Brad Ausmus Goes Apeshit

Houston Astros 6 St. Louis Cardinals 5 (12)

April 4, 2003

2003 Topps Gold # 2582002 Topps Heritage # 380

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E  
Houston Astros 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 7 0
St. Louis Cardinals 1 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 13 1

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Brad Ausmus will have trouble topping this one.

The Houston Astros catcher hit a grand slam in the first inning, a solo shot in the 12th and threw out three baserunners in a 6-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.

"It certainly is the best game I have enjoyed in the big leagues on a personal level," Ausmus said. "Not on a team level, but it was just one of those days for me, I guess.

"Usually it takes me a month to do all that."

With two runners on in the bottom of the 12th, rookie Brad Lidge struck out Albert Pujols on a 3-2 pitch and Ausmus threw out Fernando Vina trying to steal third to end it.

Earlier in the inning, Ausmus blocked what would been a wild pitch to keep Vina at first.

The catcher threw out a runner in each of the last three innings to help hold the Cardinals at bay.

"I don't know if you could have a much better game than he had," Houston manager Jimy Williams said. "I really don't. That's an outstanding ballgame."

Jim Edmonds went 4-for-4 with two home runs, two doubles and his first four RBIs of the season to bring the Cardinals back from a five-run first-inning deficit.

"His night speaks for itself," manager Tony La Russa said tersely.

Ausmus hit a 1-1 pitch from Russ Springer (0-1) over the left-field wall leading off the 12th for his first career multihomer game. It was his second five-RBI game, both against the Cardinals, who lost for the first time this season.

"I just left the ball out over the plate and he did what he was supposed to do with it," Springer said. "It started out away and ended up middle-in."

Before the homer, St. Louis pitchers retired 16 of 17 batters. It was the Astros' first hit since Ausmus singled with two outs in the sixth.

Ricky Stone (1-0) worked a scoreless 11th inning, and Lidge got three outs for his first career save. Lidge was working for the third straight day.

"I didn't really want to go to him," Williams said. "He got up to throw and said he felt good, so I brought him in. Fortunately, it worked out for us."

Ausmus' second career slam, and first since 1997, capped a five-run first. All of the runs off Brett Tomko were unearned after right fielder Eli Marrero dropped Craig Biggio's liner for an error to start the game.

Jeff Bagwell hit an RBI single and Lance Berkman and Richard Hidalgo walked before Ausmus' slam off the foul pole in left.

Edmonds answered with an RBI double off Brian Moehler in the bottom of the first. Edmonds hit his first homer with the bases empty in the third, and he and Pujols homered on consecutive pitches in the fifth to tie it.

Edmonds' homer to straightaway center was a two-run shot that scored Vina, who doubled with one out.

Edmonds doubled with one out in the seventh before leaving for a pinch-runner. He missed three weeks of spring training with a left calf injury and has yet to play a complete game.

Tomko righted himself after the first, giving up just three hits over the next five innings.

Moehler lasted 4 2-3 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits.

 

 

SEASON
Houston Astros AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Craig Biggio, CF 6 1 2 0 0 1 0 .316
Geoff Blum, 3B 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .222
Octavio Dotel, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Jose Vizcaino, SS 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250
Jeff Bagwell, 1B 5 1 1 1 0 0 1 .333
Lance Berkman, LF 3 1 0 0 2 1 1 .143
J Kent, 2B 4 0 0 0 1 1 2 .353
Richard Hidalgo, RF 4 1 1 0 1 0 2 .400
Ricky Stone, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Brad Lidge, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Brad Ausmus, C 5 2 3 5 0 0 0 .500
Julio Lugo, SS 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .188
Billy Wagner, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Brian L Hunter, RF 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Brian Moehler, P 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Pete Munro, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-Morgan Ensberg, PH-3B 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000
Houston Totals 43 6 7 6 4 6 10  

a-struck out swinging for Munro in the 7th

2B: C Biggio (1, R Springer)
HR: Ausmus 2 (2)
    1st inning off Tomko 3 on, 2 Out
    12th inning off Springer 0 on, 0 Out)
RBI: Ausmus 5 (6)
    Bagwell (5)
2-out RBI: Ausmus 4

Runners left in scoring position, 2 out- Vizcaino 1
Team LOB: 5

DP: 3 (Lugo-Bagwell;
        Vizcaino-Kent-Bagwell;
        Ausmus-Ensberg).

