I don’t quite understand the reason for, or point to, this. If they need to team up with anyone, why not the Royals and make Jonathan Broxton an All-Star in his home park? But, whatever. I’ll just post the press release I received from the Cardinals.

The St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago White Sox announced today that they are joining forces to urge fans to vote for Jake Peavy and David Freese for the All-Star Game in Kansas City. Both players are on the ballot for the 2012 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote sponsored by Firestone underway through Thursday at 3 p.m.

“We are proud to join forces to urge our fans to vote to send Jake Peavy and David Freese to the 83rd All-Star Game,” said Jerry Reinsdorf, chairman of the White Sox, and William DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, in a joint statement announcing the Red, White & You ‘12 campaign alliance.

As part of the Final Vote, fans can vote to select the final player for each League’s 34-man roster. Fans can cast their votes from a list of five players from each League over the next few days and the winners will be announced after the voting concludes on Thursday, July 5th. Now in its eight year, fans again will be able to make their Final Vote selections on their mobile phones.

» Continue reading “Cardinals, White Sox Announce All-Star Balloting Alliance”

It was hard to know what to expect of last night’s game. Jake Westbrook has struggled more than any St. Louis Cardinals starter lately, last having a good outing on May 8. Gavin Floyd of the Chicago White Sox has been about the same.

While driving home last night, I heard Westbrook’s career stats against the Sox on the radio: 8-13 record, ERA above 5.00, hadn’t won against then since 2007. My expectations for the game sank even lower.

So, of course, Jake Westbrook went out and did his best Matt Cain imitation — for four innings anyway.

Twelve up, twelve down and nine were by ground-out, which we know is the key to Westbrook’s success. Compared to what we’ve had to endure from Westbrook since early May, those innings alone should count as a perfect game.

Even when Westbrook gave up the first hit to Paul Konerko leading off the fifth, Paulie was retired when Alex Rios grounded into a double play. (I watched the Sox broadcast; I’m required to call him Paulie.)

By the sixth inning, the clock struck midnight and Jake Westbrook returned to being Jake Westbrook. The first two outs came on liners to the outfield, followed by two singles. And with Adam Dunn next … well, we know Dunn either strikes out or hits homers, and Westbrook is not a strikeout pitcher. So Westbrook gave up three runs in his six innings, and his ERA actually rose (yet again) but only from 4.25 to 4.27.

» Continue reading “Jake Westbrook’s Matt Cain Imitation”

What a game.

The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago White Sox 1-0 on a night when, overall, pitching was the big story in MLB. Lance Lynn was the star of the game, but Marc Rzepczynski — yes, that Marc Rzepczynski — and Jason Motte played huge roles in assuring Lynn won his 10th game of the season.

And Carlos Beltran continued to do what he’s done so well lately, providing the only run our Wolf Pup would need with a third-inning home run. It increased his NL-leading total to 19. Beltran also had two singles, and David Freese had one — for the grand total of Cards hits for the night. But that’s because Jake Peavy was pitching just as well as Lynn.

It was vaguely reminiscent of the last 1-0 victory the Cardinals had, a certain game with two incredible pitching performance last October. Not the same importance, obviously, but terrific pitching all around.

Wolf Pup had a career-high 12 strikeouts and started the game perfect through three innings. He allowed a lead-off single in the fourth before retiring the heart of the Sox lineup. Then came the fifth inning, the only trouble Lynn had all night.

» Continue reading ““Lynnsanity” Continues As Lynn Wins Again”

It was one of those days.

The Cardinals have had a lot of those lately.

So you had a bad day ...

This time, it was against the visiting White Sox. Facing the South Siders for the first time since 2006 on the day of Yadier Molina’s 1,000th career game, the series opener came down to a series of unfortunate events. Safe decision making, poor “clutch” hitting, and bullpen “moments.”

It wasn’t all bad — Adam Wainwright opened the game with three straight strikeouts. He had six through the first two innings. He also, however, gave up a two-run triple to Orlando Hudson after a pair of defensive miscues from David Freese and Tyler Greene. Momentum killer No. 1.

Momentum killer No. 2 came later in the third. After a Wainwright lead-off single, Rafael Furcal bounced into a double play. (Where have I seen that before?) » Continue reading “One Of Those Days: Cards Drop Opener To Sox”

When I think about the Cardinals playing the Chicago White Sox, bad memories I’ve tried to suppress come creeping back.

The two teams haven’t played each other since that horrible series in Chicago in June 2006. In case you’ve forgotten, here are a few details to cause flashbacks: Mark Mulder and losing 20-6, Jason Marquis being a sacrificial lamb and giving up all the runs in a 13-4 loss, Jim Edmonds crashing into the center field wall and getting a concussion, Anthony Reyes allowing only one hit in a complete game … and losing 1-0 since it was a homer to Jim Thome. Yep. Sweep.

Ugh. Sorry to ruin your morning.

Here’s something positive: the Cardinals actually lead the all-time series against the Sox 10-8. The two teams played every year from 1997 to 2001 then didn’t meet again until 2006. (How are these interleague schedules created anyway?)

» Continue reading “Know Your Interleague Opponent: Chicago White Sox”