One Man Show

When I started naming a Hero every game, I never thought one of them could be a superhero.  But that's what Rick Ankiel looked like last night.

The home run was nice.  Even more so when Goat Ryan Franklin coughed up three runs (two charged to Looper) in the ninth, making the homer the winning margin.  But by itself, that wouldn't be enough.  Ryan Ludwick's 4-4 game or Looper's solid game into the ninth might have made the cut.

But those outfield assists elevated him into the rare air.  It was ironic (and indicated that they put their Top 10 together early) that the first throw wound up #3 on the top plays, because it was impressive but not nearly as much so as that second strike.  To be standing on the warning track and hit the third baseman on the fly, right where he can slap the tag on the runner, is mind-boggling.  A couple more like that and he'll have a nice golden glove to sit on his mantle at the end of the year.

It's plain to see that Rick has amazing talent.  Hopefully he'll continue to be able to hone it and be thought of as an outfielder rather than a former pitcher.

Very sad that Franklin got credit for a save last night, even though that's technically what he did.  Allowing back to back doubles that bring in three runs is not the way Cardinal fans want saves to be earned.  Franklin has a 2.12 ERA, but I'd like to see how many inherited runners he's allowed to score this year.  I've been very nervous when he's come into most ball games.

No matter, the Cardinals have already assured themselves of a series split and they get to throw their ace tonight in hopes of winning it.  Adam Wainwright pitched against the Rockies this year, but you won't find it in the record books as he threw in the season-opening rainout.  As I said first time around, the Rockies haven't seen Wainwright much.  If the rainout is any indication, though, he'll be fine.  He struggled early in that game, but part of that was excitement/nerves of Opening Day.

The Cardinals hope that Jeff Francis is as wild as he was in the rainout.  Historically he's been fairly tough on the Cards, though Troy Glaus has two homers against him and there are some small-sample-size good averages on the list.  This year's been kinda rough on Francis, especially at home where he has a 6.27 ERA.

If the Cardinals are able to solve the lefty for the second straight night, they'll be able to run their winning streak to four and keep that 2.5 game lead.  The good thing about this team is that they won't be satisfied with hitting 10 games over .500, they'll want to keep extending it.  A good chance they'll be able to do that tonight.


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