Recently in Cesar Izturis Category

Holiday Happenings

I really did mean to get to the computer this holiday weekend, but it didn't happen.  Let's take a look at the games in our own special way and then hit some of the other happenings.

Thursday
Hero: Yadier Molina.  Two hits, including a double.  There wasn't much to choose from in this game.
Goat: Mitchell Boggs.  Give up 10 runs, you probably are going to get the goat.

Friday
Hero: Albert Pujols.  #300 and the only run the Cardinals scored.
Goat: Troy Glaus.  Popping out with two on and one out and striking out (even if umpire-aided) to start the ninth.

Saturday:
Hero: Rick Ankiel.  Home run and game winning hit.
Goat: Troy Glaus.  0-4 with 3 K.

Sunday:
Hero: Adam Kennedy.  Two hits are pretty nice for a guy that didn't even start.
Goat: Russ Springer.  Could have chosen any of the pitchers, but two runs in an inning pretty much put the game out of reach.

Some big shifts in the roster on Sunday.  Brian Barton goes on the DL with a hand injury.  How realistic this injury is remains debatable, since it allows the Cards to put the Rule V player on the DL and not lose him.  We'll see if he's back before September.  Joe Mather comes up to take his slot.  Cesar Izturis is back, as Boggs takes that beating and works on it in Memphis.

And, of course, the big news is that Mark Mulder is going to start.  Which is not all that bad of an idea, but the execution leaves a little something to be desired.  I mean, to start him against that offense in that park?  I know that there is a day off today and the All-Star Break is coming (congrats to AP and Ludwick for their nods) but it seems like the bullpen is going to get a lot of work this week.  Even in a best-case scenario, he can't go past five innings, can he?

And what to do with Wellemeyer?  It is starting to look like he's coming back to earth.

Gotta run, unfortunately.  Try to do better tomorrow.

Always Good To Be Back

Before I do anything, I've got to give major thanks/props/kudos/whatever the kids are saying these days to Mike for filling in for me.  I really appreciate him filling in and keeping things running while I was up in Reds country.  It was great yesterday to get into Arkansas and be able to easily find Mike and John on the radio.  I listened to the last couple of innings and knew I was home again.

I'll catch up the Hero/Goat leaderboard soon with Mike's selections, but let's take a look at the last two wins by the Cardinals, insuring a winning homestand.

Saturday, looks like the hero was Rick Ankiel with a two-run homer.  Mitchell Boggs was in the discussion, though four walks was a little on the high side.  Good to see him get a solid game in, though, especially with the state of the pitching staff.  Goatishly, you'd probably look at Brendon Ryan, who went 0-4 and left four on base.

Sunday, it's a surprise hero in Jason LaRue.  A home run, a triple, and four RBI, plus getting the best of a collision at the plate?  Gotta give him the award (wind-aided), even with an AP two-for-five, HR day.  (Sounds like he would have had two homers on a different day, with the wind holding one up at the track.)  In my mind, the goat has to go to Braden Looper, because when you know the bullpen needs some rest, to go out there and not get through the fourth is a terrible thing.

Last year it was a little busy during my Ohio trip.  Sorting through, it looks like there were a few things that happened the last 10 days as well:

• Jason Isringhausen looks like he's going on the DL, then doesn't.  Pretty decent outing yesterday against the Royals, save the back-to-back doubles.
• Yadier Molina returned from his concussion.
  
• Cesar Izturis goes on the DL, exposing the weakness of the middle infield.
  
• Mark Mulder gets activated and put in the bullpen, but doesn't pitch.  And, apparently, there's not a lot of confidence in him since apparently Brad Thompson is returning because "we need innings."
  
• To make room for Thompson, Nick Stavinoha goes back down after being promoted during the week.  Wish I could have seen him play.
• And, last but not least, El Hombre returns, with Randy Flores going on the DL.  And obviously Pujols didn't forget how to hit in his time off.

