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Cardinals Continue To Hit

Posted on April 15, 2011 at 10:05 AM
Filed Under: Houston Astros | Los Angeles Dodgers | St. Louis Cardinals
At times, you really have to like the law of averages.

For the fourth straight day, the Cardinals scored eight runs or more.  A team that struggled to get two a game now seems to regularly put that up in an inning.  While this run likely won't last, the surge to pull them up to what would be average has been fun to watch.  This time, the team did it against a guy that had been very tough on them in the past.

I think Lance Berkman might have had a bit of an eye on the general fanbase when he uttered this quote, which I really think sums up a lot.

"Opinions tend to swing a lot this early in the season. I wouldn't say that we're the '27 Yankees based on the last four or five games. And I wouldn't say we were done before that."

Completely true.  I think fan confidence is probably double where it was last week, if not more, but if the team slides into another scoring funk, that confidence will erode.  Baseball may be more of a marathon than a sprint, but for those that follow it, it's a daily rollercoaster.  As much as we know we should take the long view, it is hard to see past the current hill on the ride, living in the current moment rather than the whole season at once.

If you are a fan of the offense, there were a lot of good things for you.  Hero Matt Holliday went three for five, collecting three RBI.  Apparently, he's always hit the Dodgers well so this could be a fun weekend for him.  The Lance Berkman Fan Club was out in full force as well, as he raced down the line to beat out an infield single and tacked on another hit as well.  Albert Pujols's run of multi-hit games was snapped, but his one hit was a home run, which was great to see.

Interestingly, this was the first game of the season where the Cards didn't draw a walk.  I guess when you are pounding 16 hits, the opposing pitchers are staying around the plate.

The pitching side of things wasn't quite as pleasant, though you can handle it more when the offense puts up nine and wins.  Mitchell Boggs had another good outing, with three strikeouts in his two scoreless innings.  I think the back is fine and I'd expect Boggs to start getting those eighth inning assignments whenever the Cardinals play another close game.

That was about the extent of real highlights from the pitching staff, though.  Jaime Garcia struggled a bit, but was able to limit damage.  There were many times it looked like he'd give a lot of run, but he made the pitches to keep the Dodgers to one.  He noted some numbness in his foot after running the bases in the top of the fifth (getting thrown out trying to go first to third) and that gave the Cards a convenient reason to lift him after he pitched the bottom of that inning.  It apparently cleared up before the game was over and there's not expected to be any lasting problem.

In games like these, it's hard to find a Goat.  Obviously during the season all Goats are not created equal.  That said, for last night I'm going to go with Ryan Franklin again.  I know it appears that I'm picking on Franky, but here's my thinking. Everyone's been concerned about you, afraid any time you are warming up.  There's a five-run lead.  Throwing a perfect inning in this outing would have been a good idea, helping to at least ease fears a little bit.  Instead, he allows a home run to Matt Kemp.  In relation to the game, no big deal, but it doesn't help the confidence level of the faithful, though.  That was all he gave up, which is a positive, and it is always hard to judge closers when they come into non-save situations, but Franklin really needed to have a clean outing and he didn't.

Fernando Salas made his first appearance of the season, giving up a run in his inning.  Sounds like it could have been more, but Jon Jay made a nice catch.  (By this time in the game, I believe I was huddling with the family in the bathroom as the tornado sirens went off.  But if they hadn't been, I'd have been asleep by that time anyway, so I was missing it either way.)

Let's see what we have on tap for tonight.  First, Kyle Lohse versus the boys in blue:

PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS IBB HBP GDP
Casey Blake 44 41 11 2 1 2 7 2 11 .268 .295 .512 .808 0 0 0
Juan Uribe 16 15 2 0 0 0 1 0 3 .133 .188 .133 .321 0 1 0
Aaron Miles 13 12 5 1 0 0 2 0 1 .417 .462 .500 .962 0 1 0
Andre Ethier 9 7 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 .286 .333 .286 .619 0 0 0
Matt Kemp 9 9 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 .111 .111 .111 .222 0 0 0
James Loney 9 9 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 .222 .222 .333 .556 0 0 0
Marcus Thames 9 8 4 0 0 1 2 0 4 .500 .556 .875 1.431 0 1 0
Rod Barajas 8 8 1 0 0 0 2 0 2 .125 .125 .125 .250 0 0 0
Ted Lilly 7 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 4 .167 .167 .333 .500 0 0 0
Tony Gwynn 5 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .200 .200 .200 .400 0 0 0
Clayton Kershaw 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
Jamey Carroll 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 0 0 0
Hiroki Kuroda 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 0 0 0
Total 136 127 32 5 1 3 17 3 34 .252 .281 .378 .659 0 3 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/15/2011.

As always, it's tough to know if these historical trends apply to the seemingly new and improved Kyle Lohse. Will we see old favorite (at least for some) Aaron Miles in the starting lineup based on this history?  Looking forward to seeing if the new Lohse can stick around.

