Apparently, Ty Wigginton has been hiding wheels.

On a night where nothing came easily, Wigginton was the guy who came through in the clutch. Twitter nearly exploded at the hit (scored a double, but it was in and out of a diving Rick Ankiel’s glove), and then went postal as Wiggy dashed for home on a miscue by the Mets’ pitcher that left home plate wide open.

Here’s how the play went down, as described by Rick Hummel:

Matt Carpenter, who again reached base three times from the leadoff spot, lined a ball off the foot of reliever Scott Rice.

As the ball rolled down the first-base line, Rice started to pursue — as did catcher John Buck, who finally corralled it. This, of course, left nobody covering home.

Third-base coach Jose Oquendo, in Wigginton’s eyesight, pointed that the catcher and pitcher both had gone for the ball. The rest was up to the 35-year-old Wigginton.

“As I was breaking to third, I saw Buck going after the ball and home plate was going to be open, so I took a chance,” Wigginton said.

“The play’s in front of me, so you’re probably the best base coach there is. If you can see the play, you go ahead and take your chance.”

That chance scored a run, and that run broke a 3-3 tie. Clutch? … sure. For one night, anyway.

(Time out. I have to be honest. At precisely the moment pictured above, I was yelling, “No, no, no, no!!” The play developed so quickly, all I knew was Wiggy was trying to score from second on an infield hit that went off the pitcher’s foot. My apologies, Sir Wigginton. I didn’t trust your call. Thank you, though, for proving me wrong with that heads-up play!) » Continue reading “Cards Do Battle And Ride Wiggy’s Wheels To Victory”

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”

Even with the ups and downs, the St. Louis Cardinals finished April in first place. One big reason why? Our first BAMFs for 2013: the starting rotation.

April has traditionally been a very good month for the Cardinals, as they’ve had winning records each year since 2008 and have been in first place in the National League Central on May 1 for each of those years as well. That’s a nice streak that, more often than not, also leads to a post-season trip.

Back to our five starters, it would have been easy to choose Adam Wainwright as our sole BAMF for April. He more than earned that honor, with his walkless streak (and still only three walks allowed for the season) and 4-2 record and 2.03 ERA and — oh yeah — that brilliant complete game shutout of the Brewers on April 13 and masterful performance against the Nationals on April 23.

But how do you overlook the guy who currently leads the majors with a 0.98 ERA in Jake Westbrook — especially when he had a five-hit complete game shutout on April 10?

And how can we not recognize a streak of 39 1/3 innings without allowing a run from April 9 through the 14 — a streak which, coincidentally, included those two shutouts?

Plus how can we overlook the rotation that’s leading the league in starters ERA? Ending April it was 2.15 — a full run better than the American League’s top rotation, the Red Sox, at 3.15. The second-best National League starters were the Reds at 2.95. (Following yesterday’s Reds-Cardinals game, the starter ERAs are now 2.11 for the Cards and 3.07 for the Reds — though of course those are May stats.)

In addition, as Tara mentioned yesterday, they’ve allowed the fewest home runs of any team with seven, are second in WHIP at 1.15, are the only team with two shutouts and opponents were hitting .229 against them. (It’s now .228.)

» Continue reading “Cardinals Starters Were Definitely BAMFs In April”

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!”

Cards win 5-1 over Reds behind Lynn, Adams & yes, the bullpen.

This was just the kind of bounce-back winner the Cardinals — and all of us fans — needed.

After Monday’s home opener collapse, there was an overwhelming sense of “Maybe we have more problems than we thought we did!” that was fighting against the ever-present logic shouting “It was ONE GAME!”

The reality is, Monday night was a really awful way to lose. But, more telling than one heartbreaking loss would be how this team rebounded the very next day against the very same team … with the very same guys who struggled the night before.

Before Trevor Rosenthal and Mitchell Boggs had their chances to remind us that all is not lost, Lance Lynn was up for a comeback of his own. After pitching only four innings in his first start of the season, we all needed a boost of confidence where last year’s All-Star was concerned.

Ten strikeouts over six innings will do that.

The kid looked good. He looked really good. And manager Mike Matheny commented after the game on just how much fun Lynn is to watch when he’s throwing the ball as easily as he did last night. Mike, I have to agree. » Continue reading “Lesson Learned: These Cards Bounce Back”

Cards versus D-backs
Winner takes the first series.
Do red hats bring luck?

Not to the pitchers,
Or not tonight anyway.
Lose the red hats, please.

Lance Lynn was in first
And he threw many pitches.
Ninety-four in all.

