All In With The Cards

Thoughts on a Day Without Cardinals Baseball

mlblogsallincards — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:48:03 +0000

Lately
the Redbirds have picked up their game. For a moment there it looked pretty bad
as we went from being ranked 1^st in E.R.A. in April, to 3^rd
in May, to a couple of days ago a heartbreaking 20^th. Currently we
are 12^th in June and moving down the rankings with less then ten
days to go in this month.

Jaime Garcia

Our
pitchers are doing great. I have to admit that I’m getting as excited to see
Jaime Garcia on the mound as I am to see Wainwright or Carpenter. Not only that
but our bats are warming up as well. Matt Holliday seems to been hitting the
juice (cool your jets, the new Gatorade G series, not the dreaded ‘S-word’)
hitting 4 home runs in the past 3 games. God it feels good to be a Cardinals
fan.

I
will say I was worried for a minute there. Talking to my cousin, a Chicago
native Cubs fan (I think he is adopted), he told me a week ago welcome to the loosing
teams. I didn’t want to start nothing by maybe saying something about his
mother, my aunt and godmother, so I decided to just keep quiet until the Birdos
came out of that slump.

Brendan Ryan and Matt Holliday playing like Cardinals

Tomorrow
we are crossing the border to Toronto for a series against the Blue Jays. I
know crossing the border to Mexico for a series in the beach might be more
interesting, but I have no say in the team’s schedule. But I will say this,
leading the division by a game and a half, with one of the meanest bullpens in
the league and a scary lineup, its easy to see why,

With these Cards, I’m all in

- Andy

Cards Couldn’t Cut It

mlblogsallincards — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:54:13 +0000

Yesterday’s game was not a pretty sight for Cardinals fans who prefer pitching. It just wasn’t our night. The worst off was Kyle Lohse who seemed as if he could not get anything right. After the game he went on to say “It was one of those games where, from the first batter on, it was a battle”. Leads were handed over from team to team through the game with the Diamondbacks holding the last one in a 9-7 win.

Kyle Lohse throws a pitch

Ryan Ludwick homered twice last night, the first one to take the lead, and the second one in the third inning to take the lead. Pujols followed up in the third inning with another bomb making the first four Cardinal runs on home runs. Yet all Birdos efforts to win could not overcome the Diamondbacks. It was a tough game, 150 pitches had been thrown in the fourth inning. On a brighter note, rookie catcher Bryan Anderson got his first career hit and what a better way to get it then as a St. Louis Cardinal.

Tuesday’s game is over, now on to tonight’s game, the final game of this series. Cardinal’s ace Chris Carpenter (2-0, ERA 3.50) takes the mound against Edwin Jackson (1-1, ERA 3.50). Arizona broke a five game loosing streak last night, as manager A.J. Hinch said “It’s not as if we’ve been playing terrible baseball, we’ve had terrible outcomes.” Carpenter is looking for his third win of the year in four games pitched. He is 4-0 with a 1.79 ERA in eight career appearances against the D-Backs. Last year he also took a victory in two starts against the Diamondbacks, only allowing a beautiful zero runs in eleven innings pitched.

The Cardinals were tied with the Diamondbacks with 20 home runs each going into last night’s game. Now the Redbirds opened that lead up with three home runs to two. Let’s hope that we can help Carpenter out with some long balls tonight as we look to get the fifth series win of the season. So far the Cards have made 39 out of 66 runs on home runs, and they’ve come out with more Ws than anyone else in the division. Its easy to see why,

With these Cards, I’ll go all in.

- Andy

KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)

mlblogsallincards — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 05:02:44 +0000

I don’t know how many apologies my two fans will accept, but I will still offer them. I fell asleep at the beginning of the season and did not show my enthusiasm on this humble page. Yet, if your willing to keep reading, I’ll try not to disappoint you.

