6B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN ASTROS-CARDINALS
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20. 2005
MLB
Astros bring Houston first NL pennant
BY MIKE FITZPATRICK THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. LOUIS — On this wild night of celebration, the Houston Astros owed it all to Roy Oswalt.
He took their dreams, hopes and gritty resolve and pitched his teammates into their first World Series, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 Wednesday night with help from Craig Biggio.
Coming off a crushing loss in Game 5 of the NL championship series at home on Albert Pujols' stunning homer, the stubborn Astros refused to be shaken. They jumped to an early lead behind Biggio and Jason Lane, got perhaps a little help from the umpires and watched Oswalt shut down St. Louis for seven innings in earning the series MVP award.
Now that this wild-card team has its first NL pennant, the Astros will travel to Chicago to take on the AL champion White Sox in the World Series, which begins Saturday night.
Cameras flashed all over Busch Stadium as Dan Wheeler got Yadier Molina on a flyball for the final out.
Houston Astros' Luke Scott, 30,
leaps on top of his teammates
as they celebrate their 5-1
victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 to win the National League Championship pennant in St. Louis, Wednesday.
NL champions for the first time in their 44-season history, the Astros rushed to the mound to celebrate, bouncing in unison before heading to the clubhouse for what was sure to be a more raucous party.
Houston had been 0-5 with a chance to clinch the NLCS. This time, the Astros would not be denied.
lights of great Cardinals players and moments at Busch Stadium, featuring Ozzie Smith, Mark McGwire and even broadcaster Jack Buck.
The Astros won this rematch in six games after losing last year in Game 7 at Busch Stadium. Thanks to Oswalt, it didn't go that far this time.
Charlie Riedel/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
After the final out, St. Louis fans stood and applauded, then chanted "Let's Go Cardinals!" The video board played high-
For St. Louis, the loss marked the end of the season for the team that led the majors with 100 wins. It also was the final game at Busch, scheduled for demolition to make room for the city's new ballpark.
Roger Clemens did his part, Andy Pettitte did, too — and Astros stalwarts Biggio and Jeff Bagwell finally fulfilled their delicious dream of winning a pennant together.
So while the Fall Classic is headed to the Windy City for the first time since 1959, Texas will get its first crack ever. Folks in the Lone Star State like things big, and it doesn't get any bigger than this in baseball.
Get ready for "Deep in the Heart of Texas" during the seventh-inning stretch.
In baseball-mad St. Louis, the Busch era ended in bitter disappointment.
Swept by Boston in the 2004 World Series and determined to avenge that defeat, the Cardinals were unable to capture a second consecutive pennant.
St. Louis is still waiting for its first World Series championship since 1982.
Born in 1962 as the Colt.45s, the Astros didn't make the playoffs until 1980 and didn't win a postseason series until last year.
Nolan Ryan, J.R. Richard and Mike Scott highlighted some stingy pitching staffs the called the mammoth Astrodome home, but they couldn't carry Houston to a pennant.
Not until Pettite and Clemens came home to join Oswalt in a stellar rotation did the Astros set over the hump.
Winning pitcher finds himself in spotlight
And on the night it clinched the NLCS, Houston didn't even need to use Brad Lidge, the All-Star closer who gave up Pujols' two-out homer in the ninth inning Monday night that sent the series back to St. Louis.
BY STEPHEN HAWKINS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ST. LOUISE — Call him Roy Wonder, the 20-game winner in the same rotation with Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte — and the one who finally pitched the Houston Astros into the World Series.
While Roy Oswalt usually prefers to be out of the spotlight, he is the toast of Houston — and the MVP of the NL championship series — after allowing one run in seven innings Wednesday night in a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals that sent the Astros to the first World Series in their 44-season history.
high 118 pitches for strikes, and allowed just three hits in the Game 6 clincher.
Clemens and Pettitte are going to the World Series again, the former New York Yankees going this time with their hometown team. With Oswalt wrapping up the NLCS, they will pitch the first two World Series games on the road against the Chicago White Sox this weekend.
Oswalt threw 77 of his season-
And Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, teammates in Houston for 15 seasons, finally made it to the World Series for the first time.
The Astros missed a chance to clinch the NL pennant at home Monday night when Albert Pujols hit a three-run homer with two
outs in the ninth inning off closer Brad Lidge to give the Cardinals a 5-4 victory.
So they celebrated instead after the last game at Busch Stadium, which is four seasons younger than the Astros franchise and will be demolished in the next few weeks to make way for a new stadium.
Oswalt is 4-0 in seven career playoff starts, including Game 5 of the NL division series in Atlanta last October when he won to give the Astros their first postseason series victory ever.
Houston also played the Cardinals in the NLCS last year, returning to St. Louis with a 3-2 lead. The Astros dropped the last two
games, losing Game 7 after Clemens gave up a two-run lead.
Oswalt, who also beat the Cardinals in Game 2 of this series, made sure they didn't have to worry about a Game 7 this year in St. Louis.
The Cardinals didn't get a hit until the fifth inning off Oswalt, when Yadier Molina singled before being out at second base on a disputed call.
After Oswalt scrambled to get Abraham Nunez's comebacker, he threw wildly to second, and shortstop Adam Everett caught the ball, making a sweeping tag at Molina. Umpire Greg Gibson called him out, though replays appeared to show Everett missed the tag.
What you can't see can hurt you
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