Only four innings.
Four earned runs allowed — oh ouch.
ERA is 9.

Yet the offense struck
And scored four runs in the third.
Not enough, of course.

Three more in the sixth
From Matt A, Koz and Dan D.
Matt H drove in two.

Yet no lead was safe.
Joe Kelly gave up three runs.
And two were homers.

» Continue reading “Cardinals Lose In 16: A Haiku Review”

See? What’d I tell you? New day, new result. And I much prefer this one.

Jaime Garcia — yes, on the road! — was impressive. He could have crumbled early after he gave up a solo shot to Arizona’s Miguel Montero in the bottom of the second. We’ve seen the wheels fall off at that point before. This time, though, Jaime pulled it together and pitched 3.2 scoreless innings after that.

His final line looked like this: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K. He threw 97 pitches, 57 for strikes. Sure, the four walks aren’t pretty … especially since he walked himself right into a sticky situation in the 6th, where he left with the bases loaded and two outs.

Fortunately, Mujica/Rosenthal/Boggs seems to work as well as Mujica/Boggs/Motte did last year.

Jason Kubel, facing Edward Mujica in a prime situation to lay down the hurt, fought off six pitches before striking out looking to end the threat. » Continue reading “Jaime And Heath: Thanks For The “W””

With March Madness in full effect this weekend it means only one thing. Yes, basketball of course. But it also means that opening day is just around the corner in Major League Baseball and we get to see just how well our beloved St. Louis Cardinals are going to do this season.

Yay!

With that said. There were a ton of questions we all had going into Spring Training that we hoped would be answered by now. What questions have been answered? What questions remain? Let’s discuss!

* Pitching? Chris Carpenter is out. Jaime Garcia is doing much better than I expected … not amazing but he’s doing better than last season. Adam Wainwright is the ace and is looking for a big pay day before the season starts. Lance Lynn and Jake Westbrook are slim and, for some of you, arguably pitching effectively. The remaining question has been the final spot in the starting rotation being battled out by Shelby Miller and Joe Kelly. Good problem to have but things look to be tipping toward Shelby getting the job and Joe going to the bullpen for long relief. The option of Joe and Trevor Rosenthal in long relief is amazing. There are good options in the minors too with John Gast, Seth Maness and Michael Wacha. The St. Louis Cardinals have pitching. So many options. And for that I am pleased. It’s a problem we haven’t been blessed with in a long time.

* Middle Infield? So Rafael Furcal is out after having Tommy John surgery. Pete Kozma is the projected starting shortstop. Matt Carpenter and his bat are the expected second baseman and will share time with Daniel Descalso. Daniel is quite versatile and will be able to help out not only at second, but can back up David Freese at third and Kozma at short. The fan base seems to want there to either be another veteran presence at short or go ahead and have inconsistent-as-hell Ryan Jackson and top prospects Greg Garcia  and  Kolten Wong available RIGHT NOW. It will be smart in the long run to have Garcia and Wong in Memphis getting at bats. And Jackson too for that matter. Maybe they will be able to trade for a veteran shortstop to help with Kozma. But… let’s let Kozma have a chance. Please!  » Continue reading “What Questions Remain With 10 Days Til Opener”

St. Patrick’s Day is all about traditions — and here’s ours, the annual publishing of the Cardinals Irish blessing by Michael Foutch for the holiday.

May the outfield fence rise to meet you

As the horsehide soars off your bat

May the sun gleam off your red helmet

Cheers of a walk off victory

As you look toward the heavens

May The Man hold you in the palm of his hand.

Yes, it’s the day for green jerseys to go along with those gleaming red helmets — and yet another marketing opportunity for MLB since of course all that green Cardinals merchandise is available and conveniently on sale today. (A tank top that says “shake your shamrocks” — really? And it relates to the Cardinals how?)

» Continue reading “For Your St. Patrick’s Day: A Cardinals Blessing”

Monday morning already. At least it’s now March, although it’s still four (long) weeks until the St. Louis Cardinals start the 2013 season. Plus manager Mike Matheny has a ruptured disc and might need surgery. And who knew that not having surgery for a torn elbow ligament would mean trouble for Rafael Furcal? Shocker! (Except not really.)

Add all of that to more winter weather in the Midwest, and all we’re really up for today is looking at some nice pictures from spring training to help us feel better — right?

Here’s hoping these will help. (All photos from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.)

Feel better yet?

» Continue reading “Cardinals Monday Motivation: More Spring Training Photos”