The greatest World Series baseball fans have seen in a decade will be extended at least another day. This isn't a prophecy that the Cardinals will force a Game 7 with a series-tying win tonight. Rather, inclement weather is ravaging St. Louis in a less solid, yet still ferocious form that our great state. In light of the torrential rainstorms, tonight's edition of the Fall Classic will be postponed.
This development is surely negative for any baseball fan who had difficulty not following a baseball game last night (me), but more than that, it gives a slight advantage to the St. Louis Cardinals, who are attempting a difficult but hardly improbable comeback in the series.
In fact, St. Louis is hardly an underdog in the series at all at this point. Sports Illustrated's Joe Lemire:
Though nearly two-thirds (27 out of 41) of the tiebreaking Game 5 winners ended up winning a World Series that was knotted 2-2, oddly six of the nine most recent Game 5 winners actually lost the series.
That's right. If recent history is any indication, this series is every bit of a toss-up, especially with both remaining games occurring at Busch Stadium. Not only that, but pushing Game 6 aside means pushing Game 7 to Friday as well. That means four days of rest for Chris Carpenter, and maybe Tony LaRussa would put his horse back on the hill for the hypothetical deciding game.
Ron Washington would be forced to choose between a struggling CJ Wilson on short rest or Matt Harrison. My guess would be that Game 7 would be Matt Harrison vs Chris Carpenter in St. Louis. Yeah...so the Rangers probably ought to plan on winning Game 6. With the Cardinals on elimination's doorstep, their opposition will be treating Game 6 like their own elimination game as well. It should be good.
So, about that...Tonight's scheduled starters, Jaime Garcia and Colby Lewis, will remain Game 6 starters tomorrow. The duo locked horns in a pretty display of throwing baseballs in Game 2, and the rematch should prove to be even better under heightened circumstances. The weather forecast for St. Louis suggests rain should clear up by tomorrow. For now, we are forced to sit on our hands. At least they'll stay warm that way.