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A Sunnier Weekend

Posted on September 7, 2010 at 9:26 AM
Filed Under: Cincinnati Reds | Heroes and Goats | Milwaukee Brewers | St. Louis Cardinals
It's been a while since we could look back on a four-game stretch and feel positive feelings about the Cardinal club.  Which means it is not surprising that off-field issues tended to cloud things up.  Quickly, a recap:

Friday (3-2 win vs. Cincinnati)
Hero: Mitchell Boggs.  I don't point out the middle relievers that often, unless they spectacularly flame out.  But Boggs came into a crucial one-run game with a runner on third and got the strikeout.  Got to give him some credit for that.
Goat: Colby Rasmus.  0-3 with a strikeout.
Notes: Jaime Garcia is staying in the Rookie of the Year race, even if Adam Wainwright and Albert Pujols are slipping out of the Cy Young and MVP talk.  Two runs in almost seven innings against the division leaders in a game that was a must-win?  Sharp.  Plus he went 2 for 2 at the plate and contributed to the scoring.

Saturday (6-1 loss vs. Cincinnati)
Hero: Matt Holliday.  Two for four with the lone RBI.
Goat: Aaron Miles.  Not only does he go 0-4 with two strikeouts in the leadoff position, but his error in the first inning possibly turned the whole ball game.  He gets the double play, Wainwright is out of the inning unscathed.  Instead, runners on second and third with one out.
Notes: That's not absolving Wainwright from all blame.  The Cy Young guy we've come to expect should have been able to limit the Reds to at most one run in the first, but instead the Reds got three.  Couple that with the home run he gave up to the opposing pitcher and the home mystique apparently is gone. I do like his pledge, though, that he won't lose again.  I'd love to see that come to fruition.

Sunday (4-2 win vs. Cincinnati)
Hero: Matt Holliday.  A huge three-run home run in a situation where he's struggled this year.
Goat: Skip Schumaker.  An 0-hit day in the leadoff role.
Notes: Chris Carpenter was on fire as well with 11 K, just slipping in the fifth and allowing the two runs.  The bullpen was solid as well, with Ryan Franklin getting his second save in three days.

Monday (8-6 win at Milwaukee)
Hero: Yadier Molina.  Slam it!
Goat: Kyle McClellan.  While he didn't blow the game or, indeed, even get credited with any earned runs, McClellan didn't pitch very well, allowing his inherited runners to score and getting bailed out by a play at the plate.
Notes: It's hard to know if you should be positive after this game, since the Cards finally beat a sub-.500 team, or worried because the bullpen almost blew it.  Jake Westbrook threw yet another good game and, yet again, wasn't able to get the victory.

With everyone else losing, the Cards were able to cut into both the divisional and wild-card deficits, but it remains to be seen if there's anything here worth getting excited about.  It may be that the offseason discussion talk is a bit premature, but I'd be surprised.

Then we get into the story of the weekend, in which we find our young centerfielder and our old manager either in a massive feud, working through their problems, or right as rain, depending on whom you talk to.  Colby Rasmus did (according to Tony La Russa) or didn't (according to Rasmus) ask for a trade last year and earlier this year.  Tony La Russa did (apparently) threaten to demote Rasmus to Memphis after he showed up late to a Cubs game earlier in the year.

Here's the most promising thing out of the whole scenario, something that I think most people are overlooking: Albert Pujols loves being a Cardinal.

"It's a privilege to play in this organization, just behind the Yankees with 10 World Series (titles) and be able to be in the postseason almost every year.  I have nothing negative to say about this organization."

Personally, I think the odds of resigning Pujols may not be as long as everyone is starting to think, when he has such a passionate defense, showing that he realizes that it's a quality place to play.

Back to the topic, though.  TLR is saying that it's not a situation where it is either him or Rasmus, that their relationship is fine.  Perhaps, but if AP is fired up about it, and he said a "veteran guy" came to him concerned as well, all is not necessarily right in the Cardinal clubhouse.  Rasmus has some fences to mend.

It may be somewhat of a moot point if TLR does retire at the end of the season.  If not, though, expect to hear a lot of trade talk about Rasmus, but very little of it coming from Cardinal sources.  Rasmus isn't going anywhere, unless a team just overwhelms John Mozeliak.

