All is finally right in the 2013 St. Louis Cardinals baseball world.

Yes, first place and again having the best record in the majors this morning and terrific starting pitching are all perfectly wonderful. But still, something very important was missing.

Photo: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

No more.

David Freese has finally hit his first home run.

And, just to make sure everyone really paid attention, he hit a grand slam.

Although the description on the Cards website to go along with the video is much more descriptive: “David Freese unloads on a Wily Peralta pitch for a majestic grand slam to straightaway center, opening up an early 5-0 lead.”

Watch and experience the majesty.

It really is a good thing that Matt Holliday singled, Allen Craig walked and Yadier Molina singled to all be on base when Freese stepped to the plate though — as Jaime Garcia needed all those runs, plus the two Holliday drove in and the one Jon Jay drove in for seven Cards runs overall since he gave up two three-run homers to Aramis Ramirez for six Brewers runs.

Uh, Jaime? Yikes.

» Continue reading “Cardinals Win! Freese Finally Homers!”

John Gast (Screen Shot)

It was a spectacular start to the major league career of John Gast. It was even more spectacular that he got plenty of run support in his debut! The Cardinals defeated the Mets 10-4 Tuesday night.

First off, let’s discuss this smooth lefty!

The first Mets batter Gast faced, Justin Turner, was thrown three pitches. All three pitches were strikes. Poor Justin didn’t know what was going on, it seemed!

The amazing start continued from there for Gast.

He threw 71 pitches over the course of six innings. Of the 71, 48 of those pitches were strikes. He threw three strikeouts.

Gast did give up six hits, a walk and had four earned runs thanks to some struggles in the sixth. According to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com, “Gast did stumble in the sixth, allowing three straight batters to reach with one out. A botched rundown later extended the inning long enough for Marlon Byrd to connect for a two-run homer. But maintaining his poise, Gast closed his outing with a strikeout — the same result with which he had opened his night.”

Langosch also reported Gast was “[t]he first Cardinals left-hander to make his debut as a starter since Rick Ankiel in 1999. Gast is now the first lefty starter to win a debut since Allen Watson in 2002. Asked how the long-time dream measured up to reality, Gast answered: “It was pretty close.”‘

Very exciting for the 24-year-old. I know I am far from alone in looking forward to more great starts from this guy! » Continue reading “Gast Hot In MLB Debut”

David Freese, as we know, has had a tough season so far at the plate. A couple days off after his batting average reached .163 a week ago did lead to getting two hits each in the first three games against the Brewers and, although he was 0 for five Sunday, his average is now up to .215.

Is the slump over? Is he back on track? And what’s the best way to deal with a slump, anyway — and to end it?

Photo: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

For insight on the latter question, I asked Wayne Tyson for his thoughts. Wayne was a high school and community college baseball coach for 26 years, and one of his players included a current MLB All-Star. Here’s what he had to say about handling slumps, both as a player and as a coach.

* * *

Every season, hitters go in slumps. Often, when they come out of them, they come out in a hurry. All players get in a slump here or there, and some would even say, humorously, that their entire career is/was a slump.

If you want to check out how bad slumps can be or how to get out of one, all you have to do is Google “batting slumps.” In less than 10 minutes, I found out that there are more than two dozen things that can put a hitter into a slump, and umpteen ways of getting out of one.

In everything I read on getting into or out of slumps, three things topped the list: mental preparation, the  physical aspects of hitting and the psychological factors involved. Then of course, there were the off-field situations … And too much coaching, and not enough coaching …

The fact is, you can’t put a number on the reasons a guy will go into a slump, just as you can’t put a number on getting out of one.

» Continue reading “A Coach’s Perspective On Hitting Slumps”

Two big, fat, ugly streaks ended for the St. Louis Cardinals tonight!

Jake Westbrook’s attempt to win his 100th career victory came after two failed attempts. And David Freese’s ugly little streak where he couldn’t get hits or score runs was also foiled.

‘Bout. Time. Amirite?!

Let’s discuss the good coming from Thursday night’s game. I have some bad, ugly, awfulness to discuss and then I promise to make you laugh. OK? All right. Let’s go!

