West Coast games are brutal. I find myself hoping the games are over before midnight my time, but more often than not falling asleep no matter how invested I am in the game.

Last night was similar, except for the fact that I did stay awake. And, I much prefer listening to a game like that than the one the night before (… of which I only heard about six innings!).

Still, the hour the game finished and the hour I needed to be up this morning didn’t agree much with one another, so we’re going to make this a very visual recap. Here, in .gif-form, is how I made my way through last night’s game.

This is me, trying to watch West Coast games. So … sleepy … must … cheer … on … Cards …

» Continue reading “Cards Bounce Back In Late-Night Winner Over Padres”

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”

Hey, remember when we panicked over the state of the Cardinals bullpen because things were just awful? Yeah, it was only last week — and the last time Jake Westbrook started — but things have definitely improved.

And the bullpen was a big factor in the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field yesterday afternoon.

A win over the Cubs? Always extra nice, because of the angst just playing the Cubs can cause for us as Cards fans that Tara described yesterday.

A win over the Cubs to complete a 5-1 road trip?

Terrific.

A 5-1 road trip that increased the Cardinals division lead to three games over the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds and again gives them the best record in the National League plus the best record in the majors?

Awesome.

Time to pause and enjoy on this off day. Because, as well all know, it’s a long and roller-coaster ride of a season. Even individual games like yesterday’s can be emotional roller-coasters — but ones that ultimately end up just fine thanks especially to a 24-year-old rookie who’s thrown all of 18 pitches in his major league career and the three relievers who followed him.

Seth Maness, incredibly efficient. No, ridiculously efficient.

» Continue reading “About Those Cardinals Bullpen Problems …”

Losing to the Cubs is annoying. Especially on the heels of sweeping the Brewers and that six-game winning streak. Not to mention, Lance Lynn’s perfect win-loss record was on the line. Against the Cubs. And, no matter how good of a game it was, Cubs fans will take great pride in rubbing this in. At least for a day, they will.

So yes, losing to the Cubs is annoying. But, it’s not devastating. It’s still just one game.

Rivalries are tough, no matter the opponent. Wrigley is tough, no matter the strength of the visiting team. And, if the Cubbies have had one thing going for them this season, it’s starting pitching. So, getting to Travis Wood wasn’t going to be the easiest of ventures.

Allen Craig made Wood pay for a mistake early, launching a line-drive home run to the bleachers in center field. The Redbirds created a few opportunities here and there after that. Every time there were runners on base, though, they stayed there. No one could bring them on home.

Lance Lynn pitched a beauty of a game. Did you realize he didn’t throw a single pitch with a runner in scoring position? Unfortunately, after Alfonso Soriano looped an ankle-high slider over Craig’s head for a single, Lynn made his only mistake of the night — a 91 mph fastball that caught too much of the plate … and then caught a lot of air as it sailed over the still-brown ivy. Cubs lead, 2-1. This game was probably going to lower Lynn’s average run support, too.

Carlos Marmol tried to give the Cardinals a chance later in the game. In the eighth inning, with chances for the Cardinals running out, Yadier Molina singled off of Marmol with two outs, then proceeded to (barely) steal second on an awkward, good-thing-he-missed-the-tag play. Safe, nonetheless. And, Jon Jay walked. Two on. Two outs. Cardinal Nation’s favorite Cub on the mound. Perfect set up, right? » Continue reading “Cardinals: Rivalry Games Are Never Easy”

Six, as every St. Louis Cardinals fan knows, is a serious number. (How about that nice plug for Mobil’s On the Run?)

The Cards current winning streak has now reached serious status thanks to the team’s first-ever four-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers with Sunday’s 10-1 win.

Also serious, though it has nothing to do with the number six: the Cardinals 20-11 record. It’s the best in the National League, and is tied with the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers (hello, Lance Berkman!) for tops in the majors. The Cards 2 1/2 game lead over the Cincinnati Reds is currently the biggest lead in any division also, tying them with the Rangers and their lead over the Oakland A’s.

But back to Sunday. You know it’s a successful day when it’s a challenge to even figure out what the “good, better and best” of the game would be.

How’s this for good — and it’s another six as well? A six-run second inning got the Cardinals scoring under way. A one-out walk to Daniel Descalso put him on base, while a Pete Kozma single and Jon Jay hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with two outs. (Jaime Garcia fouled out trying to sacrifice the runners up.) Marco Estrada was a little wild, to say the least — back-to-back bases-loaded walks to Shane Robinson and Matt Holliday gave the Cards their first two runs. Then Allen Craig kicked off his big day with a hit that was just fair down the left field line that cleared the bases. Yadier Molina drove him home with a single before David Freese came up for the second time in the inning — and earned the distinction of making the first and last outs.

Seeing is always better, though, right? Here’s a look at all six runs scoring, along with a nice look at the 1913 throwback uniforms both teams were wearing. And for once it really was a High Sock Sunday for nearly everyone!

» Continue reading “Cardinals Winning Streak Gets Serious With Sweep Of Brewers”

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”

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”

If ever there were a time to get a sweep, this was the time to do it. The St. Louis Cardinals swept the Washington Nationals Wednesday afternoon with a 4-2 victory.

The Fox Sports Midwest crew pointed out another interesting tidbit about this sweep … it was the first time the Cardinals swept either the Expos or Nationals outside of St. Louis since September 1969.

