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Recently in New York Mets CategoryBook Review: The Mets and A Moment In TimePosted on October 31, 2011 at 11:16 PM
One of the wonderful things about being a blogger is that people want to send you baseball books. Now, personally, I have a motto. My motto is, "Happiness is a pile of unread books". Which means that when people want to send me books, I typically let them. They don't have to be Cardinal books. If they are, great. But if not, if they are baseball books, I'm perfectly fine reading about other parts of the game.Which is why I just finished reading The Mets: A 50th Anniversary Celebration. I knew of the Mets, of course. While my immersion into baseball has come at a time when the divisions have gone from two to three and the rivalry that the Cards and Mets had has waned, there's still a lot of ties between the two teams. The 1980s was a great time in the history of both squads. However, this book is great about delving into the real history of the club. From the beginnings as a compromise between MLB and a group trying to start a third league, to their improbable run in 1969, all the way through their disappointing slide as they deal with The Curse of Yadier Molina, the history of the club is laid bare for all of its glory--and all of its warts. Reading this book, it really helps you realize how blessed we are as Cardinal fans. The Mets have won two championships in 50 years, but more often than not they've been beset with injuries and weak play at times they should have dominated. It's hard to believe that a team in the largest market in baseball has only two titles, one by a team that came out of nowhere and one that could have been prevented, perhaps, if a first baseman fields a ball. I really enjoyed reading through the whole history of the club. It obviously meant more when you started seeing the names that you recognized, but the Mets have had a lot of famous players even from the very beginning. If you know a Mets fan, this would be a great Christmas gift for them. If you are one that just loves reading about the game, give this some strong consideration before your next baseball purchase. Another book that I recently went through was A Moment In Time, written by former major league pitcher Ralph Branca. Branca's book traces his life, from his first interest in baseball all the way through the present day. Branca's book is an easy read. Even though it is written with David Ritz, the style and wording comes across as if Branca is talking to you. That tends to mean that the book is not necessarily as in depth as you might like or any great work of art, but it tells the story well and it gives you some of the details that were going on at the time of the story. Which is really one of the things that bugged me about the book. Branca would write about remembering seeing in the paper that Jackie Robinson had played his first game. OK, maybe, even though it wasn't a huge part of the paper in his recollection. Other things, though, like the conversation with his future father-in-law, seem stilted, the kind of thing you read in a bad fiction book when they are trying to set the scene. For example, here's a snippit of it: "So you make movies, Mr. Mulvey?" "Well, it's actually Sam [Goldwyn] who makes the movies. I make the deals with the distributors. I try to make sure that the movies make money." "Of all the movies you've been involved with, what's your favorite?" "Pride of the Yankees. I actually bought the rights to that film from Sam. I own it personally." "The one about Lou Gehrig?" "Right. Gary Cooper plays Lou." However, what really tarnishes the book is Branca's inability to make peace with the fact that the New York Giants were stealing signs when they made their comeback run against his Brooklyn Dodgers, a run that culminated in the signature moment that Branca is known for, the Bobby Thomson home run. Even after he has become friends with Thomson, when the cheating news breaks, he's more concerned with making press and nursing that grudge than he seems to be with the friendship he received out of the situation. Obviously, Branca has a right to be somewhat bitter about it. Without the extra help, there's no doubt that the Dodgers would have been in the World Series that year since the race was so close. That said, even if you know what's coming, you still have to hit it. Branca seems to think that if Thomson, who apparently knew what was coming on that fateful pitch, had been in the dark, he'd have gotten him out. However, it was still a pitch that could be driven out of the ballpark. Thomson still had to hit it, even if he knew it was coming. It's a good book, don't get me wrong, but I don't think Branca comes off as sympathetic in the whole thing as you would expect from a book bearing his authorship. That might just be my opinion, though--you won't go wrong in picking it up and deciding for yourself. I've got more reviews coming during the offseason, but I had a little time before finding Tony La Russa on Letterman and David Freese on Leno and thought I'd bring these to your attention. Both are well worth your time!
