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Inconceivable!

Before we deal with last night's disaster, let's be positive and talk about Friday's game.

Friday night was one of those great games to watch, the ones that make you think this team is going someplace.  Kyle Lohse threw a great game, the offense in general was rolling, and Rick Ankiel in particular was hot, with three hits and a home run.  Jaime Garcia (and, for all of those that come over from Future Redbirds, how could you not tell me I'd been spelling his name wrong all this time!) even got in and had an effective debut.  Looking for a goat in that game is tough, but Skip Schumaker would get it for going 0-5.

All that good feeling evaporated late Saturday night, making me feel like Fezzini.

Losing after being up 10-4 in the seventh?  Inconceivable!  Giving up four runs in the ninth?  Inconceivable!  Blowing a lead provided by Troy Glaus?  Inconceivable!

Yet, just as in Fezzini's case, it all happened.  Perhaps the word doesn't mean what I think it means.

Where do you go for a goat on this one?  I mean, Ryan Franklin got it all started with a two-run homer.  Kyle McClellan allowed the tying run to score (though, granted, he did his job and got the double play ball, it just didn't happen) and put the winning run on base.  Chris Perez allowed Jason Michaels' game winning home run (one I was afraid of when I saw him come up, due to his earlier grand slam against Adam Wainwright)

But, as bad as all of that was, I think you have to go to someone who has gotten the label way too often in 2008.  Jason Isringhausen started the ninth with a four run lead and even struck out the first batter he faced.  To allow three runs in that situation is inexcusable.

Inconceivable.

It's games like that which have me really concerned about this year's incarnation of the Cardinals.  I don't know that this team has the ability to consistently win, to put together a long winning streak needed to get back into the race.  Right now they are sitting at 5 1/2 games back.  Obviously well within the realm of possibility to catch the Cubs, but not nearly as likely as when they were staying 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 back.  The Cubs hopefully will cool off in the second half, especially at home, but can the Cardinals take advantage?  I don't know.

Perhaps it is good that this is happening now, before Mozeliak gets pressured into doing something rash at the deadline.  I'm sure that Jayson Stark will be coming out with one of his crazy number columns soon, saying something like no team out more than 5 games after the 90 game mark has won their division in 20 years or something like that.

And it could be that is just negative thinking.  A Cards win today and a Cubs loss and they are sitting just 4 1/2 out at the All-Star Break, even if the break is a little later this year.  Maybe it's reading too much into an admittedly atypical game, both from the offense side and the pitching side.  I guess we'll have to just wait and see.

In other news, the Cards have put Garcia into the rotation, penciling him in for next Sunday.  Hopefully that will give the team a little boost to start off the second half.

Today the Cardinals try to bounce back, win the series, and finish the first half on a high note.  If they'd gone into the break on last night's game, having to think about it for four days or so, it might have been more of a problem.  Redemption is usually just a day away in baseball.

The matchup is Joel Pineiro against Ian Snell.  Wow, the Cards have seen Snell a lot this season, haven't they?  This will be the fourth time he's gone against the Redbirds, with an 0-1 personal record but a 2-1 team record to show for it.  The Cardinals have been able to get to him early at times, but not been able to put him away.  He has a 9.64 ERA against St. Louis this year and here's what the hitters have done against him in his career.  As always, Pujols is looking forward to it.

Pineiro has faced the Pirates twice, the first time giving up a run in seven and getting the win, the second allowing four in five in a Cardinal loss.  At least the first one was in PNC Park, site of today's matchup.  For the most part, the Pirates haven't done much damage against him, but I'd keep an eye out on Jason Bay.  He's on a roll, especially after yesterday, and he's got good numbers against Pineiro.  If he's auditioning, he's definitely making an impression.

BTW, CardsClubhouse folks.  There is supposed to be some downtime at the site today.  If it happens at the game, feel free to use this as a game thread/discussion platform.

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.

Another Series Opener, Another Loss

Cards lost to the Royals 2-1 last night.  No big deal.  They'll just win the next two.  They've only done that eight times this year.  Why not nine?

With Davies being so unfamiliar to the Cards (and with no Pujols or Molina) it's not terribly surprising the offense struggled.  Great pitching performance, though, by Hero Joel Pineiro.  Too bad the Goat Ron Villone lost it for him.  Granted, the Cards should have put up more runs, but giving up a HR in a situation like that is unacceptable.

