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Another Heartbreaker

For the second day in a row the bullpen couldn't protect a lead.  Albert Pujols capped a superior effort in his first game off the DL with an RBI single in the ninth to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead; but Ryan Franklin allowed a game-tying HR to Gary Sheffield in the home half of the inning, and Mike Parisi walked in the winning run in the tenth.  3-2 Tigers.

Lots of things to be frustrated about.  Can't hold a late lead.  2-11 with runners in scoring position.  Our #4 and #5 hitters, Glaus and Ludwick, went 0 for 6 and stranded 13 runners (I recognize that's a little misleading; some of those runners are double-counted).  Not to mention that they led the last 2 games in the eighth or later and lost them both.  So, instead of potentially being 5-1 on the road trip headed to KC, they're 3-3.  At least Chicago got blown off the field by Baltimore; the Cardinals remain 4.5 games out of first in the Central.

Heroes and Goats?  Pretty simple for this game.  Hero is Albert Pujols.  Welcome back, AP, we missed you.  4-4 with a walk; did he really sit for 2 weeks?  I couldn't tell based on how he hit the ball.   He missed a HR in his third at bat by about 15 feet, lining the ball off the wall in left.  Goats are Ron Villone and Mike Parisi, for each walking in a run.  Dishonorable mention goes to the Cardinal offense other than AP, for that 2 for 11 RISP stinker.

So on to KC.  Cardinals announced yesterday that Mitchell Boggs will start Saturday, not Mark Mulder.  This is a good thing, as I mentioned earlier in the week.  Your complete match-ups:  Piniero vs Gil Meche tonight.  Boggs vs Kyle Davies tomorrow.  Looper vs Brian Bannister Sunday, in a rematch of the 18 June game in St Louis; Braden outpitched Bannister, but the Royals won 3-2.  The good news is we miss the Royals best pitcher, in Zach Greinke; however Meche won 15 games last year, and Davies is unbeaten in 3 starts this, so the series won't be a picnic.  Not to mention the Royals are tied with Minnesota for the best interleague record in the Majors (12-3).  Should be fun.

Two closing notes:  Cardinals put Randy Flores on the 15-day DL when they activated AP.  Tendinitis in the right ankle was cited as the reason.  Finally, Dan should be back posting starting on Monday.  I may have one more post this weekend, but that will be it for me.  It's been fun; hopefully you've enjoyed reading what I've written, and will consider stopping by the old homestead in the future.

Cheers, God Bless, and Go Cardinals.

The World Series Reprise Continues

Before we get to the upcoming series with Detroit, lets pause for a moment and remember Sunday's game.  From all accounts, it was a doozy.  Piniero pitched great; Lester was slightly better.  Paplebon was proven human.  There were clutch hits (Kennedy in the ninth off the Sox closer), timely pitching (see McClellan in the 10th and Izzy in the eleventh), and off your seat drama (Duncan cut down at home).  I only wish I could have seen it.

Congrats to Nick Stavinoha, who got his first ML hit on Sunday in the sixth.

I'll award the Hero for this game to 2 folks:  Joel Piniero, who shook off my dire predictions of doom to throw 7+ innings and allow only 2 runs, and Aaron Miles, for his 5-hit effort.  Anytime your name is linked to Don Mattingly's (the last visiting player to have 5 hits in a game at Fenway) that's good.  Goat?  Mike Parisi.  Sorry, Mike.

Although the sting of losing that 2004 world series will always remain (granted, the sting will eventually fade to almost nothing as time passes), the Cardinals have won both regular season series from Boston since (in 2005 and this past weekend).  We haven't been so lucky with the Tigers, getting swept in Detroit last year.  Looper, Reyes, and Thompson were the victims during that May Series at Comerica.  Looper gets another crack at them today, facing Kenny Rogers.  The best pitching matchup of the series, however, is tomorrow, as Kyle Lohse meets rookie wunderkind Armando (don't call me Andres) Galarraga.  Wellemeyer's balky elbow will face hit or miss Nate Robertson in the finale Thursday.

The Cardinals, a team that has not shown much plate discipline lately, would be well served to be deliberate at the plate and run up the pitch counts early.  That would get the starter out and get us to their bullpen; other than Zumaya (who's just back off the DL), it is one of the worst in the AL.

One other item worth discussing today:  Mark Mulder's name has been bandied about for a possible start in Kansas City this weekend.  He was scratched from his rehab tune-up last night.  Despite two surgeries and countless hours rehabbing his shoulder, Mark's never gotten his arm back to the form he displayed as one of the Oakland A's anchors in the first part of this decade; whether it's a loss of velocity due to diminished strength in the arm following the surgeries, or his elusive arm slot issues, he isn't the same pitcher he was in 2004.  Also, as he progresses higher in the minors he's gotten slapped around pretty good by AA/AAA hitters.  I don't see how he's even an option at this point for a spot start with the big club.  Mark deserves all the credit in the world for his determination to get back on the field and resurrect his career.  I just don't think it's going to happen.