The Cards return to Busch today (their road trip just perfectly coincided with mine) and take on the so-far disappointing New York Mets for the first time this year.  The Mets sit a game under .500 and in third place in the NL East, though that's only 3 games out of the top spot.  The Cards continue their run of missing ace pitchers as they won't see Santana in this four game series. 

Kyle Lohse goes for the Redbirds, looking for his tenth win of the season.  There are a couple of Mets that are excited about renewing acquaintances.  Walk Beltran every time up, Kyle.  And as hot as Delgado has been, think about it with him as well.

John Maine goes for the Metropolitians.  The Cards haven't seen a lot of him, though Pujols has liked what he has seen.  (Both of those home runs were in a game in 2006, though.)  Maine's most famous game against St. Louis was probably Game 6 of the 2006 NLCS, where he kept the Mets alive and set the stage for a classic.

This is a big series for the Cards.  Winning this one against a quality (if scuffling) opponent would give them a lot of momentum for the weekend series against the Cubs. 

First the Ace, Then the King

The Cards won a game last night.  But they lost so much more.

This rag-tag group has been surprising people, sticking around in a race people said they had no business being in.  2.5 games made them better than preseason favorite Milwaukee and, if the Cubs weren't playing out of their mind at home, they could easily be on top of the NL Central.

That all got a lot more difficult last night when Number Five crashed to the ground, screaming in pain.  Knowing that he had to sit out a couple of days when he just tweaked it, it was immediately obvious this was going to be a DL trip.  How long, we don't know.  Dr. Paletta is seeing Pujols today, which of course brings trepidation to the hearts of many a Cardinal fan.  We know it'll be at least two weeks.  Hopefully it won't extend past that.

Chris Duncan has been recalled from Memphis, touching off a lot of the kind of angst only he can provide.  It's true he's not shown the Memphis trip was a success, hitting .160 in his time down there.  I'm not sure what he's shown to get the recall.  Maybe he's getting good swings down there, I don't know.  I would expect, however, that the fact he is on the 40-man roster played a large part in his selection.  Most of the other options, including Josh Phelps, would have to be added, which means someone would have to be taken off.  That's going to be a tough enough call once Colby Rasmus is ready to come up, something that is getting closer to being an option with his rebound from his slow start.  The only thing that troubles me about Duncan was the statement I read at CCH where Al Hrbrosky said Duncan would have come back up this week anyway.  I'd love to know the reasoning behind that.

If this is a short-term thing, the Cards should be able to weather the storm.  They are well ahead of the third place team in the division and have a three game lead in the wild-card standings over Florida.  Even without Pujols, they could probably tread water for the next couple of weeks if the pitching can stay strong.  They have two more with Cincy, a three game set with the Phillies, then series with KC, Boston, and Detroit.  Philly and Boston would be the toughest of the matchups.  At least Philadelphia would be at home.

If he's out until, say, the All-Star Break, things get a lot more uncertain.  The beginning of July sees the Cards host the Mets and Cubs, two series that they really need to be able to compete in.  There's only so long Ludwick and Ankiel can hold the offense together, especially since they'll be pitched to a lot differently now with the big thumper out of the lineup.

Losing Pujols and Wainwright on back to back days is a tough thing to deal with.  How the Cardinals respond will be interesting to watch.  Imagine taking Santana and Wright off the Mets or Ramirez and Beckett off the Red Sox.  Of course, those teams have a deeper supporting cast, but they'd still feel the impact.  What will happen when the supporting cast is a little less proven?

The only positives are that Joel Pineiro will be back, taking the hill on Thursday, and Todd Wellemeyer will be able to make his start against the Phillies.  Pitching will be even more important while Pujols is on the DL.

Speaking of, Braden Looper and Johnny Cueto tangle tonight.  Looper had a good start against the Reds in April, throwing six innings and allowing two runs.   He's got good career numbers against the Red hitters as well.  Cueto was bombed in the first series between these two teams, not making it out of the second.  He's struggled since then, the hype that surrounded him in the spring fairly dissipated by now.

Cards need to shake off having a different first baseman and continue this improbable run.  Of course, that's easier said than done.

