Let’s not talk about it…

k? ok. I won’t talk about last night’s game if you won’t. so, bad road trip overall…left two games on the table that they should have won; one at colorado and on in milwaukee.

now it’s home sweet home. the cardinals will start a six game homestand tonight; three against the buccos and three against the surprisingly decent to good tampa bay rays. after that, the cards head on the road to play what would have been jimmy baseball’s new team.

tonight, its lohse (3-2, 4.87 era; most because of his last start which was pretty bad) vs. dumatraitm, lefty that has been good this season, going 1-1 with a 3.86 era.

now, rumors have been circulating around the interwebs that the cubs are really going after jimmy ballgame; they want to send felix pie down to the minors and they would like a lefty bat in the outfield. edmonds fits the bill, if he can stick. I hope he can for his sake, because I’d like for him to be able to end his career on his own terms. it won’t cost them much to give him a shot considering they only have to pay him major league minimum.

greg maddux thinks that jimmy still has something left to offer and derosa wouldnt mind jimmy joining the cubs if he can contribute:

Padres pitcher Greg Maddux said Monday he thinks Edmonds still has something left in his tank. After hitting .153 in April, Edmonds was 5-for-18 (.278 ) in six games in May with a .381 on-base percentage. While his defense isn’t what it used to be, the eight-time Gold Glover would be playing his home games in a much smaller park than spacious Petco Park.
Mark DeRosa said after Monday’s win that Edmonds would be welcome in the Cubs’ clubhouse.
“He’s been on a lot of winning ballclubs, he’s won a championship,” he said. “He’s been a mainstay there in the middle of the lineup for a great team for a long time. I know one of the things this team lacks is left-handed bats. If he can come and help us out, bring him on.”

Weekend Wrapup & Waino to pitch for series split

not a great, but eventful weekend one might say.

to begin the series, the cardinals looked like they had that game in the bag on friday, but the brewers kept chipping away at the lead. finally, it got the 9th inning and the cardinals had a one run lead and in comes the izzyman. what happens next you ask?

well, he gets the first two out, then I thought it was a 1,2,3 kinda save…..but no! even though weeks is batting below .200, he does not seem to miss mistakes. izzy needed a strike with the bases loaded, so he threw that god awful cutter and guess what happened? it was flat and right in the zone; weeks pulled it to left for a game ending 2 run single. brewcrew win the first one, 4 to 3. wellemeyer actually had a pretty solid start and pujols had homered off of parra for his 7th bomb of the season.

another big story sprung up from this blown save, izzys’ fifth of the season. he took himself out of the closer’s role temporarily, at least until he can get himself straight. he admitted that he is healthy, but he cant throw his curve for a strike and his cutter is not cutting; which equates to it being a flat 88 mph fastball that gets hit hard. I give izzy a lot of credit for this, he really had to have some balls and come out and say that he did not want to cost this team anymore wins and he did. I really respect him a lot more now than I did before.

“It’s just something that needs to be done,” Isringhausen said. “It wasn’t about them. It was about me.” “I haven’t been doing the job. Everybody sees it. It’s time to get it taken care of,” he said.

so now, tlr says that he will use franklin and springer as closers depending I guess on their availability, the situation and the matchups:

“We’re just going to mix and match,” he said. “We’ve got a couple lefthanders. We’ve got (Ryan) Franklin and (Russ) Springer. We’ll see who we’ve got available each day.”

In the mean time, I guess dunc will work with izzy on his mechanics to get him straighten out and back in the closer’s role; until then, he will be pitching in the 6th and 7th inning I suppose.

saturday’s game was similar to friday’s game, but the ending was much better. pineiro pitched a good game, going 6.1 innings and only allowing two earned runs. then villone a allowed a run and it was all tied up in the 8th inning going into the 9th at 3-3. then, in the ninth, facing gagne, big thudwick came up and hit a clutch two run single off of an eric gagne changeup to give the cardinals a 5 to 3 lead. franklin came and and got the save. cards win this one, 5 to 3.

looper had a shaky start and supp had control problems to begin the game. supp settled down without much damage done, but the same cannot be said for looper. he was not horrible, but he was not good enough yesterday. braden gave up four runs in six innings pitched, two of those coming off of the bat of braun as two solo shots. supp on the other hand gave up one earned run through seven innings pitched and collected 4 k’s. the cardinals, as they seem to be doing all season long, made it interesting all the way. thudwick stayed hot and hit a 8th inning solo homer to get the cardinals to within three runs. then, yadier had a rbi single in the 9th inning. to end the game and the threat, adam kennedy grounded out the the shortstop and jj hardy made a great throw to get him out. cardinals lose this one by the score of 5 to 3.

so, tonight, the cards send their ace to the mound, wainwright, and go for the series split against the brew crew. wainwright (3-1, 2.25 era) goes against dave bush (0-4, 6.98 era). last time out bush went 6 innings against the florida marlins and gave up 6 earned runs, let’s hope he does the same tonight. here’s hoping for a cards win tonight!