Wow. Just. Wow!

So many great things about this game. Let’s discuss!

* Matt Holliday. Is he ever not clutch? Wow! Yes, that was sarcasm, kiddos! Yesterday he was 3 for 4 with a run and an RBI. In the eighth inning, Matty Ho singled on a grounder to short allowing Matt Carpenter to score. Matt Carp scored the fourth run of the day. A pretty pivotal insurance run for the Cards.

* Matt Carpenter. He was also 3 for 4. He scored two runs. In addition to the run he scored when Holliday drove him in, Marp led off the game with a double. With Holliday and Carlos Beltran also on base, Yadi singled a liner to Jayson Werth, scoring Carp and Holliday. One more run came in that inning as Daniel Descalso reached on a force to score Beltran.

Yay for productive first innings!

* Dirty Dan. He gets playing time sporadically these days. So why did he get the call Wednesday? According to a tweet from Post-Dispatch writer Derrick Goold:

Questions about Descalso playing today should be met with the answer:Garcia is pitching. Matheny goes with the good-hands team. #stlcards

— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) April 24, 2013

* Jon Jay. Hey! Coming off the bench certainly seemed to work for you this time! He broke an 0 for 21 streak with a single to center field in the eighth inning. Hopefully this was just the kick start he needed.    

* Cardinals Pitching. The starting pitching remained great and the relief staff seemed a little more … settled. Jaime Garcia improved to 2-1 on season. He pitched 5.2 innings, giving up four hits and one earned run. He walked one and struck out three. Excellent for Jaime!

Joe Kelly got another pitching appearance! He even got a little bit of a longer appearance this time too! Kelly pitched 1.1 innings. He gave up two hits and made things a little interesting and tense for a few moments. But he struck out two, including the last batter he faced. That K seemed to give Kelly a jolt of needed confidence. By the way, seriously enjoyed these tweets from  Goold regarding Pitching Coach Derek Lilliquist and Kelly.

The Ferrari is coming out for a spin. #stlcards #Cardinals #nats — Derrick Goold (@dgoold) April 24, 2013

It was Derek Lilliquist who called Joe Kelly a “Ferrari in the garage,” the explanation is here: bit.ly/11kXQK7 #stlcards #cardinals — Derrick Goold (@dgoold) April 24, 2013

#Cardinals RHP Joe “Ferrari” Kelly hits 98 mph with his fifth pitch of a key strikeout there in the sixth inning. No longer in the garage. — Derrick Goold (@dgoold) April 24, 2013

Next up, Trevor Rosenthal pitched the 8th inning. He gave up one hit. Guess what that one hit was, my friends? That would be a home run to Jayson Werth to make it 4-2. He walked Bryce Harper and then settled down and struck out the next two batters – Adam LaRoche and Ian Desmond.

Edward Mujica came in to pitch the ninth and earned his fourth save of the season by getting hitters to either fly or ground out.

* Stephen Strasburg. The Nationals star pitcher didn’t look as amazing as we have been lead to believe. He pitched seven innings and while he did strike out seven, he also gave up five hits, a walk and three earned runs. It is the first of the season still. He will come around and pitch lights out, I’m sure. Hopefully not against the Cardinals though!

The Cardinals are now 13-8 with a half game lead over the Cincinnati Reds, who play the Nationals this weekend. The Cardinals start a series at Busch against the Pirates tomorrow night.

Miranda Remaklus is a contributor to Aaron Miles’ Fastball. She’s also lead writer for Aerys Offsides in the NFL section. Follow her on Twitter, @missmiranda.

Look! Joe Kelly! Pitching! For an entire third of an inning! Three pitches, one out (thanks to Jon Jay)!

At least we learned that Mike Matheny does, in fact, remember this guy exists and can pitch.

And pitching was definitely the story for the St. Louis Cardinals in their 3-2 win over the Washington Nationals. Not just Joe Kelly, but Shelby Miller — plus a one-two-three ninth inning from Edward Mujica. For an actual save! It’s hard not to get carried away.

Shelby Miller was once again terrific. He struck out eight in 6 2/3 innings, including Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche, plus kept Bryce Harper hitless. Three of the four hits he allowed were in the fourth inning, with both Nationals runs scoring then.

In the seventh, he allowed a single to Danny Espinosa with two outs followed by a walk to Kurt Suzuki. With 98 pitches, that was it for him — and in came Joe Kelly to face pinch-hitter Chad Tracy. As mentioned, he only threw three pitches. And the last one resulted in this fly ball to shallow center — and, again, thank you to Jon Jay. It was definitely a cool sliding catch.

The catch also was a bit of redemption for Jay, who — to put it nicely — is not doing so well at the plate and hasn’t had a hit since April 15 in Pittsburgh. He was up in the sixth inning with the bases loaded, none out and the Cardinals having just taken a 3-2 lead on a Yadier Molina single. Jay grounded into a double play.

He was not alone, though, as both Matt Holliday and Yadi grounded into double plays also. (It was just like 2011 all over again!) But Allen Craig, who also has been struggling on offense and batted second, did drive in the Cards first two runs with a double in the third that scored Pete Kozma and Matt Carpenter.

» Continue reading “A Good Night For Cardinals Pitching”

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”