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Hanging In There

Posted on September 14, 2011 at 6:52 AM
Filed Under: Heroes and Goats | Pittsburgh Pirates | St. Louis Cardinals
It was a fairly crazy night in Pittsburgh, a profane one if you will, and yet the Cardinals were able to win the game and keep pace with Atlanta, who also won, in the race for the wild card.  Unfortunately, that meant another game off the calendar with no change, which means advantage Braves.

Nothing against the man, but you know it's a bit strange when Daniel Descalso gets three hits and is the Hero of the piece.  His hit in the ninth started the winning rally as well, though it was Tyler Greene who pinch-ran and scored the winning run.

It's a bit strange when Albert Pujols makes three errors in the same game.  I will say that I saw the first error and, while it was an error, he seemed to be much closer to second than most first basemen were.  With other first basemen, that's probably a hit through the infield, but AP was right there, he just couldn't pick it up.

It's a bit strange (but a little more normal this year) when Chris Carpenter gives up a lead.  Not to say that his contract extension wasn't deserved--though Pip's take on it is worth reading--but it's something that is going to happen at times as Carp ages.  He's still a very good pitcher, but his consistency isn't always going to be there.

I think the Goat has to be Matt Holliday, who went 0-4 with two strikeouts, but it's painful to put that on him since he left the game before his last at-bat with an injured hand.  From the article, it seems like Holliday might be done for the year, which would likely increase the long-shot odds this team faces to make the postseason.

If it is the last we see of Holliday this season, just look at his injury history this year.  Appendectomy at the beginning of the year.  A strained side later in the year.  A quadriceps injury.  Heck, even a moth in the ear!  To have gone through all that and still put up a .295/.388/.528 season is pretty incredible.  I hope that they are overstating things and Holliday will be back before too long, but if not, it's been a good year.

Cards have to move on, though, if they want to chase down Atlanta.  They've got an afternoon game today, which features Edwin Jackson vs. Charlie Morton.

Jackson has done a very good job for the Cardinals, though he's not always been able to come away with the victory.  If the Cardinals didn't have Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook locked up for next year, I think Jackson would be a guy that it'd be nice to have back.

Jackson faced the Pirates at the end of last month, giving up four runs (though only one was earned) in six innings and getting a victory.  His career numbers:

PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS IBB HBP GDP
Ryan Ludwick 10 8 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 .125 .300 .125 .425 0 1 0
Derrek Lee 9 5 3 1 0 0 2 3 0 .600 .667 .800 1.467 0 0 0
Garrett Jones 7 6 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 .167 .286 .167 .452 0 0 1
Andrew McCutchen 7 6 2 0 0 1 1 1 1 .333 .429 .833 1.262 0 0 0
Ronny Cedeno 6 6 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 .333 .333 .500 .833 0 0 0
Ryan Doumit 6 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 .000 .333 .000 .333 0 0 0
Jose Tabata 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .250 .000 .250 0 1 0
Josh Harrison 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .667 1.000 0 0 0
Jason Jaramillo 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333 .667 0 0 0
Michael McKenry 3 3 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 .667 .667 1.000 1.667 0 0 0
Alex Presley 3 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .333 .333 .333 .667 0 0 0
Neil Walker 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .333 .000 .333 0 0 0
Daniel McCutchen 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
Charlie Morton 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Chase d'Arnaud 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
Total 69 55 14 4 0 1 8 9 8 .255 .373 .382 .755 0 2 1
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/14/2011.

Not much there, though Derrek Lee has done a lot of damage in the past. 

Charlie Morton was the big story earlier in the year, as the fact that he copied Roy Halladay and was achieving success became well-known. He's fallen from those heights, though, and was recently removed from the rotation. Last time out, the Cards battered him for five runs in 4.1 innings. Historically:
 
PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS IBB HBP GDP
Albert Pujols 23 18 5 2 0 0 5 4 2 .278 .391 .389 .780 1 0 1
Skip Schumaker 22 20 10 1 0 0 2 2 2 .500 .545 .550 1.095 0 0 0
Lance Berkman 17 12 7 3 0 2 6 5 1 .583 .706 1.333 2.039 0 0 0
Ryan Theriot 16 15 6 0 0 0 1 1 2 .400 .438 .400 .838 0 0 0
Matt Holliday 12 12 4 1 0 1 4 0 2 .333 .333 .667 1.000 0 0 1
Yadier Molina 10 10 4 1 0 0 2 0 0 .400 .400 .500 .900 0 0 0
Allen Craig 9 7 5 1 0 0 0 2 0 .714 .778 .857 1.635 0 0 0
Daniel Descalso 9 5 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 .000 .444 .000 .444 0 1 0
Kyle Lohse 7 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
David Freese 6 6 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 .167 .167 .167 .333 0 0 2
Jon Jay 6 4 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 .250 .500 .250 .750 0 0 0
Gerald Laird 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
Rafael Furcal 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 0 0 0
Edwin Jackson 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.000 2.000 0 0 0
Total 144 118 45 9 0 3 23 19 15 .381 .464 .534 .998 1 1 4
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/14/2011.

Lance Berkman has torn him up and, especially with Holliday out, we'll likely see Allen Craig in the lineup. 

Marlins and Braves start half an hour before the Cards/Pirates, with Ricky Nolasco going against Randall Delgado. I'm sure all of us will be keeping track of both games this afternoon. Go Fins and Feathers!

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Heroes
Matt Holliday (5)
Matt Carpenter (4)
Rafael Furcal (4)
Carlos Beltran (3)
Jaime Garcia (3)
Jon Jay (3)
Kyle Lohse (3)
Lance Lynn (3)
Yadier Molina (3)
David Freese (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)
Jason Motte (3)
Marc Rzepczynski (3)
Adam Wainwright (3)
Rafael Furcal (2)
Tyler Greene (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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