Frankly if Mulder's name appears as a better option for a spot start than Anthony Reyes from here on out (once Reyes returns from the DL), there's something seriously wrong with the thinking in the front office.

(PS - There was no Mitchell Boggs on the 1970s A's teams; the guy I was thinking of is Mitchell Page.)

Another Downer

Really, was anyone surprised?

I missed both games yesterday, the afternoon win due to work and most of the evening one due to softball.  I did see them get down 5-0 and was pleasantly surprised to hear on the radio on my way home that the game was going into the bottom of the ninth.  I turned on the game at home to see the Cards up in the bottom of the 10th, but the Nats had a runner on and Ryan Franklin was pitching.

This is going to turn out badly, I thought.  And sure enough it did.

Since Izzy gave up the closer role, Franklin has pitched 9.1 innings.  Counting last night, he's given up four earned runs, for an ERA of 3.86.  Six of the nine outings, though, he's not been charged with any runs.  However, his WHIP in that span is 1.61, which is ridiculously high for a closer.  To put it in perspective, Izzy's WHIP for the year is 1.78.

I'd like to see Tony be a little more open to one of the rookies getting a shot in the ninth, but I think the more likely hope is that Izzy is mentally and physically ready soon to take the job.  And will Tony have to swallow a little pride and bring Anthony Reyes back to the majors after another disaster by Mike Parisi?

Hero of the second game has to be Mark Worrell.  Two scoreless innings with the team way down, then blasts a three-run homer in his first AB.  The Cards have had a number of people, including pitchers, do that in the last decade.  If I had more time, I'd look them up.  (About to leave the office, sorry!)

At least they won the first game, behind another blast by Troy Glaus.  He really does like the warmer weather!  The goat is a toss up between two players that went 0-3, but Aaron Miles left more men on than Brian Barton.  Awesome to see a pinch-hit HR by Pujols as well.

More draft today.  I'm sure everyone's seen that the Cards took a 3B with their first pick.  Sounds like a pretty solid hitter.  With David Freese, Allen Craig and now Brett Wallace, the hot corner is a popular place.

Cards and Houston tonight.  Looper vs. Moehler.  Could be a lot of fireworks at the bandbox.  Out of time, or I'd do the normal breakdown.  Enjoy the day!

Rain, Rain

Sometimes you can beat the rain, sometimes the rain beats you.

That gives the Cardinals the unenviable task of playing two games today right before an important series in Houston.  With Parisi going in game two, the Cards really need Wellemeyer to go seven or so to save the bullpen.

We've seen the stats on Wellemeyer and Lannon.  The second game has Parisi (who, of course, has never faced the Nationals) against Tim Redding.  Redding, a former Astros prospect, has been around a while.  Not many of the Cardinals have faced him, however, and of course the one that has had the most success won't be playing today.

Before the season started, I argued that the Cardinals would be an improved team, mainly because the pitching couldn't be that bad again.  We all have seen how improved the mound work has been, but it was recently brought home to me when I went to update the information I did last year.  What I found was a pleasant surprise.

The basic premise was games that the Cardinals had allowed double-digits in runs and then had been blown out by eight runs or more in those games.  Saturday's game against the Pirates was the first double-digit game allowed by the Cardinals this year.  To put this in perspective, by the end of May last year there had been four such games.  You'd have to go to 2003 to find another team that hadn't had more than one blowout by the end of May, and those are the only two teams in TLR's tenure in St. Louis.

You've got to admit it's getting better, getting better all the time..............

Today's the draft.  I'm out of the office, but many places will be keeping tabs.  Be sure to check out CCH and Future Redbirds for up to the minute information.

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.

And So It Begins

Bernie has put it quite succinctly:

Izzy on DL with a hand injury. Perez is here and available tonight.

And so the Chris Perez era begins.  It'll be interesting to compare and contrast how he is handled vs. how Kyle McClellan was treated when he made the team.  McClellan was quickly put into tough situations and, for the most part, handled them well.  I don't expect they have Perez up just to be a mopup guy.  He won't be the closer, but it'll be interesting to see if he comes into a one-run game in the seventh or eighth right off the bat.

With McClellan, Mike Parisi and now Perez, it's almost looking like the kiddie corp of the 2006 postseason.  Hopefully they'll be just as effective!

Off the Wagon

If Wednesday's win was a step toward recovery, St. Louis fell off the wagon on Thursday and landed with a thud that might be felt for days to come.  The same problems reared up on Thursday afternoon--a lack of the big hit, the inability to continue to pile on, and the shakiness of the bullpen.

