[CardsFan2006]

NALCS: vs. Mexico

David Carrazedo, SP: They gave me the ball for game one, which was a lot of pressure. I’d pitched in high-pressure situations before, but not like this. Montreal and Mexico City... big rivalry. This was for the continent’s championship. I was the new guy on the team, too. I’d done okay in the bit of the year I played for Montreal, but I didn’t want to choke now.
Warren Ruggles: Oh, I had total confidence in David. Really excellent pitcher, and he was a great guy to be around. He had come through for us before, and I had every reason to believe he would again. Plus, there wasn’t some big reason he started. He and Lewis Munro were the only ones who were rested, and Lewis wasn’t going to start game 1.

Kai-Xi Xie, SP: I was born and raised in Quebec, so it’s a good thing the WBA wasn’t around then – I think I would have been a big Montreal fan, and that wouldn’t have helped me pitch against them. I was only on three days rest that day, but I’d had a good year, and I thought I could probably get through it. Plus, Carrazedo wasn’t someone I thought was going to be all that much better than I was.

David Carrazedo: We didn’t think they’d start Xie. We’d imagined he’d pitch game 2, with someone less good, like Todd Carvalho, pitch game 1. They announced it an hour or two before the game, and I just turned to the guy next to me and said “Aw, ****.” We were all a little more worried, but I was especially, because I knew that meant I’d have much less room for error.

Bob Wilson: No, I don’t think it started too well. Routine pop-up to center, and I drop it for an error, and suddenly they’ve got someone who stole 43 bases on first. And then he did steal the base, when Petre and Alonso both thought the other was going to cover the bag. But David is a pro, and he got the three outs.

David Carrazedo: The first hit of the game came from, of all people, Cosmo, who singled with two out in the second. Nothing happened, but at least we got a runner on. Nothing really happened until the fourth, when Shunnar bin-Isra’il – no relation to Wakil, by the way – doubled. So their cleanup guy, Howard Schneider, came up with nobody out. And he singled up the middle to score the run. So we’re losing, it’s totally my fault, and there’s nothing we can do offensively. Then in the fifth, Cosmo hits a long double to right, but even though he can’t run, he tries to go for three. So that could have been a runner in scoring position, but instead, it’s an out.

Tony Stephens: In the bottom of the seventh, with the score still 1-0, it looked like we were getting something started with one out, when Okba doubled. So Wakil was up, and he hit a fly, which advanced the runner, but meant there were two outs for me. I was in a bit of a rut, but I could recover here. I hit two fouls, and then Xie comes around again. It looks outside, so I don’t swing. The ump said it was strike three.

David Carrazedo: It was definitely strike three.

Kai-Xi Xie: I come out to pitch the eighth, and Proussalidi – who else? – hits one to left for a base hit. That was when they took me out. Raul Reynoso, who was a seriously great reliever, came in, and immediately gave up another single. So there was a runner in scoring position with nobody out. Luckily, Petre Randa was up next, and he couldn’t hit. Or so we thought.

Tony Stephens: Petre crushed the ball to right for a stand-up double. Cosmo scored easily, but Bob stayed at third, though I think he could’ve scored too. It was a whole new ball game. Dan Reed came up next, pinch-hitting for David, and he grounded out. Alonso was intentionally walked.

Warren Ruggles: They loaded the bases with one out to face me. And it’s not like I’d done badly that year either. I hit a long fly to right. It didn’t get down, but it got the run in from third easily. Suddenly, we’re winning the game. Shaw Oliver came in to pitch the ninth, and they went down 1-2-3. We were up 1-0.

David Carrazedo: You had to kind of feel bad for Xie, because from the couple times I'd met him, he wasn't a bad guy, and he really had pitched well. But there was time for anything to happen in this series.