Oh, and before I forget, let's give Ryan Ludwick the Hero title for his 4-5 outing, including a home run and four RBI.  I'd give Mitchell Boggs runner-up status, because that was a pretty solid first start, especially in that bandbox.  Goat would be Cesar Izturis, just because he was the only one with a hitless night.  It was a good game all around, save the injury to Pujols, which meant it was a terrible night.

Cards Beat Nationals, Mother Nature

That was a heck of a game, huh?

Not that it was anything dramatic.  After Yadier Molina's home run, it was unlikely that the weakest hitting team in the National League was going to make much of a run.  But two rain delays really ruined whatever rhythm you could get in the game (not to mention my watching, which had to give up during the first one).

I don't do it very often, but I think you've got to give Cesar Izturis Hero of the Game honors.  A steal of home (on the front end of a double steal, but still)?  Plus three hits?  And no errors on a sloppy field?  Sounds like a pretty good all around game to me.

I hate to give Albert Pujols the Goat tag, because there's really no telling how much that calf was bothering him while he was in there, but he definitely tried to do too much in his first at-bat.  After all the stats about him crushing Odalis Perez, he reached for ball 4 and hit a weak grounder that would have been two if Felipe Lopez hadn't bobbled it.  A walk would have been fine there instead of going after that pitch.

All that aside, hopefully the calf won't be a problem and he can be back out there today.  The lineup loses so much without him and, since the Cubs apparently will never lose again, the Cards need to keep winning if they are going to stay close.  Though if he had to miss a game, the ones against Washington probably would be the least damaging.

It's almost mind-boggling that Kyle Lohse came back out after both rain delays.  After throwing four innings and having an almost two hour stoppage, you rarely see the starter continue.  But to add another one on top of that was just asking for trouble, I'd think.  I know TLR wanted to get him a win if at all possible, but was it worth risking him hurting himself?  It panned out, though, so I guess we'll defer to the skipper on this one.

Matt Clement had a strong rehab outing yesterday.  It's tough to get worked up about these--even Mark Mulder had some good starts--but it definitely is better than the alternative.  And Derrick Goold gives reasons why even though the numbers are similar, Clement had a better outing than Mulder.

Pitch time:  I occasionally get a message from XM's marketing agency asking for a plug in the blog.  Since I'm a big XM fan, I try to oblige.  This time, it has to do with the First-Year Player Draft coming up tomorrow.  You'll be able to hear the whole thing on XM 188.  That's the official feed, with no comments or anything.  If you want a little analysis with your draft, try XM 186.  And there's a special XM/ESPN special on XM 141 today starting at 6 pm.

I know Future Redbirds is all over the draft and they've gotten me interested to see what direction the Cardinals take.  It'd be nice to get a high-ceiling guy for once and have him pan out!

Today's game features the NL Pitcher of the Month against John Lannan.  Lannan's first start this year was against the Cardinals and he allowed two runs in 6.2 innings.  Unfortunately for him, that was enough to get the loss tacked on to his record as Loshe shut out the Nationals.  That was his only career outing against the Cards, so he's still somewhat of a blank slate.

Wellemeyer hasn't faced the Nationals this year.  He's going to be even fresher to the Washington hitters, as they have only a combined 16 plate appearances against him.  Hopefully his May success will carry over and give the Cardinals a series win with a game to play.

Sand, Surf and Slugging

Hey, isn't Petco supposed to be a pitcher's park?

I have to admit, I was a little concerned about last night's game.  All the pieces seemed to be in place for a Cardinal win, but those are the kind of games that tend to come up and bite this team.  From the get-go last night, though, it was apparent that neither the travel or the team was going to hold the Cardinals back.

Honestly, I wanted to give the Hero award to Cesar Izturis.  There was plenty of shock when I saw Gameday record his first home run of the year.  I personally savaged this deal in the spring, when Izturis was flubbing a ball a day and recording more errors than hits.  Even now, he can be a whipping boy for some fans.  But he's posting a .263 average right now, which is well more than most of us expected on the year.  He was hitting .186 on April 27.  Since then, he's gone 18-54 (.333) and now with a surprising home run.  You figure he'll slow down soon, but he's already proven that John Mozeliak might have a little idea what he's doing.

