What a relief! The St. Louis Cardinals bullpen had a good game Friday night!

Okay, sorry for that first-sentence cheesiness.

But after the drama of Thursday night resulted in (more) necessary changes for the second time this week, new kids Carlos Martinez and Seth Maness had their chances to make an impact against the Milwaukee Brewers — and both shone in their debuts.

Combined with rookie Shelby Miller providing another great start and Fernando Salas finishing it off with a perfect ninth, the game was a nice look at the Cardinals pitching future.

And it’s a bright one. How can you not be excited?

Yet of course it takes more than just good pitching to win a game — and that’s where the Cardinals veterans made their mark Friday night in the 6-1 win.

In the case of Matt Holliday, it was literal. His third-inning two-run homer hit the Miller Park scoreboard — which you can see (and hear) for yourself. Jon Jay drove in two runs with a double in fifth, while Carlos Beltran hit a solo homer in the seventh and Holliday added the final run on a passed ball that inning too.

» Continue reading “Cardinals Pitching Future On Display In Win”

Now that’s the way to return to Busch Stadium.

The St. Louis Cardinals had quite a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates Friday night, filled with home runs and hits and inside pitches — some connecting with flesh, some not — and even a couple minutes of reliever drama. In the end, the Cardinals won 9-1.

And their hitting started right away. Matt Carpenter led off the game with a home run off Jonathan Sanchez, which Carlos Beltran followed up with one of his own. Matt Holliday then singled, bringing Allen Craig to the plate. Sanchez threw up and in, hitting Craig in the left shoulder — and umpire Tim Timmons ejected Sanchez. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle argued about it, and was ejected too.

Things settled down somewhat after that, although Lance Lynn did hit Starling Marte — who was crowding the plate — twice, and Lynn himself hit the ground later when a pitch from Jared Hughes was inside as he attempted to bunt. The Pirates hitting coach was ejected after Marte’s second hit-by-pitch. (And, since video is better than words, you can see all the night’s HBP drama here including the Pirates’ broadcasters perspective on some of it).

» Continue reading “Cardinals: Homers, Hits And Hit-By-Pitches — Oh My!”

Opening Day at Busch Stadium is, of course, a one-of-a-kind event — and yesterday was no exception.

Here’s a look at some of the highlights of Opening Day 2013 (the pre-game, mostly), which included our favorite traditions as well as a touching remembrance of the Greatest Cardinal of Them All. Photos are courtesy of Kelly and Nicole — thank you both for sharing!

It’s always that sea of red on Opening Day. (Photo by Kelly)

» Continue reading “The Best Of Cardinals Opening Day”

Nothing will make up for the San Francisco Giants beating the St. Louis Cardinals in the final three games of last year’s National League Championship Series.

However, chasing Matt Cain from today’s game with a nine-run fourth inning and beating the Giants 14-3 on the day they received their World Series rings? It definitely helps ease that pain a bit, especially after yesterday’s 6-3 victory.

And, after all the (justified) angst following last Wednesday’s 16-inning loss to the Diamondbacks, the Cardinals ended their road trip 3-3. Isn’t going .500 on the road the way to a successful season?

With a great victory like today’s, seems like the perfect opportunity for the first “Good, Better, Best” of 2013.

Good

• Adam Wainwright bouncing back from Monday night in Arizona with a very good performance. He went seven innings, allowing two runs on seven hits with six strikeouts. (More on a couple of those coming up …) He’s yet to walk a batter this season and lowered his ERA from 4.50 to 3.46.
• Every Cardinals starter except Wainwright had a hit today — and that includes Ty Wigginton, who actually had two and an RBI.
• » Continue reading “9-Run Innings Off Matt Cain Are Always Good”

No crying in baseball, eh? Waino missed that memo! (I have my doubts that he was alone …)

Today, the St. Louis Cardinals held the official press conference to announce Adam Wainwright’s reported five-year $97.5 million contract extension. After hearing from Mr. DeWitt speak about how important it is to the organization to keep guys like Waino on the staff, and from John Mozeliak about the challenges of deal-making (and how much easier it is when both parties have the same end-goal!), Wainwright took the podium with a notebook page filled with thank yous.

