E.K. NATION

Last night the Astros went from being one strike away from the franchise's first World Series to being dead in the water, even though they are still up 3 games to 2 in the NLCS.

We have mentioned this idea before, and we will mention it again: Teams do not recover from losses like this.

The Cardinals will win the final two games in St. Louis and make the short trip to Chicago for the World Series starting Saturday.

While it's definitely short of a curse, there's something in the Houston air. Holding a 5-2 lead in the 8th inning of Game 5 of the 1980 NLCS with Nolan Ryan pitching, the 'Stros couldn't advance to the World Series. Six years later, holding another three-run lead, this time in the 9th inning and needing to hold on to have that year's Cy Young Award winner Mike Scott go in Game 7, and they couldn't hold it. Several more first-round defeats in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and then last year's model dropping the final two games in St. Louis to lose the NLCS. It has not been easy for Houston. And the pain and misery will continue Wednesday and, ultimately, Thursday night.

Teams do not recover from losses like that.

Brad Lidge entered last night's game amidst a roaring crowd, excited to finally see its Astros' team win the National League pennant. Viewers of the FOX broadcast heard Thom Brennaman tell us that it had been 45 years to the day since the city of Houston was awarded a major-league franchise--in the city of Chicago, no less, the city to which these Astros were surely headed, once three more outs were recorded, for its first-ever Fall Classic. And when Lidge got the first two batters of the inning to strike out weakly, it became a certainty: Houston was going to bring the World Series to Texas.

But wait just an orange-pickin' minute: Here comes David Eckstein. Everyone will remember Pujols, but if Ecks doesn't get that two-strike hit with two outs, Houston celebrates. Now they have the tying run at the plate. And at this point, Lidge loses focus and walks Jim Edmonds. What Lidge should have done was go after him. Tell him, "Here it is; hit it if you can." You simply can not walk a guy to bring up Albert Pujols to the plate as the potential go-ahead run. Two pitches later the ball is headed to the Dallas-Fort Worth area and the rowdy Astros crowd gasps like it's been hit with a mallet, and then silence. The fans, the stadium, the whole city of Houston is deflated. Series over.

The Pujols home run will, in due time, become one of the legendary home runs of our day. Much like Dave Henderson's blast in 1986, it was a shock, to be sure, but the overall effect of the homer will not be fully realized until the Cardinals record the final out of, say, a 7-1 victory in Game 7. Now, nobody here is suggesting that Brad Lidge commit suicide, as did Donnie Moore, who allowed Hendu's historic round-tripper. But Lidge will surely at least want to hit the Budweiser hard on Friday night.

Okay, check that: Not Budweiser. A beer that is decidedly not St.Louis-based.

Do they still make Colt. 45?