Sucker PunchPosted on September 23, 2011 at 10:03 AM
Before we get started, if you are looking for the Chicago YNOT, it's below. If you've not played before, go ahead and give it a shot!Of course, just about anything is preferable to talking about yesterday's game. I think I saw on Twitter it's the first time they'd coughed up a four-run lead in the ninth at home since 1998. Even with all the bullpen problems from this year, it just doesn't happen much. All the momentum, all the buzz, all the excitement took a major body blow yesterday afternoon. The Cards were just a couple of outs away from pulling within one game of Atlanta, with a very solid chance of tying them for the wild card today. The pressure was on the Braves, everything was going the Cardinals way. This was going to be a September long remembered. And then the ninth happened. The Goat tag is going to go to Jason Motte, because when it comes down to it he didn't get the job done. However, there's a lot of blame to go around in that ninth, starting with Tony La Russa. La Russa's idea that he wasn't going to let the Mets get back into it, that he was going for the closer in a four-run lead, just doesn't hold water for me. He didn't go get Motte after he'd loaded the bases, even though he'd thrown a lot of pitches and didn't look sharp. Which I guess if you are committed to him, waiting to see if he couldn't get a fly ball or a double play and pretty much get out of it. Still, sending Motte out there was pretty irresponsible. He'd thrown an inning and a third the night before (and gave up a run), he'd thrown 2/3 of an inning on Monday (ineffectively, giving up two runs and getting yanked) and he'd thrown again on Friday, giving up an unearned run. You have to go back over a week to have a clean outing from him. You've got a four run lead and a closer that's looking gassed--use the other arms. That'd been a great time to use Fernando Salas--even though Salas has been used some lately, he'd had a day off and his last two outings were clean. Salas had troubles in this one and got the blown save, but he came into a bases-loaded, one-out situation that was spiraling quickly out of control instead of starting off an inning. For that matter, Mitchell Boggs, the forgotten man in the bullpen, would have been a perfect choice. Have Motte or Salas warm up behind him if you don't trust him, but he's pitched once since Labor Day. Four runs shouldn't be a situation that you can't manage to stem, especially if you keep some of your bullets for later on. Remember, Boggs used to be a closer (OK, that was for like two days, but still) and has some pretty tolerable outings. He gives up a run a little more often than you'd like, but you have a four run lead. It's worth a chance there. Of course, if Rafael Furcal could catch a ball, we might not be having this conversation. I mentioned yesterday that he's playing like he's a double agent for the Braves, being that he started his career there. Save his leadoff double, nothing from yesterday did anything to sway that opinion. The whole reason Furcal is out there, the whole reason John Mozeliak traded for him, was the fact that he could play defense. Now he's made 10 errors as a Cardinal and has a fielding percentage of .957. Now, I know FP is about the most basic and not all that accurate way of measuring defense and his range factor per 9 for St. Louis is one of his highest in his career, but still, 10 errors? Ryan Theriot made 17, but in 91 games at short. Furcal has played 47. Furcal is an upgrade, of course, but lately he's been lacking at the one thing that he's got to be good at. You have to think that two botched plays in back to back days that lead to huge rallies for the other team will not go over well with the front office as they consider a Furcal extension. In fact, Mozeliak on the radio yesterday before the game indicated that, after the Lance Berkman signing (and more on that in a bit) they probably weren't going to do anything else until after the season. You can look at that and say that they don't want to interfere with this last week, but I think, being that they were very gung ho on an extension earlier in the month, that you can also read that as a waning of confidence in Furcal. There were good things in yesterday's game, of course. The Hero would be Allen Craig, I think. I thought his two run home run in the first was going to be the catalyst to a runaway game. It wasn't quite that way, though the Cards did score six and have chances for more, but I don't think any blame can be put on Craig's shoulders. Yadier Molina also had a big game, getting to a new high in RBI after putting two more in the stat sheet. Albert Pujols went deep for his only hit, getting him to 98 RBI. Just two more, and with his average still at .304, there's a good chance he'll hit his milestones. Can I tell you what I'm afraid of? Momentum is huge. You see it in all the sports, but here's the example from baseball. You've seen a team get down 9-2 early on, but they chip away, then they have a big sixth inning. A couple of runs score, they are down 9-7, with the bases loaded and one out. Everything is going their way and it looks like they are unstoppable. Then the batter raps into a double play. Everything drains out of the team and, even though they are just down two now instead of seven, their chance is gone and they wind up losing by that score or perhaps a couple of more. Everything