Cards Win As Reds, Phillips Blow Into Town

A foul wind blew into St. Louis Friday afternoon.  And no, it was not the big mouth of Cincinnati Reds 2B Brandon Phillips.  Mother Nature unleashed her fury with devastating tornadoes that damaged Lambert International Airport, and delayed the highly anticipated start of the Cardinals-Reds series.  The game was played amongst the debris.  And now the NL Central is part of the debris as the Redbirds roost alone atop the division - 1/2 game ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Forgive me if I sound flippant about the storm sitting cozily in warm weather in Tucson.  My son lives in Ellisville with his mother.  I have friends and family in Maryland Heights, Overland, Florissant, and Hazelwood.  Additionally, my mother still lives in southern Illinois which has not been spared by the recent weather.  I am very concerned about the news.  My prayers go out to the entire area.

Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa showed a heapin' helpin' of Hall of Fame cool for playing chicken with the weather.  LaRussa made a last minute decision to start Miguel Batista against the Reds, knowing full well what the forecast portended.  And he was vindicated when the game was delayed six pitches in.  Reds manager stuck with scheduled starter Edinson Volquez, and he was done without throwing a single pitch in the game.   Perhaps Baker knew what he was doing with Volquez, who's given up 6 HR's, 20 hits, and 17 runs in 22.2 innings thus far this season.

When the storm abated and the game resumed, Kyle McClellan also resumed his anticipated start (technically in relief).  With no outs and a runner on second, McClellan escaped the first without damage.  And he continued to perform as he has all year - 6 innings pitched, 2 ER, 7 hits, 3 BB, and 2 K's on 93 pitches.  Actually, it may have been his worst start of the season - if it was indeed a start.

Ryan Theriot is proving himself to be quite the brown-noser, proving Cardinals GM John Mozeliak correct for bringing the former Cub aboard.  Theriot went 3-4 with a double, and scored 2 runs to get the home team to an early lead they never relinquished.  Theriot is now batting .321 as the replacement for light-hitting Brendan Ryan.  Albert Pujols managed 2 RBI's, and the Lance Berkman Fan Club was thrilled as the Big Puma keeps impressing, matching Theriot's line exactly.  Yadier Molina again had one big hit, a two-out RBI single in the fifth that gave the bullpen the space needed to lock down the victory.

Is it fair to lump the job former reliever McClellan did into the body of work the bullpen did tonight?  I don't think so.  Their performance stands alone.  Eduardo Sanchez was called upon in the sixth inning to save K-Mac in a two-on no-out situation.  The rookie showed jitters, throwing two wild pitches that lead to one Red run, but limited the damage and escaped the jam.  Jason Motte worked himself into a jam, giving up two singles in 2/3 of an inning.  He gave way to Mitchell Boggs who went old-school, pitching over an inning to earn his second straight save.

Let us not forget about the man who created the hype of this series and the burgeoning rivalry between the clubs - Brandon Phillips.  He was the one Red to get good wood on a McClellan offering, depositing his second home run of the season into the left-centerfield bleachers in the fifth.  Phillips showed some class by not grandstanding the performance - he hustled his way home on what had to be a satisfying home run trot.  Cardinal Nation hates him, but his antics upped the hype, and has the final two games of the series on national TV - Saturday afternoon on FOX, and the Sunday night game on ESPN. Here's what the Reds All-Star second baseman has to say after tonight's show:

  You can follow him on twitter @DatDudeBP.  Honestly, he's one of the best MLB players to follow. 

We have national TV, national media, controversy, adversarial competitors, and two good divisional teams facing off in late April.  This rivalry is everything the Cards-Cubs should be, it's Yankees-Red Sox for the rest of the nation.  It was an exciting win for the Redbirds tonight.  I can't wait for tomorrow.  I can't wait to see how this drama plays out through the summer.

When a Season Flashes Before Your Eyes

I was innocently listening to the St Louis Cardinals game on the MLB 11 app on my iPhone, listening to Mike Shannon comment about how Chris Carpenter must have an early tee time today.  He was working so fast that he was making 2 pitches before the came back from commercial break.  And he was mowing down Marlins, and seemed to be focused on the curveball.  And it was working.

After all the early drama of camp, this was a wonderful tonic for a angst-ridden Redbirds fan.  Suddenly, Carpenter pulls up, comes out, and my breath got short.  My phone exploded with texts as I passed along the breaking news. 

Alas!  We all moaned and whined about how the season is broken before it starts.  How if it would be possible to overcome losing Wainwright?  No way we could overcome losing 2 aces.

It Got Worse

While we all were still wringing our hands over Carpenter, Mitchell Boggs had to leave the game with an injury.  Suddenly McClellan would be necessary in the bullpen.  We would have to waste precious payroll on a scrub like Kevin Millwood.  The proper plan of progression the organization has for Shelby Miller would be shelved.  Lance Lynn would be pushed up too soon.  Miguel Batista is now an important signing. The season - and the future - was blown up in 15 minutes time.  Oi vay!

Whew!

Eventually, word came out that Carpenter has a strained hamstring, and Boggs has a back strain.  Whew!  Not a mention of the dreaded words "elbow" or "shoulder".  But these are not injuries to gloss over.  Both will require plenty of rest to heal properly and not linger throughout the season.  Pitching through such injuries could force either pitcher to change their deliveries to compensate for the pain and later in the season provide us with such unwanted terms as "elbow", "shoulder", "evaluation", "Paletta", and worse of all, "Dr. James Andrews".

Of course, true St. Louis Cardinals fans know better than listen too closely to optimistic medical prognosis from the front office (see: Carpenter, Chris; Lohse, Kyle; Penny, Brad; et al).  Bill Belachik is a friend of TLR, and La Russa seems to have picked up his bud's crazy NFL injury reports (the first time Tom Brady was not listed as "probable" was the game he had the knee injury and was lost for the season).


Too Much Excitement

I am excited about every baseball season - no matter the realistic hope I have for my Cardinals.  But so far this spring training has been FAR too exciting.  I have much trepidation about Lance Berkman's elbow.  If he can't play the outfield regularly, it is a huge blow to the lineup.  Jon Jay is exciting, Lance Berkman is an all-time special hitter.  Berkman will be on the "Pujols" plan that was implemented when Albert's elbow blew up while he was still an outfielder - hit the cut-off man who is standing 40 feet into the outfield.  It's not optimal, but the Red Sox won a World Series with a CF who's uninjured arm was so bad his LF felt compelled to cut off his throws. (a tip of the cap to Manny for the single funniest thing I've ever seen in baseball).  But it doesn't stretch the imagination one lick to see that elbow affecting Berkman at the bat, and that isn't much fun to think about.

Excitement The Right Way

The Cardinals exploited the wind for 4 HR's today.  The Marlin's didn't.  That means the St. Louis pitchers were all down in the zone.  That's a great thing.  The routine plays on defense were made, and Jon Jay made an outstanding play in LF today.  Thats great news.  Matt Holliday hit a HR.  An average season from Holliday is a great thing.  Losing Wainwright is a massive blow to hopes, but there is still outstanding talent on this team.  There is players like David Freese, Allan Craig, and Tyler Greene who are ready to show talent on the big league level.  And Albert is still on the roster.  This season should be fun and the team competitive.  But no more drama, please!