Cards Win! Cards Win!

Let's take a quick look at the Heroes and Goats of the successful series against those Cubbies before moving on to the Rockies series that starts tonight.

Friday's game should have been a lot less stressful than it was.  I don't think anyone would argue that the latest Jason Isringhausen meltdown would give him Goat status again.  Allowing two runs in the ninth to a divisional rival, risking a game that was won, is not good at all.  And it raised worries that he's hurt again, which would be pretty bad for the Cardinals, though LaRussa would probably move Kyle McClellan into that role.  Honorable mentions: Troy Glaus (0-5, 2 K, 4 LOB) and Cesar Izturis (1-5, 1 K, 5 LOB).

When you win a game with a home run in the eleventh inning, you pretty much assure yourself of Hero status.  So, Skip Schumaker, congrats on being Friday's Hero!  Honorables: Yadier Molina (2-4, 2 RBI), Adam Wainwright (6.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 K).

Saturday's game was well-dissected by the United Cardinal Bloggers.  Kyle Lohse's rough inning plus the fact that Russ Springer couldn't stop the runners from scoring made for a tougher decision, but the starter gave up more and has to take a lot of the blame for that game.  Ugly results there.  On the Hero side, I'll go with Yadier Molina, with a 2-3, HR outing.

I got to watch a lot of last night's game, my first extended look at the Cardinals since Tuesday.  I will say I was a little surprised that LaRussa pulled Wellemeyer when he did, but with him reaching close to 100 pitches, I guess it wasn't much of a stretch at all.  McClellan looked good in his first inning, but the next thing I know the bases are loaded.  For the Cards to get out of that jam with only one run allowed was pretty impressive.  And it was great to see Izzy come back and be effective.

Our Hero, though, has to be Adam Kennedy.  Not only does go 2-2 with 2 walks and drive in the insurance run, but he's the headline of the Post-Dispatch, and who am I to argue with Joe Strauss?  Goat, I believe, would be Rick Ankiel, who went 0-3, left three on and at least twice popped up in the infield.  Rick's a streaky guy, but I hope he's not heading on the downside of his streaks now that the Cards are going on the road, a place where he's not hit much in his career.

So the Cards win the series against the Cubs, which gives you a nice warm glow even when first place isn't on the line, but is even better when it gives the Cardinals a 1.5 game lead in the NL Central.

Amidst all this, though, you have the news that Anthony Reyes has been sent down to Memphis.  Looks like Duncan and LaRussa have won this round.  Obviously, he was just being used as a mopup type pitcher, which gave him irregular work.  And this lack of work is blamed on him not being sharp.  Vicious cycle there.

I think Reyes can be a decent pitcher and I'd like to see him do it in St. Louis, but I think it's become obvious that if he's ever going to reach any potential, he's going to have to do it in a different organization.  As long as John Mozeliak isn't going to give him away--and rumor has it he hasn't been looking to so far--I think most in Cardinal Nation will accept a deal.

The Cardinals don't get a chance to savor the series win, though, because they head out on an eight-game road trip to Colorado and Milwaukee for the rare back-to-back four-game series.  I'm not sure the last time the Cards had that kind of road trip, but hopefully they'll play better than their 6-5 current road record.

Joel Pineiro is scheduled to go for the Cardinals, though his back has been bothering him and recently called-up Mike Parisi could go.  Assuming Pineiro is fine, though, the Rockies might be glad to see him.  He missed the season-opening series against this team, but in extremely limited action (only one person has more than 3 ABs against him), the Rockies hitters have been able to put the wood on the ball.  All of these appearances seem to have been in interleague play when Pineiro was with the Mariners and then the Red Sox and they have not seen him since his resurgence in the National League.

Ubaldo Jimenez goes for the Rockies.  He faced the Cardinals back in April, his only appearance against the team.  The Cardinals won that game 3-0 and Jimenez allowed three runs (and five walks, foreshadowing the coming trend) in five innings.  If he's that erratic tonight, the Cardinals might pull out another one.


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Also on the Network: √ Kevin Curtis Out With Sports Hernia [Depressed Fan] √ Trying to Find the Bright Spots [Arin It Out] √ You Have GOT To Be Kidding [C70 At The Bat] √ Fantasy Football Anyone? [Depressed Fan] √ Damon's Miscue Sinks Yankees [Green Pinstripes] √ Two F'ing Hands. [Depressed Fan] √ More Newbies, Please [El Lefty Malo] √ Shea Stadium Seats: This Explains Everything! [Loge 13]

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