Awesomeness: How about that third inning for the Cardinals? Wow!

The top of the third started out with Pete Kozma flying out to Ryan Braun. Jake singles to center. Matt Carpenter singles to left. Carlos Beltran flies out. Matt Holliday gets hits by a pitch to load up the bases. Allen Craig singles to score Jake and Marp. Yadi singles to score MattyHo. Freesey singles to score Craig! Jon Jay singles. Pete Kozma singles to score Yadi and Freesey.

See what I mean? Awesome! Jake even helped himself!

Speaking of Jake and Awesomeness. Jake earned his second victory of the season and his 100th of his career on a six inning performance. He gave up six hits, one run, three walks and struck out four.

Now let’s get to the bad, ugly, awfulness. Yes. Quiet. We have to.

The bullpen blows, y’all. It was almost as if they didn’t want Jake to get that 100th victory.

Joe Kelly entered the game in the seventh and only pitched two-thirds of that inning. He gave up two hits and two earned runs. He did strike out Ryan Braun. And that is quite acceptable!

What isn’t acceptable. Mitchell Boggs. Whew. Goodness.  » Continue reading “Bad Streaks End As Cards Win Despite Pen”

It’s amazing what nine innings of stellar pitching can do, when combined with a timely hit or two.

Jaime Garcia was back to his brilliant self, tossing eight innings (on 92 pitches) and allowing only one run. His teammates were struggling against Bronson Arroyo for much of the night, but Garcia did enough that one swing of the bat could change the whole story.

Matt Holliday apparently liked that idea. After Carlos Beltran singled, Holliday blasted a critical (some would say “clutch!”) home run to give the Cardinals their first lead in a game since Saturday. Only those two runs would score for the Redbirds, but with Jaime going strong, and Edward Mujica ready for the save, that would be enough. The Cardinals picked up win No. 15 on the season, and snapped a three-game losing streak.

I guess one way to keep the struggling bullpen from wasting quality starts and late-game leads is to pitch well enough to not need them! (Also, as a side note, look at Garcia, fielding his position! He was all over the place yesterday, chasing down slow rolling balls and firing down to first for the outs. Well done, sir!)

No, this win didn’t solve all the problems the Cards have had lately. The offense didn’t come bursting out of its funk with double digit runs. But, a win’s a win. And a win is just what the Cardinals needed to end the first month of baseball on a good note.

Let’s look at that note, shall we? » Continue reading “Holliday Helps Jaime And The Cardinals Finish April Right”

Even though the St. Louis Cardinals lost their season-high third straight game — this time to the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1 — there were a few positives if you put on your glittery rose-colored glasses.

The Cardinals did score a run, which was something they hadn’t done in 16 innings. Yadier Molina had three hits, the only RBI and stole a base. The bullpen was terrific, pitching two scoreless innings allowing only one hit (by Randy Choate) and striking out two (by Trevor Rosenthal). And Adam Wainwright pitched very well for seven innings, giving up five hits and striking out six along with the two runs.

Photo: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Of course, the continued lack of hitting, or timely hitting, by everyone but Yadi is the real story of the game.

And no pom-poms or sparkly glasses can hide that fact.

The Cardinals did have seven hits last night, one more than the Reds, and benefited from three walks by Mat Latos and one by Logan Ondrusek. But, of course, 10 of those 11 runners were left on base.

Here’s more on the harsh reality of late, courtesy of Derrick Goold:

• The Cardinals have scored four runs in three games and hit .188 as a team during that stretch.
• They entered Monday’s game as baseball’s best team with runners in scoring position, batting .335. That unrealistically high average has masked an overall lag in offense, and as it starts to settle the struggles are sharper and costlier.
• Overall averages have yet to rise. The only regular hitting better than .300 is Yadier Molina.
• Six regulars are hitting less than their career average.
• The Cardinals went two for 11 with runners in scoring position Monday, dropping to four for 24 (.167) in the past three games.

» Continue reading “Well, At Least The Cardinals Scored A Run”

Look who turns 30 today!

