seven World Series starts, to the mound in Game One.
Clemens will be opposed by former New York Yankees teammate Jose Contreras, who is 10-1 in his last 11 starts and has emerged as the ace of the staff.
Aside from Clemens, the Astros' staff features Andy Pettitte, who ranks second with 14 career playoff wins, but neither is the best pitcher on his own staff. That distinction belongs to Roy Oswalt, the fireballing righthander who is using this postseason as a national coming out party.
"You talk about an embarrassment of riches to have three aces like we do to go out there, and they bring different things to the table," Houston general manager Tim Purpura said.
Chicago's rotation led the American League in wins, was second in ERA and accomplished a postseason feat that had not occurred in 77 years.
"We've all known that the starting pitchers were going to take us, from the beginning," Chicago pitching coach Don Cooper said. "Every starter at one point in the season stepped up once in key games and they were able to be counted on, and they did it. ... They know they have to be the guy that controls the game early to give us a chance to have a fighting chance to win the game."
Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen, however, knows that Clemens and Game Two starter Pettitte have been here before, which could play in favor of the Astros.
"It's a little different, Andy and Roger were there before with a good positive attitude," Guillen said. "I don't have anyone in my starting rotation who has gone through this. My pitchers don't care about anything though, they will go out and just throw the ball. They don't care who they face."
Chicago starters finished the regular season 7-1 and won all three games in an AL Division Series sweep of Boston. After a loss in the opener of the championship series to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - a game in which Contreras yielded three runs in 8 1/3 innings - Chicago recorded four consecutive complete-game victories, with Contreras finishing off the Angels in Game Five, 6-3.
It was the first time a team had posted four consecutive complete-game victories by different pitchers in the postseason since the Yankees turned the trick against the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1928 World Series.
Over the course of the season, Contreras has emerged as the ace of the White Sox after taking a suggestion from teammate and fellow Cuban Orlando Hernandez after 2 1/2 years of inconsistency with New York and Chicago.
"Orlando took him aside and suggested he drop down to three-quarters arm angle, and it immediately improved his command, gave him more movement and confidence," Chicago catcher A.J. Pierzynski said.
And the results showed as the 33-year-old went 11-2 with a 2.96 ERA in the second half after starting 4-5 with a 4.26 ERA. He was a perfect 6-0 in September, falling one victory shy of LaMarr's Hoyt's club record of seven wins, set in 1983.
"I got my confidence at that point, and started attacking the strike zone," Contreras said. "My 1-0 game at Cleveland right after the All-Star break was very important mentally for me."
Against the Angels, he retired 11 straight batters after a rocky start in Game One and set down the last 15 in the clincher.
Because of all the controversy surrounding the dropped third strike involving Pierzynski in the ninth inning of Game Two, perhaps the best pitched game of the postseason was overlooked.
Chicago lefthander Mark Buehrle pitched a five-hitter and threw 71 of 99 pitches for strikes. He threw 26 first-pitch strikes, including 13 called.
But Jon Garland, who led the leag
ue with three shutouts and tied for second with 18 wins, was not to be outdone. The 6-6 righthander pitched a four-hitter, allowed just seven balls out of the infield and did not face a batter with a runner in scoring position.
In Game Four, it was Freddy Garcia's turn to dominate. The righthander retired 10 straight batters at one point, got the leadoff hitter in every inning but the eighth and threw 74 of 116 pitches for strikes.
"They all throw first-pitch strikes," Chicago Pierzynski said. "They get ahead in the count, throw all their pitches for strikes and attack. I just tell them to be aggressive. That's all I can do. It's their game. I'm just lucky to get the chance to catch them."
The 43-year-old Clemens, playing in his 22nd season, led the National League with a 1.87 ERA this year. It was the second-best ERA in club history and only a lack of run support cost the Texan a chance at an unprecedented eighth Cy Young Award. The Astros went 15-17 in his starts, scoring three runs or less 19 times, including nine shutouts.
Adding to his legacy, Clemens came out of the bullpen and pitched three scoreless innings in Houston's 18-inning victory in Game Four of the NLDS against Atlanta and and allowed two runs in six frames to defeat the Cardinals in Game Three of the championship series.
"I'm very excited to have the opportunity (at starting Game One)," Clemens said. "When (Houston manager Phil Garner) told me I had the ball in Game One, it comes with a lot of responsibility, which I've had in the past. But it does not diminish the fact at all that I know that so many people are counting on me, and I enjoy that, I expect it, but it's the career I've led."
Clemens is battling a hamstring problem but would not elaborate on the extent. Chicago first baseman Paul Konerko does not think the injury will be a factor.
