Edwin Jackson
After an offensive explosion Saturday, the Cardinal hitters had to deal with the Rangers Derek Holland.
The young man was on fire and pitched a gem of a shut out into the ninth inning before Neftali Perez shut down a glimmer of a come back for the Cardinals.
Edwin Jackson had his usual shaky start for the Cardinals. With Elvis Andrus in scoring position, Josh Hamilton knocked a double and Andrus scored. That was all the Rangers would need. But, in the bottom of the sixth, Jackson walked Nelson Cruz and David Murphy. TLR brought in Mitchell Boggs. And before Cardinal fans could blink Mike Napoli launched a three-run homer to left field.
In the top of the ninth, with one out, Rafael Furcal was walked. Neftali Perez came into the game much to the dismay of Holland, who could be seen begging Manager Ron Washington for the shot to close out the game. Allen Craig was walked. And Cardinal fans hopes were raised just a little that they could shake up the reliever with Albert Pujols coming to the plate.
BUT! Albert flew out to center field. And Matt Holliday struck out swinging.
The Cardinals loss assures that the series will end at Busch Stadium. Chris Carpenter is expected to take the mound tomorrow. This should give Cardinals fans some confidence that the team can shake off this bad loss and come out tomorrow, win and get on that Happy Flight back to Busch.
Now that it’s been said, the Cardinals just have to make that happen! With Carp on the mound, there is hope!
Go Cardinals!
Miranda Remaklus is lead St. Louis Cardinals contributor for Aaron Miles’ Fastball. She’s also senior reporter for Aerys Offsides. Follow her on Twitter, @missmiranda.
