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A Little Early On the Fireworks

Posted on July 3, 2008 at 7:58 AM
Filed Under: Baseball | Heroes and Goats | New York Mets | St. Louis Cardinals
Stop me if you've heard this before.  The Cards jump out to an early lead, posting a crooked number in the first.  However, they don't score again and the other team comes back to take the lead.

Last night's game matched that script again, but it was the later innings that deviated from the norm and made for an exciting win for the Cardinals.

I know Troy Glaus had two home runs, including the walkoff winner.  You have to like how he's heated up in the last month or so.  I checked the stats back in May and he and Rolen were almost in a statistical dead heat.  Not so much any more.

But the Hero isn't always about the best player in the game.  Chris Duncan pinch-hits the two-run, game-tying home run off of a lefty.  For everything that Duncan's been through, this Hero's for you.

If I didn't have a firm rule about keeping the Goat tag on a player, Tony LaRussa would probably get the tag for last night's game.  What was he thinking bringing Mark Mulder into that situation?  I know Mulder had thrown a good inning last time out.  But it was just one inning.  Let's not just dump him straight into a high-leverage situation, OK?  Especially when the guys coming up had good career numbers against him.

Kyle McClellan was looking sharp.  He'd faced five batters and retired four of them.  Granted, his splits show that righties have done pretty well against him this year, but he owns lefties.  Church (L), Delgado (L) and Easley (R) are coming up.  Is it really worth playing the percentages and bringing in a untested lefty in that situation?

Mulder actually didn't look quite as bad as you'd think.  It seemed to be watching that he had little control of his pitches.  The movement was great, but he didn't know exactly where he was going with it.  The first pitch to Church was a nasty one and Mulder got burned on that AB with a bloop single.  The hit by Delgado, though, was as solid as they come.  A sac fly and then, representative of his control problem, a HBP and he was done.  It's not a huge setback, but it's not exactly what you want to see out of the bullpen either.

Albert Pujols almost got the Goat tag, not only for his 0-5, but his anxiousness in the ninth.  Everyone hitting in that inning seemed to want to end the ballgame with one swing.  I'm sure AP thought the first pitch would be his best chance of doing that, but I'd have rather seen him draw the walk and have something going than popping out like that.

Tonight the Cards could get the series win.  A couple of young pitchers head to the mound as Mitchell Boggs, who of course hasn't ever faced the Mets, goes up against former top prospect Mike Pelfrey.  The only Cardinal Pelfrey has faced is Jason LaRue (twice).  He's got a 4.47 ERA but has been pitching pretty well of late.  Could be a low-scoring affair, or it could be a wild one.  As the philosopher said, "Youneverknow."


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3 Comments

3 Comments | Leave a comment

I couldn't agree more. Mulder had no business being in that game. I was hoping to see him get eased back into things in low pressure situations, and maybe boost the confidence a bit before he got thrown into the fire. Oh well, at least they won. Everyone would be on him and Tony otherwise.

I love TLR's qoute in today's P-D, "There's a lot of courage in the Cardinals."

There's no doubt that this team gives all it has. There's more talent than people give them credit for, as well, but it is what they are doing with it that has us all impressed.

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Heroes
Matt Holliday (16)
Albert Pujols (16)
Adam Wainwright (11)
Jaime Garcia (10)
Ryan Ludwick (9)
Skip Schumaker (8)
Chris Carpenter (7)
Colby Rasmus (7)
Yadier Molina (6)
Brendan Ryan (4)
David Freese (3)
Jon Jay (3)
Felipe Lopez (3)
Brad Penny (3)
Pedro Feliz (2)
Blake Hawksworth (2)
Jason LaRue (2)
Nick Stavinoha (2)
Allen Craig (1)
Kyle McClellan (1)
Aaron Miles (1)
Jason Motte (1)
Fernando Salas (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)
Randy Winn (1)

2009 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (28)
2008 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (25)

Goats
Brendan Ryan (12)
Matt Holliday (10)
Yadier Molina (10)
Skip Schumaker (10)
Albert Pujols (9)
Felipe Lopez (7)
Colby Rasmus (7)
Dennys Reyes (7)
Ryan Franklin (6)
Kyle Lohse (6)
Chris Carpenter (4)
David Freese (4)
Blake Hawksworth (4)
Ryan Ludwick (4)
Adam Wainwright (4)
Mitchell Boggs (2)
Trever Miller (2)
Jason Motte (2)
Allen Craig (1)
Jaime Garcia (1)
Tyler Greene (1)
Joe Mather (1)
Kyle McClellan (1)
Adam Ottavino (1)
Brad Penny (1)
Nick Stavinoha (1)
Jeff Suppan (1)
PJ Walters (1)
Randy Winn (1)

2009 Top Goats: Rick Ankiel and Todd Wellemeyer (13)
2008 Top Goat: Troy Glaus (13)

    Cardinal Nation Approval Ratings (March 2010)
    Albert Pujols 98.7% (up 0.8%)
    Adam Wainwright 95.6%
    Chris Carpenter 93.6%
    Yadier Molina 92.0% (down 1.4%)
    Dave Duncan 87.0% (up 2.8%)
    John Mozeliak 86.1%
    Matt Holliday 84.5%
    Bill DeWitt 83.0% (up 2.8%)
    Skip Schumaker 81.1%
    Tony La Russa 80.6% (up 1.5%)
    Mike Shannon 80.3% (down 11.3%)
    Colby Rasmus 76.8% (up 10.8%)
    John Rooney 76.2% (down 4.7%)
    Mark McGwire 73.2%
    Ryan Franklin 69.7%
    Kyle Lohse 66.8% (down 10.5%)
    Al Hrbrosky 46.2% (down 7.7%)

    2009
    Rick Ankiel 83.9%
    Chris Duncan 69.1%


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