Almost done!

ok, you’ve probably been expecting this because of the trend that I have set over the last couple of months, or make that years. I apologize for neglecting the blog, but this time, I have the most legit reasons ever…

I’ll be graduating from college in about a week and I’ve had tons of papers and finals to study for and take and I still got one more on tuesday, but its basically over…so thats why I have not been updating the blog.

now, the cardinals have been treading water since sunday, something like a .500 record this week. they gave one game away to the rox; they should have won three out of four.

I’m really beginning to get concerned about izzy. he has already blown, what, three or four saves now? he has not been very consistant the last couple of weeks. I’ve watched a couple of innings in which he pitched and it looks like that damn flat cutter is back. it does not do anything and then gets hammered. he needs to get that straight or may its time to bring in perez or motte and get them some innings; that is, groom one to be the closer of this team. this is the last season on izzy’s contract. it would not hurt to get one of those guys some experience this season so they can just slide into the role next season.

on a very sad note, looks like the jimmy baseball tracker I put up on the sidebar will go down soon (the problem isnt that I have not updated it in forever, or so I have convinced myself). jimmy baseball has been released by the padres after struggling all season defensively and offensively (hitting only .178). I really don’t know what to say. I did not know his demise was goin to come this soon. maybe because he is my favorite player of all time and I chose to be subjective and ignore it. if he is done, I hope the cardinals sign him to a one day deal, the some of the nfl teams have done, so he can retire a cardinal. also, I would love for them to bring him back as a coach or a special assistant on this team. he can really improve the outfielders defense. just think what he could do with slick rick and that rocket arm.
y’know, I never get tired of this pic, ever! I just wish the greatest centerfielder in cardinals history could have gone out on his own terms. I guess all those highlight reel catches and putting your body on the line all those years really took a toll on him. finally, in my book, jimmy is definitely a hall of famer.

I think the cards have found their clean up hitter; at least against lefties. I know thudwick (I really like that nickname) has really been in the zone, but he might be the cardinals best option at cleanup, if not everyday, then against lefties. I think this guy is an everyday player. the cards should really trade duncan, he is the worst of all the outfielders they got. his main attribute is power and he is not hitting for any this season. plus, as some of you have seen in colorado, his defense is still really bad!

now, to he current cards. the split a four game series with the rox. tonight, they start a four game series at milwaukee.
tonight: wellemeyer vs. parra, a lefty 7:05 start
saturday: pineiro vs. sheets, 2:45 start
sunday: looper vs. our old friend soups, 1:05 start, this game will be televised on the st. louis local station, channel 5, ksdk
and monday: bueno waino vs. bush, 7:05 start.

there’s going to be some really good pitching when you got both sheets and waino pitching. have you seen sheets pitch recently? finally, he is living up to his ace status; this guy is great when he is healthy, and he needs to stay healthy and on all season for the brewers to compete this season.

UCB Game Blog: Cards vs. Cubs, Saturday may 3rd, 9th inning

I know I’m a little late on this, but I kinda lost track of time because I’ve been studying for finals.

So, the redbird blog covered the 8th inning and the wrap up is on C70’s blog. so, yeah, not much to talk about in the 9th inning.

A. Rey came in in the 8th and had a little problem with control; giving up a single and a couple of walks but getting out of the inning unscathed. the 9th inning was relatively smooth.

it seems to me like tony really does not want to use him; he has relegated him to mop up duty. I’m thinking that reyes will be traded by the all star break or maybe even earlier. it really depends on when mulder is ready to come back.

brendan ryan played a really good game I thought, defensively and offensively. it was weird seeing him hitting in the 2 hole.

I really don’t know what happened to Lohse; he was going good until he blew up all the sudden. I guess I unfortunately predicted this somewhat in my post friday; he gave up plenty of extra base hits and his first homer of the year. that one was a killer.

ted lilly was good for most of the game. he did what he had to to survive. he did leave a couple of pitches up but the hitters missed them. they did the right thing by not pitching to pujols. clearly, he was really frustrated and got himself out in his first or second at bat I think. he really expanded his strike zone and went after pitches outside his comfort area.

the big guy really needs protection; mo needs to get him a clean up hitter that can flat out hit. he does not have to hit for much power, just be able to hit .300 or so and get on base a lot so there would be some kind of threat behind him thats all. alright, that does it for me. game review at C70’s site.

Bring on the Cubbies!