VEB runs down the problems with the left side of the bullpen today.  There's no doubt that something that was such a strength for the Cards just a couple of years ago is now there most glaring weakness.  I mean, does anyone want to see Villone or Randy Flores in a game anytime soon, especially a close one?  I don't think so.  Not sure what the team will do about it, but with an offense that's likely to sputter, the Cards can't afford to give away games with a weak bullpen.

Good to see Jason Isringhausen back, though.  The sooner he is healthy and ready to go mentally and can take the closer slot away from Ryan Franklin, the better in my book. 

Todd Wellemeyer is going to miss his next start, meaning Anthony Reyes will take the mound.  First, does anyone not think Wellemeyer is going to wind up on the DL?  A missed start, a terrible outing, and then another missed start.  Second, I'm excited to see what Reyes can do.  I'd like to see him make the decisions coming up tough.  Third, it is very interesting that Mulder is pitching on the same day at AAA Memphis.  If Reyes flops, Wellemeyer is still hurt and Mulder dominates, I'd expect Mulder to be pitching in Detroit when that rotation spot next comes up.

Chris Carpenter's pain problem isn't really a problem, which is great news.  They may take it a little easier on him for a while, but it's one of the few times where this situation comes out positive instead of more surgery being required.  I personally feel much better about it when Dr. Andrews says it's fine.  Not that we don't trust the Cardinal staff, it's that we don't trust the Cardinal staff.

Mulder on Thursday and Clement on Friday.  Memphis is the place to be at the end of this week!  Plus Carpenter, rematches of the last two Cardinal World Series and another skirmish with the Royals.  I'm sure Mike will have plenty to talk about when he fills in.  (Though you are stuck with me for another day!)

Catching Up (Again)

Our office just went to doing 40 hours in four days, so as to have Friday off, which meant I've been away from the computer for most of the weekend.  Let's recap, then discuss:

Thursday (vs. Cincy)
Hero: Troy Glaus.  1-4, but drove in both runs with a homer.
Goat: Randy Flores.  Both he and Mark Worrell were credited with two runs in the box score, but Flores let them all score.  A bases-loaded walk and then a bases-clearing triple?  Ouch.

Friday
Hero: Skip Schumaker.  As much as anyone can be in a 20-2 game.  Three hits, including a home run.
Goat: Pick a pitcher.  I guess I'd have to go with Todd Wellemeyer, since his eight runs in three and 1/3 innings really put the game out of reach.  Ron Villone's six in an inning and two thirds was pretty ghastly as well, and Worrell, Russ Springer and Ryan Franklin didn't cover themselves with glory either.  When the best pitcher of the night is Aaron Miles, that's a bad night.

Saturday
Hero: Kyle Lohse.  To come out the afternoon after that shelling and to shut down the same offense is pretty impressive. Runner up to Ryan Ludwick for his acting job.
Goat: Rick Ankiel.  0-4 with two left on.

Sunday
Hero: Can we say Tom Gordon?  No, the rules say just Cardinal players.  So it comes down to Schumaker and Glaus again, both with two hits and a home run.  We'll go with Skip this time, since he left one fewer man on base and his home run came in a tighter game.  (Granted, Glaus's was just a couple of batters later, but you have to drawn the line somewhere.)
Goat: Randy Flores.  You come in with two on and two out. Then you walk two guys, forcing in a run?  Springer wasn't much better, walking in another one, but at least he got an out.

Wonderful thing about baseball.  The Cards scored less in the series than the Phillies did in the first game, yet they won two of three.  It really proved that momentum is tomorrow's starting pitcher.  The Cards still couldn't gain any game on the Cubs, but it could have been much worse.  Sitting 3.5 out at this time of year is pretty much beyond anyone's wildest expectations.

And best wishes to Yadier Molina.  That was a nasty collision in the ninth inning.  All reports seem to indicate that it wasn't as severe as it appeared on the field (I thought it was great to hear "Yadi! Yadi! Yadi!" as he was being taken off) and it should "just" be a concussion.  Hopefully he'll rejoin the team quickly--with Pujols and Wainwright already being down,  you'd hate to see Molina be out as well.

Lot of activity this weekend, with Joe Mather and Mark Worrell going back to Memphis in exchange for Jason Isringhausen and Anthony Reyes.  Izzy's definitely saying all the right things, so hopefully he's got his mindset right and he'll be able to restore order to the ninth inning soon.  Reyes already got a win in his first game back and apparently will be used out of the pen as a long relief guy, though he could start for Wellemeyer Thursday if there are medical questions.  In other words, we may not see him again for a week.