Still, when a guy slugs two home runs, both moon shots and one of which may not have landed yet, you gotta go with him.  Albert Pujols continues to show that he isn't to be challenged, though Ryan Ludwick is making it difficult for teams to bypass him.  Any surprise, then, that Pujols has three home runs in three games?

A little tough to find a Goat in yesterday's battle.  Wellemeyer pitched another stellar game and the bullpen kept everything in line.  Most everyone contributed something to the game.  (Gotta love--well, he might not--Yadi's bases-loaded HBP.  Takin' one for the team!)  So, for his 0-4 (even though he did draw a walk), the Goat goes to Adam Kennedy.

Not only is the press starting to rip on the Padres, the GM is getting into the act as well.  Which may mean a fired up squad comes out to play tonight.  The Cardinals will do well to not take them for granted, especially with the future Hall of Famer on the mound.

Greg Maddux has faced the Cardinals, as a team, numerous times.  Compared to the recent starters the Redbirds have faced, they are old friends with Maddux, but even then there are a number of players that haven't faced him or have faced him less than 10 times.  Pujols has been able to hit him well and surprisingly both Jason LaRue and Izturis have good averages against him as well.  It's always good to see Maddux play--he's been one of my favorites for years--but hopefully the Cards can get to him early.

Going for St. Louis is Joel Pineiro.  Pineiro has a solid body of work against the current Friars, but nothing dramatic.  Josh Bard will probably get the start as he's hit Pineiro well in the past.   Pineiro hasn't be quite on top of his game the last couple of outings, but hopefully the big park will help him keep the score down.

Some general notes:  I was half-watching highlights last night when I saw a Cubs outfielder make a great play with his back to the infield on Tal's Hill there in Houston.  I thought, "Hey, that's kinda like a play that Edmonds made for the Cardinals."  It didn't register with me until they showed him jogging off that it actually was Edmonds.  Having him in Cub blue is just so terribly wrong.

Did you see this part of the PD article about Stan the Man?  Personally, I think it's pretty neat:

Asked if Pujols, an avowed fan of Musial's career, could break his records, Musial said, "He has a chance to. He loves baseball, he's a good first baseman. ... You know the first time I saw Albert Pujols? He gave me a big hug and kissed me on the forehead."

Congrats to Jon Lester on his no-hitter.  Very impressive, especially considering where he was just a couple of years ago.   The only downside: more Boston talk.  I mean, c'mon, let's spread the no-hitters around, can we?

Note that Mark Mulder is having his rehab delayed.  At least it looks like it was something instead of just the Cardinals playing around with technicalities. Don over at The Redbird Blog talked about the injury situation with the Cardinals and how it is such an unnecessary mess.  It appears that Rick Ankiel might be ready to go tomorrow, but if not, it seems like the Cardinals are doing one of their trademark moves, playing short for a long length of time when it'd be better for the player to go on the DL.  He's missed three games so far, so it's not a big deal.  If he's not back in the lineup by Friday, though, it might have been better to bring up Joe Mather.

If you are enjoy the blog and want to add it to your personal site, use this widget and, boom, C70 headlines will be there.  And if anyone out there has an extra Stan Musial statue from this Sunday and would like to part with it, e-mail me and let me know if we can work something out!

A Step Toward Recovery

The Cardinals took a good first step yesterday, riding Todd Wellemeyer to a solid win over the Pirates.  It's too early to say that the slump is over, but it's nice to break it up a little bit.

There's no doubt that Wellemeyer was the Hero of last night's game.  The Cardinal offense came through some (though they could have scored much more) but it would have possibly been moot if Wellemeyer hadn't pitched as well as he did.  I think we'd take one run and two hits in seven innings every time out!  There's a good blog post on Wellemeyer by Bernie on the PD site today.  He's definitely been much more than we expected when the Cards picked him up last year.

