Tigers cramp Pineiro's style
Win while you learn for Cards' Rasmus and Wellemeyer
Duncan follows Pujols in longball in win over Tigers
2006 rematch on tap at Busch
Weather permitting, the St. Louis Cardinals will play a three-game rematch of sorts versus the Detroit Tigers in St. Louis, starting Tuesday night.
Probables
DET -- Justin Verlander RHP 7-2, 3.02
STL -- Adam Wainwright RHP 6-4, 3.49
The last time the Tigers were in St. Louis was during the 2006 World Series, when they lost to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium for the series winner.
Cliff Lee too much for Carp
Chris Carpenter is one of the best pitchers on the St. Louis Cardinals, but he was outmatched Sunday in a nationally televised game on ESPN.
Cliff Lee, a former Cy Young Award winner, of the Cleveland Indians, threw no-hit baseball for nearly eight innings, then went on to shut out the Cardinals in a complete game.
The Indians supported Lee well with three runs, not usually enough to win a major league baseball game, but plenty when the opponents are held scoreless.
Mark DeRosa, the Indians all-around defender and hot bat in the clutch, didn't wait to take Cards' starter Carpenter deep in the first inning with a two-run shot with two outs. The base runner was a freebie, a walk by Carpenter. The Tribe would add a run later.
Lee had the luxury of pitching with a lead, which he admitted helps, in a post-game interview. But Lee says he approaches every inning with the intention of holding the competition scoreless, regardless of the current game score.
Much of Cardinal Nation states that as Carpenter goes, so goes the Cards, which is nice to say when the team is on a winning streak. But the danger in such fanfare is when Carpenter gets out pitched, and especially in a decisive manner. It's not a big deal. It is, after all, a game, and one in which wins and losses get handed out, so to speak, rather evenly on average.
Having lost the inter-league series to the Indians, 2-1, the Cardinals now head for home and a three-game set with the Detroit Tigers. After that, it's back on the road again. The Tigers' series starts Tuesday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
Wrong lineup
A post regarding police lineup photos intended for the blog, Innosense4u, was mistakenly posted here on 4thebirds...
While it's obvious cops cannot handle lineups properly, the type of lineups we fret over on this baseball blog are those concerning the St. Louis Cardinals.
To be sure, bad lineups in either area can cause big problems.
Cards crushed by Indians
Despite Albert Pujols' 20th home run and another solid outing for Joel Pineiro, the Cardinals fell short against the Cleveland Indians Friday.
The run production wasn't there. The relief pitching wasn't either. It's a simple analysis, but an accurate one.
As a team, the Cards failed to back up Pineiro, who kept them in the game, waiting for run support that was minimal at best.
The Cards will try again Saturday with Brad Thompson on the hill.
Cards fish victory out of Marlins
Colby Rasmus continued to provide great at-bats, joined by Rick Ankiel in a 13-4 pouncing upon the Florida Marlins Wednesday night.
Adam Wainwright had the right stuff on the hill, going deep into the game to hold the Marlins from a big seventh inning.
These quick observations are obvious to anyone who witnessed the game, but related stats and discussion are withheld in this piece as my time was spent on the FSMidwest live blog during the ball game.
The FSMidwest live blogs are quickly proving much more active than any UCB blog, and more so than the various live blogs I've posted on Cardinal Nation Ticker. FOX has the automatic audience built in, making the blogging much more available.
Thursday the Cards will take on the Marlins before the lunch hour and I hope to bring more insight into this game.











