Before last night's stunning 5-4 Cardinal comeback victory over the Astros, which kept St. Louis alive in the NLCS, Houston had been 84-1 this year when leading after eight innings (including the postseason).
Guess who that "1" was?
Yup, the Cubs. On September 30, in Houston, off Brad Lidge. In a game that at the time was critical for the Astros in the wild-card race. In a game started by Andy Pettitte. In a game where Chad Qualls pitched in relief.
Sound familiar?
The good news, perhaps for the Astros is that they came back the next day and slammed the door shut.
But that wasn't in the NLCS. And the opposing starting pitcher in that next game wasn't Mark Mulder, it was Jerome Williams.
The postseason, which apart from the Pierzynski Incident and the 18-inning Braves/Astros marathon has been pretty dull, just got way more interesting.