In our last post we mentioned a tie for the best record in the National League in 2001. The Diamondbacks, of course, went to the World Series and won it, but they just missed on the best record by going 92-70. They lost their last two regular-season games to the Brewers, and left it up to the Central Division battle between the Astros and Cardinals.
As it happened, those two finished the season against each other in St. Louis. The Astros won two of three, including 9-2 on the last day of the season. The tie wasn't played off because they didn't need to, as both were already going to the playoffs. The Astros won the season series so they got the division title and the Cardinals drew the wild card. Houston, at that point, had flamed out in three of the previous four seasons in the division round and had never won a postseason series. They were swept by the Braves to keep that streak going. The Cardinals battled with the Diamondbacks for five games but lost in the bottom of the ninth in the final game.
But here, they meet in an old-style NL best-of-3 series for the pennant, and the right to meet the Mariners in the World Series. Since the Astros were the high seed, I bypassed the coin flip and gave them the home field, the final two games of this series at Enron Field (before all that stuff happened there).
The series opened in St. Louis. With the teams meeting each other the weekend before, the rotation was determined by who didn't pitch in it. Matt Morris, who won 22 games for the Cardinals, got the ball while the Astros countered with Tim Redding. The Cards scored first when Mike Matheny drove in a run and Morris followed with a single up the middle to make it 2-0.
Morris only gave up two hits in the first five innings but Redding kept it at the 2-0 score. Octavio Dotel came in but Albert Pujols and Jim Edmonds hit back-to-back homers to double the lead. Another run made it 5-0 and Morris went for the shutout to try and save the bullpen for the Houston leg of the series. He got the first two outs in the ninth but Jeff Bagwell and Lance Berkman singled, so Mike Timlin came in. Moises Alou singled to produce a run and Vinny Castilla walked. Closer Dave Veres entered to face Richard Hidalgo who with his 19 homers represented the tying run. Veres retired Hidalgo on a comebacker and the Cardinals had a 5-1 victory.
On to Houston, and the Astros brought out Wade Miller to face former Astro Woody Williams. (There were a lot of players who spent time with both teams in this series.) The Cards again jumped to a 2-0 lead as Pujols singled, Edmonds walked, a couple of infield outs produced a run and Matheny drove in another run with a single. It looked like the Cards were going to go back to the Series. But Houston finally got going in the third when Craig Biggio and Bagwell walked and Berkman hit a three-run homer. That was the only hit Williams gave up as he was pulled for a pinch hitter in the fifth. Bagwell greeted Gene Stechschulte with a two-run homer in the fifth and the Astros were up 5-2. Miller went seven strong innings with just four hits allowed and the two early runs. Mike Jackson and Billy Wagner each pitched a scoreless inning and it was on to Game 3.
Darryl Kile, the former Astro, pitched for the Cardinals in the ultimate NL game while the Astros were left with Dave Mlicki as Shane Reynolds had pitched on Sunday. He was in the bullpen with everyone else, though. The winning team would host the Mariners the next day in the opener of the 2001 World Series.
The Astros were not kind to their old friend. Biggio doubled off Kile and Julio Lugo singled for the first run. Bagwell walked and then Berkman tripled to the hill in center to make it 3-0 and send bodies scurrying around in the St. Louis pen. Alou struck out but Castilla singled and it was 4-0.
Kile got it together and ended up striking out seven in four innings before leaving. It seemed as though the Cards could get to Mlicki, who had a 6.17 ERA in 2001. But the right-hander struck out seven himself in the first four innings and kept the visitors off the board. Bagwell booted a grounder in the fifth and pinch hitter Kerry Robinson singled. When Placido Polanco singled with two outs to make it 4-1 and bring J.D. Drew to the plate as the tying run, the Astros pulled Mlicki and brought in lefty Ron Villone. He struck out Drew on three pitches to keep the score where it was.
Then it was a battle of the bullpens. The Cardinals, of course, did the Tony LaRussa special, using four pitchers in the next two innings. The Astros went one inning at a time with their best. It was still 4-1 in the seventh, the Dave Williams inning for Houston, but the Cards got the first two men on. Bobby Bonilla, as a pinch hitter, bounced into a force play. Fernando Vina struck out and Polanco popped out to end the threat. Mike Jackson gave up hits to Drew and Edmonds in the eighth but struck out Mark McGwire and retired Edgar Renteria on a fly ball. The Astros were three outs away from their first World Series.
Mike Timlin, the sixth St. Louis pitcher, kept the scoreless bullpen string going, so it was up to Billy Wagner to close out the series. Pinch hitter Miguel Cairo doubled with one out, but Vina grounded out, and Polanco grounded to Jose Vizcaino at short and the Astros had their first pennant, as you know if you saw the top of the post. Final was 4-1.
Neither team hit much in the three games, despite the high ERAs of the time, but the Astros had Castilla (.400) and Berkman (.333), with Lance getting the two biggest hits for his hometown team, the three-run homer in Game 2 and the two-run triple in the final game. Renteria, Mr. Big Game, was the high man for the Cards, hitting .364. Pujols was held to .167 and so was Mark McGwire, in his final games before retirement. (Pujols was in left field in the games McGwire started.) Leadoff man Fernando Vina was 0-for-12 and only reached base once in three games, on a hit by pitch.
So Shane Reynolds, on three days' rest, gets to open the World Series against Freddy Garcia and the Mariners. Probably Redding in Game 2 and then they'll be caught up.
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