turned on that one at-bat. Is that what happened yesterday? I don't know. I hope not. However, momentum is a crazy thing at times. A win in that one and the energy, the excitement, everything builds for tonight with Chris Carpenter going against the Cubs and the Braves having to deal with Stephen Strasburg. Now, even if those things go the Cards way, they are still one game out with just five more to play. It feels different, it feels harder, it feels like things have slipped through their fingers. I also am just not sure that the Cards can lose another one. If the Cards go 6-0, the Braves can go 4-2 for the tiebreaking game. That's tough for them when they face Philly and a Nationals team that has been difficult for them in the past. If the Cards go 5-1, the Braves can go 3-3, which seems much more doable. The Cards don't want that tiebreaker game anyway, because going into Philadelphia (if they won it) with your rotation a little out of kilter and the bullpen not rested isn't exactly the best recipe for success. A sweep of the Cubs this weekend with the Braves losing two of three and I'd feel a lot more comfortable, but I think the math just got a lot tougher with yesterday's loss. Now, the Cards could go easily 6-0 if they can bounce back. Having Carpenter on the mound tonight will help with the momentum, assuming he can have another one of his big games. The buzz and energy will be back if they can pull it back within one. The Cubs and Astros were long ago eliminated as relevant. There's a great chance they can put together that kind of run, but remember one thing. The Cards have only won 5 in a row once this year. Yesterday would have been the second time, and we see how that worked out. St. Louis made other news yesterday, of course, resigning Berkman to a one-year deal. A $12 million deal, which is probably less than he'd have gotten on the free agent market. I like the deal--I've enjoyed having Berkman on the team, but it doesn't lock the team up like the Jake Westbrook and Kyle Lohse deals have. If Berkman's resurgence this year was a temporary thing, the Cards can get out from under it after next season. If it wasn't, I wouldn't be surprised for another one-year deal. That said, there were some on Twitter that expressed some discontent with this, saying that Allen Craig deserves a full-time slot. I can't argue much with that, as Craig has proven he can hit and is definitely worthy of being a starter in the big leagues. And, of course, if Albert walks this offseason, Craig would be the starter in right as Berkman would move to first, but I don't think any of us want to entertain Pujols somewhere else. Apparently, though, Mozeliak talked to Craig before the deal was announced and told him they expected to get him regular at-bats at first, left and right, with center and second up to the manager. If Tony's back next year, I think you'll see Craig on a regular basis, moving around the diamond like a souped-up Secret Weapon. Cubs are in town tonight. If you have to bounce back from a crushing defeat, it's good to have the ace on the hill. Here's Carpenter against the Cubbies:
Cards get to face Ryan Dempster. The numbers:
Could be a fun one this evening. It's a must-win, so let's see the Cards win it!  Filed Under: Atlanta Braves
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Could It Be?Posted on September 22, 2011 at 6:55 AM
On August 25th, the Cards stood 10.5 out of the wild card race. The team had never put together any kind of run and both the team and the fanbase seemed to be in a general malaise, just waiting for October to get here. Now, here we are less than a month later and that same team that never could put together a run, who didn't know what momentum meant even if they had a dictionary, that team is now just a game and a half behind the Atlanta Braves for a playoff slot. Say what? The whole mindset of this team and the fans has changed. The last couple of nights, especially last night, when the Cards have gotten down the thought hasn't been "well, they are doomed" but more "how are they going to win this one." A team that you used to could count out if they were down in the early innings now is much more likely to actually "play a hard nine." As our hero David Freese said, "Losing is not an option, and we know that." Not only do they know it, but they are actually doing something about it. Freese's three-run home run (plus his two-run triple earlier in the game) give him the Hero tag, of course, but for the second straight night it's an Albert Pujols two-out base hit in the seventh that gets the winning rally started. Two batters later, the Cards are winning and Busch Stadium is going nuts. It was also a two-out rally in the first that Pujols started. It just shows that this lineup, like we thought back in the spring and now are finally seeing, really doesn't have many holes. Even getting two outs quickly doesn't guarantee a pitcher an easy inning. Good night for Yadier Molina as well, as he got two hits to get his average to an even .300. You also have to really appreciate Jaime Garcia. He had a glitch in the third where he gave up four runs, though an error was the largest reason behind that. Garcia did show his customary trouble, though, unable to finish off after something had gone wrong behind him. After the third, though, he got back on track and went into the eighth, resting the bullpen and keeping the Cards in it. The Goat