Carlos Beltran

What a third inning… Ah, who am I kidding? What a game!

New manager Mike Matheny and the Cardinals are now 2-0 on the season with the 11-5 victory over their divisional rival Brewers.

Now back to that third inning!

Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday hit back-to-back home runs. Lance Berkman gets on base and David Freese hits a bomb to left field. Absolutely beautiful. Don’t believe me? Here’s the highlight reel!

Yadier Molina had a solo homer in the second inning. Freese singled in the fourth to score Rafael Furcal. In the sixth, Berkman doubled to score Beltran. In the seventh, Shane Robinson singled to score Jon Jay. And in the ninth, Matt Carpenter knocked a double to score Yadi and Daniel Descalso. And Furcal doubled to score Matt Carp.

Speaking of Dirty Dan!

I hope you are seated. He had this play in the fifth. According to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com, “Jonathan Lucroy collided with second baseman Daniel Descalso as Descalso moved in to field a grounder. Lucroy was called out, and Mat Gamel, who had just scored, was forced to return to third.” » Continue reading “Cards Beat Brewers 11-5″

It’s spring and all, but 5-0 victories are always awesome!

Let’s talk about a few positives from this outing!

* Jake Westbrook. How good has this guy been this spring? Dropping all that weight and pitching like a rock star too? He’s pitching like someone who wants to keep his job and play for St. Louis for a while. And what Cardinal fan doesn’t love that these days! So, you want to know how he did today? How about this … he pitched four scoreless innings. He gave up only two hits and a walk. And he got out of a bases-loaded jam by striking out Marlins pitcher Mark Buehrle. He had four strikeouts. Not bad at all!

* Yadier Molina. He had a three hit, three RBI day. The performance included a bases loaded single that scored a couple of runs. Yadi drove in another run with a third-inning single. He then had a lead-off double in the sixth.

* Matt Holliday was 2-for-3 from the plate. He blasted his first home run of the spring. And he’s hitting .500!

* Carlos Beltran and Lance Berkman each had a hit and scored a run.

Bad things?

Yeah … that’s not good. Get Well Soon Oblique Of Skip!

Jaime Garcia takes the mound for the Cardinals Saturday as they take a trip to Lakeland, Fla., to play the Detroit Tigers. Closer Jason Motte and relievers Marc Rzepczynski and Kyle McClellan are also expected to pitch Saturday.

Remember to VOTE on the All-Time Cardinal Team Tournament! Do it.

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

And all of Cardinal Nation sighs a collective sigh of relief. For today, at least, Waino was back to form, and in his own words, “It was business as usual.”

As is typical in the spring, the starter pitched two innings. For Wainwright, that meant two scoreless — and hitless – innings, although he did walk Sean Burroughs. (Waino picked up a pair of strike outs, too.)

All smiles. The first start in over a year will do that to a guy! (Photo via Todd Awbrey on Flicker)

After more than a year since his last start of any kind, it’s nice to see the guy back. It’s nicer to hear how good he felt afterwards. From Derrick Goold:

“I visualized every pitch before I got out there today,” Wainwright said outside the Cardinals’ clubhouse at Hammond Stadium. “I kind of had a plan for how I wanted to go about things. I really executed pretty well for the first time out there. To be honest with you I’ve never taken that kind of stuff out to a mound during spring training before. It’s usually during the season that I bring stuff like that. I was happy with the way it was coming out.”

If he’s happy, I’m happy.

Of course, it’s a team game. And while we’re all jumping for joy over a successful start for Adam, there were other goodies to be found today.

Dirty Dan Descalso had his chance to shine, playing the entire game at third base where he went 2-for-4. Lance Berkman had a 2-for-2 day plus a stolen base. Rafael Furcal hit his first homer of the spring, giving the Cardinals a lead. Shane Robinson (who, too, played the entire game) knocked in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and played some spiffy defense along the way.

Also worth noting, Mike Matheny got to play a round of musical relievers as practice for the kind of “situational pitching” Tony LaRussa was famous for. In doing so, both Scott Linebrink and Kyle McClellan pitched scoreless innings to set up the closer spot, today filled by Victor Marte.

But, it’s not really a Cardinals game without a little bit of drama at the very end.

With two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth, Marte walked the bases loaded. Not to worry, though. Rene Tosoni could only muster a grounder to second baseman Pete Kozma that easily ended the game.

Meaning … Cards win again! Perhaps we’re beginning to see the way this team will develop. It’s hard to decipher a puzzle when you don’t quite know what pieces you’ll have to use, but we’re seeing guys settle in a bit, and that’s at least a start.

It is, after all, just the first week of ST games. Can’t get too carried away just yet!