The Cardinals have had an amazing start to the season. I’m still debating if Albert Pujols is human or a perfectly engineered baseball playing machine. Either way, we all know he is money in the bank when he comes to bat; especially with the protection of good ol’ fashion Matt Holliday coming to the plate after Pujols. I’m glad to see Felipe Lopez playing in a Cardinals uniform (I’ve said before I might be biased towards Cardinals and Puerto Ricans). He even surprised me during the 20-inning marathon by taking the mound in the 18th. The only player I believe is still a little shy this year is Brendan Ryan. And In my honest opinion, I believe its because he shaved his mustache. Once he realizes the mistake he did by shaving off the brendo-’stache and grows it back out, he will be in top shape again.

Albert Pujols after batting in the 5th against the New York Mets

At first I was disappointed that we did not grab the sweep against the Mets, the Brewers, or the Astros. It just bothered me that with only a game left in the series they could not close it up. An older, much wiser person, called me an ungrateful fan. A rookie when it comes to understanding this great sport that has kept a great nation entertained for over a century. He told me to KISS, KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID. A team that wins every series they play, is a playoff team. We will get some sweeps down the road, and we will also loose a series or two (hopefully not more than that), but the important thing is to win the series. You play an inning out by out, then you play the game inning by inning, you go on to play the series game by game, and the season turns out to be series by series. Its a simple game, you take each series game by game and try to end with more Ws than the other team, right? I’d say yes, but if it were that simple, why do teams exist that can’t even reach a .500 average by the end of the season?

Even though it sounds simple, it still has its challenge, which is what makes the game great. If it were easy to win a World Series, even the Cubs would have one in the last 100 years. This is why, at least for me, I tune in every night to watch the great Red Birds of St. Louis take on the National League Central for that spot in October. And once October comes and the greatest of the greats face off in one of the most beautiful things on Earth, a Major League Baseball Playoff series.

But I digress, back to the 2010 Cardinals. Currently our dear Birdos have a 9-4 record,

coming off a 4-2 victory against the Diamondbacks. Penny allowed two early runs, but got

quick help from Holliday who hit a two run bomb to tie the game. After that it was smooth sailing for the Cardinals with the go ahead run in the eight and an assurance run in the ninth. Penny got his 10th career victory against the Diamondbacks and the Cards take the first game in the series. Tomorrow Kyle Lohse (0-1, E.R.A. 4.15) faces Dan Haren (1-1, E.R.A. 3.60) in the second game of the series at Chase Field.

Our Cards hit the floor running this 2010 season, and the W train does not seem to have an end to it any time soon. Tony La Russa showed great skills on saturday’s 20-inning game against the Mets, moving players around, showing his confidence in everyone’s abilities. Its a good year to be a Cardinals fan, and I’m loving every pitch of it. With a 9-4 record and one of the best lineups/rotation in the league, it does not take a scientist to figure out why I say,

With these Cards, I’ll go all in.

- Andy

Busch Stadium

mlblogsallincards — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:30:28 +0000

First of all, apologizing is a little too much to ask for. If you are still reading this, and are one of my two loyal fans, thank you, I really appreciate your time. I’m looking to write more about the Cardinals and the Major League this off-season. I know we are still in the playoffs, but for me the season is over (does not mean I’m still not following the remaining games).

This weekend was fall break for my university and my grandparents came to visit. As extreme baseball fans as they are, we had to visit Busch Stadium. I have to say, that even for fans that frequently go to games, like myself, the $10.00 per person tour is definitely worth the money. I always seat in the cheapest seats I find in the bleacher sections behind our bullpen (yep, I’m a college student). Discovering and learning about the stadium as much as possible was awesome. Seeing the field from the radio room, and the TV room motivates me to become a sports broadcaster. Standing on the field, and looking around, imagining being Albert Pujols or Yadier Molina or Jim Edmonds or Matt Holliday or Brendan Ryan or any Cardinal, getting up the plate under the cheers and shouts of about 46,000 fans. The experience rocked my world. I still left with the hope of running the bases and entering the locker room, but its off limits during these tours. Even though I couldn’t try to imagine myself running the bases for a triple (which is hard given that I’m probably as slow or slower then Yadier Molina), the Busch Stadium was worth every penny.