That catch by Ankiel last night, robbing the home run, was "Edmonds-esque", as Rick himself said after the game.  I remember Jim taking one away from a Cincinnati batter (maybe even Jason LaRue?) almost exactly like that at Great American Ballpark.  Perhaps it was fitting being that Edmonds had been in the news so much yesterday.

You also had to like Pujols's solid game (41 on the On Base Streak counter), Cesar Izturis having an all-around offensively charged night and Jason Isringhausen coming out of the pen for a one-two-three outing.  Don't tell me "yeah, but it wasn't a save situation".  Izzy seems to struggle more in those slots than he does in actual close saves at times.  A good number of his blown saves weren't one run games when he came in.

With 15 hits and only one run allowed, it's hard to come up with a Goat for that game.  It's tough, but I think I'll give it to Brendan Ryan if for the most subjective of reasons.  I saw some of the game, not all of it, and was hoping the Cardinals would score some runs when they had runners at first and second, nobody out.  Wellemeyer bunts the runners over.  Now all Ryan really needs to do is put the ball in play and a good chance a run will score.  However, he strikes out there, which was the last thing the Cards wanted to see.  Yeah, it's small, but there wasn't a lot of Goatiness to go around last night.

It's also nice to know that no one actually reads this blog, since I did yesterday's preview and had Pineiro starting instead of Wellemeyer.  Let me know when I mess up this bad, people!  (Speaking of, I need to resolve never to try to guess a lineup again.  That was terrible!)  It's especially bad since I got it right when I did the CCH preview of the series.

What I said about Pineiro yesterday still holds.  The Pirates have done OK against him.  It could be a tough game, but it's really one the Cards need to win.

Pittsburgh counters with Ian Snell.  The Cardinals have faced Snell already this year and got a nice 4-0 lead on him in the first inning.  Problem was, that's all they got and the Pirates came back to win 7-4.  Snell's history against the Cardinal batters is a little ragged.  He's never figured out Pujols (which seems to help AP's quest for 42) and Molina's done pretty well against him.  Chris Duncan, not so much, though he does have a home run against him.

Early start today with the businessman's special, so it should be a good afternoon for baseball!

Another Stellar Izzy Outing

What's left to say?

Jason Isringhausen did it again.  For the third time this week, he took victory and turned it into defeat.  He has more blown saves (3) in May than saves (2).  His ERA is approaching 7.50.  How long will this go on?

Numerous comparisons are being made between this year and 2006, when he struggled for so long before his hip injury was finally diagnosed.  But on May 9, 2006, his ERA stood at 4.77 and he only had two blown saves.  He blew four in June on his way to 10 on the season.

Tonight's was particularly galling, when you note that he came in and had two outs before he threw his third pitch.  Then a single by J.J. Hardy, hitting .235 on the season.  A single by Gabe Kapler, a .279 hitter.  A walk to Jason Kendall, who was 3 for his last 16 and was 2 for 17 lifetime against Izzy.  After that, it was almost a fait accompli that he was either going to walk Rickie Weeks to force in a run or give up a hit to lose the game, and he did the latter.

If Izzy's smart, he'll avoid the game threads tonight, because there's a lot of skewering going on.

The problem is, there's a lot less of statistical backing to defend Izzy with now.  The post by Larry at VEB earlier this week really opened my eyes up.  I was hoping it was just a slump, but when you look at the data, it seems to be much more than that.  He's not getting the ball past people.  You need that in your closer, because otherwise swings become hits become losses.

He's given up 5 earned runs in 3.2 innings in May.  It's not getting better, it's getting worse.  Which is sad when you consider his April ERA was 6.00.  And while ERA doesn't tell the whole story most of the time, it's a pretty telling stat when your closer has one in this area.  And he started the year with seven scoreless innings!

With the Cubs winning today and with the Cardinals facing Ben Sheets tomorrow, they really needed this game.  And they should have had it as well.

