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Mood Killer

Posted on April 13, 2011 at 10:00 AM
Filed Under: Arizona Diamondbacks | Heroes and Goats | St. Louis Cardinals
If it's not one thing, it's another.  As soon as the offense looks like it's starting to straighten out, the pitching decides it's had enough.  Coming on the heels of a two-game winning streak and some revived optimism, that was a huge downer.

Chris Carpenter had one of the worst outings we've seen from him in a Cardinal uniform.  There was nothing he could do that would stop the Arizona attack, apparently.  Even an inning where he got the first two batters out exploded on him, with a hit and a home run.  All in all, a night to forget for Carp.  Sunday against Los Angeles hopefully will go much better.

The more lingering results of last night could be the dent that was physically put into the bullpen.  Bryan Augenstein, who an inning before had gotten his first major league hit, went down with a severe groin injury and was helped off the field yesterday.  He's already been placed on the disabled list, with Fernando Salas becoming the first player from Memphis up this year.  (I think most everyone had him in the pool, right.)  Augenstein was looking pretty good in the early going, but I don't think the bullpen drops off much with Salas taking his slot.

Brian Tallet also left yesterday hurt, and that might have more of an impact on the squad.  Tallet broke his glove hand, meaning that in theory he could still pitch.  Comebackers to the mound would be pretty painful, as would generally catching the ball.  However, being that he's one of the two left-handers and there's not an obvious lefty from Memphis to bring up, the club is taking a bit more time to evaluate him.  They'll have someone, likely Eduardo Sanchez, ready in case they decide to DL Tallet, but if he can go, they'll probably at least try to keep him around to keep the various matchup options open.

If it wasn't for the implosion of Chris Carpenter, Yadier Molina might have gotten the Goat tag, as he had a couple of big chances for the Cards.  In the fifth, in an 8-5 game, he wasn't able to get a two-out hit with the bases loaded and the next inning, when it was a one run game, he couldn't get it done in the same situation.  Getting a hit in either one of those spots could have swung the balance of the game.

On the positive side, the Lance Berkman Fan Club is going strong. Berkman gathered three hits, including another home run.  Not sure if Berkman has always liked hitting in Arizona, but he sure is liking it this year.

Also, in a nice sign, Albert Pujols went 3-5, perhaps showing some life.  While none of them were extra base hits, the one hit I saw (didn't make it through all of this game) was hit hard past shortstop.  It could be that his BABIP is starting to climb on its way to where it normally is.  Good to see David Freese and Colby Rasmus with home runs as well.

Last game in the hitting paradise that is Chase Field before heading over to LA and their pitcher's park.  Here's what Jake Westbrook has done against the Diamondbacks.

PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS IBB HBP GDP
Melvin Mora 20 19 7 2 0 0 3 0 2 .368 .368 .474 .842 0 0 0
Henry Blanco 14 13 4 2 0 0 2 0 3 .308 .308 .462 .769 0 0 0
Willie Bloomquist 6 6 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 0 0 0
Russell Branyan 3 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 .333 .333 1.333 1.667 0 0 0
Xavier Nady 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
Total 46 44 15 4 0 1 7 0 5 .341 .341 .500 .841 0 0 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/13/2011.

Not a lot of exposure there.  Obviously Melvin Mora has faced him often from his time in Baltimore.  Figure he'll be in the lineup today.  I will say that it's not a comforting thought to put Westbrook, the way has pitched so far, into this environment, no matter how unfamiliar the Arizona hitters are with him.

Though if you think Westbrook is a fairly clean slate to his opposition, check out what the Cardinal hitters have done against Ian Kennedy.

PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS IBB HBP GDP
Ryan Theriot 7 7 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 .429 .429 .429 .857 0 0 0
Lance Berkman 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
Total 10 10 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 .300 .300 .300 .600 0 0 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/13/2011.

That's it.  10 at-bats by three people.  I would have thought Kennedy would have gone up against the Redbirds last year, but apparently they missed him as both of these guys faced Kennedy from other teams.  Theriot hopefully is telling the whole team the scouting report, and we'll have to see if the bats are going to stay as live as they have been in this series.
If you are interested, that prediction game YNOT that I've mentioned before is up for the Los Angeles series.  Also, you get me and a co-host TBD tonight on the UCB Radio Hour.  Come listen!
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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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