Our tour guide was perfect. He kept on talking and talking about the Cardinals, which was music to my ears. He mentioned the greats and all the facts about the great Redbirds. I now know the story of how they became the Cardinals and the St Louis Browns and everything that has happened in this city regarding baseball. I also saw the luxury boxes and the party rooms, the press box and the radio room, and the restaurant for those humble fans that purchase the annual $14,000 tickets; after seeing the stadium from their seats, and knowing they have valet parking and a restaurant better then many in St Louis for every game, these people get a lot of bang for their buck. Only thing I regret is, that since I was in awe, I forgot to take pictures. I only took some pictures with my phone on the field, and I wanted to share them with you.

The View form Cards locker room

The Cards locker room

The Field

My seats next season (I hope, anyone want to help me buy some? )

An excellent view of the city and the stadium

Stan “THE MAN” Musial

It was a great day with my grandparents. The weather was perfect, there was a scent of greatness in the field, and watching my grandfather talk baseball was amazing. I know that when I grow up I hope to know half as much as he does about baseball. With such a great history, and a Class A stadium to go with the team, that’s why,

With these Cards, I’ll go all in.

- Andy

Houston, We Have A Problem

mlblogsallincards — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:48:45 +0000

The feeling… you know what I’m talking about? That feeling
that’s in the air as you leave the stadium, turn of the T.V., log off MLB.TV,
and your team is getting away from the series sweep. Everyone is smiling, funny
jokes are heard on the parking lot, everyone is a gentleman in the subway, and
it’s all because their team won three games in an exciting sweep. Yeah, I don’t
have that feeling. Last night was a heart-breaking, soul-crushing, moral-killer
loss against the Houston Astros. My feelings of revenge for the Astros reach an
intensity strong enough that I ended up boycotting my Minute Maid juice this morning
and go with a Budweiser (actually I just had a glass of water, but the
Budweiser would be nice).

Tuesday’s game didn’t hurt as last night’s game did, we lost and had no chance of getting back those runs we trailed,
finishing the night in a 11-6 loss. Last night we lost 4-3 in a nail biter
ending in a walk of RBI for Miguel Tejada. If it came down to pitching alone,
the Cards won the game. Chris Carpenter threw an amazing game, going eight
strong innings allowing only two runs on eight hits and two walks. He struck
out five and said: “These guys over here can play.” He added later on that it
was going to be a tough battle the rest of the season. I strongly agree with
him.

Mark DeRosa put up the first run of the game with a solo homer off Roy Oswald in the fifth; that was his third home run in two nights.
Two innings later with the game tied 1-1, Molina hit an RBI double bringing in
Ryan Ludwick that scored when Iván Rodriguez couldn’t hang on to the ball. As
the game went on the ninth inning, the Cards had a one run lead; which Chris
Coste quickly tied when Rodriguez came in on his RBI double. Then with Coste on
third and Jeff Kepinger on first, came Kaz Matsui to the plate. He hit a grounder
to second base, where Joe Thurston was playing as a defensive substitution.
What came up next was the decision that produced the outcome of the game. If
you see the play, when Thurston gets the ball you notice that Brendan Ryan
moved up to second base, waiting for the double play, Kepinger stopped mid way
afraid of being tagged, and Matsui was starting to run towards first. In my
opinion Thurston had the double play in the bag. Instead he threw towards home
to get the sure out; however, that brought Miguel Tejada to the plate that went
on to hit a walk off RBI to end the game.

Molina hits an RBI double to take the lead 2-1 in the 7th

After the game Thurston said “it looks like we might have
had a chance at two.” He went on to add to his explanation of his decision,
“but when I got it I kind of bobbled it a little bit. And I wanted to make
sure. If we don’t turn it, game over. I just wanted to make sure I got the sure
out.” Thurston was in the best position to make that decision, and one of the
reasons we can’t criticize him is, if baseball where so easy, why aren’t you
out there in the Majors. He did get the out, in a moment of doubt he made the
decision that surely kept the game going and giving his team a chance in extra
innings.