Tomorrow it’s Kyle Lohse getting the start against the Miami Marlins.

Tara is a St. Louis Cardinals reporter for Aaron Miles’ Fastball and a contributor to Around the Horn. Follow her on Twitter @tarawellman.

The St. Louis Cardinal announced today that righthanded pitcher Kyle McClellan has agreed to terms on a one-year contract with the club, thus avoiding salary arbitration. Financial terms of the deal are not disclosed.

McClellan, 27, split his time between starter and reliever in 2011. In 17 starts he accumulated a 6-6 record with a 4.21 ERA and was 6-1 in 26 relief appearances. McClellan stepped into the starting rotation after a pre-season injury to Adam Wainwright and stayed in that role until the Cardinals traded for pitcher Edwin Jackson at the trade deadline.

A St. Louis native and first-round draft pick of the Cardinals in 2002, McClellan has four years of service with the club after making his Major League debut in 2008. He has a 19-22 record with St. Louis, with a 3.61 ERA in 245 games, 17 starts.

Pitcher Jason Motte is the only arbitration eligible player to remain unsigned.

McClellan

We started the morning today with two guys who stepped into a couple monstrous roles this season, even if they were short-lived. When Adam Wainwright went down, the role of starter went to Kyle McClellan, and he handled the situation with as much grace as could be expected after having previously been a bullpen guy.

This off-season has had more talk about his upcoming contract negotiations rather than his performance on the mound, but today’s conversation didn’t focus on that much at all.

On the World Series:

“Was I happy I wasn’t on the roster? No. But I feel like I put my piece in earlier in the season. It is kind of nice to wake up with no pressure. I didn’t have to worry about blowing the game that night.”

On his role this coming season:

“I’ve taken a lot of time off and maintained my shoulder exercises. I’ll be ready to go. For right now, I’m just going to do the same thing I’ve done. I think that’s what makes me valuable is that I can do a lot of things….I can help the team bridge a gap. … My job is to come in and get outs, no matter right or lefty.”

Prior to McClellan coming in the room, we were fortunate enough to talk to Allen Craig for a bit. As would be expected, most of the focus was on his knee and how he felt physically. » Continue reading “Winter Warm-Up Interviews: Allen Craig And Kyle McClellan”

Just like the first game of the NLDS, game one of the NLCS was good for the Cardinals up to a point. Then everything went downhill quickly and they couldn’t recover.

The Cardinals lost to the Brewers 9-6 yesterday in a rollercoaster game. Thanks to some shaky fifth inning pitching from Jaime Garcia, the Brewers big sluggers were able to do their thing and take command. The relievers who followed him weren’t all able to keep things in control, while the Brewers bullpen was.

Here’s a closer look at the good, bad and ugly of the game.

Good

• The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the first, as a Jon Jay walk and Albert single allowed Matt Holliday to drive in Jay.
• David Freese gave the Cards a 4-2 lead in the fourth with a nice homer to right-center. He had a great day defensively too.
• Lance Berkman had an RBI single in the fifth to put the Cards up 5-2. He, Holliday and Rafael Furcal all had two hits each.
• Lance Lynn pitched a scoreless inning, his first game appearance since Aug. 9. He’d been out with a strained oblique.

» Continue reading “The Good, Bad And Ugly Of Game One”

Just moments after Wednesday night’s surreal Wild Card clincher, I started receiving “Can I be a Cardinals fan for the post season?” texts. And with a few days off before either NL division series starts, I’m sure there will be more. So, first things first: Welcome! So glad you’ve decided to join us. Cardinal Nation is a wonderful place, as I’m sure you’ll see. Since you’re new here, and have probably been buried in your own team’s season, I hope we can help you find your way around.

For a heads up on the “Who’s Who” in St. Lou, check out Miranda’s post today as well.

Here, we’re going to take a little walk down memory lane to see just how the Cardinals — once favored, a dozen times written off — made it this far.

The Cardinals finished the season 90-72 as they head into the playoffs as the NL Wild Card Champs.

In the preseason predictions from the most unreliable of experts, the Cardinals joined the Phillies as the teams to beat. That was pre-Wainwright Tommy John’s surgery. But, as we all know now, Adam never made a single start, after blowing out his elbow in Spring Training.

If only that had been the end of the drama.

Matt Holliday had an emergency appendectomy. The team went 2-6 through the first eight games. Albert Pujols hit .257 through April with seven home runs. Chris Carpenter — now the de facto ace — didn’t get his first win until May 10. He wouldn’t get his second until June 23.

Tony La Russa had shingles. Ryan Franklin couldn’t throw strikes. Ryan Theriot couldn’t field routine ground balls. David Freese was hurt, Skip Schumaker was hurt, Albert Pujols was hurt. And one of the most dangerous lineups in the big leagues was on a mission to top the NL Ground Into Double Play record.