SEASON
  AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Fernando Vina, 2B 5 1 2 0 0 0 1 .278
Edgar Renteria, SS 6 1 0 0 0 1 2 .368
Jim Edmonds, CF 4 2 4 4 0 0 0 .500
Orlando Palmeiro, PR-RF 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 .667
Albert Pujols, LF 5 1 1 1 1 1 4 .353
Scott Rolen, 3B 3 0 1 0 2 1 2 .385
Tino Martinez, 1B 5 0 1 0 0 1 2 .294
Eli Marrero, RF-CF 5 0 1 0 0 1 2 .111
Mike Matheny, C 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 .471
Brett Tomko, P 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a- Kerry Robinson, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250
Lance Painter, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Kiki Calero, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b- Miguel Cairo, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Steve Kline, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
c- E Perez, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .400
Russ Springer, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
St. Louis Totals 44 5 13 5 4 5 14  

a-grounded to first for Tomko in the 6th
b-lined out to pitcher for Calero in the 9th
c-flied out to left for Kline in the 11th

Batting
2B: Edmonds 2
      Vina
HR: Edmonds 2
        Pujols
RBI: Edmonds 4 (4), Pujols (6)
2-out RBI: Edmonds, Pujols
Gidp: Rolen 1, Pujols 1
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out- Vina 1, Martinez 1, Marrero 1
Team LOB: 8

 Baserunning
CS:
Rolen     (10th inning, by Ausmus to Vizcaino);
Marrero (11th inning, by Ausmus, to Kent);
Vina       (12th inning, by Ausmus, to Ensberg)

Fielding
E: Marrero (1, fly ball)
Outfield Assist: Pujols (J Kent at 3rd base).

SEASON
Houston Astros IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
Brian Moehler 4 2/3 8 5 5 2 2 3 89 -51 9.64
Pete Munro 1 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 -  7 3.00
Octavio Dotel 2 1 0 0 1 2 0 26 -14 0.00
Billy Wagner 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 20 -12 0.00
Ricky Stone (W, 1-0) 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 12 -  7 0.00
Brad Lidge (S, 1) 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 17 -  7 0.00

SEASON
St. Louis Cardinals IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
Brett Tomko 6 5 5 0 3 3 1 103 -66 0.00
Lance Painter 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 13 -  8 0.00
Kiki Calero 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 23 -12 0.00
Steve Kline 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 26 -15 0.00
Russ Springer (L, 1-1) 1 2 1 1 0 0 1 15 -10 6.00

HBP - Vina (By Lidge)
Batters faced -
 Moehler 24; Munro 4; O Dotel 7; Wagner 7; Stone 4; Lidge 4
Tomko 26; Painter 3; Calero 6; Kline 7; Springer 5
Ground Balls-Fly Balls -
Moehler 6-6; Munro 3-1; Dotel 2-2; Wagner 3-2; Stone 1-1; Lidge 0-1;
Tomko 6-8; Painter 1-0; K Calero 2-3; S Kline 4-2; Springer 1-2
Umpires: HP - Tony Randazzo,  1B - Tim Mcclelland,  2B - Ted Barrett,  3B - C.B. Bucknor
Att: 32,661
Weather: 60 degrees, cloudy
Wind: 26 mph
Game Scores: Moehler 28, Tomko 52

There seems little doubt that Ausmus' game is the best game ever enjoyed by a Houston Astros major league catcher. There are really only two games that come close: Craig Biggio, back when he was still catching, actually had 6 RBI's AND threw out a runner on September 14, 1989 vs. the Dodgers. But Biggio only hit one homer (it was a slam), the game was a laugher in regulation, won 11 to 3 by the good guys, and Biggio didn't even play all nine innings, being spelled by Carl Nichols for the final frame. Mark Bailey only drove in four, but also scored four on August 20, 1985 in a 17 - 2 shellacking of the Cardinals. Bailey did play all nine innings, and had three hits, but he did nothing spectacular on defense.

So yeah, when you figure the two homers, pile on the three base runners in extra innings that Ausmus nabbed, throw in the double play he was a part of, and finally do the math to see that yes, Ausmus drove in a full 83% of his team's runs that night, yeah, I think you gotta give the nod to Brad.

Ausmus' slam was the ninth by a Houston catcher, and his second in an Astros uniform. He had hit one off future Astro DL inhabitant Kent Bottenfield in the seventh inning of a game vs.the Cubs July 14, 1997.

Ausmus' freakout occurred in the fourth game of the season, and unfortunately did not portend any greatness for Brad that year. Amid rumors of slipping defense, Ausmus hit .229 and slugged .291 for 2003, and as of this writing, it looks as if Brad will be leaving Houston (again), coming off his worst year offensively as an Astro.

1997 Score # 370

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