If ever there was an example of how much a baseball town like St. Louis can mean to one individual, this was it. Adam immediately admitted he might not make it through what he wanted to say without “crying like a baby,” (to which his adorable daughter in the audience responded, because Adam said “You’ll help me through it, right?” Precious.)

Also, if there was ever any doubt about how Wainwright felt about the city and the people of Cardinal Nation, he erased them. He said his heart is in St. Louis. He recalled the drive to the “beautiful Busch Stadium” and how he loves the image of the arch on the morning commute. He recounted the emotions of a Georgia boy being traded away from the Braves organization and the uncertainty of what came next.

But, I’d say it worked out pretty well, as evidenced by the mile-long list of people he wanted to thank: Mr. DeWitt, Mo, Dave Duncan, Tony LaRussa, Chris Carpenter (which he barely made it through), other pitchers like Jason Marquis, Braden Looper, Jason Isringhausen, his current teammates (many of which were there) who he credited with growing his character as a man, not just a ballplayer, his catcher, Yadi — “The best in the game,” and the training staff.

He wound his way around his entire career, clearly meaning every word, and expressing by his emotions alone that this contract means more to him than a (yes, large) paycheck.

In that same retrospective mood, he addressed his family, his friends and the fans that embraced him. When he was struggling to continue (“This is a lot harder than I thought it would be. A LOT harder!”), he summed it all up with this –

“St. Louis, I love you!”

And the moral of the story: Waino is as excited to stay with the Cardinals as the fans are to have him locked in.

It’s a good day in Cardinal Nation.

And Adam, we love you, too!

Does this year’s St. Louis Cardinals spring training seem never-ending to anyone else? I know the games started earlier to accommodate the World Baseball Classic, but it just seems endless and we are still 13 days from Opening Day.

Speaking of the World Baseball Classic, at least that has provided entertaining baseball and tonight is the championship game. Yadier Molina, Carlos Beltran and the rest of the Puerto Rican team will take on the Dominican Republic at 7 p.m. Central Time on MLB Network. This is the third time these two teams have met in this WBC, and the Dominican has won both games. (In fact, they’re a perfect 7-0 and could be the first team to go undefeated in the WBC.) Perhaps Puerto Rico was just waiting for the time it really counts to win?

Hopefully that’s the case. And Yadi continues to garner praise for his play and his leadership. Danny Knobler of CBS Sports wrote about him, as did Tyler Kepner of the New York Times. That piece, titled A Triumphant Show by the Artist Yadier Molina, includes this from Tony La Russa, who was at AT&T Park for Sunday’s game:

“He just doesn’t allow his team to lose,” La Russa said. “It’s entertainment at the highest level. He is so good, it’s amazing. You watch him the whole game, and he’s worth the price of admission.”

La Russa continued: “It’s not just instinct. It’s sense, based on how a hitter’s standing, how he responds to the pitch or two before, and he’s very creative in how he makes his adjustment based on what he sees with the hitter and knowing what his pitcher can do. That’s art.”

That’s Yadi.

» Continue reading “Cardinals Wrap-Up: Yadi, Kozma, Carpenter And More”

It’s a monumental day in Aaron Miles’ Fastball history. This is our 1,000th post since the site began on Jan. 5, 2011.

First off, thanks to each of you for reading. It’s very much appreciated. Without you, sharing our thoughts on the St. Louis Cardinals isn’t nearly as enjoyable. And we like hearing your thoughts as well — posts that generate discussion are always good.

Looking back, it’s been quite a ride over the past 26 months.

