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One Step At A Time

Posted on August 31, 2011 at 7:12 AM
Filed Under: Heroes and Goats | Milwaukee Brewers | St. Louis Cardinals
If the miracle is to happen and the Cardinals are to get at least within shouting distance of the Brewers, they have to win all of the head-to-head meetings left.  Last night was a good first step.

It seemed like a game that we thought we'd see much more often this year, save the offensive shutout.  Strong starting pitching, making the few runs stand up, and some excellent bullpen work.  We'd take games like that, I think, even if they do make us a bit nervous in the ninth.  And how nice was it to see the other team make critical errors and hit into a double play at a key time for once?

The biggest night had to be Edwin Jackson's.  Returning to the scene of the crime, as it were, he put his last outing in Miller Park, when he got beaten around for 10 runs, well behind him and pitched the kind of game the Cards hoped to get out of him when they traded for him.  Plus, to go along with his one run in seven innings, he even drove in the first run of the game with a single.  Man pretty much did it all and it was very good to see.

Also, you have to give a lot of credit to Jason Motte.  I was surprised to see him come into the eighth as all the talk has been how he was going to get some closing opportunities going forward.  I'm still not completely sure why he came in there instead of Fernando Salas, but he did a great job getting out of the inning by getting Ryan Braun to ground out after a Nyjer Morgan single.  (You have to tip your cap to Morgan, because he had a superb at-bat against Motte to get on.)

Yadier Molina had two of the Cardinal six hits and continues to flirt with the .300 mark.  On the flip side, Albert Pujols went 0-2 (with two walks) and is down to .287, making that .300 level even harder to fathom for him.

It was a forgettable night for David Freese, who edges out Lance Berkman for the Goat tag.  Both went 0-4, but Freese struck out twice to Puma's once.  Plus Berkman gets bonus points for stating in the strongest possible terms that he wanted to stay in St. Louis the rest of the year.  I'm sure John Mozeliak entertained the notion of sending Berkman to Texas (and the playoffs) and then trying to get him back for next year, but Berkman squashed that and, to me, that tells me either he really doesn't like Texas or he does really enjoy his time here.  Whatever the case, he'll be in Cardinal red the rest of the season.

Cards try to tag Milwaukee with back-to-back losses at home for only the second time this season.  Jake Westbrook tries to harness his control and keep the Cards in the game.  Here are his career numbers against these Brewers:

PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS IBB HBP GDP
Mark Kotsay 34 27 9 1 0 2 9 5 2 .333 .424 .593 1.017 1 0 0
Yuniesky Betancourt 17 17 5 1 0 0 1 0 1 .294 .294 .353 .647 0 0 1
Prince Fielder 13 10 5 1 0 1 4 2 0 .500 .538 .900 1.438 0 0 1
Ryan Braun 10 8 4 0 0 0 1 2 0 .500 .600 .500 1.100 0 0 1
Jerry Hairston 9 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .111 .000 .111 0 1 0
Corey Hart 9 6 3 1 0 1 1 3 0 .500 .667 1.167 1.833 0 0 0
Casey McGehee 9 8 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .111 .000 .111 0 0 0
Nyjer Morgan 8 8 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .375 .375 .375 .750 0 0 1
Craig Counsell 4 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250 .250 .250 .500 0 0 0
Jonathan Lucroy 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
George Kottaras 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 .333 .333 .667 1.000 0 0 0
Randy Wolf 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333 .667 0 0 0
Yovani Gallardo 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
Shaun Marcum 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
Josh Wilson 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 1
Total 129 112 32 5 0 4 16 13 9 .286 .359 .438 .797 1 1 5
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/31/2011.

Not exactly a dominant line. Westbrook gave up just three runs in eight innings last time he faced the Brewers, though he did walk more than he struck out. Control will be a major factor tonight. 

On the flip side, it's Randy Wolf. Wolf is having a great year, but actually the Cards have been able to get to him some this year, as he's put up an ERA close to 6 against hem. Here's the career stats:
 
PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS IBB HBP GDP
Rafael Furcal 47 45 11 1 0 1 9 0 8 .244 .234 .333 .567 0 0 1
Albert Pujols 46 37 10 2 0 2 12 4 3 .270 .326 .486 .813 2 1 1
Matt Holliday 40 33 8 5 0 1 8 6 8 .242 .375 .485 .860 1 1 0
Lance Berkman 36 30 3 2 0 0 1 6 6 .100 .250 .167 .417 1 0 0
Yadier Molina 32 32 7 3 0 1 2 0 3 .219 .219 .406 .625 0 0 2
Ryan Theriot 32 30 7 1 0 0 1 1 2 .233 .281 .267 .548 0 1 1
Corey Patterson 15 14 6 2 0 0 0 0 1 .429 .429 .571 1.000 0 0 1
David Freese 12 12 4 0 0 0 1 0 3 .333 .333 .333 .667 0 0 0
Allen Craig 9 9 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .111 .111 .111 .222 0 0 0
Skip Schumaker 9 7 2 1 0 0 2 2 1 .286 .444 .429 .873 0 0 1
Chris Carpenter 7 5 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 .200 .200 .200 .400 0 0 0
Jon Jay 6 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 .167 .167 .333 .500 0 0 0
Edwin Jackson 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .667 .667 .667 1.333 0 0 0
Octavio Dotel 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
Jaime Garcia 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
Kyle Lohse 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 0 0 0
Jake Westbrook 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0
Daniel Descalso 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 0 1 0
Total 303 270 64 18 0 5 37 19 39 .237 .291 .359 .650 4 4 7
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/31/2011.

It's not the best matchup on paper for the Cardinals, but they are to the point where they have to defy stats and win anyway if they want to stay competitive. A win tonight and you just might be able to believe a little more.


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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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