This game was very similar to the one Ian Snell started against the Cardinals earlier.  They got out to the big lead, couldn't add to it, and lost it late.  It's possible the game turned in the first inning.  If Adam Kennedy's bases-loaded, two-out hit gets down, there's a couple more runs right there and the game could have gone quite differently.

From what it sounds like, this could be the last time for a while that Jason Isringhausen gets the goat.  Some sort of decision apparently will be made today, and it has to be.  Odds are there will be a DL move, especially since you'll note in that story people are now saying he's still getting treatment for his hip, something that hadn't been mentioned before now.  But Izzy did make that a little harder on them with his blunt honesty:

"I don't know what we're going to do," Isringhausen said. "I wish I could say I was hurt, my arm was falling off, or I couldn't land. I can't do that. People (hitters) standing at home plate tell you what the end result should be. I'm not getting any swings and misses, so that says something about my stuff. I feel healthy. But maybe my 'healthy' just isn't good enough."

While Izzy gets most of the brunt, most of the bullpen can come under the same indictment.  I ran the numbers since the middle of the Colorado series, when Izzy blew the win late.  Here's what the bullpen has done since then (again, apologies for formatting):

Randy Flores: 2.2 innings, two hits, one ER, three walks, two strikeouts, 3.37 ERA, 50% inherited runners scored (1-2)
Ryan Franklin: 3 innings, two hits, 0 ER, two walks, one strikeout, 0.00 ERA, no inherited runners
Jason Isringhausen: 3.1 innings, 8 hits, 6 ER, four walks, one strikeout, 16.22 ERA, 100% inherited runners scored (2-2)
Kyle McClellan: 3.1 innings, four hits, 2 ER, three walks, three strikeouts, 5.41 ERA, 67% inherited runners scored (3-2)
Mike Parisi: 5 innings, seven hits, three ER, two walks, three strikeouts, 5.40 ERA, no inherited runners
Russ Springer: 3.1 innings, one hit, 0 ER, two walks, 1 K, 0.00 ERA, 0% inherited runners scored (2-0)
Ron Villone: 2.2 innings, nine hits, eight ER, two walks, one strikeout, 26.97 ERA, 0% inherited runners scored (1-0)
Total Bullpen: 23.1 innings, 33 hits, 20 ER, 18 BB, 12 K, 7.72 ERA, 50% inherited runners scored (10-5)

Save for Franklin and Springer (and, to a lesser extent, Flores), everyone is struggling out there.  It doesn't seem to be overwork--that's an average of just over 2.1 innings per game over the nine game stretch--but something does need to be done.

I'd expect that the first thing that is going to happen is the promotion of Chris Perez when they do whatever they do with Izzy.  That should give the bullpen another look and a good power arm to help in some situations.  As you can see above, the relievers are only striking out one every two innings during that stretch.  That many balls in play is going to lead to some problems.

Villone obviously needs some time off as well.  He had a 0.90 ERA in April, but in half as many innings in May his ERA is close to 9.  The decision needs to be made soon whether he's going through a rough patch and needs to tinker or he's run out of gas and needs to be released.  There are a few other relievers in Memphis that might be worth taking a look at in St. Louis.

As for the offense, I don't know what you can do about that.  It's not that people aren't hitting--the team racked up 14 hits yesterday and they hit .313 for the Pittsburgh series--but the team can't seem to get them when they are needed.  37 men were stranded in three games in this series.  A couple of hits in the right spot and it's a sweep by the Cardinals, possibly rendering some of this bullpen angst moot.

We still need a Hero out of yesterday's game.  It's a tough call, really.  The pitching's out, either because of ineffectiveness or they didn't have a chance for a big moment play.  Numerous batters had multiple hits yesterday, which makes it a bit hard to narrow down, but I think I'll continue to honor the resurgence of our third baseman and select Troy Glaus for his 3-4, 1 RBI, 1 BB day. His bounceback is one of the reasons the offense is at least getting runners on.  Though we may have to use John's excellent Photoshop more often than we'd like!

It promises to be an interesting day whenever the decision on Izzy comes down.  But until then, there's also a ballgame to focus on for tonight.

The Cardinals and Rays were the last two of the current teams to meet, facing each other for the first time down in Tropicana in 2005.  The Cards swept that series 3-0 and haven't seen the Rays since.  Unfortunately for the Cardinals, this version of the Tampa Bay squad is much better than the previous incarnation.

Braden Looper is going for the Cards tonight.  Not surprisingly, there's not much history between him and the current Rays batters, being that most of them are homegrown ALers.  Looper's pitched fairly well since his shelling by the Giants and hopefully can continue that.  He's pitching a little better in Busch than on the road, so that may help out some as well.