Cards and Brewers at it again tonight.  Kyle Lohse heads back to the mound, which inspires exactly no one with confidence.  The only hope is that the Brewers' rotation has been terrible as well, and former Cardinal farmhand Chris Narveson, though having a good K/BB ratio and a middling BAA, does have a 5.33 ERA.  The Cardinals have scored some runs against him the three times they've seen him and they'll need to do so again tonight.


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Heroes
Lance Berkman (24)
Albert Pujols (19)
Matt Holliday (15)
Chris Carpenter (10)
Kyle Lohse (9)
Yadier Molina (9)
Ryan Theriot (8)
David Freese (7)
Jaime Garcia (7)
Jon Jay (7)
Jake Westbrook (6)
Allen Craig (5)
Kyle McClellan (5)
Colby Rasmus (5)
Edwin Jackson (4)
Skip Schumaker (4)
Daniel Descalso (3)
Rafael Furcal (2)
Gerald Laird (2)
Nick Punto (2)
Marc Rzepczynski (2)
Fernando Salas (2)
Mitchell Boggs (1)
Daniel Descalso (1)
Lance Lynn (1)

2010 Top Heroes: Matt Holliday and Albert Pujols (24)
2009 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (28)
2008 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (25)

Goats
Ryan Theriot (12)
Albert Pujols (11)
Jake Westbrook (10)
David Freese (8)
Ryan Franklin (7)
Jaime Garcia (7)
Fernando Salas (7)
Kyle Lohse (6)
Kyle McClellan (6)
Colby Rasmus (6)
Skip Schumaker (6)
Miguel Batista (5)
Chris Carpenter (5)
Daniel Descalso (5)
Matt Holliday (5)
Jon Jay (5)
Jason Motte (5)
Allen Craig (4)
Rafael Furcal (4)
Tyler Greene (4)
Yadier Molina (4)
Lance Berkman (3)
Mitchell Boggs (3)
Gerald Laird (3)
Edwin Jackson (2)
Trever Miller (2)
Corey Patterson (2)
Marc Rzepczynski (2)
Matt Carpenter (1)
Maikel Cleto (1)
Tony Cruz (1)
Octavio Dotel (1)
Mark Hamilton (1)
Lance Lynn (1)
Nick Punto (1)
Arthur Rhodes (1)
Eduardo Sanchez (1)
Raul Valdes (1)
PJ Walters (1)

2010 Top Goat: Brendan Ryan (14)
2009 Top Goats: Rick Ankiel and Todd Wellemeyer (13)
2008 Top Goat: Troy Glaus (13)

    Cardinal Nation Approval Ratings (March 2011)
    Adam Wainwright 94.7% (down 0.9%)
    Matt Holliday 91.1% (up 6.6%)
    Albert Pujols 90.4% (down 8.3%)
    Dave Duncan 87.9% (up 0.9%)
    Derrick Goold 87.8%
    Chris Carpenter 86.9% (down 6.7%)
    Matthew Leach 85.5%
    Mike Shannon 84.9% (down 4.6%)
    John Rooney 84.3% (up 8.1%)
    Yadier Molina 83.7% (down 8.3%)
    Colby Rasmus 81.8% (up 5.0%)
    Pop Warner 76.7%
    Jim Hayes 76.1%
    John Mozeliak 74.1% (down 12.0%)
    Ryan Franklin 72.8% (up 3.1%)
    Bill Dewitt 71.0% (down 12.0%)
    Tony La Russa 70.8% (down 10.2%)
    BJ Rains 70.4%
    Ricky Horton 69.1%
    John Vuch 68.9%
    Jeff Luhnow 66.4%
    Skip Schumaker 64.1% (down 17.0%)
    Al Hrabosky 63.2% (up 19.0%)
    Mark McGwire 62.5% (down 10.7%)
    Dan Lozano 58.7%
    Joe Strauss 57.5%
    Kyle Lohse 55.1% (down 11.7%)

    2009
    Rick Ankiel 83.9%
    Chris Duncan 69.1%


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