Houston – A 43-year-old man doesn’t speckle his hair with blond highlights because he loves anonymity. Roger Clemens commands attention, from his sheer presence to his ridiculously nasty pitches.
In two short years, he has become not only the face of the Astros, but an entire city.
“A gift from the baseball gods,” veteran star Jeff Bagwell said. “He is a rock star.”
The only problem with viewing the Astros as Clemens is that it ignores the season’s story line: his bandmates.
Houston trumped the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 on Saturday afternoon, securing the lead in the National League Championship Series with Clemens, not necessarily because of him.
Yes, he provided another entry in his Cooperstown journal, grinding through six innings of two-run ball as the Astros gained a 2-1 advantage over the Cardinals. This game, though, was more about the Pips than pops.
About a first baseman, Mike Lamb, who became the Yankees’ third baseman of the future and past without every putting on pinstripes. About an outfielder, Jason Lane, who never has hit higher than .272 in a full regular season.
About a middle reliever whose last name – Qualls – sounds like something hunted with pheasant.
The Astros? They are mangy, gnarly, funny – and that’s just Lamb’s beard.
“It takes everybody, all types. We have guys you’d never dream about relying on,” Lamb said. “Like me, nobody knows who I am and I’m fine with that.”
After Saturday, the supporting cast may have trouble selling its witness-relocation-identity existence. Lamb pounded a two-run home run and scored after doubling in the sixth. This is the same Lamb acquired briefly to replace Aaron Boone then dispatched to Houston after the Yankees traded for Alex Rodriguez.
“Mike Lamb has had my number since he came up,” lamented Cardinals starter Matt Morris after Lamb hit his fifth career home run against him.
Lane rivaled Lamb’s contribution. He shoved Houston ahead 3-2 with a single then scored the winning run on Hector Luna’s errant throw home. After needing a compass to find his locker, cameras descended on Lane afterward – for all the wrong reasons.
His slide that knocked out third baseman Abraham Nuñez, which forced Luna into the game, drew more attention than his first hit in this year’s playoffs.
“It wasn’t dirty. I just clipped him,” Lane said of Nuñez, who is probable for today with a strained left quadriceps. “In that situation, you are doing everything you can to help your team win.”
Chad Qualls is part of a secret society known as setup men. The only time anyone notices them is if they fail to roll out the red carpet for the closer. On a day when Brad Lidge’s scoreless streak against the Cardinals halted at 25 innings, Qualls provided the necessary cushion with two hitless innings.
“We are like offensive linemen,” Qualls said. “We do the grunt work.”
It was fitting that Qualls used a football analogy given the scene that played out in the clubhouse. The players, who act like fraternity brothers, watched the USC-Notre Dame cagematch as if they were scheduled to play the winner.
“That was the biggest game of the day,” said Morgan Ensberg, only half-joking as a USC alum. “Listen, we all came up together. We are close. People underestimate us because we don’t have a lot of marquee names. It doesn’t matter if we keep winning.”
MLB PLAYOFFS
NLCS: ASTROS VS. CARDINALS
Game 4: Today, St. Louis (Jeff Suppan 16-10) at Houston (Brandon Backe 10-8), 2:45 p.m., KDVR-31
ALCS: ANGELS VS. WHITE SOX
Game 5: Today, Chicago (Jose Contreras 16-8) at Los Angeles (Paul Byrd 13-11) 6:15 p.m., KDVR-31
Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-820-5457 or trenck@denverpost.com.
