Sox Go Blum Crazy

HOUSTON â€”  Geoff Blum used to play for the Houston Astros. Good guy, bit player, no one paid him much attention at the time.

Now they’ll remember him forever in Houston, and not fondly. He drove the stake that just about killed the Astros, hitting a home run in the 14th inning and lifting the Chicago White Sox to a 7-5 victory in Game 3 of the World Series.

The White Sox can sweep tonight. They lead, three games to none, a deficit no team has overcome in the 102 years of the World Series. As Blum circled the bases, replays caught Houston Manager Phil Garner throwing a chair in frustration and appearing to mutter, “Geoff .... Blum?�

Said Blum: “I didn’t know if I got it high enough. Somebody was watching out for me.�

In the longest game in Series history, the teams played five hours and 41 minutes, with the final out at 1:20 a.m. Never had a Series game hit the five-hour mark.

The teams tied the record for most innings in a World Series game. On Oct. 9, 1916, the Boston Red Sox beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 2-1, in 14 innings -- with a guy named Babe Ruth pitching all 14 innings for the Red Sox.

The White Sox used 22 players, including nine pitchers, with starter Mark Buerhle earning the save. The Astros used 21 players, including nine pitchers.

In the 14th, after they had exhausted their supply of their usual relievers, the Astros turned to long reliever Ezequiel Astacio.

Blum, who entered the game in the 13th inning as part of a double switch and had one hit since Sept. 9, lined Astacio’s third pitch down the right-field line for a home run.

The White Sox then loaded the bases, and Astacio walked home the final run.

Jason Lane doubled home the tying run for Houston in the eighth inning, the Astros’ lone hit after the fourth inning. The White Sox had spotted the Astros a 4-0 lead, then scored five runs in the fifth inning off National League championship series MVP Roy Oswalt.

After tying the score in the eighth, the Astros nearly won in the ninth, with the White Sox getting some magic from Orlando Hernandez to force extra innings.

With runners on first and third and one out, Hernandez struck out Willy Tavares. The Astros then walked Lance Berkman intentionally, loading the bases, and Hernandez struck out Morgan Ensberg.

Chicago starter Jon Garland worked seven fine innings, then left for a pinch-hitter, and Manager Ozzie Guillen had a full and fully rested bullpen at his disposal.

He first put the game, and a 5-4 lead, into the hands of Cliff Politte. After two quick outs, Politte walked Morgan Ensberg.

With the left-handed Mike Lamb coming up, and with Garner having already used the right-handed Jeff Bagwell, Guillen summoned left-hander Neal Cotts. But Cotts walked Lamb, and out came Guillen again.

Four outs to go, and the Astros had the tying and go-ahead runs on base. In Game 1, in the identical situation, Guillen called upon closer Bobby Jenks, who got the four outs.

This time, Guillen called upon Dustin Hermanson, whom Jenks displaced as the Chicago closer this summer. Hermanson had not pitched in the postseason and not at all in 25 days.

Lane had faced Jenks in Game 1 and Game 2, striking out each time. This time, against Hermanson, Lane doubled home Ensberg, tying the score 5-5.

The Astros had been hitless in the 13 at-bats that preceded Lane’s double.

In the first World Series game ever played in Texas, the Astros stomped their boots early. Craig Biggio led off the first inning with a double, and Berkman singled him home.

In the third, the Astros added two unearned runs, and weirdly at that. Adam Everett started the inning with a single. The White Sox called a pitchout, correctly, and Everett froze between first base and second. Shortstop Juan Uribe caught the throw from catcher A.J. Pierzynski, then caught Everett scampering back to first.

With an easy throw, Everett would have been out. But Uribe’s throw hit him, and there was no play. Three singles later -- two of which came after what should have been the third out -- the Astros led 3-0.

In the fourth, Lane homered, and the Astros led 4-0, behind their hottest pitcher.

On this night, though, Oswalt was far from hot. The Astros’ momentum, and their lead, would soon be gone.

Joe Crede led off the fifth inning with a home run, his fourth of the postseason. By the time the inning was over, the White Sox would send 11 men to the plate, with eight reaching base, six getting a hit and five scoring a run.

Garner did not order a reliever to warm up until after the Astros had batted around.

Oswalt threw 46 pitches in the inning, the highest total of his career. He gave up five runs in the inning after having given up five in his first 25 during the postseason.

The five runs were the most a team had scored in one World Series inning since 2002, when the Angels scored five in the first inning of Game 2.