Speaking of medical questions, Chris Carpenter is getting a second opinion after being shut down last week.  I don't think a lot of people are surprised.  Carpenter was being talked about as being back in the next couple of weeks, but that seemed like a stretch for the surgery he had.  Besides, it's the Cardinals and pitching.  Everyone has at least one setback that extends the return timetable.  It'd be nice to hear that it's not needing more surgery or that it isn't anything serious, but that may be too much to ask.

The rehab calvary might actually be close to arriving, though.  Mark Mulder had a very impressive outing in Springfield Saturday, getting up into the 90s on the gun and throwing five shutout innings.  Granted, he's been good before in the minors, but he never was throwing that hard.  Matt Clement was a little less impressive, but he had a decent outing.  We'll see if the innings continue to take a toll on him, however.  Personally, I'm a little more excited about Mulder now.  I don't know if it'll hold up, but as excited as people that should know are about this new arm slot and seeing the first results, it's very encouraging.

Day off today for the Redbirds (Yadi needs it, for sure) before the Royals series starts Tuesday.  I'll take a look at the pitching matchup, etc. then.

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!

Making Them Walk The Plank

The series isn't over, of course, but this weekend was a pretty solid weekend for the Cardinals.  Assuming you ignore the ugliness that was Saturday evening.

I actually didn't get to see much of the games this weekend, having various things take me away from the TV, and the only extended time I did see was the first three or so innings on Saturday.  Even with that bad taste, though, winning two of three and having Wainwright on the hill tonight has to give you a pretty good feeling.

Friday night, Albert Pujols did some great work again.  Two hits, two RBI, a home run to support Todd Wellemeyer, whose seven innings of one-run ball puts him in Hero consideration as well.  However, due to his amazing catch, his first hit driving in what turned into the game-winning run, all in his first game, you've got to give the kudos to Joe Mather.  Doing all that with the butterflies that had to be swimming in his stomach is pretty impressive.

That game got much closer than it needed to be as the bullpen had another ragged outing.  Even though Randy Flores has the worse line in the box score, the Goat has to go to Ryan Franklin.  Coming in with two on and two out and giving up two hits and three runs (two charged to Flores)?  That's not closer material.  Will many more of this missteps lead to Chris Perez getting more ninth inning time?

Saturday....well, what do you say about Saturday?  Not much.  Kelvim Jimenez probably won't get too many more calls to the big club after that performance.  Giving up a grand slam to your first batter?  Yuck. Giving up two more home runs was just icing.  Not surprising he got sent down to Memphis for Mark Worrell.  For a Hero, I'll go with Troy Glaus, if only because of his timing.  Right after Dan said that Glaus had commented pre-game that, as the weather warms up, so does his bat, he launched a home run.  Timing is everything.

Sunday, Braden Looper pitched fairly well, but when you couple that with his hitting prowness, he'll get the Hero nod.  Glaus was right there, though, with his three hits.  Goatily, I think I'll go with Ryan Ludwick, being that he had an 0-4 with 4 left on, but Ryan Franklin was right there, allowing the tying run to get to the plate before retiring the Pirates in the ninth.  Is there something about closing in St. Louis that brings out the daredevil in these pitchers?

Tonight, the Cardinals look to take the series before heading out on the road for nine games.  They've got Wainwright on the mound, like I said, so that's got to give them some confidence.  Friends of mine are going to be at the game and I told them everything is lined up for a Cardinal victory.

First, you have Wainwright, who can be a dominant pitcher, though he's had some struggles against Pirate hitters in the past.  He last faced Pittsburgh in his final 2007 start, allowing three runs in seven innings at PNC.  The last time he faced them in Busch was May 22 of last year, when he gave up 2 in 5.1 innings.  That was before his second half surge last year.

Then there is the Pittsburgh pitcher, Tom Gorzelanny.  A 7.38 ERA is never something you want to see if you are a pitcher, but the hitters are excited.  Gorzelanny had control issues the last time he faced the Cards, walking seven Redbirds and two dogs for Tony LaRussa.  The Cardinals have had reasonable success against him, though only Rick Ankiel has a home run off of him.

Hopefully everything plays out and the Cards are able to get a win.  The way the Cubs have been going at it, they'll need it!

