Game Two

By Dean Swanton

Podsednik Homer Ends Thriller
The Houston Astros had to be feeling pretty good about their chances going into game two of the 2005 World Series. After dropping a 5-3 decision in game one, the Astros sent lefthander Andy Pettitte to the mound in hopes they could even the series and head back to Houston with the home field advantage. Astros manager Phil Garner had to feel confident giving the ball to a pitcher with 14 career post season wins on his resume and 11 wins since the All Star break.

The Chicago White Sox and manager Ozzie Guillen had to be feeling pretty confident themselves. The White Sox were 8-1 in the 2005 post season and despite their long layoff after wrapping up the American League Championship Series in quick fashion, never missed a beat in game one. With Mark Buehrle on the mound, it would not have been unreasonable for Guillen to believe that the White Sox would have game two wrapped up in no time at all. Buehrle works incredibly fast and the thought of going home early on a cold and wet night in Chicago was no doubt attractive to anybody in attendance supporting the Southsiders. Of course the ride home is always sweeter after a win.

Game two of the 2005 World Series turned into a classic even before Scott Podsednik ended the affair with a solo shot off of Houston closer Brad Lidge. If Lidge hadn't already sought therapy for the monster shot that Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals hit off of him in game 5 of the NLCS, he will almost certainly now. Podsednik had no homers during the regular season but now has two in the post season, and his game-ending blast will more than likely be the highlight of his career whether the White Sox go on to win the World Series or not.

Houston opened the scoring in the second inning when Astros third baseman Morgan Ensberg homered on the first pitch Buehrle threw. The White Sox came right back in the bottom half of the inning with two runs aided by a Craig Biggio blunder. With one out, Juan Uribe hit a pop up that Biggio had to go out into right field to catch. Biggio dropped the ball allowing A.J Pierzynski to score from third base. Aaron Rowand had scored earlier in the inning on a Joe Crede RBI single.

With one out in the top half of the third inning, Houston's speedy centerfielder Willy Taveras tripled and then scored on a Lance Berkman sacrifice fly. That knotted the game at two and it stayed that way until the fifth inning when Berkman came up big for the Astros again. After Brad Ausmus and Taveras singled, Berkman hit a clutch two-out double into left field to put the Astros ahead 4-2. Momentum seemed to be shifting in the Astros favor.

Pettitte went 6 strong innings giving up 8 hits, 0 walks and striking out 4 White Sox batters. Phil Garner went to his usually strong and reliable bullpen for the bottom of the seventh inning, summoning righthander Dan Wheeler. Juan Uribe followed a Joe Crede pop out with a double. Wheeler seemed to be in control when he fanned Podsednik for the second out of the inning. Then the wheels fell off. He proceeded to walk Tadahito Iguchi and then hit Jermaine Dye on a full count pitch. It was debatable whether or not the ball actually hit Dye or if it hit his bat, but either way the pitch was out of the strike zone and it would have been a huge break for the Astros if the pitch would have been called a foul ball. Chad Qualls replaced Wheeler and the bases were loaded for White Sox cleanup hitter Paul Konerko who already had hit 4 home runs and driven in 11 runs in the 2005 post season. Talk about right man in the right spot. Konerko promptly slammed Qualls first pitch into the left field seats. U.S Cellular Field erupted and it looked like the White Sox were on their way to a game 2 win.

Cliff Politte relieved Buehrle after 7 innings (7 hits, 0 walks, 6Ks) and pitched a flawless eighth inning while Bobby Jenks warmed up in the bullpen, preparing to shut the door in the ninth. Most were expecting an uneventful ninth from Jenks who was dominant in striking out three of the four batters he faced in game one. It would be a different story on this night. Jeff Bagwell led off the top of the inning with a single. After striking out Jason Lane, Jenks walked Chris Burke. With two outs, Brad Ausmus hit a slow grounder to Konerko who had no other play than to step on the bag at first. This put two runners in scoring position and prompted Phil Garner to pinch hit Jose Vizcaino for Adam Everett. Vizcaino hit the first pitch he saw into left field scoring Bagwell and Burke and tying the game 6-6. Burke appeared to be nailed at the plate but a terrific slide saw his hand touch home plate before Pierzynski applied the tag. Neal Cotts replaced Jenks and got the final out of the inning. It was looking as though the faithful fans in attendance might have to endure the cold a little while longer as extra innings seemed evident, especially when Garner sent out his closer Brad Lidge to begin the bottom half of the inning. Lidge had not been used since giving up the aforementioned blast to Pujols and was looking to rebound from that confidence shattering blow.

Lidge got Juan Uribe to fly out to center field and then Scott Podsednik strode to the plate looking to get something started. White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams traded slugger Carlos Lee to the Milwaukee Brewers for Podsednik in the off season to make things happen at the top of the Sox lineup. Podsednik would do more than that in this at bat as he deposited a 2-1 pitch into the right center field seats for a walk off home run and lifting the White Sox to a 7-6 win and a huge 2-0 lead in the series.

The Fall Classic now shifts to Houston for games 3, 4 and 5. The Astros must now win 2 out of the 3 games at Minute Maid Park if they want to make a return trip to Chicago. The Astros will be looking forward to returning to the Juice Box where they were 53-28 during the regular season.

Roy Oswalt gets the ball in game three for the Astros and the White Sox counter with Jon Garland. Both pitchers have pitched extremely well in the post-season and if game 3 mirrors game two in any way, shape or form nobody will be questioning why baseball is referred to as the "Grand Ole Game".