Coming into the series everything was A.O.K. perfect. We had
a ‘strong’ two game lead and little to no fear of seeing that lead wiggle away.
Currently with 51-46 record, we have a one run lead on the Chicago Cubs (48-45)
and the Houston Astros (49-46). The only positive thing I can think of right
now, is that we are playing one game tonight against the Nationals (28-66).
After that it scares me heading into Philadelphia for an away series against
the defending champs. Adam Wainwright (10-6, E.R.A. 3.01) faces rookie pitcher Collin
Balester (3-7, E.R.A. 5.51) tonight at 6:10 CT. The Nationals have lost seven
of their last ten; I’m hoping it is rather easy to win the game. Like Carpenter
said, it will be a tough battle to win the division. The Redbirds have a good
team, and if we could afford to get swept and still be in the lead we must be
doing something right, that’s why,

With these Cards, I’ll go all in.

- Andy

Trades – They Take Time To Get Used To

mlblogsallincards — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:44:29 +0000

Mark DeRosa for Chriz Perez & PTBAL

This trade sounded good since the beginning. Mark DeRosa is a good player, and we can afford to loosen up our bullpen and trade away some pitchers. In the past two nights, DeRosa has hit three home runs; you won’t see me complaining. Comparing their numbers,

DeRosa Perez

BA: .263 W-L: 1-1

HR: 16 E.R.A: 5.10

RBI: 53 SO: 36

OBP: .336

SLG: .464

Julio Lugo & Cash for Chris Duncan & PTBAL or Cash

As much as I like Chris Duncan, we knew he was in a big slump. Tony La Russa said, and I quote, ‘this fans make me want to vomit’ referring to how we were treating Chris Duncan after he hit a ground ball for a double play in Monday’s loss against the Astros. However, dear Tony La Russa, Chris Duncan was 1 for 31 since June 29^th, and yes we know he isn’t the only Card having not-sucha-good-year this season, but 1-31?! Seriously?! I mean I’m not saying if baseball were that easy, if not we would all be Major Leaguers, but if you are in the Big Leagues, you can’t produce like that. What worries me about this is Brendan Ryan who was doing a good job in Short Stop and why did we trade for Khalil Greene? Comparing their numbers,

Julio Lugo Chris Duncan

BA: .284 BA: .227

HR: 1 HR: 5

RBI: 8 RBI: 32

OBP: .352 OBP: .329

SLG: .367 SLG: .358

I’ve heard and read about some rumors about players the Cards might be interested in and are willing to negotiate a trade. The Cards GM is interested in making the pitching stronger and Tony La Russa has recently said that their number one priority should be acquiring a good bat player to protect Albert Pujols and bat right after the HR leader. According to the St. Louis Post’s Joe Strauss, the Cardinals interest in Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay is strong. He tweeted: “Asked about the price tag for Halladay, a club source said: “Give Ricciardi all our minor-league rosters and let him circle any 5 names.” If this would go down, the Cards are looking at loosing Brett Wallace, Pete Kozma, Bryan Anderson, Daryl Jones, and Clay Mortensen. Tony La Russa has said since the rumors have been around that he would like Halladay on the team but is not willing to trade an entire organization for him.

The other player there’s been a rumor about is, ironically enough, Athletics’ Matt Holliday. The trade talk is a little more real then the one about Roy Halladay, the word is that it would be a swap between Holliday and Cards top prospect Brett Wallace. Some say the odds of the deal happening is still 50-50, but there is a possibility. The Redbirds are fifth overall in the MLB with a team E.R.A. of 3.76, and currently have the leader in HRs and RBIs, yet they still want to make the team a better contender, that’s why,

With these Cards, I’ll go all in.

