Do We Have To Talk About It?

Putrid.  Pathetic.  Despair-causing.  Ugly.  Pick your negative adjective and you could apply it to the three games this weekend against the Rockies.  When your opponent scores more in one inning (9) than you do in three games (7), you could be in a slump.  When your opponent scores more in its lowest scoring game than you have in a week and a half, you are in a slump.

At least Friday was a decent game that the final score disguised as a blowout.  Adam Wainwright, while not as dominant as he's been at times this year, did well enough to keep the Cards in the game.  Take that back, he did well enough to keep a normal offense in the game.  When he left with the score 3-1, there was a strong chance the game was over anyway.  That didn't give Dennys Reyes and Jason Motte and Jess Todd the right to go blow things out of proportion, however.  Sure, the Cards scored a few runs late with homers by Yadier Molina and Ryan Ludwick, but you have to figure by that time, with that lead, Rockie pitchers are just putting it in there, letting people hit it to get out of the innings. 

Speaking of Jess Todd, I've not had this explained to my satisfaction yet.  The Cardinals designate Blaine Boyer so they can bring up Todd.  They add Todd to the 40 man roster and start his arbitration clock.  They go through all of that, then send him back down the next day for Blake Hawksworth?  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see Hawksworth get a call up as well, but it seems ridiculous to go through all of that with Todd for a couple of innings.  Unless there's some sort of trade showcasing going on (and neither of them really passed that test, did they?) it doesn't make sense.

Saturday was another listless, unexciting game as the Cardinals continued to hit Aaron Cook's pitches into the ground and Ian Stewart kept hitting pitches out of the park.  Four hits won't win many games, though at least one of them was a Rick Ankiel home run.  Still, with the way this team is performing, when an opponent reaches a lead of three or more, it's basically over.  Which makes it depressing when that happens in the fourth.  You could probably pick numerous Goats, but Todd Wellemeyer giving up six runs, including two homers to Stewart, will do the trick.

At least on Sunday the Cardinals had a lead for a while before the bullpen, again, was less fireproof than fire starter.  Sunday also had the novelty of Albert Pujols driving in two runners on a sacrifice fly.  (Just when you think you've seen it all out of the guy.....)  But the game again boiled down to not enough offense (only Colby Rasmus and Pujols, and AP didn't do anything after that rare sac fly) and an explosion in the pitching staff, this time by Kyle McClellan.

It's getting to the point where, as a fan, you throw up your hands and wonder what is going to go wrong now.  At least earlier in the season, there was great pitching giving the Cardinals a chance to win and distracting from the offensive woes.  I don't mind 3-2 games or 2-0 games if the Cardinals are winning them.  It's just tough to stomach two runs or less on a regular basis when the pitching staff is giving up four or five.

If Bernie Mikalsz is to be believed (and there's not really any reason he shouldn't be, save the fact he likes to stir things up occasionally), the clubhouse is starting to have the same doubts and frustrations.  I'm not to the level of suggesting John Mozeliak package the farm for anybody, but I do hope he's being creative.  Someone suggested Ryan Zimmerman, though the odds of the Nats moving him are almost zero.  Still, things like that, thoughts not necessarily being hashed and rehashed in the marketplace of ideas, are more likely to improve this team than the ones being batted about.

If getting smacked around by a last place team wasn't enough, today we get Brad Thompson back on the mound against an old acquaintance.  I wouldn't say friend, because Jason Marquis frustrated a lot of people when he was in St. Louis.  I was one of his early defenders, saying he hadn't been as bad as his detractors claimed.  By the end of his tenure, though, there wasn't much left to defend.

Still, because he's a former Cardinal, you know he's going to wind up handcuffing this already anemic offensive production.  He has a pretty decent history against most of these Redbirds, though the maligned outfield has done damage against him, which hopefully won't tempt Tony La Russa to sit Rasmus tonight, even though Chris Duncan is .300 with a HR, Ankiel is .400 (in five at bats) and Ludwick is .333 (in six at-bats).  St. Louis was able to get to him last time they faced him, so maybe Marquis won't be able to get revenge this afternoon.

Thompson, on the other hand, doesn't have good numbers against the Rockies. Nobody's taken him deep, but they put the runners on.  He actually has a career ERA of 1.50 against Colorado, but there's no way to tell how many inherited runners might have scored in those games (at least, not where I'm looking).

It's an afternoon tilt, so maybe the bats will warm up.  Otherwise, it's going to be a frustrating Monday and a long flight to Florida.

A friend of mine works for the Cardinals and suggested I pass along this deal if anyone is interested.  You can see the Cards take on the Giants from the Legends Club for $70, which is apparently 30% off the regular price.  If interested, click here and check it out.  The coupon code is INSIDER.


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