Let's keep this streak going!
This is a welcome change!
Those 2011 “firsts” we’ve been waiting for are finally starting, as the Cardinals at last have a winning streak after beating the Diamondbacks 8-2. The 8 runs were a season high, as were the 14 hits. Kyle McClellan earned his first win as a starter, plus had two RBI and two hits. Our Lance Berkman Fan Club had plenty to smile about: LB hit his first homers as a Cardinal, with two on the night — the first multi-homer game of the season. And Jon Jay followed LB’s second homer with a pinch-hit one in the ninth inning, giving the Cards their first back-to-back homers of the year.
That the offense is suddenly on track is the biggest news, though, after the cold start to the season. As Matthew Leach of Cardinals.com noted:
The Cards have scored 14 runs in two games — more than in their previous five games combined. They amassed five extra-base hits on Monday after totaling 15 in the season’s first nine games and raised their team slugging percentage by 37 points in one night.
Yet there’s still one notable exception to this outburst of offense: Albert Pujols. He did single in his final at-bat, which was welcome after he grounded into yet another double play in the first inning and popped out to right field with the bases loaded in the fourth. Ouch.
Other than that, best game of the season so far? Given the production, I’ll say it does top Sunday’s game. Either way, nice to see the Cardinals mostly playing like we’ve expected them to all along.
Good
- Kyle McClellan, of course. This quote from Tony La Russa captures his evening the best: “”The starting pitcher – what a day he had. He did it all. There was no room for mistakes, and he was excellent. The thing he did more than anything else was he elevated himself on the bench as far as pinch hitters among the pitchers.”
- Lance Berkman, obviously.
- Trever Miller, Jason Motte and Mitchell Boggs. The three combined to pitch 2 2/3 hitless innings, with Boggs striking out the side in the bottom of the ninth.
- Productive hitting with two outs, as that’s when 7 of the 8 runs were scored (including all three homers).
Bad
- Albert. Although he did get a hit in his final at-bat and raised his average to .150, he’s still hit into more double plays (7) than he has hits (6).
Ugly
- Truthfully, nothing for this game. Let’s keep that up also!
The Cards and Diamondbacks are back at it tonight, with Chris Carpenter getting his third start of the season. He could easily be 2-0 right now instead of 0-1, so hopefully this hitting trend — and CC’s good pitching — will continue. Now that we have a win streak, let’s see how long we can keep it going. (The Indians are at 8 games already.)
Starting for the D-Backs tonight is Armando Galarraga, famous for his perfect-game-that-wasn’t for the Tigers last season. Game time is 8:40 p.m. CDT.
Christine Coleman is the senior St. Louis Cardinals reporter for Aaron Miles’ Fastball. Follow her on Twitter, @CColeman802, or e-mail aaronmilesfastball@gmail.com. Also follow @AMilesFastball for the latest updates.
*sigh* Lance Berkman. We do miss him in Houston.
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I miss Brett Wallace, so we’re kind of even.
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