The city of Philadelphia looks to Cliff Lee to calm their frayed nerves while St Louis turns to Chris Carpenter in an attempt to save their season tonight in NLDS game two at Citizens Bank Park. First pitch is at 8:05 on TBS. Philly fans are certainly ready for this game tonight. In fact, as the seconds ticked off the Eagles third straight fourth quarter collapse this afternoon, the crowd at the Linc erupted into chants of “Let’s Go Phillies.” While it was likely more meant as derision toward the Eagles more than anything, the Phils certainly have to appreciate that not many years ago people would do Eagles chants at their games. Not anymore. This town is red through and through.
The decision to send Carpenter to the hill in this game is certainly a desperate one for Tony LaRussa and the Cards. This will be the first time in his career that he will go on short rest. If he falters, they’ll be facing elimination having already played their only real trump card. Cliff Lee says that he respects Carpenter for going on three days rest.
“I think we should all be able to do it,” he said. “Every pitcher back in the day did it all the time. Obviously, this is a very routine-oriented game, and once you’ve established a routine that you’re going to pitch every five days and you get off that, it can feel different. If you’re an extreme competitor like Carpenter is, you’re willing to do things like that.”
Cliff Lee has pitched against the Cardinals four times and is 3-1 with a 1.48 ERA in those games.