Andy Sonnanstine goes for the Rays.  You have to figure the team is going to lean on Troy Glaus a lot this weekend, since he's the only player that's faced Sonnanstine and likely any of the hurlers that will be going for Tampa Bay.  Sonnanstine hasn't had the best of seasons, but being that he's a fresh face to these guys, it could be a long night.

With the Rays coming to town, Troy Percival gets to return to St. Louis.  We'll see what kind of reaction he gets when he comes into a game.  The Rays have some young hitters that should be fun to watch as well.

Just as long as they don't go beating around the bullpen like everyone else.

Cards Win! Cards Win!

Let's take a quick look at the Heroes and Goats of the successful series against those Cubbies before moving on to the Rockies series that starts tonight.

Friday's game should have been a lot less stressful than it was.  I don't think anyone would argue that the latest Jason Isringhausen meltdown would give him Goat status again.  Allowing two runs in the ninth to a divisional rival, risking a game that was won, is not good at all.  And it raised worries that he's hurt again, which would be pretty bad for the Cardinals, though LaRussa would probably move Kyle McClellan into that role.  Honorable mentions: Troy Glaus (0-5, 2 K, 4 LOB) and Cesar Izturis (1-5, 1 K, 5 LOB).

When you win a game with a home run in the eleventh inning, you pretty much assure yourself of Hero status.  So, Skip Schumaker, congrats on being Friday's Hero!  Honorables: Yadier Molina (2-4, 2 RBI), Adam Wainwright (6.1 IP, 1 ER, 5 K).

Saturday's game was well-dissected by the United Cardinal Bloggers.  Kyle Lohse's rough inning plus the fact that Russ Springer couldn't stop the runners from scoring made for a tougher decision, but the starter gave up more and has to take a lot of the blame for that game.  Ugly results there.  On the Hero side, I'll go with Yadier Molina, with a 2-3, HR outing.

I got to watch a lot of last night's game, my first extended look at the Cardinals since Tuesday.  I will say I was a little surprised that LaRussa pulled Wellemeyer when he did, but with him reaching close to 100 pitches, I guess it wasn't much of a stretch at all.  McClellan looked good in his first inning, but the next thing I know the bases are loaded.  For the Cards to get out of that jam with only one run allowed was pretty impressive.  And it was great to see Izzy come back and be effective.

Our Hero, though, has to be Adam Kennedy.  Not only does go 2-2 with 2 walks and drive in the insurance run, but he's the headline of the Post-Dispatch, and who am I to argue with Joe Strauss?  Goat, I believe, would be Rick Ankiel, who went 0-3, left three on and at least twice popped up in the infield.  Rick's a streaky guy, but I hope he's not heading on the downside of his streaks now that the Cards are going on the road, a place where he's not hit much in his career.

So the Cards win the series against the Cubs, which gives you a nice warm glow even when first place isn't on the line, but is even better when it gives the Cardinals a 1.5 game lead in the NL Central.

Amidst all this, though, you have the news that Anthony Reyes has been sent down to Memphis.  Looks like Duncan and LaRussa have won this round.  Obviously, he was just being used as a mopup type pitcher, which gave him irregular work.  And this lack of work is blamed on him not being sharp.  Vicious cycle there.

I think Reyes can be a decent pitcher and I'd like to see him do it in St. Louis, but I think it's become obvious that if he's ever going to reach any potential, he's going to have to do it in a different organization.  As long as John Mozeliak isn't going to give him away--and rumor has it he hasn't been looking to so far--I think most in Cardinal Nation will accept a deal.

The Cardinals don't get a chance to savor the series win, though, because they head out on an eight-game road trip to Colorado and Milwaukee for the rare back-to-back four-game series.  I'm not sure the last time the Cards had that kind of road trip, but hopefully they'll play better than their 6-5 current road record.

Joel Pineiro is scheduled to go for the Cardinals, though his back has been bothering him and recently called-up Mike Parisi could go.  Assuming Pineiro is fine, though, the Rockies might be glad to see him.  He missed the season-opening series against this team, but in extremely limited action (only one person has more than 3 ABs against him), the Rockies hitters have been able to put the wood on the ball.  All of these appearances seem to have been in interleague play when Pineiro was with the Mariners and then the Red Sox and they have not seen him since his resurgence in the National League.

Ubaldo Jimenez goes for the Rockies.  He faced the Cardinals back in April, his only appearance against the team.  The Cardinals won that game 3-0 and Jimenez allowed three runs (and five walks, foreshadowing the coming trend) in five innings.  If he's that erratic tonight, the Cardinals might pull out another one.

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]