"Regardless (of the injury), his stuff is always electric so it will be good," Konerko said. "I don't think he is just going to come out and just start throwing 86 or 87, he will have good stuff. Nobody on our team will go in there thinking we will get a free pass from Roger Clemens. I'm sure if he had a broken leg he would find a way to get people out."
Pettitte rebounded from an injury-riddled 2004 campaign to go 17-9, finishing second in the NL to Clemens with a 2.39 ERA. He was 14-2 with a 1.56 ERA in his last 20 starts and is the only pitcher in baseball history to post a winning record in each of his first 11 seasons.
He also has been successful in the postseason, recording 14 wins - one fewer than Atlanta's John Smoltz for the all-time lead.
But Oswalt has been the best pitcher in Houston since he came up in 2001.
This year, the 28-year-old became the first pitcher to post consecutive 20-win seasons since Arizona teammates Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling did it in 2000 and 2001. His 40 wins over the last two years are the most in the major leagues and his .680 lifetime winning percentage is tops in franchise history.
The 6-0, 185-pounder is 83-39 since joining the Astros' rotation and is a perfect 3-0 in the postseason in 2005, including a Game Two victory against the Cardinals. Oswalt is 15-2 at Minute Maid Park this season, will pitch Game Three there and would start a seventh game.
On Wednesday, displaying a fastball that reached 95 miles per hour, Oswalt carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Yadier Molina flared a single into right field - the first of only four balls to reach the outfield against the righthander over seven frames.
"Roy's not obviously a real outspoken individual. He doesn't get the media attention that Andy and Roger does," Purpura said. "But what burns inside of him burns just like it does with Andy and just like it does with Roger."
So the stage has been set for one of the best pitching matchups in World Series history, and even Guillen, with all his glibness, summed up the series simply.
"The series will be interesting," Guillen said. "You will see a lot of good pitching and the series will be about whoever pitches better."
It can't be much simpler than that.
10-22-05 12:39 ET
SportsTicker
By Jim Keller SportsTicker Baseball Editor CHICAGO (Ticker) - Both the Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox literally will make their pitch to end years of futility.
The Astros are appearing in a World Series for the first time in their 44-year history, while the White Sox have not won since 1917 and have not appeared since losing in six games to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1959.
But one of these championship-starved cities will be celebrating in a week or so, and it doesn't take a genius with a calculator to know what the keys to both teams' success has been - pitching, pitching and more pitching.
It all begins Saturday, when Houston sends venerable Roger Clemens, who has 341 regular-season wins and is 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA in seven World Series starts, to the mound in Game One.
Clemens will be opposed by former New York Yankees teammate Jose Contreras, who is 10-1 in his last 11 starts and has emerged as the ace of the staff.
Aside from Clemens, the Astros' staff features Andy Pettitte, who ranks second with 14 career playoff wins, but neither is the best pitcher on his own staff. That distinction belongs to Roy Oswalt, the fireballing righthander who is using this postseason as a national coming out party.
"You talk about an embarrassment of riches to have three aces like we do to go out there, and they bring different things to the table," Houston general manager Tim Purpura said.
Chicago's rotation led the American League in wins, was second in ERA and accomplished a postseason feat that had not occurred in 77 years.
"We've all known that the starting pitchers were going to take us, from the beginning," Chicago pitching coach Don Cooper said. "Every starter at one point in the season stepped up once in key games and they were able to be counted on, and they did it. ... They know they have to be the guy that controls the game early to give us a chance to have a fighting chance to win the game."
Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen, however, knows that Clemens and Game Two starter Pettitte have been here before, which could play in favor of the Astros.
"It's a little different, Andy and Roger were there before with a good positive attitude," Guillen said. "I don't have anyone in my starting rotation who has gone through this. My pitchers don't care about anything though, they will go out and just throw the ball. They don't care who they face."
Chicago starters finished the regular season 7-1 and won all three games in an AL Division Series sweep of Boston. After a loss in the opener of the championship series to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - a game in which Contreras yielded three runs in 8 1/3 innings - Chicago recorded four consecutive complete-game victories, with Contreras finishing off the Angels in Game Five, 6-3.
It was the first time a team had posted four consecutive complete-game victories by different pitchers in the postseason since the Yankees turned the trick against the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1928 World Series.
Over the course of the season, Contreras has emerged as the ace of the White Sox after taking a suggestion from teammate and fellow Cuban Orlando Hernandez after 2 1/2 years of inconsistency with New York and Chicago.