So, its here…the first cards/cubs series of the season at busch…awesome!

some really good pitching matchups for the cardinals; not so much for the cubbies because big z will not pitch this series.

so, lets look at the matchups:

game 1: tonight at 7:15 central time, its our ace, wainright vs. lefty rich hill

now, we all know that the cardinals usually struggle tremendously against lefty starters, but thats not so much the case this season. If I remember correctly, they have been decent against left handed pitching. I think a lot of that goes to plate descipline that this teams seems to have; they have gotten on base by drawing a lot of walks. the problem comes when you don’t drive runs in and thats what happened. recently.

bueno waino was really good the last time out going 9 innings and collecting the win. If waino is sharp and hill has his stuff tonight, this can be great pitching duel.

game 2: saturday afternoon, 2:55 start. its Lohse vs. Lilly, another lefty

lohse has been pretty damn good so far this season. its all because he has not allowed a home run this season in 34.1 innings pitched. I don’t mean to sound like a pessimist, but that does not jive with his career norms; so, seems to be due for a couple of bombs and the cubbies got plenty of hitters that can do that (lee, ramirez, soriano, fukudome, etc.)

also, don’t forget, the big cardinal blogger project covers this game; I’ll be doing the 9th inning, meaning I’ll be your izzy. check back here saturday night or sunday morning for full inning coverage. also, for everything about the cardinal blogger project, check out C70’s site.

game 3: sunday night game on espn, 7:15 start time. wellemeyer vs. ol’ friend marquis

yes, its bipolar betty against broad shoulders. marquis has not been that bad this season, except last start was his worst of the season. he pitched 5 innings and gave up five earned runs…so, let’s hope that carries over to sunday. he does a have decent 4.45 era though with 17 k’s and 10 bb’s.

now, welley has been decent himself, even though I don’t like to admit it. he has made seven starts on the season and has pitched at least six innings in all of them except his first start of the season in which he threw 5. he seems to have a lot more control also, walking a lot less batters these days. I don’t know how long that’s going to hold up, maybe he finally made the adjustment in which he throws with less velocity (91-93 mph) with more control instead of throwing with more velocity (94-97 mph) with less control. he can also reach back for some extra pop on occasion if he really needs it…it will be there.

also, I do expect bryan barton to start at least one of the games against the two lefties hill and lilly if not one. let’s see how this series goes. ok, check back here saturday night/sunday morning for the blogger project and go cards!

Extended weekend wrapup

hey, so again, long time no blog…Its been tough because of all the papers, studying, finals coming up and getting ready to graduate and then  start research and then head to grad school…a lot of stuff going on. now, let’s get to the cards; lots going on and I will not stop if I start so lets do this bullet point style:

• the cardinals lost yesterday to the reds, 4-3. arroyo pitched a decent game, a quality start; 6 innings and 3 earned runs. he is really a decent pitcher that’s not faired well the last two seasons in his home park because its very hitter friendly. if he was on the cardinals, he’d be real good. on the plus side, Ank hit is fifth of the season; it was a solo shot.
• turns out, babyface will not be sent to the minors but put on the dl because they say he has right elbow inflammation. whatever that means…hopefully its nothing serious but I beg to differ with the cards medical staff.
• tony keeps doing what he’s been doing all his career, that is, going against the grain. ludwick hit leadoff last night, it did not work out so well because lud went 0 for 5 with 4 k’s…that’s just one night though. too small of a sample size.
• our old friend, walt jocketty became the gm of the cincy reds. is anyone really surprised? I expected him to eventually end up as the gm whether it was sooner or later. anyways, I’m sincerely happy for walt and I wish him the best of luck.
• one of the most beloved recent cardinals, matty mo, was released a couple of days ago. its sad to see since the guy is only 33. seems like his arm is really tired, I hope its not the end of the road for him, its said that he will probably retire. If I was the cards, I give ol’ matty a minor league deal and send him to memphis to see what he still got. it wont hurt and if he is any good, bring him up! give morris one more shot, for old times sake!
• finally, great baseball against the ’stros last weekend with a lot of intrigue and really close games. glaus finally hit his first homer of the season. it got really heated a couple of times in teh series due to scuffles and bench clearings because of people throwing at people. the worst one was when backe basically threw at molina’s head. I kind of like it as long as no one gets hurt. it gives the rivalry more intrigue. I don’t know about you, but I think the cardinals’ real rivals in this division are the astros. ever since the 2004 and 2005 nlcs’s, its been great to watch these two teams duke it out. its almost always competitive baseball and great pitching duels or slugfest and the games are always toe to toe. the cubs are the old rivals, but I think it really has lost its zest because of winning big by either team or the cardinals/cubs being basically noncompetitors at times.

 

that’s it, hoepfully it won’t be too long before I post again. should be back to full force by middle of april; graduation is on may 17th!