There's a good bit of blame to go around, though.  The Cardinals only managed three runs, including two in a bases-loaded, no out situation.  Getting two was good, but there will still no outs after that.  A solid hit would have broken the game open, but instead it was a liner that doubled off Izturis and that was pretty much that.  The Cardinals have done a great job lately of jumping on the opposing team early.  What they've not figured out is how to keep building, to be able to score in the middle and late innings.

I think the Hero status should go to Albert Pujols, though.  That was a monster home run as part of his 2-3, one walk night.  37 straight games reaching base is a nice marker.  If he can get a couple more, it'll be the second-longest streak in the last few years.

Today (assuming you are not going to read this in the few minutes between now and midnight) the Cardinals have to come back and try to end their longest losing streak of the season against a pitcher that's as good as almost any out there.  Ben Sheets has a nice 4-0 record and a 2.29 ERA.  It's going to be a tall task.

In the past, though, the Cardinals have hit Sheets very well.  Pujols has a .403 average in 65 AB against him, with 4 home runs.  Chris Duncan should get off the bench, as he's got a couple of homers against Sheets as well.  Izturis might get the day off, though, with his 2-22 mark.  Since 2005, Sheets is 1-6 with an ERA over 4 against the Redbirds, according to the research I did for the CCH series preview.

Joel Pineiro goes for the Cardinals.  Only Jason Kendall has really seen him a lot, and he's only had minor success.  On paper, you'd think the Brewers would be heavy favorites, but if some personal histories hold up, this could be a closer game than you'd think.

The only question will be, who will close it out for St. Louis if it is?

Rebounding

If there's one thing the Cards have figured out how to do this year, it's to come back from a loss and get a win.  There have been six three-game series this month (counting the current one with the Reds) and three times they've lost the first game, only to come back and win the series.  They are in position to do that for a fourth time with a win today after last night's big win.

When I first heard that Joel Pineiro through seven innings of one-hit ball, I didn't figure there was any way he wouldn't be the Hero of the Game.  I'm still going to go that way, but a 4/3 K ratio isn't necessarily great.  Then again, he wasn't looking for the strikeouts with a 7-0 lead.  There were numerous others that could have been considered as well, including Skip Schumaker for his 4-5 and Rick Ankiel for his 3-5, 2 RBI day.  Of course, you could also give a special Hero award to Cincinnati's base running and fielding, as well!

There are really only two considerations for Goat.  Anthony Reyes gave up the two-run homer in the ninth, ruining the shutout.  But, on a night when the team piled up 15 hits, only one starter went 0-4.  It's a rare one, but we'll give the Goat to Albert Pujols.  Glad to see he got his walk, though, and extended his on-base streak.

Reyes continues to be as frustrating as ever, though.  Just when you think he is turning a corner, he blows up again.  14 hits and 8 earned runs in 11.2 innings is not what the Cardinals want to see.  Then again, it's not like he's getting regular work.

The Cardinals get their work in early today with a 12:15 businessman's special.  On paper, the pitching matchup isi pretty heavily tilted toward the Reds, as Aaron Harang takes on Braden Looper.

Since Harang's been an NL Central pitcher for some time now, he's faced all the Cardinals and had pretty good success against them.  Pujols has done well against him, including a home run, but other than that, not much at all.  Cesar Izturis is a nice 0-17 against him, which would tend to indicate Brendan Ryan should be playing shortstop today, especially since he's got a 1-2 mark against the Reds hurler.

Thankfully, the Reds haven't done much better against Looper.  In fact, he's probably been harder on them than Harang has been on the Redbirds.  Adam Dunn's two hits off of him are home runs, but he sports a .154 average.  Not a lot of plate appearances against Looper by the Red hitters, but it's encouraging.

If Looper pitches like he did last time versus Houston, the Cards have a great chance.  If he pitches like he did the time before against the Giants, they are sunk.  Removing that Giants game, though, he has a 1.90 ERA, so it does look so far like that game was a hiccup.

Bad Blood Weekend

I figured that both the Cardinals and the Astros hadn't forgotten about the Pujols/Towles-Backe issue but I wasn't expected a couple of bench clearings this weekend.  Playing Houston another 12 times or so could enliven the summer, especially if the team slides out of contention.

