bloggedy blog: the personal weblog of a music lover and aging punk wannabe

:: Sunday, October 22, 2006 ::

World Series Game 1: The Tonys tame the Tigers
So much for a Tigers sweep.

The St. Louis Cardinals won Game 1 of the World Series, beating the Detroit Tigers 7-2 in Motown behind a strong effort by Cards pitcher Anthony Reyes, the latest unlikely hero in the Cardinals lineup.

Two St. Louis Tonys (Reyes, the starting pitcher, and LaRussa, the manager who picked him to start game one) tamed the Tigers Saturday night.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Until Saturday night at Comerica Park, Anthony Reyes was mostly known as Mark Prior's college teammate, the Cardinals' rookie fifth starter and a fragile talent pushed beyond the sixth inning only three times this season.

When Reyes left the mound with an unbreakable performance lasting eight-plus innings against the Detroit Tigers, he had helped change the look of a World Series in which he was viewed as a last-minute opening act.

The Cardinals benefited from several things rarely seen in recent weeks, if not months: catcher Yadier Molina running on a pitch, third baseman Scott Rolen connecting for a home run and Reyes pushing beyond the fifth inning. All were central to a game Reyes and the Cardinals thoroughly controlled after first baseman Albert Pujols reached Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander for a two-out, two run home run in the third inning.

The Motor City Kitties looked like paper tigers against Reyes and the Cardinals' eight-hit attack.

More.
And from Sports Illustrated:
This, you have to give the Cardinals: They're making the absolute most out of what they have.

Saturday night, in Game 1 of the World Series, the patchwork Cards pulled a gem out of a rookie pitcher under the most pressure-packed of circumstances. The team's sore third baseman, who's had trouble simply putting the bat on the ball this postseason, blasted an important early home run. And the Cardinals got another homer -- just as important, maybe more so -- out of a player who shouldn't be allowed to swing the bat at all, he's that good.

In this latest chapter in a most bizarre October, the underwhelming Cardinals manhandled the Tigers in Game 1, headlined by rookie pitcher Anthony Reyes. The kid with the flat-brimmed hat and the striped knee-highs twirled a virtual tour de force in a never-in-doubt 7-2 win at Comerica Park.

The effort from Reyes was more than simply unexpected. It was, in fact, unlikely and, as far as Reyes' short career goes, almost unprecedented. More.
Tonight, Game 2, with St. Louis' rehab project Jeff Weaver (2-1, 2.16 ERA in postseason) going against Detroit's Kenny "Gambler" Rogers, who is 2-0 with an ERA of zero in the postseason.

Tags: St. Louis Cardinals, Cardinals, World Series, baseball, MLB

:: Andrew 06:55 + ::
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