Melissa Phillip/Chronicle Pitcher Brandon Backe has the Astros dugout to himself after the White Sox won their first World Series since 1917.The Astros were swept from the World Series by the Chicago White Sox in Game 4 last night with a 1 - 0 loss in Houston. The Sox won the Series for the first time since 1917.
Astros starting pitcher, Brandon Backe, pitched 7 shut out innings, striking out 7, walking none, allowing only 5 hits. He allowed only 2 runners past 1st base in the first 6 innings and at one point retired 12 straight batters. His performance was far better than Houston's premier pitchers in this series, Clemens, Pettite and Oswalt. But closer Brad Lidge allowed a two out single in the 8th inning to earn his second loss of the series.
Offensively, the Astros could not get the crucial hits. In their last 15 innings, beginning with the 8th inning of the 14 inning Game 3, the Astros went 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position.
The White Sox completed a 16 - 1 run with last night's win, going 5 - 0 at the end of the regular season and 11 - 1 in the postseason. Clearly, they know how to win. Yet, in spite of the sweep, they outscored the 'Stros by only 20-14, winning no game by more than 2 runs. And in each game Houston could have won with timely hitting. This was great baseball.
While the 2005 Series through Game 3 was the lowest-rated ever in terms of national viewers, over half of the 17-county Houston TV market (10th largest in the country) watched portions of Game 3. No big names, not darling teams, bad national ratings. I hope Fox didn't pay too much for their broadcast rights.
No comments:
Post a Comment