That's not the case right now, though, as the Cardinals take the series from Houston.  And, with regular results, would have swept their way into first place.

Friday night, the loss all comes down to Jason Isringhausen, the Goat of the Day.  Giving up three runs in the ninth, with only one coming on a home run, is unacceptable for a closer that's getting paid as much as Izzy is.  Of course, these things happen, but lately they've been happening with much more regularity with Izzy, bringing back memories of his disastrous 2006 campaign.  He doesn't seem to be hurt now, but that 6.55 ERA is going to have the phone in Memphis ringing for Chris Perez pretty soon if he doesn't straighten it out.

The Hero of Friday night had to be Braden Looper, who saw possibly his best ever start go up in smoke in the ninth.  But seven innings of two-hit ball is pretty impressive, even if you don't have the W beside your name afterwards.

After getting quite excited about the Oswalt/Wainwright matchup, my Saturday got eaten up and I wasn't able to see any of the game.  While it wasn't quite as great as the 1-0 Mulder/Clemens matchup of three years ago, it didn't disappoint by much, with the Cardinals pulling it out in the bottom of the ninth.

The big number that jumps out at that game is 126.  That's how many pitches Adam Wainwright threw.  I understand that, especially on the heels of Isringhausen's Friday, LaRussa may not trust the bullpen as much, but that's pushing it, I think.  The last thing this team needs is for the Wagonmaker to blow out his arm.  I'd hope that next game TLR thinks about removing Wainwright around the 90 pitch mark.  It probably also helps that there is a day off in this run through the rotation, which means that he'll get an extra day of rest before taking the mound again.  Still, for his effectiveness and durability, you've got to give him the Hero award, though Pujols with his two RBI would come close.

Saturday's Goat would probably be LaRussa for leaving Wainwright in so long, but I'm trying to limit it to the players.  Most everyone had a similar batting line, with nobody having more than one hit.  Even Troy Glaus, who went 0-3, drove in a run.  So, just because his season has been so bad and he didn't do anything to redeem in, the award goes to Jason LaRue for his 0-1, plus forcing TLR to pinch hit for him in the ninth.

Oh, and there's no doubt that Wainwright was trying to send a message to Ausmus without causing any damage.  After a couple of your players get thrown at, you want to make sure you stand up for them.  There wasn't any chance Ausmus would get hurt, at least it didn't look like it from the replays.  I've got no problem with that at all, as long as you aren't throwing at the head.  At least to some, that was the play of the game.

Sunday, you just knew something was going to happen with Brandon Backe on the mound.  He stymied the Cardinals for a while, but after Ludwick's double to break the scoring seal for the Cards and then Hero Troy Glaus going yard for the first time this year, he seemed to come a little unglued, as we saw in his confrontation with Molina.

And, boy, was Yadi steamed about the whole thing.  He was still talking after Backe was out of the game.  If you see a fastball in your face, I'm sure it does tend to rile you up.  Like I said early, I doubt this is completely over. Mark your calendars for May 27-29!

I gave Glaus the Hero because he finally got the home run, which put the game out of reach, but there were a number of players you could have chosen.  Kyle Lohse pitched a great game.  Kyle McClellan got his first save by going three strong innings.  Pujols hit a home run.

The Goat is a little harder because most everyone did play a solid game.  For one of the rare times he's not had a good game in the leadoff role, though, the Goat goes to Skip Schumaker for his 0-4 day.  You don't often see 0 in the hit column for Skip lately.

The Cards start this series with Cincinnati just a 1/2 game behind the Cubs, making that loss on Friday (after the Cubs had already lost as well) very costly.  Tonight, Brandon Arroyo and Todd Wellemeyer meet up as the other two contenders in the NL Central, the Cubs and Brewers, clash.  A win tonight could move the Cards back into the penthouse.