"Orlando took him aside and suggested he drop down to three-quarters arm angle, and it immediately improved his command, gave him more movement and confidence," Chicago catcher A.J. Pierzynski said.
And the results showed as the 33-year-old went 11-2 with a 2.96 ERA in the second half after starting 4-5 with a 4.26 ERA. He was a perfect 6-0 in September, falling one victory shy of LaMarr's Hoyt's club record of seven wins, set in 1983.
"I got my confidence at that point, and started attacking the strike zone," Contreras said. "My 1-0 game at Cleveland right after the All-Star break was very important mentally for me."
Against the Angels, he retired 11 straight batters after a rocky start in Game One and set down the last 15 in the clincher.
Because of all the controversy surrounding the dropped third strike involving Pierzynski in the ninth inning of Game Two, perhaps the best pitched game of the postseason was overlooked.
Chicago lefthander Mark Buehrle pitched a five-hitter and threw 71 of 99 pitches for strikes. He threw 26 first-pitch strikes, including 13 called.
But Jon Garland, who led the leag
ue with three shutouts and tied for second with 18 wins, was not to be outdone. The 6-6 righthander pitched a four-hitter, allowed just seven balls out of the infield and did not face a batter with a runner in scoring position.
In Game Four, it was Freddy Garcia's turn to dominate. The righthander retired 10 straight batters at one point, got the leadoff hitter in every inning but the eighth and threw 74 of 116 pitches for strikes.
"They all throw first-pitch strikes," Chicago Pierzynski said. "They get ahead in the count, throw all their pitches for strikes and attack. I just tell them to be aggressive. That's all I can do. It's their game. I'm just lucky to get the chance to catch them."
The 43-year-old Clemens, playing in his 22nd season, led the National League with a 1.87 ERA this year. It was the second-best ERA in club history and only a lack of run support cost the Texan a chance at an unprecedented eighth Cy Young Award. The Astros went 15-17 in his starts, scoring three runs or less 19 times, including nine shutouts.
Adding to his legacy, Clemens came out of the bullpen and pitched three scoreless innings in Houston's 18-inning victory in Game Four of the NLDS against Atlanta and and allowed two runs in six frames to defeat the Cardinals in Game Three of the championship series.
"I'm very excited to have the opportunity (at starting Game One)," Clemens said. "When (Houston manager Phil Garner) told me I had the ball in Game One, it comes with a lot of responsibility, which I've had in the past. But it does not diminish the fact at all that I know that so many people are counting on me, and I enjoy that, I expect it, but it's the career I've led."
Clemens is battling a hamstring problem but would not elaborate on the extent. Chicago first baseman Paul Konerko does not think the injury will be a factor.
"Regardless (of the injury), his stuff is always electric so it will be good," Konerko said. "I don't think he is just going to come out and just start throwing 86 or 87, he will have good stuff. Nobody on our team will go in there thinking we will get a free pass from Roger Clemens. I'm sure if he had a broken leg he would find a way to get people out."
Pettitte rebounded from an injury-riddled 2004 campaign to go 17-9, finishing second in the NL to Clemens with a 2.39 ERA. He was 14-2 with a 1.56 ERA in his last 20 starts and is the only pitcher in baseball history to post a winning record in each of his first 11 seasons.
He also has been successful in the postseason, recording 14 wins - one fewer than Atlanta's John Smoltz for the all-time lead.
But Oswalt has been the best pitcher in Houston since he came up in 2001.
This year, the 28-year-old became the first pitcher to post consecutive 20-win seasons since Arizona teammates Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling did it in 2000 and 2001. His 40 wins over the last two years are the most in the major leagues and his .680 lifetime winning percentage is tops in franchise history.
The 6-0, 185-pounder is 83-39 since joining the Astros' rotation and is a perfect 3-0 in the postseason in 2005, including a Game Two victory against the Cardinals. Oswalt is 15-2 at Minute Maid Park this season, will pitch Game Three there and would start a seventh game.
On Wednesday, displaying a fastball that reached 95 miles per hour, Oswalt carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Yadier Molina flared a single into right field - the first of only four balls to reach the outfield against the righthander over seven frames.
"Roy's not obviously a real outspoken individual. He doesn't get the media attention that Andy and Roger does," Purpura said. "But what burns inside of him burns just like it does with Andy and just like it does with Roger."
So the stage has been set for one of the best pitching matchups in World Series history, and even Guillen, with all his glibness, summed up the series simply.
"The series will be interesting," Guillen said. "You will see a lot of good pitching and the series will be about whoever pitches better."
It can't be much simpler than that.
10-22-05 12:39 ET