Gritty Cardinals Force Game 7 With 12-Inning Victory

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The New York Sun

ST. LOUIS – Roger Clemens came out of retirement for the sole purpose of pitching his hometown Astros into their first World Series. Now, he’ll get that chance.


Jim Edmonds blasted a two-run homer in the 12th inning and the rejuvenated St. Louis Cardinals forced the NL championship series to Game 7, beating the Astros 6-4 yesterday to even it at 3-all.


After Jeff Bagwell’s two-out single in the ninth off Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen tied it at 4, Edmonds won it with a one-out shot off Dan Miceli.


Astros superman Brad Lidge blew away St. Louis for three perfect innings, striking out five before Miceli relieved in the 12th. Albert Pujols drew a leadoff walk and one out later Edmonds homered way over the St. Louis bullpen in left field.


St. Louis won a postseason game in extra innings for the first time since the 1964 World Series at Yankee Stadium.


Righty Julian Tavarez, pitching with a broken left hand, went two innings for the win.


Astros manager Phil Garner picked journeyman Pete Munro to pitch Game 6, rather than going with the Rocket on three days’ rest. But Pujols’s first-inning homer landed in the Houston bullpen, and pretty soon some relievers were stirring in there, too.


So it all falls to Clemens, the 42-year-old ace who briefly left baseball last winter before deciding to give it one more try with a team that had not reached the World Series in 42 seasons.


Clemens will pitch tonight against former Boston teammate Jeff Suppan. It will Clemens’s fourth career Game 7 start – he’s 1-0 in those all-or-nothing outings after getting knocked out early last year in the ALCS for the Yankees.


For the Cardinals, it will be a chance to make their first World Series in four NLCS trips under manager Tony La Russa. For baseball, it marks the second straight year that both championship series went seven games.


Isringhausen took a 4-3 lead into the ninth, but immediately putt himself in jeopardy by hitting pinch-hitter Morgan Ensberg leading off. A bunt moved Ensberg to second and Craig Biggio hit a fly ball for the second out.


That brought up the marvelous Carlos Beltran, and the Cardinals huddled on the mound. A big cheer broke out in the sellout crowd of 52,144 when catcher Mike Matheny signaled for an intentional walk.


But Bagwell foiled the strategy, hitting a hard RBI single on the first pitch. After a double steal, Isringhausen managed to keep it tied by striking out Lance Berkman.


In the bottom half, Lidge retired the first two batters before a fastball over the head of Edmonds.


La Russa came out of the dugout to discuss the pitch with plate umpire Ed Rapuano. Before the game, the manager angrily confronted baseball disciplinarian Bob Watson behind the batting cage, steamed that Tavarez was fined $10,000 for a pitch over Bagwell’s helmet in Game 4.


After hitting only .161 in three straight losses at Minute Maid Park, the Cardinals quickly found their stroke at Busch Stadium.


Pujols put St. Louis ahead with his sixth homer of the postseason, a tworun shot, and later added a double and single. He scored twice, and was nailed at the plate another time when he ran through a coach’s stop sign.


Beltran, continuing to build his October resume, hit two balls off the rightfield wall and both times was held to a single by right fielder Larry Walker’s fast relay. Beltran scored twice, and his 20 runs broke Barry Bonds’s postseason record of 18 set in 2002.


Munro lasted just 2 1/3 innings, half the distance he went for Houston in Game 2.


The wild-card Astros hoped to get lucky with a guy who started the season in the minors with Minnesota and won only four games in the majors, but he never gave them a chance.


Munro was tagged for four runs, with slumping Tony Womack, Edgar Renteria and Reggie Sanders all delivering. Houston’s much-maligned middle relievers were effective, although it was too late.


After totaling only four hits Monday – a record low for any postseason game – the Astros and Cardinals beat that in the first inning alone. They also scored three times following Houston’s 3-0 win in Game 5 on Jeff Kent’s ninth inning homer.


The New York Sun

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