St. Louis v. Houston - 2005 Head-to-Head

Notable numbers:

By my count, the Cards went 11-5 versus the Astros in 2005.

Lifetime regular season numbers v. the Birds
- Andy Pettitte is 1-1 with a 1.67 ERA and 0.81 WHIP (0-1 in 2005 with 1.35 ERA and 0.80 WHIP)
- The Rocket is 4-1 with a 2.51 ERA and 1.15 WHIP (1-1 in 2005 with 2.63 ERA and 1.29 WHIP)
- Roy O is 5-4 with a 3.65 ERA and 1.31 WHIP (1-1 in 2005 with 2.63 ERA and 1.29 WHIP)
- Brandon Backe is 1-1 with a 6.29 ERA and 1.89 WHIP (0-1 with 10.32 ERA and 2.47 WHIP)


Lifetime regular season numbers v. the Astros
- Carpenter is 4-1 with a 2.08 ERA and 1.00 WHIP (4-0 in 2005 with 1.86 ERA and 0.95 WHIP)
- Mulder is 2-1 with a 2.72 ERA and 1.02 WHIP (1-1 in 2005 with 2.48 ERA and 1.00 WHIP)
- Morris is 9-10 with a 3.53 ERA and 1.29 WHIP (1-1 in 2005 with 3.27 ERA and 1.09 WHIP)
- Suppan is 2-6 with a 4.75 ERA and 1.53 WHIP (no starts v. Houston in 2005)

Some interesting individual numbers:
- Morgan Ensberg crushed STL pitching in 2005 (21/62 (.339 avg) with 5 HR (0.998 OPS), with 2 HR coming against Jason Marquis, who likely will not start in the NLCS. Ensberg also went 3-3 against STL closer Jason Isringhausen in 2005, including a HR. Ensberg is 8-32 lifetime against Morris and Carpenter with one double and 0 HR.
- Lance Berkman was 3-12 v. Chris Carpenter in 2005 with a pair of HR. Berkman owns Matt Morris with 20 hits in 56 ABs (0.955 OPS), but is only 1-9 lifetime against Mark Mulder.
- Jason Lane had a good 2005 v. Cardinal pitching: 17-52 (.327 avg) and .894 OPS.
- The Astros knocked reliever Julian Tavarez around pretty good in 2005: 11 hits and six runs in 9+ innings.
- Look for Tony LaRussa to use LHP Ray King to flip Lance Berkman around in late innings. Berkman is only 3-13 lifetime against the lefty.
- Craig Biggio had only a .217 avg and .619 OPS in 60 AB's against the Cards in 2005. Surprisingly, Bidge is 8-22 lifetime against the toughest Redbird, Chris Carpenter, but is 0-14 lifetime against Mark Mulder. Jeff Suppan also has Bidge's number (5 hits in 26 at-bats), and Matt Morris has also fared well (16 hits in 69 at-bats, .622 OPS).
- Albert Pujols has been somewhat human against the Astros' starting rotation. Pettitte's held him to 2 hits in 12 at-bats, and Clemens to 6 hits in 21 at-bats (1 HR). Pujols has 3 hits in 10 AB's v. Backe, with all 3 leaving the yard. Pujols has gone 14-41 against Roy O, but with only one HR in those 41 AB's. The Astros will need to continue to keep Prince Albert in the park to have a chance in the NLCS. Other notables for Albert: 1-8 v. Lidge, 4-6 v. Wheeler, 4-9 v. Springer and 1-5 v. Qualls.
- Reggie Sanders may be the biggest X-factor for the Cards. He is 3-9 v. Backe (1 HR), 1-5 v. Clemens, 4-14 v. Oswalt (1 HR) and 3-7 v. Pettitte (2 HR). Just get Lidge in there to face him: 0-6 with 5 K's.
- Larry Walker has also had success against the non-HOF portion of the Astros' rotation: 3-7 v. Backe (1 HR), 2-14 v. Clemens, 7-21 v. Oswalt (2 HR) and 3-7 v. Pettitte (1 HR). Walker is also 1-2 against each of the Astros "lefty specialists", Gallo and Wandy.
- Jim Edmonds has been held in check by nearly all of the rotation for the Astros. He is 3-30!!! v. Pettitte lifetime, 2-9 v. Backe, 12-50 v. Clemens (3 HR) and 10-35 v. Oswalt (2 HR and 15 K). He is 2-2 lifetime off of Gallo, 1-5 against Wandy and 1-12 against Lidge.