has to be Rafael Furcal. Not only did he go 0-3 in the leadoff slot, but it was his error that allowed the Mets their runs. If he can pick up that grounder, the Mets are scoreless for most of the game. He didn't and for a while there that looked like it could have been the difference between a win and a loss. He's not a double agent for his old Atlanta team, is he? Something I heard on the FSMW broadcast last night really stunned me. Furcal has nine errors since coming to the Cardinals. Nine in seven weeks seems like an awful lot to me. Sure, Furcal has made plays that Ryan Theriot or anyone else that spent time at short wouldn't have made and it's possible that some of those errors are on balls the others wouldn't even get to, but it also seems like a few of those errors have been on routine balls. Which would be more tolerable if he was hitting, of course. He is somewhat--he's at .260 with a shocking six home runs since joining the Cards--but I'm not sure if that's enough for what the Cards are looking for out of him. The move was defense first, and if the defense is slipping, that could be a problem. I'm not saying that you remove him in this last week, far from it, but it may be that the Cards don't want to get that enamored of signing him to an extension. Jason Motte has also struggled a little bit lately, as he gave up a home run to Willie Harris. (By the by, that catch Harris made on Lance Berkman's rope with the bases loaded was huge, especially when it looked like it might have made the difference in the game.) Motte's struggles are a bit worrisome as you never want to cough up a lead in the postseason, but hopefully it's just a temporary glitch. I also don't think Tony La Russa has any compunction about removing Motte at the first sign of struggle, knowing how important these games are. Cardinals' odds are still slim--they are at 18.3% or 34.6%, depending on which site you want to use--but being that they were down around 1% at the beginning of this run, you have to like the increase. They are definitely tracking in the right direction. Atlanta is off today, so you know that Fox Sports Midwest is going to have a few extra viewers for this afternoon tilt against the Mets. (How tough is it for Braves fans to root for the New York squad, huh?) The Cardinals send out Jake Westbrook to see if they can't pull within a single game of the Bravos. Here's Westbrook's numbers against these guys:
Chris Capuano goes for the Mets. The Cards saw a lot of him when he was in Milwaukee and, well, they liked what they saw.....
Every game from now on is big, but if the Cards win today, they've got a strong chance of tying for the wild card on Friday, when the Braves face Stephen Strasburg while the Cards take on the Cubs with Chris Carpenter on the mound. Afternoon start, so be sure to get your radio and/or TV ready. The Cardinals are coming, tra-la, tra-la!  Filed Under: Atlanta Braves
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Two And A Half MenPosted on September 21, 2011 at 6:50 AM
I had to get around early yesterday to go to continuing education. I appreciate the Cards making sure that I could still use that headline today.Last night's game was one that probably will make it onto the Game of the Year nominations for the November Cardinal Blogger Awards, but before we get there, let's take a quick look at the end of the Philadelphia series. Monday (4-3 win) Hero: No doubt it's Kyle Lohse. I said a number of times, most notably on Gateway to Baseball Heaven Sunday, that the Lohse vs. Roy Halladay matchup was just one you didn't want to see. While that's still true, Lohse pitched an outstanding game while the Cards were able to get to Halladay early. Lohse got into the eighth and just allowed one unearned run, working out of at least one situation that wasn't all his doing. He may not be able to be this great all the time, but it's a wonderful sight when he is. Goat: Jason Motte. Coming on the heels of his blown save against the Phillies, having Motte come into a three-run lead and almost give it away was a very scary thing to see. If the Cards are going to be able to keep this run going, they need Motte to be on top of his game. He was able to get a little rest last night, so maybe the Cards can get another non-save win tonight and give him more of a breather. Notes: Lance Berkman had a huge night, getting the home run early and driving in another run later one. Rafael Furcal may have set the tone, though, getting a leadoff double on the first pitch and scoring the first run. Furcal also went three for four, which is a great thing to see. On to last night's game. While some may have had more dramatic moments, I'm giving the Hero tag to Albert Pujols. He had four hits, getting his season average up to .304. He drove in a run, giving him 97 RBI. He stole a key base, which allowed him to tie the score when Berkman singled him and Craig in. He had the hit with two outs that started the big seventh-inning rally. All in all, it's a reminder that he still is the best player in baseball and a great way to kick off what potentially could be his last home stand in Cardinal red. You also have to give credit to Ryan Theriot, who came in as a pinch-hitter with the bases loaded and two down in the seventh. His double gave the Cards the lead, one they never relinquished. Adron Chambers' bases-loaded triple was a wonderful thing to see as well. Chambers hasn't had a lot of