Game 5 Rain Preview

It’s now a three game series. The Cards have gone toe-to-toe with the best team in the NL, and are more than holding their own. It’s nice to watch. Relative to talent level, I think we’re seeing the best playoff performance of any Cardinal team since 1996. We’ll see if they can close it out.

Right now, neither of these teams is clicking on all cylanders. They resemble two battered heavyweights at the end of a fight. Each side has gotten its punches in, both sides have taken some punishment.

The Tigers have to be licking their chops.

That this is now a three game series is not a terrible development. There are three legitimate starting pitchers in this series. Carpenter, Glavine and Suppan. We’ll send our two to the hill at some point in the series, if it goes 7. The Mets will send theirs whenever Game 5 is played. That puts us in our best position to take our best shot.

I’m having a hard time imagining we’re going to play tonight. According to the interviews, the new Stadium has some sort of superior drainage system. It was designed so that all 8 Clydesdales can whizz in the same spot and the game can still be played. Truly state of the art.

That said, there is no sign this rain is letting up anytime soon, and I’m prepared for this game to be played Tuesday.

I keep hearing on the radio that the rain helps the Mets. That’s the easy, conventional wisdom. I think it’s wrong.

The wisdom says that Glavine is old, and therefore shouldn’t pitch on 3 days rest. Weaver is young(er) and can handle it. The wisdom ends there.

I actually watched the first game of this series. Weaver threw 98 pitches, and he was bringing it that night. He ranged from 93-96 on the Fox Gun, which I know was inflated, but it looked for all the world as if he was putting all he had into every pitch. I’d rather him have five days rest than four, after that performance.

Weaver hasn’t been consistently effective all season, and pundits think he’s got an edge on three days rest? Really?

Glavine, on the other hand, threw 89 pitches, and looked effortless doing it. I’ll bet he didn’t even have to wash his uniform after Game 1. I know he wasn’t sweating. If the game is played tonight, I fear Glavine will last longer than Weaver.
That may hold true tomorrow as well, but there are other reasons I’d rather see rain.