Some mixed results for the Cardinals against Arroyo.  For instance, Pujols has a .233 average against him, but does have two home runs.  Chris Duncan should be in the lineup tonight, since he's hitting .316 with a long ball against Arroyo.  Izturis and Ludwick both have good numbers in limited action against the pitcher, so expect Izturis to return from his injury tonight.

The Reds haven't done well against Wellemeyer, though only Adam Dunn has more than 10 plate appearances against him.  Scott Hatteburg and Edwin Encarnacion combine for five of the nine hits the Reds have managed against the Cardinal hurler.

Programming note: There's been a change in the lineup of the UCB Game Blogging Project.  CardinalsGM is going to take the fourth instead of this blog.  Instead, I'm going to have the pre-game and post-game post.  Tom's done a lot of the UCB activities in the past and it's great to have him on board for this one as well.

The CardsClubhouse preview will be up later today, and there's still time to get into the Reds YNOT.

Worst Game Yet

There have been a number of indications that the offense isn't clicking as well as you'd think for a team leading the division.  Larry at VEB outlined most of the issues yesterday before the game.  Unfortunately, a lot of them came home to roost last night.  Nobody seemed to be able to get anything going, perhaps in part because they'd not seen much of the pitcher before.  Like they said on the broadcast, though, everyone seemed a little out of it, a little lethargic.  An inspired game plus a long plane ride will do that, I guess.

Plenty of Goats to go around.  If one was so inclined, they could probably indict the whole offense.  However, because I saw the play and it, perhaps, was a bit of a turning point, the Goat goes to Cesar Izturis for being thrown out at third in a one-run game.  After he hesitated around second, he really should have backed up and returned to the bag.  You hate to play the "if" game, but if nothing changes about that inning except that, the Cardinals tie the game.  Schumaker came next with a hit that would have at least moved him to third, then Duncan flew out for what would have been a sac fly.  Of course, Correia probably would have gone after the guys differently so you don't know that would have happened, but it was reasonable.  And then perhaps Wainwright goes after Lewis differently in the bottom of that inning with it tied.  Lots of ifs, but nothing outlandish.

Not much on the Hero side.  Wainwright threw a pretty good game, save the extra-base hits to Fred Lewis, but he tired late and gave up four runs.  Call it a makeup, but since he drove in the only run and he's been close a number of times, we'll give last night's Hero to Troy Glaus.  At least he let the Cardinals avert the shutout.

The Cardinals try to avert their first two-game losing streak and stay on top of the NL Central this evening as Kyle Lohse takes on Barry Zito.  Here's what I wrote about this game in the CardsClubhouse series preview:

Friday's game is Barry Zito vs. Kyle Lohse. Talk about opposites, at least in the free agent market. Zito signed a huge deal last year, one that he hasn't quite lived up to, while Lohse wound up signing a bargain deal with the Cardinals this offseason and has earned every penny. Zito has faced the Dodgers and Brewers this season. Both times he lasted only five innings and gave up at least 4 runs.

You'd like to think the bats would come alive against Zito, especially if this new patience idea is working.   He's only walked four in his 10 innings, but he's not striking anyone out so the batters should be able to wait and get the pitch they want.  A 6.30 ERA, a 1.90 WHIP and a .381 BAA against indicate that, at least this year, that's what people are doing.

If Lohse can pitch close to what he's been doing, the Cards should be able to take the game.  The Giants didn't pound Wainwright last night, so he should be able to get by with only allowing a run or two.

If you want to keep up with this series from the opposite point of view, our brother-in-arms at El Lefty Malo will help you out.

Also on the Network: √ Yanks Beat A Lefty? [Depressed Fan] √ Yanks Start Second Half With "W" [Green Pinstripes] √ All-Star Breather: The Giants Catchers [El Lefty Malo] √ Rock Is Dead; Shea Stadium July 18, 2008 [Loge 13] √ Citi Field Revealed (FYI: No Loge Here) [Loge 13] √ My Rifle, My Pony and Me [Beantown West] √ Quick Chicago roundup [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ Giants Reveal New Stadium Ticket Plans [Loge 13]