at-bats, but he's making the most of them when he gets a chance. If you are looking for a Goat, you'd have to go with Edwin Jackson. We've been talking about how consistent he's been in St. Louis, how he's only had that one bad start. Well, now you can make it two. He was bailed out by the offense, but it would have been devastating to this team to have come out and lost this game, which is what it looked like when he quickly put them in a 4-0 hole. Five earned runs in five innings isn't what you want to see when you are trying to chase down another team. Also, Kyle McClellan allowed yet another run, which was really tough since the Cards had just tied it up. September has not been kind to McClellan, as he's put up a 6.75 ERA while his BAA has been .226 and his BABIP has been .136. Which means when he's getting hit, he's getting hit hard, allowing four home runs in eight innings. That said, he is 2-0 this month, so you figure it out. The wild card deficit stays at 2.5 games since the Braves cleaned up against the Marlins. I said earlier this month that the Cards could only lose three more games. They've lost just twice since then and they have a schedule that, with the way they are playing, may allow them to go 7-1 over the rest of it. If that's the case, the Braves will be feeling the heat. The Cards have upped their playoff chances to 16.9% (or 18.3%, depending on who you believe)--still not exceptionally strong, but much better than the 2% or so they were a couple of weeks back. The team seems relaxed and playing like they are having fun. I don't think a month to six weeks ago that they would have been able to come back last night. They were too often dropping games just like that, games after a high and against a team they should have beaten. The beginning of last night's game started to look like that, but thankfully the rest of the game didn't. Tonight, the Braves send out Derek Lowe against Javier Vazquez. Lowe gave up six runs in 2.1 innings against the Mets last time out but beat the Fish by allowing just two in six last time he faced them, back in early August. Looking at Lowe's numbers, he's either going to be pretty good or really bad, not a lot of in-between with him. Vazquez is having a pretty solid year and is coming off of a shutout of the Nationals. Interestingly, for the fact that the two teams are in the same division, Vazquez hasn't faced the Braves this year. I'd think the way things are going for the Atlanta squad that this could be a tough one for them. The Cards will have to take care of their own game, though, and it could be a bit tough as well. The Mets are throwing a rookie named Chris Schwinden. In talking with Steve Keane on Episode 4 of Conversations With C70, he seemed pretty high on the kid after his ML debut. Schwinden's only made two starts, both of five innings, and he struggled with the Braves but did OK against the Nationals. A rookie pitcher that the Cards haven't seen before could be trouble, though at least he's not likely to go too deep and the Cards could again get into the Mets bullpen. St. Louis trots out Jaime Garcia. Anytime Garcia starts against the Mets, that 20-inning game of last season comes to mind. He hasn't faced the Mets this year, but here are the career numbers:
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Treading WaterPosted on July 25, 2011 at 11:45 AM
We keep waiting and hoping for the Cardinals to catch fire, to pull away from the pack and start to pile win on top of win. So far, it's two steps forward, two steps back in the second half, and this weekend, while generally positive, just reinforced that trend. Recaps: Hero: Jake Westbrook. He had the advantages of a larger than normal park, playing in Citi Field, and the heat of the day game possibly sapping the opposition, but even with all of those advantages, he went eight innings and allowed only two runs. He's said before that he heats up as the weather does, and the weather doesn't get any hotter than what we have now. (If it does, please don't tell me.) His August and September ERAs have been good the last three years, so perhaps he'll be a plus down the stretch. Goat: Nick Punto. While we still give him credit for playing hurt, going 0-5 in the leadoff slot isn't really helping the offense much. Was able to score a run, which is good, but struck out three times. That's something the team will have to keep an eye on, to see if he's hurting the team more by playing than by being on the DL. Notes: Albert Pujols went yard, stirring his bat just a bit and giving the team an early lead. Jon Jay had two hits and continued to put pressure on other members of the team (as we'll discuss later). Daniel Descalso filled in at shortstop in a late lineup switch, when Ryan Theriot found out he could reduce the suspension to one game if he served it immediately. It's something (Descalso at short, not Theriot suspended) that we might see more going forward. Friday (6-4 win at Pittsburgh) Hero: Albert Pujols. Four hits, including another first inning home run. It's pretty obvious Pujols will make it to 30 home runs again this season. He's at 60 RBI, which means that he's still got an outside shot at 100 of those. However, the third leg of his personal triple crown looks less and less likely. He's at .276 after Sunday's 0-5, meaning he likely needs to hit around .338 (assuming 550 at-bats) over the rest of the season just to reach .300. While that'd be great, I think we'll see the first blemish on AP's baseball card this year. Goat: Ryan Theriot. 