Delay In Transmission

Sorry I've not been around.  Work and holiday weekends have conspired to keep me out of cyberspace for the most part.  I've got some interesting (to me) blog ideas, if I can ever just get around to writing.  Sadly, it looks like this week will be another where there won't be much regular correspondence from this corner.

Let's briefly hit the Heroes/Goats of the Los Angeles series.  All in all, a very good series.  Two wins and a strong chance for the sweep.  A 4-2 road trip out to the Coast is about all you can ask for and it got them back into first place before the Cubs win today.

(And, personally, I'm glad it's not just me that thinks it's crazy the Cards don't have a game on Memorial Day.  All the summer holidays--this one, the Fourth, Labor Day--should be games for every team.)

Friday
Hero: Adam Wainwright.  7 innings, five hits, one earned run.  The team needed every bit of that and he stepped up to make those rough outings history.  Honorable mention: Ryan Ludwick, for providing basically all the offense.
Goat: Adam Kennedy.  0-5 in the leadoff slot doesn't help, though there were many that could have been chosen here.
General notes: I didn't get to see very much of this one.  How about Chris Perez, though?  I know that LaRussa won't have him closing soon, but he sure looks ready for it.  And don't you hate rain delays in the bottom of the ninth?  I wanted to see the end of the game, but I wasn't going to wait up for it by that time.

Saturday
Hero: Kyle Lohse.  An even better line than Wainwright, with no runs in six innings.  Again, exactly what the team needed.  Got to love those pitcher's parks.   Honorable mention: Adam Kennedy, for drawing the two-out walk that led to all the scoring.
Goat: Kinda tough to find one.  Molina went 0-3, but threw out Pierre trying to steal.  I guess we'll give it to Troy Glaus, because he stranded the most runners (2) with an 0-for night, but you hate to pick on the guy that leaves with abdominal problems.
General notes:  They might still be playing if Penny hadn't been wild with two outs.  It was a pretty fun game to watch, if you are into the pitching thing.

Sunday
Hero:  2-5 with a RBI will give the tag to Albert Pujols, but kudos to Brian Barton going 1-3 with 2 runs.
Goat: Skip Schumaker, for his 0-4 in the leadoff slot and the stranding of three runners.
General notes:  I had my daughter's first birthday party during this time (I didn't do the scheduling) so I saw only the 10th.  Can't blame Parisi too much, but it'd been nice if he'd gotten that out and sent it to the 11th.

Houston comes to town tomorrow.  The scheduled starters are Braden Looper vs. Shawn Chacon.  Chacon has already faced the Cardinals twice this year, posting a 2.76 ERA against them, though he got no decision in either outing.  In fact, it took Chacon 10 starts before he finally did get a decision, a win against the Cubs.

Looper has a win and a no-decision against the Astros, but proves the futility of win-loss records.  In the win, he gave up three in 5.2 innings.  In the no-decision, he threw seven scoreless innings.  Note that in the no-decision, he was matched up against Chacon.

Containing Berkman, as always, will be the key to the series.

I'll try to post some later in the week, even if it's just a short thought on the previous night's game.  But be looking for my special blog posts, including what your Cardinal T-Shirt says about you.


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