In the first inning, Rafael Furcal tripled, and he came home on a Skip Schumaker double. About 39 or 40 outs later, here we are. The Cardinals have a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Since that early pair of extra-base hits, Halladay has been unhittable. The problem with that is that Carpenter's been as good, but he didn't give up two extra-base hits in the first inning. That's the difference. And Halladay's no stranger to tough-luck losses.
In the bottom of the sixth, Chase Utley singled with one out and tried to steal with Hunter Pence up. After 589 replays of Yadier Molina pumping his fist in triumph, TBS finally showed a conclusive replay -- Utley was out. The mini-rally was squandered.
In the bottom of the seventh, Ryan Howard led off and worked a 3-0 count. He got the green light, and he got the fastball down the middle, but he popped the ball up to shallow right. The crowd in Citizen's Bank Park felt that was a good time to express their displeasure with Howard's performance in the playoffs over the past two years. They were trying to say ...
Boooooh-oy! Your production certainly does not meet with our expectations, but we still love you for who you are!
...but they couldn't time it right, so all the cameras picked up was ...
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
What an awkward misunderstanding.