0-5 in the leadoff slot, dropping his average to .274. It dropped another point over the weekend and his OBP is .319, which is not really what the Cards had in mind when they were exchanging offense for defense. (As has been pointed out a lot this weekend, Brendan Ryan now is hitting .264 with an OBP of .324 and is continuing to play stellar defense. Perhaps this swap didn't work out exactly the way the Cardinals planned.) As I mentioned on Gateway To Baseball Heaven last night (and fair warning if you click that link, our guest wasn't able to make it and Bill had some conflicts, so it's 30 minutes of a C70 monologue), I thought it was pretty telling that Descalso started at short on Saturday, even though there was no reason for Theriot not to be out there. He'd just sat out Thursday, so it wasn't that he needed the rest. It wasn't a lefty on the mound. And yet Descalso was starting and Tony La Russa made the comment this weekend that it was tough not to put Daniel out there on a more regular basis. That has to concern Theriot a bit. Notes: David Freese had a couple of hits, including a home run. Lance Berkman continued to be the best free agent signing of the offseason, having two hits and raising his average to .288 to go along with his large number of home runs. Chris Carpenter wasn't completely on his game, giving up four runs, but pitched eight innings and made pitches when he needed to. He pitched around his troubles, but this is the kind of game he'd have lost earlier in the year due to no run support, so maybe things are evening out a bit. Saturday (9-1 win at Pittsburgh) Hero: Jaime Garcia. After so much talk about how Garcia struggled on the road, he's thrown back-to-back solid outings away from Busch. This time he didn't quite get through the eighth, but still allowed only one run and limited the damage of eight hits by only walking one and striking out five. When Garcia can get into the eighth with less than 100 pitches, you know it's a good game and Garcia seems to be able to do that more than most anyone currently in the rotation. Goat: Matt Holliday. The whole team got into this game, so it's tougher to name a Goat, but Holliday, while having a hit and a walk, did strike out three times as well. Kind of a rough stretch for Number 7, as he's only hit .231 since the break with two doubles his only extra-base hits. Not that it's a concern at all, but when it's coupled with the other slumps on the offense, it can hurt. Not so much this weekend in Pittsburgh, though. Notes: Yadier Molina and Berkman both went yard in the Cards' big inning. Good to see some production from Molina, who has been scuffling for a while. PJ Walters had a very nice outing in relief, continuing to show that he can handle some of the less-stressful innings, saving some of the bigger guns for later or closer in games. Skip Schumaker had a couple of hits in the leadoff slot and, while I still wouldn't want him there regularly, he's made the decision of what to do with Allen Craig when Craig returns. Early on, you'd have thought Craig would play a lot at second. Now, Skip's made you at least think about that call. Of course, if there's an open slot in the outfield.... Hero: Colby Rasmus. To come out with all the trade talk swirling around you, the fact that the manager has apparently lost confidence in you (witness Colby not starting Saturday against a righty) and slumping as well and get two hits, including what could have been the game-winning home run, speaks well for Rasmus's frame of mind. Hopefully if Colby is going to have a surge, it'll come wearing the birds on the bat. We'll get to that, though. Goat: Gerald Laird. First, he gets picked off of second base while Descalso is trying to bunt him over in the late innings, taking the go-ahead run off the basepaths. Then, he overthrows second and allows the winning run in the 10th to move to third. Not exactly the kind of game you want to have when you only get in once a week, especially with a guy like Tony Cruz on the bench willing to go in as well. Notes: Kyle Lohse has fallen from those lofty heights of the early season, but he's still not gotten to the point where Bill can send his crow back to Bob. Lohse only went five innings, partly because there was a good scoring opportunity in the sixth when his turn came up to bat, but also likely to monitor the finger issue that had flared up earlier in the week. Lohse only threw 64 pitches and was in line for a solid start, though things have started falling apart for him in the sixth lately, so perhaps that was on Tony's mind. Lance Lynn gave up the tying run in his second inning of work, but didn't pitch that badly. A leadoff double is always an issue to have to deal with. Lynn's command is a little shaky, as he walked two, but he's still providing good innings. Same could be said for Mitchell Boggs, who threw two scoreless frames and kept the team tied. As it stands right now, there is less than a week to go before the trading deadline, which means a lot of things are going to be coming out and thrown against the wall this week. The biggest one made its presence known on Sunday, as there was a story that the Cardinals and White Sox were talking about Rasmus. Coming back to the Cards would be Edwin Jackson or Matt Thornton along with some quality prospects. My thought is that, depending