- Andy

Fighting For First

mlblogsallincards — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:26:24 +0000

One likes to think that my team is better then yours and
that there is no way you can beat me with that talent on your team. Sometimes I
make this mistake. But the thing is, a team’s victory-winning streak-loosing
streak does not really come from great players. Look at the Yankees this past
couple of years, I’m not saying their a bad team, just that with the kind of
names on that roster, they should have at least won once, maybe this year is
their year. Still, a team with heart and that’s hungry for the title will get
it. Just like the Astros are doing moving up the standings and threatening the
first place Cards. I want to present to you a video, made by the writers of Red State Blue State, an awesome blog
you should all check out. They did this video called JESUS HATES THE CUBS which is pretty funny, you should watch it when you want a good laugh.

Carpenter doing work

Before I speak about last night’s game, I’ll give a brief
summary of the games I haven’t written about. I apologize to my four loyal
fans, but I’m getting better at what I do, at least trying. I’m reading a book
about Tony La Russa, and another about Roger Angell’s work. Hopefully I will be
done by the end of this week and there is some improvement to be seen in my
writing. It all takes time, I’m new at this and I’m no expert, just a humble
amateur baseball enthusiast.

Since the All Star game the Redbirds have won and lost two
games. We started the series against Arizona with a great victory, Pujol’s
hitting two home runs and Carpenter pitched eight shutout innings ending in a
6-1 victory. Saturday’s game did not go as planned, with the Diamondback’s ace
pitcher Dan Haren on the mound, there was little offense the Cards could
produce. They fell 4-2 to Arizona and lost the second game of the second half
of the baseball season. Sunday’s game was an incredible performance for the
Puerto Rican pitcher (nice!) Joel Piñeiro, who helped his own cause by hitting
a 2 RBI double to get some runs on the scoreboard. On the mound he was nothing
but heat, allowing one run on five hits and striking out three in seven
innings.

Last night was bad luck for the Redbirds, as all their
chances of getting back that one run lead failed. But they did not fail
horribly or it wasn’t the case that they had no chance. They were close; it’s
just that the Astros played a better game. The Cards lost 2-3 in a
heartbreaking failed attempt to score in the eight, and the last inning ending
in a double play. Kyle Lohse couldn’t keep the runs down allowing three of them
on five hits. The Cardinal’s attempts to get the offense running weren’t strong
enough and came short. The good thing is that the Astros were four games
behind, and the Phillies, allowing the Cards some wiggle room with their loss,
pulverized the Cubs.

Mark DeRosa is back from the DL and the Cards are still
leading the NL Central followed closely by the Chicago Cubs with a two game
deficit and the Astros and Brewers with a three game deficit. With so many
games left, the division is still up for grabs with four teams so close to each
other. I would say this is what we want to see in baseball, obviously with your
team the one who comes out number one, but it is still great to see a race for
winning the division.

Tonight we face the Astros again with pitcher Todd
Wellemeyer (7-7, E.R.A. 5.56) facing Wandy Rodriguez (9-6, E.R.A. 2.81). Pujols
is still the leader in home runs and RBIs and the Cards still have an amazing
lineup. Mark DeRosa was a great addition and with Troy Glaus recovering in the
minors I am interested to see how Tony La Russa handles having both players on
the team. We have a great manager being one of three that have 2,500 victories
under their belt, and the leader in the Bigs with 34 HRs and 90 RBIs, that’s
why,

With these Cards, I’ll go all in.

- Andy

Heading In To The Second Half

mlblogsallincards — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:43:08 +0000

Midterm’s came and now are gone. Its time for the second half of the 2009 Baseball Season. I promised a friend to write about the All Star Game but I just could not do it. I had a Calc II test which I got a 109/100, I know some of you don’t really care for it, but my GPA and my parents really liked it. Anyway, its starting to be crunch time. The Cards lead the NL Central by two games with 49-42, and God willing, over the next months they will keep that lead.

