Riding the Cardinal Roller Coaster

Is this the way it's going to be?  Down one day, up the next, down the day after that?  Let me know so I can take some motion sickness pills.

The Cardinals lost again last night to the Pirates, this time with St. Louis trying for late inning dramatics and failing.  One day after the high of an offensive explosion, the Redbirds again struggled, posting only two hits until late in the ballgame.

Yesterday's goat has to go to Todd Wellemeyer.  He settled down and lasted five innings, but five earned runs and 12 hits?  Wow.  That's not what we need to see from the Colonel.  A number of pitchers have struggled in their first outing, so hopefully that's all this was  If he's slipping from the heights of the last couple of years, the Cardinals could have issues.  On a positive note, he seems to think that it'll just take a little time, that he's not that far off.  Let's hope he's right.

Brad Thompson didn't do much to help out, either.  Two innings and two runs, including a home run, isn't the way to keep the team in the game.  Last night's game would have been much more interesting at 5-3 with a runner on second and Rick Ankiel at the plate than it was at 7-3 with that situation.

The offense wasn't clicking last night, which is surprising since Zach Duke didn't have great numbers career against these hitters.  Duke may be one to watch this season, to see if Joe Kerrigan's assistance helps him get back to his early success.

Figuring out the Hero is a little harder.  Both David Freese and Joe Thurston had two hits.  Thurston had the RBI but he also killed the rally in the ninth with an ill-advised stretching of a double.  So David Freese gets the nod.

Afternoon game for the Cardinals as they try to split the opening series.  At least if you are going to need a win, you've got the right guy on the mound.  Looking forward to seeing Chris Carpenter pitch in competition without worrying (too much) about his health and how things are going to go.  He seems to think he's ready, which is good enough for me.

Carpenter has very good career numbers against the Pirates.  He'll have to watch Freddie Sanchez, but other than that, he could roll.  If he can give the club six or seven good innings, hopefully the offense will do the rest.  Ross Ohlendorf goes for the Pirates and he's never faced the Cardinals, a situation that has stymied the Redbirds in the past.

If you are interested, check out this blog post comparing the all-time Cardinal "home-grown" team vs. the all-time Cardinal acquired team.  Pretty interesting names on there. 




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