A Gem In The Desert

It was mentioned yesterday that Todd Wellemeyer was going to tinker with his mechanics.  I'd say he must have went to Mr. Goodwrench, because that apparently made a world of difference.

Wellemeyer looked much more like the pitcher he'd been since coming to St. Louis than the one that had a terrible spring training and first start.  If this carries over to his next few outings, this whole staff could be on a roll, which would be a dangerous thing for the American League.

Wellmeyer did allow a hit an inning, but you can afford that when you don't walk anyone.  In fact, the Cardinal staff is doing a great job of pitching to contact, since they've not issued a free pass since Lance Berkman walked in the top of the 8th on Saturday.  They also have issued the fewest walks in the majors, despite playing one more game than the team right behind them.

Rough night for Rick Ankiel, who went 0 for 4, striking out once and leaving two men on.  Rick's not really gotten on track so far this year.  Perhaps it is due to the number of lefties that the team has seen.

The closer derby continued last night as Ryan Franklin came in and got the save after an effective stint by Kyle McClellan and Dennys Reyes. Franklin may have had a perfect outing, but he didn't leave me reassured by very much.  Two of the three outs were fairly deep fly balls.  That's the kind of thing that worried me about him last year before he moved into the closer role.

I'm glad that the error by Chris Duncan in the eighth didn't affect the final outcome.  He did justify the fact that he was still out there with a double in his next at-bat, even if he didn't come around to score.

And I have to give credit where it's due.  I was watching the last few innings last night and Brian Barden came to the plate.  Which led to my internal (or perhaps external, though no one was in the room with me) monologue about how his days have to be numbered, how he's going down to Memphis as soon as Joe Mather is ready (which, actually, may be a while since he's right now hitting .083 in AAA), how Joe Thurston and even Brendan Ryan have really outplayed him for that middle infield/utility player role.  So then he pops his first ever home run to win the ballgame.  Yes, that's the way my analysis goes most of the time.  Then again, you probably knew that.

Oh, and Albert Pujols homered again.  At this rate, he'll hit 81, which would be a record or something.

In off the field news, the Cardinals have declared that Troy Glaus's past steroid use, which was to speed his recovery from a prior surgery, a "dead issue".  As long as it is steroids they are talking about and not his 2009 season, that's OK.  The Cards knew he'd used in the past, but I'm sure were a little concerned that he'd slip back into bad habits trying to return to this team quickly.  Also noted in that article, the Mark McGwire Steroid Response.  Always nice to see that get a fresh airing.

The sad news that Harry Kalas passed away yesterday touched many Cardinal fans, who know what it's like to lose the voice of the franchise.  It's still hard to believe that it will be seven years this June that Jack Buck left us.  John Rooney and Mike Shannon, two guys who knew Kalas as well as the business that he was in, give their thoughts on the man.

Tonight, the Cardinals have an intriguing pitching matchup on their hands, and I'm not just saying that because both of the starters are on one of my rotisseries teams.  Chris Carpenter, coming off his dominating first outing, heads to the mound for the Redbirds.  Carp's had pretty good success against most of the Diamondback hitters, though interestingly former Cardinal Felipe Lopez has two home runs against him.

The Diamondbacks send out Max Scherzer, a St. Louis native who is making his first start of the year.  Scherzer is a hyped prospect who had some success last year.  He faced the Cardinals once, but there's not much record of it.  Both of tonight's pitchers are well capable of throwing a shutout, so runs could be at a premium.

And I want to make note of another debut.  Yesterday was my son's first T-ball game.  It went as you'd expect for a bunch of four year olds running around, but I was proud of his hitting and fielding.  Now if he just figures out what to do with the ball once he gets it, he'll be doing great!


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