We began a month or so before spring training 2011, coming off the disappointing 2010 season, and were wondering in the very first post how to adjust to liking the newly signed Lance Berkman and Ryan Theriot after hating them for so many years. (One was easy and resulted in the LB Fan Club. We really did try with the other one … but gave up as soon as we could. Although, just a reminder: Ryan Theriot will forever be a two-time World Series champion. But let’s hope not three …)

» Continue reading “An Aaron Miles’ Fastball Milestone: Post No. 1,000″

Dear Chris,

This isn’t the first time I’ve written to you, although it’s been more than a year since my letter and over a month since I included you in my love letter to the whole St. Louis Cardinals pitching staff. Reading the latter one again certainly is ironic and painful — all the talk of a healthy pitching staff and the excitement over seeing you and Adam together again … then, at the bottom, a link to the very next post: Carpenter “Very Unlikely” To Pitch Again.

Ouch. Figuratively, literally.

Which is why during Friday’s 16-10 win over the Nationals it was fun to see the mix-up on MLB’s At-Bat app, which there’s a screenshot of at right. Of course Matt played second base, but seeing your photo and you listed as the second baseman just lets my imagination wander to what you as a second baseman could be like — enjoying tagging out the runners foolish enough to try to steal (you’d certainly have some entertaining comments about trying to run on Yadi — and wouldn’t it be awesome if one of them was Brandon Phillips?), turning the double play, fielding grounders, whipping a throw (well, hopefully you could) over to Allen Craig at first. Hey, if Matt can learn to play second over the winter …

Okay, dream over.

Which means back to the reality that, for me at least, really hasn’t completely sunk in yet just due to timing. Or maybe denial that I really won’t ever see you pitch again.

» Continue reading “Cardinal Love Letter: Chris Carpenter”

Well, we made it! Another off season is in the books, and after only a few days of official spring training, the story lines are coming fast and furious.

Certainly, things started on a disappointing note with the press conference from Chris Carpenter. With the shoulder troubles from last season coming back to haunt him, the 2013 season looks highly unlikely for the long-time ace. Still, Carp did what Carp does — refuse to give up.

Of course, that means a new spot is up for grabs in the rotation. With guys like Joe Kelly, Shelby Miller, and Lance Lynn all vying for a spot, the need to make big improvements is even greater. That’s a challenge our Wolf Pup didn’t take lightly. With a goal of improving his health and physical fitness in place, Lynn “took the bull by the horns” and showed up to came a significantly smaller, and (more importantly) stronger version of his 18-game-winning self.

Also trying to claim one of those five rotation spots is Shelby Miller. The youngster had some issues last season, but by the time he made his way to St. Louis as the heir-apparent, he’d sorted things out. (Who can forget the shutout he was working over on the Reds the last game of the regular season?) Last year, Miller showed up to camp shockingly slim … not what the doctors ordered. This year, though, he’s added the pound back on, and Derek Lilliquist is impressed. That’s a good start. » Continue reading “Keeping Up With The Cardinals: Spring Training Edition”

Monday’s press conference broke the news that team leader Chris Carpenter would likely not see the field in 2013, due to recurring arm and shoulder issues that had not only returned, but escalated.

Click the screen cap for full video of today’s press conference.

Today, Carpenter spoke for himself for the first time. Let me just say, it wasn’t easy to watch.

Carp — our bulldog, our ace — sounded as broken and unsure as I’ve ever heard anyone.

He recounted the off season workouts, the strength he felt, the “difference” from how last season felt. He expressed how excited he’d been after his first bullpen session, especially after only being able to get to 75% for the end of last season. He’d made plans to travel his family to several games. He was giddy thinking about “how much fun it was going to be” to pitch healthy again.

His demeanor changed with the story — the numbness, the tingling, the zingers all came back, but with an added symptom: discoloration in his hand. That’s when the concern kicked up a notch. » Continue reading “Carpenter: I’ll Never Retire … There Will Always Be Hope”