Jon Garland's history against St. Louis is also interesting:
  
PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS IBB HBP GDP
Lance Berkman 24 22 5 1 0 1 4 2 5 .227 .292 .409 .701 1 0 0
Albert Pujols 15 13 5 0 0 2 3 2 1 .385 .467 .846 1.313 1 0 0
Skip Schumaker 13 13 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 .154 .154 .231 .385 0 0 1
Colby Rasmus 12 11 3 1 0 1 2 1 1 .273 .333 .636 .970 0 0 2
Gerald Laird 11 11 4 1 0 1 3 0 1 .364 .364 .727 1.091 0 0 0
Matt Holliday 9 7 2 0 0 0 1 2 1 .286 .444 .286 .730 1 0 0
Yadier Molina 8 7 5 0 0 0 2 1 2 .714 .750 .714 1.464 0 0 0
Jon Jay 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .250 .000 .250 0 0 0
David Freese 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .333 .333 .333 .667 0 0 0
Chris Carpenter 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
Total 101 92 27 4 0 5 15 9 15 .293 .356 .500 .856 3 0 3
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/15/2011.

When we talked on Wednesday, Alex from Dodgerfan.net mentioned concerns about Garland, who is making his first start coming off of injury.  Is he ready?  It sounded like the team might have wanted to keep him on the farm for another start, but he didn't want to do that.  Looking at the numbers, you'd think that maybe Skip Schumaker would get the night off and see what Tyler Greene could do.  I'd almost suggest Allen Craig in Berkman's slot as well, but with the way the Big Puma is swinging the bat, I don't know if you tinker with it.

It's a great day to be playing the Dodgers as well because it is Jackie Robinson Day around the big leagues.  Many of you remember when this day first came about, back in 1997.  I still remember watching that rainy game in New York with the Dodgers facing the Mets when they announced that 42 would be retired throughout baseball.  I remember Ken Griffey a few years later wanting to wear 42 to honor Jackie on his day, a trend that quickly spread.  I believe the Cardinals might have been the first team (or at least one of the first) to have everyone wear 42 for the game.

This year, MLB is rolling out Iam42.com to honor Jackie Robinson.  A number of videos are up on that site, including Cardinal pitcher Jake Westbrook and Cardinal Hall of Famer Lou Brock.  Check out the various tributes and realize that today's game is so heavily impacted by what happened back in 1947.

While we are talking about web sites, I want to note that the Diamond Diaries ladies have a new location!  Be sure to head over and check out the place.  Not sure what they would like for a housewarming gift, but I'm sure leaving a comment will do just fine.  Congrats to them on their move!

Another late one for the Cardinals tonight.  At least tomorrow's Saturday, right?

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Heroes
Matt Holliday (5)
Matt Carpenter (4)
Rafael Furcal (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
Jon Jay (3)
Kyle Lohse (3)
Lance Lynn (3)
Yadier Molina (3)
David Freese (2)
Jaime Garcia (2)
Adam Wainwright (2)
Lance Berkman (1)
Allen Craig (1)
Shane Robinson (1)
Fernando Salas (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

2011 Top Hero: Lance Berkman (24)
2010 Top Heroes: Matt Holliday and Albert Pujols (24)
2009 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (28)
2008 Top Hero: Albert Pujols (25)

Goats
Matt Holliday (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
David Freese (3)
Jaime Garcia (3)
Marc Rzepczynski (3)
Adam Wainwright (3)
Rafael Furcal (2)
Tyler Greene (2)
Jason Motte (2)
J.C. Romero (2)
Fernando Salas (2)
Mitchell Boggs (1)
Matt Carpenter (1)
Tony Cruz (1)
Daniel Descalso (1)
Jon Jay (1)
Erik Komatsu (1)
Kyle Lohse (1)
Victor Marte (1)
Eduardo Sanchez (1)
Jake Westbrook (1)

2011 Top Goat: Ryan Theriot (12)
2010 Top Goat: Brendan Ryan (14)
2009 Top Goats: Rick Ankiel and Todd Wellemeyer (13)
2008 Top Goat: Troy Glaus (13)

2012 Happy Flights
Happy Flights: 7
Happy Flight Opportunities: 12
Happy Flight %: 58%

Through 5/20

    Cardinal Nation Approval Ratings (March 2012)
    Adam Wainwright 91.9% (down 2.8%)
    Chris Carpenter 90.1% (up 3.2%)
    Lance Berkman 88.6%
    Tony La Russa 88.2% (up 17.4%)
    Yadier Molina 87.4% (up 3.7%)
    Matt Holliday 87.3% (down 3.8%)
    David Freese 85.5%
    John Mozeliak 85.4% (up 13.3%)
    Mike Shannon 85.3% (up 0.4%)
    Jose Oquendo 84.7%
    Derrick Goold 82.8% (down 5.0%)
    Mark McGwire 82.6% (up 20.1%)
    John Rooney 81.5% (down 2.8%)
    Mike Matheny 81.1%
    Bill DeWitt 79.8% (up 8.8%)
    United Cardinal Bloggers 78.9%
    Skip Schumaker 73.3% (up 9.2%)
    Jim Hayes 71.9% (down 4.2%)
    Jon Jay 71.1%
    B.J. Rains 69.5% (down 0.9%)
    Kyle Lohse 68.9% (up 13.8%)
    Dan McLaughlin 68.0%
    Joe Strauss 67.7% (up 10.2%)
    Ricky Horton 67.5% (down 1.6%)
    Al Hrabosky 66.4% (up 3.2%)
    Albert Pujols 54.9% (down 45.5%)
    Colby Rasmus 46.5% (down 35.3%)

    2011
    Dave Duncan 87.9% (up 0.9%)
    Matthew Leach 85.5%
    Pop Warner 76.7%
    Ryan Franklin 72.8% (up 3.1%)
    John Vuch 68.9%
    Jeff Luhnow 66.4%
    Dan Lozano 58.7%

    2009
    Rick Ankiel 83.9%
    Chris Duncan 69.1%


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