on the prospects, if that's all you can get for Rasmus then you might as well keep him. Jackson is a free agent and, as we know, is erratic enough to not be a definitive upgrade over the current staff. Thornton would be nice to have as a lefty reliever, but those aren't the kind of guys you trade quality centerfielders for, and even with Rasmus's struggles, he's a quality centerfielder. I really don't see how this improves the team that much. While Jon Jay is hitting now, we have to remember that he tailed off after Ryan Ludwick was traded last year. Will he do that again? Even if he doesn't, Jay doesn't really have the power that Rasmus has, so it's not an even exchange. Jeremy Guthrie is another name that is making the rounds. I would sincerely hope that Guthrie wouldn't cost Rasmus, as he's putting up middling numbers and has never been a big-time pitcher. That said, Guthrie does pile up innings and has held his own in the AL East this year (save his record, which you can ignore), so I could see him being a good fit in St. Louis if the price is not extravagant. With other teams apparently in on him as well, the Cards could get priced out. If you are wanting to guess when John Mozeliak will pull the trigger on something, I'd lean toward Wednesday. I'd give you some solid reasoning behind that, but it's mainly because the Cards tend to make news on the same day as the UCB Radio Hour. I know Jon would appreciate having something like that to talk about! The Cardinals have a big homestand coming up, as they face the bottom of the division. Anything less than 5-2 would probably be a disappointment going against the Astros and Cubs. Some interesting promotions as well, including tonight's Christmas in July. The Salvation Army will have the bell ringers at the stadium, so if you are going to the game, be sure to have some loose change or bills with you. Kyle McClellan takes the hill for the Redbirds tonight. Here's what he's done against the Astros in his career.
Not exactly dominant, but again, you never know what you are going to get with McClellan. He gave up just two runs in eight innings against the 'Stros back in May, running his record to 6-1. He has not tallied a win since then.
 Filed Under: Heroes and Goats
| Houston Astros
| New York Mets
| Pittsburgh Pirates
| St. Louis Cardinals
Comments (1)
Time For A Shakeup?Posted on July 21, 2011 at 6:49 AM
I was admittedly not terribly concerned after the Cardinals dropped two of three in Cincinnati to start off the All-Star Break. Now that they've dropped four of five, though, it's a bit more disconcerting.After losing a game where they could get nothing going against a pitcher they'd not seen before, the Cardinals went out and built a 4-0 lead, but Kyle McClellan again couldn't hold it. McClellan went six innings, but he gave up a two-run home run to Carlos Beltran to leave with the game tied. (Granted, he's not the first Cardinal pitcher to give up a big hit to Beltran. It's likely this is the only time he didn't come through.) Having a six-inning pitcher in your #5 slot is fine when you are getting good innings out of the rest of the staff, but Jake Westbrook and Kyle Lohse aren't necessarily holding up that end of the bargain. That said, I don't really hold McClellan responsible for last night. Four runs in six is about what you should expect from him and the team should be able to win a good number of those kind of games. Indeed, it looked good for them when Hero Gerald Laird dropped down that bunt which completely caught everyone in the park and watching the game by surprise, driving in the fifth run in amazing fashion. Had the Cardinals gone on to win, it might have gone into Cardinal lore right next to Glenn Brummer's steal of home in catcher-related excitement, trailing only Yadier Molina's NLCS home run. However, the Cardinals couldn't hold the lead even one inning. I'm not quite sure why, when Lance Lynn was pitching the way he was, you swap him out for another righty in the middle of an inning. Lynn hadn't allowed a hit, though he had walked two, and the only reason he was in trouble in that inning was Daniel Descalso had made an error that allowed Angel Pagan to get on base to start the inning. Pagan was on third, but there were two outs, so it's not that you needed a strikeout. Tony La Russa said that he thought Lynn's stuff was changing, which is a manager's call. Most of the time, you want to get a pitcher out a batter too soon than a pitcher too late. Still, Lynn's gone two innings a number of times and, with a guy like Josh Thole who, while no push over, isn't the heart of the lineup, I think I'd have stuck with Lynn. If nothing else, swap out for a lefty (even though that's problematic enough) since Thole has issues with hitting them. Instead, Jason Motte got the call and allowed a single to tie the game, getting the Goat for the night. Fernando Salas might have gotten the Goat, seeing that he gave up a home run to lose the game in the bottom of the 10th, but he pitched a solid inning before that and when you get into extra innings on the road, you walk a fine line. However, the Cards never should have been there for him to lose it. Are two game-winning home runs enough to worry about the end of games? I don't know. Again, Salas has had some good innings as well, getting a save in the second Cincinnati game while pitching a solid ninth last night. Then again, June was a pretty rough month for