In other news, it looks like Joel Pineiro will be on the disabled list longer than expected.  I would expect that Mike Parisi will make another start, but as rough as he looked on Saturday, I'm not sure that's the wisest idea, though it would be against Washington.  There's passing talk that Anthony Reyes could come back up and take the start.  Eventually, the club needs to get him back up here and effective if they plan on making any kind of trade with him.  Showing that he can pitch in the majors only strengthens Mozeliak's hand.

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.

One Man Show

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Winning It The Hard Way

Adam Wainwright on the mound.  A pitcher the Cardinals beat around last week.  Should be an easy win, right?  With this year's bullpen, never say never.

I'm not advocating that Wainwright should have stayed in the game, mind you.  At 99 pitches, especially after throwing 115 or so last time out, getting him out of there with a lead was the best idea.  I am just not sold on Ryan Franklin being that dominant eighth inning guy that we saw last year.

I'll give him some credit, though--at least part of that inning was out of his control.  I listened to it on the radio and it sounded worse than it was on the highlights.  After the double by Braun, he struck out Fielder, but the ball got away and Braun was able to go to third.  Then what on the radio sounded like a deep drive was a fairly mid-range ball that Ludwick lost in the lights.  If everything goes like it should, Franklin has Braun on second with two outs instead of a runner on third, a run in and only one out.  For that potentially game-losing misplay, you have to give Ryan Ludwick the Goat from last night's game.

Wainwright pitched a good game, but did allow the Brewers to tie it up right after the Cardinals had taken a 2-0 lead.  Troy Glaus got a two-run double, so he's in contention for the Hero selection as well.  Skip Schumaker had the game winning RBI.  But I want to go a little different way.  Brian Barton sits on the bench all night, watches the Brewers tie up the game, and then is the first batter in the ninth against a flamethrower.  Hitting a double in that situation was huge and led to the win.

Afternoon baseball today, as Kyle Lohse and Manny Parra revisit their matchup from last Thursday afternoon.  Lohse was very effective until his last inning, so hopefully with Kyle McClellan especially rested the Cardinal bullpen will be able to bail him out and get the series sweep.

Strength Turned Weakness

I was listening to the game on my XM Radio (not really product placement for our new advertiser, just the truth) and with the Cards having a 3-0 lead into the eighth, I really thought the sweep was in hand.  The Cards had missed some opportunities, sure, but the pitching was rolling and the Cards hadn't blown this big of a lead yet this season.

However, as I've said before, last year's strength is looking like this year's weakness.  Last year, if you could get it to the bullpen with a lead (something that was pretty problematical) they'd lock it down.  This year, save for Kyle McClellan, there's not many you'd trust not to fan the flames.

You can't really fault the starter for this one.  Not only did Kyle Lohse pitch seven scoreless innings before faltering in the eighth, he drove in a couple of runs with a single.  Ryan Franklin put the tying run on base by hitting Rickie Weeks, which could have been the turning point of the inning.  After a bunt, Randy Flores came in and got a decent result--a popup of Fielder--but it dropped and the tying run scored.

McClellan came in and kept the game tied, but Brad Thompson, in his first relief outing since leaving the rotation, allowed the two run bomb to Fielder that was the difference in the ball game.

So there are plenty of pitchers to put the Goat tag on, but with the lack of offense, I think the tag would have to go on Rick Ankiel, unfortunately. Three strikeouts and not doing anything with the baserunners that were on almost every time really comes back to haunt a team in an extra-inning loss.

The Hero has to be Ryan Ludwick.  His fourth home run, a 4 for 5 day, means the offensive woes can't be traced to him.  Lohse and McClellan would come close in this category as well.

Unfortunately for the Cards, this was a game they really needed to win with the Giants coming to town.  Not that the Giants themselves are that big of a deal, but Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum go in the first two games of the series.  So far the Cardinals have not lost back-to-back games, but if they aren't careful, they could have a three-game losing streak going into Sunday.

Cain took a no-hitter into the seventh last weekend when he faced the Cardinals.  While that likely won't happen again, the Cardinals are going to have to do a better job of cashing in on opportunities if they plan to steal one against him.  He'll face Todd Wellemeyer in a rematch of last Saturday's game.  Hopefully Tony will keep a close eye on Wellemeyer, who has struggled in his last inning in his starts lately.  He'll have to limit the damage to stay in the game.

The CardsClubhouse preview is now up and the San Francisco YNOT is open until first pitch tonight.

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]