That’s right. Everyone’s favorite hometown hero, David Freese, hits the big 3-0 today!

Yesterday, he had the day off to mentally refresh due to some struggles at the plate. Today, he’s expected to be in the line-up against Pirates lefty Jeff Locke.

So he’s getting to play on his birthday. What better way is there to celebrate than with a Cardinals win?

Oh! That’s right…

His first home run of the 2013 season would be pretty great too!

Celebrate your 30th birthday the right way, David! Get a homer and lead your Cardinals to victory!

Bullpen problem, you say? Adam Wainwright’s here to save the day!

No, but seriously. What more can you say? What other superlatives can be added to his already-sparkling resume? Right now, Wainwright may just be minding his own business, focused on his spring promise to be worthy of the new contract extension, but just maybe he’s not interested in letting a key win slip away by handing the game over to the, shall we say “developing” bullpen until he absolutely must.

Classic Waino. Never gets old.

“We just had a good thing going,” Wainwright said in the post game. That, my dear, is an understatement.

Last night, he was two batters away from his second complete game shutout of the year. He’s in full-on Carp-mode; he’s a man on a mission, and it’s a beautiful sight to see.

Know what else is beautiful? Waino’s new toy.

If you missed it, here’s a little taste.

High heat? From Wainwright? Well, then.

That new pitch is by design — overall, but especially against the Nationals who were a problem area for Waino last season. According to Jenifer Langosch, Yadier Molina spent a little extra time watching film from Adam’s starts in D.C. last year, just to be sure they didn’t make the same mistakes this time around. And, the film breakdown led to a decision: it was time to break out a different weapon. » Continue reading “So, Adam Wainwright. That Is All.”

Yesterday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers was the debut of the new home-Saturday-only St. Louis Cardinals uniforms. I like the look a lot now that I saw the entire team in them — much more so than when they were announced in November, although I still think they were unnecessary and just created for the sales opportunity. (What about the rest of you who chimed in at the time?)

Photo: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Anyway, my guess is Adam Wainwright is a big fan of the new threads. Actually, my guess is all the Cardinals are. Hard to dislike anything when the pitchers haven’t allowed a run since the fourth inning on Tuesday and the offense has scored 25 runs in that same time frame. And it’s pretty much hard to find anything at all to dislike about Saturday’s 8-0 win.

A quick summary of the game: Wainwright did it all.

More details? A complete game shutout in which he walked none (and still hasn’t in 2013), struck out 12 (tying a career high, and getting Ryan Braun and Rickie Weeks three times each), allowed four hits, got three hits of his own (including two in the seven-run sixth inning) and drove in two runs. Similar to Shelby Miller on Friday, Wainwright threw 115 total pitches and 84 were strikes.

Oh, and this was his first home game at Busch Stadium this year — so his first game since signing his contract extension. I think he likes it in St. Louis.

» Continue reading “Adam Wainwright Really Likes The New Cardinals Uniforms”

What better way for the St. Louis Cardinals to honor Stan Musial than with six hits and their sixth win on the night to honor No. 6? Perhaps there was one thing better: the pitching of Shelby Miller. The future of the Cardinals definitely triumphed over past Cardinal Kyle Lohse as the Redbirds beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0.

Beyond the game, the pregame tribute to honor Stan and the No. 6 in the outfield grass were pretty amazing as well.

Here’s a look at the good, better and best of the game.

Good

Let’s start at the end. On a night when pitching ended up the story, it was good to see Mitchell Boggs get his second save of the season. It was neither pretty nor easy as he gave up both a walk and a single with one out and had to face Ryan Braun as the potential go-ahead run. But Boggs struck him out for the second out, then Rickie Weeks for the final out. Whew …

Also good to see: Trevor Rosenthal with three quick outs in the eighth.

It was good as well to see Kyle Lohse do well in his return to Busch Stadium. The fans gave him a very nice, mostly standing ovation. And his final numbers in the loss — two runs, six hits, two strikeouts, no walks — would have pleased us all during his Cardinal days.

» Continue reading “Sixth Cardinals Win A Fitting Tribute To No. Six”