him and if he slides back into those kind of results, a change might have to be made. Don't know who it'd be, though, as Eduardo Sanchez is likely out for the year and all of the rest of the pen has had their hit-and-miss times as well. Right now, the team seems to be in the dog days doldrums. Not a lot of the excitement and good baseball that we saw right before the break. That's why, if John Mozeliak is going to make a deal in the next week-plus, I'd recommend that he does it earlier rather than later. This team could use a bit of a shakeup, and even if he doesn't bring in a hitter, it might be enough to get them going before they blow more opportunities. Skip Schumaker did a good job in the leadoff slot last night, getting two hits, and it's possible we'll see him up there more with Ryan Theriot having issues getting on base. When the offense was going, Theriot and company were getting on for the middle of the lineup. That has to happen again. Albert Pujols is now 0 for his last 11. Not a major slump, obviously, but he can't afford really any of these if he's going to get his average to .300. We're also not used to seeing Pujols do this when it looks like he's heating up, as he usually goes on a tear and stays hitting. If he's sliding back into April form, the Cards are going to have a lot of issues. Jake Westbrook tries to build on his last outing and to get his ERA under 5.00 for the second time this season. Here's what he's done against the current Met squad:
The Mets counter with Jonathon Niese. He's a lefty that's faced the Cards once. This isn't likely a positive thing. Numbers:
 Uninspiring BaseballPosted on July 20, 2011 at 7:05 AM
I don't know what it is, but it often seems like there's some dull baseball when the Cards go to New York. (Save the postseason, of course, but that's a whole different animal.) Last night fit into that bill, with the Cardinals struggling to hit and having some old story lines--both from this season and the distant past--come out to play.There wasn't much to celebrate besides Lance Berkman's towering home run that provided the final score, giving him the Hero status. Other than that, there wasn't much to see. Cards managed five hits, none more than a single besides Berkman's blast, and just two walks. Dillon McGee added to the Cardinal history of not being able to manage much against a pitcher that they've never seen, something I thought the team was starting to leave behind. On the down side, Kyle Lohse didn't pitch well (10 hits, three walks and didn't make it through the sixth) but oftentimes the fact that he just allowed four runs would have been enough for the team to at least be in the ballgame. Two of those runs scored off of a double allowed by Raul Valdes, but other than that the bullpen did a solid job of keeping the team in the game. Because Lohse was able to mainly pitch around trouble and because he drove in the first run of the game, you can't give him the Goat. Which means that it has to go to Albert Pujols, who got back into that early season mode by going 0-4 and grounding into two double plays. Albert hasn't had a hit since he smoked that three-run home run in the fifth inning of Saturday's game, which has dropped his average back from the high of .283 to the mid-.270s. I continue to want to see him get to .300 and streaks like this don't help. If the Mets were going to win, though, it was nice to see old friend Jason Isringhausen pick up the save. He's just six away from 300 and being that the Mets have traded Francisco Rodriguez, it'd be great to see Izzy pick up enough to get the milestone. After some reports this weekend that he might be out for the rest of the season, Nick Punto has actually avoided the disabled list. Apparently, he dipped into the team's healing water as well. Actually, it sounds like he went out and just threw angry and that seemed to work. Not at all what our mothers told us growing up, but whatever works. Speaking of middle infielders, Ryan Theriot was suspended for two games for his antics on Sunday. Theriot appealed, but after last night's showing he probably shouldn't have. It's the Mets, anyway. Better to sit against them than have to against Milwaukee or someone later in the season, though the Cards probably didn't know if Punto was available when the decision was made and that could have left them pretty short at short. Quite an interesting article on the rebuilding of the Busch Stadium grass after the big U2 concert. It was a little sickening to look at the whole field being torn up and I hope that there won't be any noticeable scars, as it were, from the whole ordeal when the Cards get back into town. Apparently the idea of Kyle McClellan sliding back into the bullpen if the Cards get a starter isn't a completely done deal. That said, if the Cards acquire a starter, I don't know who else would move and I sincerely hope the team wouldn't go with a six-man rotation. Something has to give, and it's likely to be the guy that has bullpen experience and hasn't gone through a full season as a starter. Just a week and a half until the trading deadline, so we should find out soon. Cards try to get back on track tonight, trailing the division-leading Pirates by 1.5 games now. McClellan gets to audition to keep his job by going up against knuckleballing R.A. Dickey. The numbers are below. McClellan vs. Mets:
Dickey vs. Cardinals:
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