No hangover effect for Lidge

CHICAGO – This time, Brad Lidge threw the exact pitch he wanted to throw.

The result was still bad for the Houston Astros and their closer.

The hard-throwing Lidge gave up a ninth-inning homer in his second straight appearance, this one to Scott Podsednik in Game 2 of the World Series. The Chicago White Sox won 7-6 Sunday night to take a 2-0 series lead.

“This pitch doesn’t need a whole lot of analyzing,” Lidge said. “It wasn’t a mistake. The one to Pujols was.”

Lidge had last pitched in Game 5 of the N.L. championship series last Monday. With the Astros poised to clinch their first World Series berth at home, Lidge hung a slider and Albert Pujols hit a mammoth three-run homer with two outs in the ninth as the St. Louis Cardinals rallied for a 5-4 victory.

“This will probably never happen to him in his career again, giving up home runs in consecutive games,” teammate Lance Berkman said. “It’s one of those freak things.”

Lidge threw a fastball right over the plate to Podsednik – just as he wanted. Podsednik, the White Sox’s leadoff hitter, hit the ball into the right-center field seats more than 400 feet away.

“I wanted to keep Podsednik off the bases,” Lidge said. “He’s not a home-run hitter, obviously, so I wasn’t expecting that.”

Neither were the White Sox.

“Not a chance,” Chicago catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. “I faced that guy last year. He’s nasty.”

After waiting 44 seasons to play in their first World Series, the Astros go home in a deep hole. Game 3 is tonight in Houston.

The Astros will be back at Minute Maid Park for the first time since Pujols’ stunning homer onto the railroad tracks high above the left-field seats.

The Astros won the NLCS clincher in St. Louis 5-1 two days after Pujols’ homer, but manager Phil Garner decided against using Lidge late in that game to give the hard-throwing closer a chance then to get the sour taste out of his mouth.

Lidge came in to pitch Sunday night after Houston scored twice in the ninth to tie it, and insisted there was no lingering effect from his last appearance.

“It was really completely different circumstances, different pitch, whatever else you want to say,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that it’s happening on a big stage.”

Lidge was almost automatic during the regular season, when he saved 42 games. The right-hander saved three straight NLCS games before Game 5.

“About 99.9 percent of the time he comes in, and it’s game over,” Craig Biggio said. “He’s nasty, he’s got good stuff. He’s still got it.”

Lidge wasn’t the only Astros reliever who had trouble Sunday night. After Andy Pettitte allowed two runs over six innings on a cold, rainy night – and left with a 4-2 lead – the White Sox went ahead right away against the bullpen.

Dan Wheeler gave up a double and walked a batter before hitting Jermaine Dye with a full-count pitch to load the bases with two outs in the seventh. Chad Qualls then took over, and the first pitch he threw was hit by Paul Konerko for a grand slam.

“We had some chances. It was a tough night to be a bullpen guy, for either team,” Lidge said. “It just happened that I was the last one out there.”