Who would have thought the hopes of the Cardinals, hopes that had been so high to start the season, would rest on the shoulders of former Astro Lance Berkman?

But, in case you didn’t see a single Cardinals highlight all season, Lance came through. Again, and again, and again.

To reach the All-Star Break tied for first in the Central Division was quite a feat. And yet, in the same breath, it wasn’t. This team was — is – good. But with the trade deadline looming, and the now-infamous Colby Rasmus drama swelling, the tide was about to change. Little did we know how directly General Manager John Mozeliak’s bold moves would impact the season’s course.

Edwin Jackson, Marc Rzepczynski, and Rafael Furcal headlined the trades that emphasized a “win now” mindset. Arthur Rhodes and Octavio Dotel became Dave Duncan’s new projects. Kyle McClellan moved back to the ‘pen. Jason Motte and Fernando Salas tag-teamed as unofficial closers. » Continue reading “Welcome To The Bandwagon: How We Got Here”

You can’t quiet The Riot.

Or Adron Chambers.

In their only-Tony-La Russa-would-do-this roles as pinch-hitters for pinch-hitters last night, each provided multiple RBI in a wild seventh inning against three Mets relievers. (Sadly, none was Miguel Batista, although he was shown warming up in the bullpen.)

Ryan Theriot’s ground-rule bases-loaded double gave the Cardinals a 7-6 lead, while Chambers’ bases-loaded triple added three more runs. The Shredder Nick Punto followed with an RBI single to make it 11-6.

By the way, all these runs scored with two outs.

It was an emotional roller-coaster of a game, but the Cardinals ultimately triumphed — and it’s the end result that matters. Since scoreboard watching is mandatory right now, the win did not gain any ground for the Cards in the wild card race since the Braves beat the Marlins 4-0. But the sneaky Giants, who’ve been creeping into the wild card conversation, lost to the Dodgers 2-1 (with Aaron Miles going 0 for 4, in case anyone besides me wondered) to move 4 1/2 games back.

» Continue reading “Ryan Theriot, Cardinals Hero”

Congrats on win No. 100

It looked like another one of “those games” in the second inning on Sunday.

After the Cardinals took a 3-1 lead over the Pirates in the bottom of the first (thanks to RBI from David Freese, Skip Schumaker and Ryan Theriot), Kyle Lohse gave up three straight hits to start the second. Another hit plus a Theriot error made the score 4-3 Pittsburgh going into the bottom of the second.

Thankfully, that was the last the Pirates scored for the game. Even better, Theriot redeemed himself with a game-tying single in the third. The next inning, Allen Craig put the Cards on top with a sacrifice fly that allowed K-Lo himself to score. (He’s been hitterish again, getting on base with a single.) And that lead gave Lohse career win No. 100.

Obviously, it wasn’t the prettiest victory of those 100. But Tony La Russa was impressed:

“It was a tough start for him, but the last three innings he pitched, he really pitched. He had a totally different demeanor. He just kept competing. Today, he never gave the appearance that he wasn’t able to get the next batter out.”

K-Lo retired the final eight batters he faced.

Since he only pitched five innings, though, that meant the bullpen got plenty of action. And each reliever more than did his job. Marc Rzepczynski allowed one hit but struck out three in his inning, Kyle McClellan allowed no hits in 1 1/3 innings and Arthur Rhodes allowed a hit but nicely fielded a grounder to start an inning-ending double play for his 2/3 of an inning. Then there was Jason Motte, who came on to close it — and did the job successfully, earning his first save of the season with a hitless ninth.

» Continue reading “Cards Come Back, Lohse Wins No. 100″

The way the Cardinals have played lately brings to mind the ending of T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Hollow Men,” only describing this baseball season instead of the world:

This is the way the season ends
This is the way the season ends
This is the way the season ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

A whimper on the field, that is. Some fans still get irate, a few think there’s still a chance. Others just shrug — they’ve written this year off already.

Yesterday, the Cardinals provided more of the same whimpering in losing a game they should have won against the Cubs. It was a gorgeous day at Wrigley Field, bright sun and a brilliant blue sky. Cubs fans were already happy going into the game, since general manager Jim Hendry was finally gone.

Cards fans were happy early on. In the second inning, Lance Berkman (the high socks apparently a one-day thing) walked. Yadier Molina was next, launching a homer into the left field bleachers to put the Cards up 2-0. Ryan Theriot, playing second base at Wrigley again, followed that with a double and scored when Jaime Garcia singled. (Another hitterish pitcher!)

» Continue reading “This Is The Way The Season Ends”