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One Last Stand

Posted on August 30, 2011 at 6:57 AM
Filed Under: Milwaukee Brewers | St. Louis Cardinals
A day off yesterday for the Cards, as they headed to Milwaukee for what has to be the shortest roadtrip of the year.  And, if they are to keep any flicker of hope alive (assuming there is one), the most important.

If--a huge if--the Cards are able to sweep this series and sweep next week's series against the Brew Crew, they can at least make things look respectable.  Of course, they need help as well--as Matt Holliday puts it, "we need to win a lot, they need to win a little" and they have to look like the team they are on paper, not the team that Cardinal fans have watched all year, especially the last month or so.

Can they do that?  Perhaps.  They have the talent to do it, even if Chris Carpenter won't pitch in this first series.  It'd be unlikely, but with that many head to head games, you can't completely rule them out.  Sweep those and hope that it inspires this team to go on a tear and that the law of averages finally catches up with Milwaukee.  Things can happen.  Just don't put your money on them.

What's also interesting is the increased buzz around Lance Berkman.  Berkman cleared waivers earlier in the month and apparently is the target of the Texas Rangers.  While on one hand it'd be great to get Berkman back to the postseason and back to Texas, I don't expect the Cards are going to do that unless they get bowled over.  Berkman is still in the picture for next year, especially if Albert Pujols doesn't resign, and I don't think the Cards do anything to jeopardize that.

Tonight might be an interesting indicator.  The last time Edwin Jackson was in Milwaukee, he was battered for ten runs in seven innings.  While he did better the next time against them, it still just barely qualified as a quality start.  Now, Jackson goes against the Brew Crew for the third time this month.  Could he be able to put together a winning outing on the road?  That would set a nice tone for the series.  Here are the numbers:

PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS IBB HBP GDP
Yuniesky Betancourt 23 21 4 1 0 0 1 1 3 .190 .217 .238 .455 0 0 0
Mark Kotsay 13 10 2 1 0 0 2 3 2 .200 .385 .300 .685 0 0 0
Ryan Braun 10 9 3 2 0 0 0 1 0 .333 .400 .556 .956 0 0 2
Prince Fielder 10 10 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 .200 .200 .300 .500 0 0 0
Jerry Hairston 10 8 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 .500 .600 .500 1.100 0 0 0
Casey McGehee 10 10 3 0 0 3 5 0 0 .300 .300 1.200 1.500 0 0 0
Craig Counsell 7 6 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .167 .286 .167 .452 0 0 1
Corey Hart 7 6 3 0 0 2 4 1 2 .500 .571 1.500 2.071 0 0 0
Nyjer Morgan 7 6 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 .500 .500 .833 1.333 0 0 0
George Kottaras 4 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 .250 .250 .500 .750 0 0 0
Jonathan Lucroy 3 3 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 .667 .667 .667 1.333 0 0 0
Shaun Marcum 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 0 0 0
Yovani Gallardo 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
Randy Wolf 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
Total 111 98 29 6 1 5 14 9 15 .296 .352 .531 .882 0 0 3
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/30/2011.

On the other side of things is Shaun Marcum. Interestingly enough, the Cards were able to get to Marcum the last time they were in Milwaukee, but other than that game he's been pretty tough. Can the offense come through on him tonight? Don't know, as it'd go against history.
 
PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS IBB HBP GDP
Corey Patterson 13 12 4 2 0 0 2 1 3 .333 .385 .500 .885 0 0 0
Lance Berkman 12 11 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 .091 .167 .091 .258 0 0 0
Rafael Furcal 12 11 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .091 .167 .091 .258 0 0 0
Gerald Laird 12 12 4 0 0 0 1 0 3 .333 .333 .333 .667 0 0 0
Albert Pujols 9 8 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .125 .222 .125 .347 0 0 0
Skip Schumaker 9 9 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 .222 .222 .222 .444 0 0 0
Matt Holliday 7 6 3 0 0 1 1 1 1 .500 .571 1.000 1.571 0 0 0
Jon Jay 6 6 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 .333 .333 .500 .833 0 0 0
Yadier Molina 6 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .167 .167 .167 .333 0 0 0
David Freese 4 4 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 .250 .250 .250 .500 0 0 0
Daniel Descalso 3 3 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 .667 .667 .667 1.333 0 0 0
Edwin Jackson 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .333 .333 .333 .667 0 0 0
Ryan Theriot 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
Jaime Garcia 2 2 1 0 0 1 3 0 0 .500 .500 2.000 2.500 0 0 0
Jake Westbrook 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
Total 103 98 24 3 0 2 12 5 19 .245 .282 .337 .618 0 0 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/30/2011.

It's not a matchup that leans in the Cardinals' favor, but so often the matchups that have favored the Cards on paper haven't turned out that way when they play the game.

Look, odds are that the next four weeks are just running off games on the schedule.  But if there's even a chance this could be one of those seasons that's talked about at length in years to come, a year that Milwaukee fans never want to hear about, it has to start tonight.  Worth watching, wouldn't you say?

 
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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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