I have not heard any bad ratings on the team. All the analysts give us around an A- to an A. Its great, we got a good lineup, now with DeRosa (.270) adding to the power and third base. Currently he is one the 15 day disabled list. Our defense is good, its not the best one in the league, but it gets the job done. Our starting pitching is great. Even tough some mistakes happen or Piñeiro (7-9, E.R.A. 3.20) looses a perfectly well thrown game, the starters are earning their money. The relievers have been good the first half. Ryan Franklin (2-0, E.R.A. 0.79) has surprised us all in his ability to close games rather easily.

Not many injuries this season. I will admit I did get scared when Rick Ankiel when he almost broke his neck in the game against the Nationals. Mark DeRosa still has not done anything impressive with the Cards, except from a sweet play catching a ball on the foul line, but he still has plenty of time to show why we traded for him.

The second half looks good. Tony La Rusa has to keep doing what he does, and we will get to the playoffs. Yes, I’ve said it, PLAYOFFS. We are on our way to win the division. We might have lost the home field advantage for the World Series, but we are still giving it our best to get there.

Tony La Rusa giving the O.K. for the first half

Tonight we start the second half up against the Diamondbacks. On the mound for the Redbirds is our Aces pitcher Chris Carpenter (7-3, E.R.A. 2.47) facing off against Jon Garland (5-8, E.R.A. 4.43). Personally, I give the Cards a solid A. They deserve it, and tonight let’s see how hungry they are for that title again as they kick off the second half of the season. I like this team, the combination of the veterans with the young guys is working out, that’s why,

With these Cards, I’ll go all in.

- Andy

Pujols Eliminated In Semis, Still An Awesome HR Derby

mlblogsallincards — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:05:19 +0000

There are a few things that tingle me up and make me feel all warm and fuzzy. Two of them are the Home Run Derby and the All Star Game. I don’t mean it as if I get warm and fuzzy watching all the players, not that there’s anything wrong with that; but I like sitting back, opening a beer, and watching the best ball bombers hit the balls like the ball was Jimmy who stole their lunch money in the fourth grade. It was obvious who the crowd was rooting for. When Pujols was introduced Busch Stadium was going nuts! It’s awesome to see your number one guy representing your team as one of seven players in the whole league chosen to participate. The players on tonight’s home run derby were:

Prince Fielder

AVG: .315 HR: 22 RBI: 78

FR: 11 SR: 6 TR: 6 T: 23

Ryan Howard

AVG: .257 HR: 22 RBI: 67

FR: 7 SR: 8 T: 15

Albert Pujols

AVG: .332 HR: 32 RBI: 87

FR: 5 SR: 6 T: 11

Adrian Gonzalez

AVG: .250 HR: 24 RBI: 52

FR: 2 T: 2

Nelson Cruz

AVG: .263 HR: 22 RBI: 53

FR: 11 SR: 5 TR: 5 T: 21

Carlos Peña

AVG: .228 HR: 24 RBI: 58

FR: 5 T: 5

Joe Mauer

AVG: .373 HR: 15 RBI: 49

FR: 5 T: 5

Brandon Inge

AVG: .268 HR: 21 RBI: 58

FR: 0 T: 0

Pujols may be the leader in Home Runs with 32 and RBIs with 87, but he wasn’t the leader tonight. He ended up fourth in the overall competition with a total of eleven home runs. He started off a little cold tying with Carlos Peña and Joe Mauer in the first round. He won the tiebreaker with two home runs and went on to the semis. Pujol’s second round did not go much better. He ended up falling in the semis against Fielder’s 17 HRs and Cruz’s 16 HRs.

Albert doing work

I do feel bad for Inge’s first round, hitting no homers. He has a good season so far, it’s not the end of the world. Unfortunately for him, people watch the Home Run Derby to see, well, Home Runs, and he didn’t hit any. He will be remembered as the zero of the derby, pun intended, and will probably be ridiculed tomorrow morning in Sportscenter.

Nelson Cruz was the American League’s best performance, being the only one from that league to move into the second round. He came short against Prince Fielder, but he still did good. Texa’s right fielder hit a couple of good home runs and ended the night with 21 HRs. Cruz was pretty much in the shadows of the unknown before tonight, I’m betting we won’t forget him know and will probably be hearing from him and the Rangers in the post-season.

