Astros win series, 3-1, with victory
in longest post-season game ever

Just in case you missed the weird and good news. From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

Roger Clemens could see the Houston Astros were running out of pitchers.

"As the game went longer and longer, Phil finally came up to me and said get ready and get your spikes on. I may need you," the 43-year-old ace said. "Sometimes he jokes with me, but I knew he meant it."

Clemens came out of the bullpen to boost his team, then Chris Burke ended the longest postseason game in baseball history with a home run in the 18th inning, lifting the Astros over the Atlanta Braves 7-6 today and into the NL championship series.

The Rocket's rescue also gave him a measure of redemption. Making his first relief appearance since 1984, he pitched three dominant innings and atoned for a poor start in Game 2.

Now, manager Phil Garner's team gets a matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals — the same club Clemens lost to in Game 7 of last year's NLCS.

Click here for the rest.

Cool, we're playing for the league championship again. Really, I'm truly amazed; I, like many other Astros fans, had written the team off last May when they were playing horribly. And they got this win in an even more bizarre way: eighteen innings is like playing a whole 'nother ball game. Wow.

Now, I'll be really impressed if they beat the Cards and make it to the World Series. I'll be happy about that even if we lose.

UPDATE: Kyle over at Great Blogs of Fire has a big post on this wild, wild game. Go check it out.

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