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!”

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”

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 …”

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”

Expectations — we all have them, especially when it comes to St. Louis Cardinals baseball. An Adam Wainwright start? A rematch of the two starters from April 13 (which was one mighty impressive performance by Waino)? Yovani Gallardo and his 1-11 record/6.86 career ERA against the Cards?

The expectation was that our first inning for the United Cardinal Bloggers progressive game blog was going to be very simple to write.

The Cards would come out slugging against Gallardo, because that’s what they do. The Brewers would go down one-two-three against Wainwright because that’s what they do.

Baseball. You never can predict it, damn it. (Except when it comes to the Cubs — but that’s for another day.)

Matt Carpenter and his 3-for-7-.429 batting average against Gallardo stepped in to lead off as FOX’s scouting report told us Yovani just needed to forget what team he was pitching against. And, for this inning, he did. Carpenter hit the third pitch directly to center fielder Carlos Gomez — so straight at him that Gomez didn’t even have to move.

» Continue reading “Hey, That’s Not An Adam Wainwright First Inning”

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”

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”

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.

It was a forgettable night for the St. Louis Cardinals all the way around.

Now, granted, you might have been like me and were switching back and forth between the game and the live news coverage from Boston. (And, if you were really like me, just finding the Cardinals game was a challenge on DirecTV since Fox Sports Midwest was tweeting out the wrong channel number for its Plus channel. Perhaps that should have been the first sign …)

The curiosity began when the lineup to face the Philadelphia Phillies was announced. Well, sure, Yadier Molina needs a game off — fine. We all know he’s played every inning of every game so far. Interesting decision by Mike Matheny, though, to give him his first break on a night when Jaime Garcia was pitching and start Tony Cruz. Then again, we didn’t know if On-The-Road-Bad-Jaime was a bad memory from last year since Jaime was good in his only road appearance this season. So maybe it would all work well.

But then there was Matheny’s choice to play third base: none other than Most Hated Cardinal Ty Wigginton. (Seriously, I almost feel sorry for him. But only almost.)

So, with all of that in place, what could go wrong?

Everything.

Well, OK, Jaime started out fine — retiring Jimmy Rollins and Freddy Galvis in the bottom of the first.

» Continue reading “Rain, The Cardinals Needed You Earlier”

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”