Anyone tired of watching Yadier Molina do his thing?

Yeah, didn’t think so.

Photo: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Yadi had two hits, two RBI and a very interesting run scored to help the St. Louis Cardinals win 5-2 over the Chicago Cubs. Oh, those hits also raised his National League-leading batting average to .355. And he is (thankfully) gaining ground on Buster Posey in the NL All-Star voting.

It was another good night for Yadi — actually, a good night for all of the Cardinals once the rain ended and the game actually began.

Shelby Miller was terrific yet again, although his start was cut short by cramping in his right leg. He left after 5 scoreless innings in which he gave up 2 hits, struck out 5 and walked 2. He also lowered his ERA to 2.08, which is third-best in the NL.

And Shelby joins Adam Wainwright with 10 wins and Lance Lynn with 9 to make this the first time since 2005 the Cards have had three pitchers with 8 or more wins in their first 70 games, according to Tom Orf.

Kevin Siegrist took over in the 6th inning and continued what he’s done since his debut: held the opponent scoreless. He retired four Cubs, including Anthony Rizzo on a great called third strike, and walked one. Siegrist has pitched 6 2/3 big league innings now and allowed just 1 hit while walking 2 and striking out 10.

» Continue reading “Yadi, Yadi, Yadi Leads The Cardinals Yet Again”

Was there a more satisfying win yet this season than this one?

And could there be a more stereotypical 2013 St. Louis Cardinals way to win than scoring 7 runs in the 10th inning and holding the Cincinnati Reds scoreless from the 5th inning on?

Mostly rhetorical questions, as the answers to both are likely no.

The Cardinals 11-4 win in 10 innings over the Reds — their first extra-inning win of the season — gave them a 4-game lead in the National League Central, continued their streak of winning series that stretches back to the end of April and was their 41st win of the season. Speaking of streaks, three of the four hitting streaks continued as well. (Sorry, Allen Craig.)

Yet much of the game was tight and tense, the proverbial playoff atmosphere-type game in June made all the more frustrating by the ESPN crew’s love of the Reds. Brandon Phillips is so amazing, you guys! And Bronson Arroyo — hey, look at this video from when he was a kid! Isn’t he just adorable? And Brandon Phillips — seriously, he is just awesome on Twitter! We’ll let him tell you himself how much! Isn’t the the best?

Ugh. And, for the second straight game, hello mute button.

It was not necessarily a stellar night for Lance Lynn, especially in the 1st inning. A double, walk, single and sac fly gave the Reds a 2-0 lead. Then, after the Cards tied it in the 4th, he gave up the final two runs in the 5th. He went 6 innings, allowed 5 hits, struck out 6 and walked 3.

» Continue reading “Yes, Of Course The Cardinals Get 7 Runs In The 10th”

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!”

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”

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”

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”

This might be a first: I learned something from Jim Hayes on Fox Sports Midwest last night. Even more amazing is that it was about poetry — specifically that yesterday was National Haiku Day.

The three of us here at Aaron Miles’ Fastball have stretched our creativity into poetry from time to time, going back to the Miguel Batista days when every appearance by The Poet resulted in some kind of verse to honor his (mostly bad) appearances. Last year Barret Browning’s lyrical name prompted the same response. And, exactly two weeks ago, I felt inspired to capture the saga of the 16-inning loss in poetry — haiku, no less.

So since yesterday was National Haiku Day, there’s no option but another creative work on last night’s Cardinals loss to the Pirates. (At least it’s not a love poem to a certain Pirate who shall remain nameless — even though love poems to Cardinals have also been written here.)

Cardinals vs. Pirates On National Haiku Day

A beautiful night.
Beautiful PNC Park.
Always picturesque.

Young Shelby Miller,
Cards talented young rookie,
Takes the mound for us.

Pirates have their ace,
A.J. Burnett, looking for
his first win this year.

1998
strikeouts for A.J. to start.
Will he get two more?

Jon Jay leading off
Quickly gives him one more K.
Uh oh, that’s not good.

» Continue reading “Cardinals Lose On National Haiku Day”