Poor pitch location dooms Diamondbacks and Cardinals

Prince Fielder celebrates, as Ian Kennedy is forced to watch the result of his mistake. (Photo: Reuters/Jeff Haynes)

In the postseason, anything can happen. Inevitably, everything does. That’s what makes October one of the finer months of the year. On the month’s first day, the unexpected was in full force.

The Milwaukee Brewers National League Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks began on Saturday, as did the Philadelphia Phillies’ against the St. Louis Cardinals, and both were thrilling. This isn’t a surprise. The two games feature relatively evenly matched teams. Each has their strengths, and each has the ability to prey on the opposition’s weaknesses. For two of them, the recurring theme was poor pitch-location and debilitating results.

Brewers vs Diamondbacks, at Miller Park

Milwaukee is a very good story, unexpectedly blowing away the NL Central’s competition and especially dominating at home. There is no topping what Arizona has done, however, and it’s hard not to root for them. They finished last in the NL West last season, brought in a new manager, a new coaching staff, and many new players. The 2011 season would be spent adjusting to a new environment. There was no way they would contend, right? Wrong. They remarkably responded by going from worst to first.

Ian Kennedy, the ace who helped make this possible, won 21 games this season, coming into his own as the Diamondbacks leader. And given his sharp mentality, that he stayed composed, trusted his stuff, and pitched just as had all season long wasn’t surprising.

Despite his success over the first six innings, he was down 2-0. Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo was pitching brilliantly but Kennedy had managed to keep the Diamondbacks within striking distance, hoping the offense would finally pull through in a hostile environment.

They didn’t in the top of the seventh, and the 26-year-old Kennedy took the hill again in an effort to keep the deficit at two. He got two quick outs in the bottom, then allowed a double, and was the focal point of a meeting at the mound. Prince Fielder, a serious MVP candidate and the Brewers most dangerous hitter, was up next. Kennedy talked his way into staying in. He wouldn’t walk Fielder intentionally, even with a base open and a lesser hitter behind him. He would go after him, which was consistent with the aggressive mentality his team has had these past six months.

This confident approach hasn’t backfired on Arizona very often, but this time it did. A 0-1 curveball was supposed to be thrown on the outside corner so Fielder wouldn’t be able to drive it; instead, Kennedy threw it inside, at knee-length, and the next thing he saw was the ball sailing well over the right-field fence. Now, the Diamondbacks were down four runs, dealt a deficit they wouldn’t overcome. Gallardo pitched a scoreless eighth, and then John Axford and his mustache shut the door in the ninth.

“He [manager Kirk Gibson] said, ‘What do you want to do?’ and brought all the scenarios up,” Kennedy said, regarding the discussion before facing Fielder.”Obviously, I wanted to go after [Fielder], and Miggy [catcher Miguel Montero] thought the same thing.”

“Ultimately that’s what he wanted to do, and it was my decision to let him do it that way,” Gibson said. “It didn’t work out.”

Cardinals vs Phillies, at Citizens Bank Park

Kennedy wasn’t the only pitcher to make a costly mistake. St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Lohse was sailing right along against Philadelphia’s potent lineup, shutting them down over the first five innings and needing very few pitches to do so. He had a 3-1 lead, thanks to Lance Berkman hitting the first homer Roy Halladay had allowed in 11 starts. Then came the six. Lifeless changeups were suddenly flung from Lohse’s right-arm, and a crooked number was the consequence.

On a 3-2 pitch against Phillies slugger Ryan Howard, with two runners on and one out, Lohse threw his third straight offspeed pitch. The first two were fouled off, but the third changeup was as flat as can be, sitting on a platter then a second later flying into the right-field seats. Three-run homer, and the advantage was gone.

Two batters later, the same changeup was grooved right over the heart of the plate, and it too was gone. This time Raul Ibanez was the recipient of the gift, and as 46,000 Phillies fans cheered ace Roy Halladay had all the cushion he would need.

Unlike Gibson, La Russa wasn’t about to say leaving Lohse in was a bad idea. He thought the 32-year-old deserved to stay in, considering how well he had performed leading up to the Phillies five-run outburst:

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“First of all, he pitched very effectively,” he said. “The ball that Rollins hit to start it was off the end bat. That’s what you get, well-placed. I keep watching, he strikes out Utley, which is a tough out. Then he gets a hopper from Pence. I haven’t seen him do anything wrong, both up the middle, found a hole. Pretty tough to take him out there. I know Howard is a real tough match-up, and he got a ball in the middle of the strike zone for his first home run, and then he made another mistake to Ibanez.”

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Both the Diamondbacks and Cardinals have little time to process what went wrong with their two aces. They turn right around and face a must-win situation. And this time–to keep from falling behind 2-0 in a five-game series–when trouble is smelled on the horizon, pulling pitchers may be ideal.