2005 MLB Playoff's: An Astro Win For the Ages

by The DugOut | October 10, 2005 at 11:33 am

528 views | 0 Recommendations | 0 comments

Under siege from teammates, Roger Clemens put his hands over his head and ducked as champagne showered him from all directions Sunday evening.

Astros just kept coming at him, using the same determination and perseverance they had displayed earlier at Minute Maid Park against the Atlanta Braves.

"I can't believe it," Clemens told his teammates as they celebrated their berth in the National League Championship Series. "I thought you guys didn't have any left. I thought we had already used the last bullets."

Thanks to Clemens' gritty three innings of relief, the Astros had enough to win the historic Game 4 of the National League Division Series 7-6 on Chris Burke's walkoff home run in the 18th inning.

"I'm just real proud of those guys," said Clemens, who earned the win in the first postseason relief outing of his career and his first relief appearance of any kind since he was a Boston Red Sox rookie 21 years ago. "We always talk about playing nine innings. This time, we had to play a few more than nine %u2014 double that. What can I say?"

A sellout crowd of 43,413 was treated to the longest postseason game in major-league history as the Astros earned the right to face the NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals in the best-of-seven NLCS, which starts Wednesday at Busch Stadium.

In a microcosm of their season, the Astros fell behind early and seemed all but done as the Braves carried a 6-1 lead into the eighth inning. Lance Berkman cut the deficit to one run with a grand slam off Kyle Farnsworth in the bottom of the eighth.

Still, the Braves nursed a one-run lead as Farnsworth retired the first two batters in the ninth. With the Astros an out away from having to travel back to Atlanta for Game 5, Brad Ausmus tied the score at 6 by ripping a 2-0 fastball just above the yellow line in left-center field for a homer.

That's when it really got interesting. Manager Phil Garner mixed and matched his 25-man roster, shifting several players from one position to another until finally moving starting catcher Ausmus back behind the plate from first base after using Clemens to pinch-hit for Dan Wheeler in the 15th.

Clemens was literally the Astros' last line of defense. The only two pitchers remaining were Roy Oswalt, who started and won Game 3 on Saturday, and Andy Pettitte, who was in line to start Game 5.