Congratulations to Prince Fielder for bringing the trophy to the National League. He had an excellent first round, second round, and third round. He ended the night with 21 HRs and crowned 2009 Home Run Derby winner. You could tell he wanted it when he smashed a ball 497 feet to deep right-center for the longest HR of the first round. Even though he is a Brewer, I was rooting for him after Pujols got eliminated.

The 2009 Home Run Derby Champion

Tomorrow night is the 2009 MLB All Star Game at 7:10 p.m. CT. For the Cards, as I’ve mentioned before, we have three All Star Players. I’ll blog away about the All Star game tomorrow. As you know, St Louis has many great players and great potential this year. Albert Pujols did not win tonight, but he does lead the league in Home Runs (32) and RBIs (87). Not only that, Pujols is also in both the Home Run Derby and the All Star Game, that’s why,

With these Cards, I’ll go all in.

- Andy

Who Won The Series?

mlblogsallincards — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:46:40 +0000

Yesterday was one of the rare beauties baseball has, double headers. Do you know that feeling of not getting enough baseball for one day, then God blesses you with a second game to watch. Today was one of those days, with the two final games of this Cubs Cards series. The series ended in a tie, the first game won by the Cubs 7-3, and the second by the Cards 4-2.

Kyle Lohse (4-5, E.R.A. ) started the first game for the Cards. Tony La Russa was commenting on how he wished that Lohse could have a decent start without any injuries. Lohse went on to say “I’m ready to get back in the groove. For my first 10 starts, it seemed like something would happen every other one, just health-wise. I’m looking forward to being freak injury-free.” He had a rough start and the game was still close. When Derek Lee hit the go ahead home run in the fourth inning you could see how the Cards morale simply went down. Then the Cubs got three unearned runs in the seventh and that was the end of that play.

Lohse starts the first game of the day

The second game was a sight for sore eyes. After loosing the first one, we needed to win that second game. Adam Wainwright (10-5, E.R.A. 3.04) got the victory managing eight innings, seven hits, and three walks. The bash brothers, (props to those who still remember the Mighty Ducks), Albert Pujols (.332) and Ryan Ludwick (.264) have each others back on the lineup. Today Pujols failed to get an RBI twice. Ludwick came after him to get not ONE, but TWO home runs. This was Ludwick’s seventh career two home run game, he had another one against the Cubs April 17. The right fielder struggled after coming back from a hamstring injury in May, but is now back in his groove in July hitting .400, having four homers, and eleven RBIs in eleven games.

There was a bit of controversy in the fifth inning when Card’s pitcher Adam Wainwright was heading towards second. He slid down foot first into second base raising his right hand. Pitchers are told to raise their throwing harm to prevent from landing on that hand and injuring themselves. To the Cubs, I say stop crying and go on with the game, Wainwright did not purposely raise his hand to hit the ball.

Ryan Franklin (2-0, E.R.A. 0.79) came in the ninth to wrap up the game. He quickly showed why he is an All Star and why he deserves to be playing tomorrow night at the game. In the typical Major League Baseball Inning there are three outs a team has to achieve. Franklin came in the game, struck out the first one, struck out the second one, and don’t loose faith in him, struck out the third one. That is what a closer is supposed to be doing. Finish the game and wrap up the chances of the other team tying or even worse loosing the game.

Ryan Franklin celebrates after the game

All and all, we tied the series. We are still ahead by 2.5 games with a 49-42 record, closely followed by the Brewers (45-43). Then follow closely the Astros (44-44) and the Cubs (43-43)

who are behind by 3 games. We still have to keep

playing the game we play and not relax until we win the World Series. Albert Pujols is batting tonight in the Home Run Derby. Tomorrow we have Yadier Molina, Albert Pujols, and Ryan Franklin in the all star game, that’s why,

With these Cards, I’ll go all in.

- Andy