Special game thread: friday the 25th of April

Looper
3-1, 5.49vs.
Chacon
0-0, 2.77

looper started out hot, collecting three wins but his last time out he got rocketed. he got lit up for seven runs in his last start. hopefully, he will rebound and pitch a good game.

chacon has pitched pretty well this season, at least result and era wise. he has pitched 26 innings, walked 11 and struck out 14. that does not look like a good bb/k ratio. he is not this good, someone will figure him out and pound him sooner or later…hopefully it’ll be the cardinals.

lineups:
houston- matsui, erstad, tejada, berkman, lee, blum, pence, towles, chacon.
St. Louis- schumaker, ankiel, pujols, duncan, glaus, kennedy, molina, looper and ryan.

tony loaded up on the lefties tonight against chacon. he must know something…lefties must hit this guy pretty hard. ok, thats it for the game thread; go cards!

Cardinals earn a gritty win

great game yesterday; it was what one would expect from two young teams with potentially great players, I’m more so talking about the brewers at this point but the cardinals are not far behind.

it did not look like it was going to be a pitching duel until the 4th or fifth inning because the runs for both team really came pretty early in the game. waino did not have his best stuff, but he battled and kept the cards in the game all day; that’s what an ace can do.

glaus missed a homer by like 5 inches in the first yesterday, man I really wanted him to get that homer and get the monkey off of his back for this season.

the kid with the dreads, barton, came through again last night. he has fit nicely into the outfield and seemed to have embraced the pinchhitting role tony has molded for him. he doubled to lead off the ninth and set up the scoring of the forth and winning run. skip . izzy closed the game. so, cards win a tough one, 4 to 3.

it appears that mulder is on a different schedule for recovery than we all thought. the general thought was that mulder gets 4 to 5 minor league starts and if all goes will he comes back to the majors. tlr says that muldoo needs to stay down there for the full 30 days of rehab and get about 10 starts before facing major league hitters.

I have to side with tony on this one. I don’t really want to get my hopes up. mulder needs to get as much work as possible before coming back to the big show. if that means the full rehab time, then so be it. besides, once he is up, he can’t go back down. he will be stuck, so might as well use all options available before activating him from the dl.

today’s game will be at 12:05 central time; the second of a two game series, lohse vs. parra.

let’s go cards!

Round two with the Brew Crew

at least the cards got that out of the way right?

they lost their first series of the season to the giants, losing 2 out of three; they also lost the season series with them 3-4. yesterday’s game was particularly bad because looper just got bombed! reyes did a nice job cleaning up the mess by pitching three innings and giving up one run.

mulder’s second rehab start seemed like it went well. he pitched six hits allowing three hits and walking three; he allowed no runs.

the roster move that was bound to happen occurred, but not the one you would expect. I really thought either thompson or reyes were going to be sent down (leaned more toward reyes because of everything thats happened). I guess that want to delay brendan ryan’s 2008 season debut; they sent done uncle rico washington and activated russ springer. doesnt that make them one bench player short?

next, the cards will play the brewers at miller park/field/dome/or whatever they call it. the matchups really favor the cards; tonight’s game will be wainwright vs. villanueva and tuesday it’ll be lohse vs. parra. so the cardinals really has a great advantage over the brewers; plus, gagne has been a hot mess by blowing three save chances already this season. seems like they signed him and maybe were expecting the gagne of old and not the one that exists today.

Bueno Waino

(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

adam wainwright was really dealing last night! another great start from bueno waino which translated into a win; now the cards will go for the series sweep tonight.

adam pitched 7 2/3 innings last night; 6 k’s, 2 bb’s, 5 hits and one earned run; terrific stuff. it looked like he had some extra giddyup on his fastball also. also, izzy recorded the save; can you believe it? he’s already got six saves on this young season. check out the boxscore.

the wagonmaker also hit his first homer of the season, a solo shot, in the 2nd inning off of villanueva. skip also homered, but his bomb was disputed because it was not apparent at first that it left the park. the umpires got it right though; the replay clearly showed that the ball had hit the ad sign a couple of feet above the yellow line. skip went 2 for 4 on the day. I gotta say I’m really pleasantly surprised with skip; he has hit well, for some power, swiped a couple of bags and been a lot more patient as a hitter so far this season. it seems to me like he has improved his whole game. he made an error last night though when he misplayed a base hit that caused the runners to advance to 2nd and 3rd base; an unearned run scored as a result. over all, the whole outfield has really contributed to this teams hot starts.

duncan seems to have gotten into the swing of things the last couple of games; his bat is coming to life. ankiel has cooled off  lately. prince albert tomahawked a 3-0 pitch down the line yesterday for a 2 run double; he has 10 rbis on the season. cards win what became a tight game late, 5 to 4.

today, the cards play the final game of this three game series and they will be going for the sweep. it’s a noon game; 12:15 central time start. kyle lohse will get the nod against lefty manny parra. I’m thinking barton will start in this game and miles might replace kennedy at 2nd. mr. leach’s preview of the game is up. let’s get that sweep; go cards!