No Holiday From The Losing

Wow.  Could that weekend gone much worse?  I don't think so.  Recapping....

Friday
Hero: Ryan Ludwick.  1-2, drove in one, scored the other.  When only two Cardinal runs get put on the board, that seems a reasonable place to look for the best player.
Goat: Russ Springer.  When you give up the game-winning homer in the ninth, it kinda gets you this by default.
Notes: A tough loss.  Immediately the momentum from the comeback win against Milwaukee was spoiled.  Lohse pitched a good one, giving up just two in eight innings.  Just a tight game that went the wrong way.

Saturday
Hero: Albert Pujols.  4-4 with a HR.
Goat: Braden Looper.  You blow a three-run lead and then some before anyone is out in the game?  That's a good sign things are not going well.
Notes: Good to see Ankiel run into one.  The bullpen pitched well too, though granted there wasn't anything on the line.

Sunday
Hero: Skip Schumaker.  2-3, which edges out Pujols's 2-4.  When no runs are scored, that's about all you can do.
Goat: Cesar Izturis.  0-4 with 3 LOB in the leadoff slot doesn't help the offense much.
Notes: Solid start for Wellemeyer, which is good.  Just couldn't get the offense going against Wandy Rodriguez, which is not too surprising given his history against the team.

Monday
Hero: Felipe Lopez.  3-5 and a HR, showing that maybe some of his talent is still there.
Goat: Kyle McClellan.  Anytime a reliever allows three runs, it's not a good thing.
Notes: As LaRussa said, Pineiro should have gone longer and not coughed up the big leads.  The bullpen is going to feel the brunt of it if that continues, though at least it'll be deeper with the expanded rosters.  Congrats to Pujols for hitting #30 for another year.

And, of course, not only were the Cardinals losing this weekend but the Brewers were winning, so the Redbirds sit 6.5 out, behind not only the Brewers but Philadelphia as well.  They have 24 games left.  They aren't eliminated, but I wouldn't worry too much about the October rotation.

It'd be nice if there were some intriguing callups to take our minds off of our troubles.  However, only Jason Motte really adds any intrigue to September.  We've seen Jimenez enough (some would argue too much).  We know basically what Brendan Ryan can do.  It'll be nice to see what Josh Kinney can do after his rehab, I guess, and Brian Barden has had a nice season.  It's not like it's Rasmus and Bryan Anderson, but I guess it'll do.

Tonight, Adam Wainwright goes against Yusmeiro Petit.  Petit hasn't gone against the Cardinals much, though Pujols will be glad to see him.  He's been fairly good this year, though he's mainly been used out of the bullpen.  He had an ERA just over 3 for the month of August, though.  There may not be many runs off of him this evening.

Wainwright has done OK against the D-Backs, though the most potent bat historically against him comes from the former Red, Adam Dunn, who has seen him more than most.  Dunn has the only home run out of the current Snakes crew against the ace of the Cardinals.  And, if he gets calls the way he got calls yesterday according to the Cardinals, he could have another good night.

A little hard to get used to September baseball that really doesn't mean much.  It's been a while since that happened!



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