McClellan's Mother's Day Masterpiece

Kyle McClellan (source: Wikipedia)

Kyle McClellan had a Mother's Day gift for the maters of Cardinal Nation on Sunday, pitching a gem as St. Louis beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-1.  The Hazelwood West High School grad thrilled the home crowd by crafting eight innings of excellence.  It marked the longest outing of his big league career.

McClellan was impressively efficient, only throwing 108 pitches on the day.  Even more impressive is the fact that he had to throw 10+ extra pitches in the first inning due to a Tyler Greene error on a easy chance on a Prince Fielder ground-ball.  The Cardinals put the infield shift on for the left-handed hitting Fielder, and Greene did not come up with the play ranging slightly to his left on the outfield grass.

In Greene's defense, he did make good with the bat.  He went 3-3 on the day with one run scored.  But the big hit was by Colby Rasmus in the fifth inning.  Facing a tiring lefty in Chris Narveson, Rasmus stroked a two-out two-run double that gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.

Milwaukee starter Chris Narveson - the former Cardinal - was on his game early.  Often he had the Cardinals flailing wildly at his pitch.  He especially picked on the hot-hitting Lance Berkman.  Berkman, batting from his weaker right side, was exposed by nice change-ups from Narveson.  But Narveson was not as efficient with his pitches, and the Cardinals followed their now usual norm of wearing down a starter and pouncing on opportunities when they tire.

The story of the day was McClellan offering even more proof that he is more than just a capable fifth starter.  He showed moxie escaping the first-inning bases-loaded jam that was set up by the Greene error.  McClellan wasn't necessarily sharp at the beginning of the game, but once he escaped another jam in the fourth (thanks to a smart defensive play by Albert Pujols), McClellan found his groove.  He breezed through the next four innings, and started the ninth inning.

In the ninth, Prince Fielder lead off and poked a seeing-eye single through an infield skewed to the right because manager Tony La Russa employed the shift.  It was a weak ground ball, and would have been an easy put-out if not for the shift.  As thanks for coaxing the big-hitting Fielder into a what should've been an out.  La Russa pulled McClellan and inserted Eduardo Sanchez to get the save. 

I do not agree with TLR's handling of this situation.  If he had no faith that McClellan could handle a touch of adversity, why put him back out there in the ninth?  McClellan induced a weak grounder from Fielder that got through the infield because of the shift. McClellan did his job, strategy failed.  If the hook was coming simply because one batter got on despite McClellan's work, why not bring in the youngster Sanchez to work from a less stressful clean slate?  McClellan was in the zone, and got what he wanted fromFielder.  If he was good enough to do that, he should be good enough to handle the rest of the inning.  But big league managers pull this crazy stuff all the time, and no one knows why - including the managers that pull this crazy stuff.

Anyway, Sanchez sandwiched two outs between two walks, and with the bases loaded could not put pinch-hitting veteran Craig Counsell away.  On the 13th pitch of the at bat, Counsell hit a sharp grounder into the hole between short and third that Theriot made a good play to stop from reaching the outfield but had to wisely stick in his pocket as Fielder scored from third.  It was a run charged to McClellan, when it was anyones fault but his.

By then La Russa had seen enough of Sanchez' drama, and fetched Fernando Salas from the bullpen.  Salas promptly dispatched Rickie Weeks, striking him out on three pitches.  The game - and the series - belonged to the Redbirds.

Cardinals Loss on Pitchers This Time

By User shgmom56 on Flickr

The St. Louis Cardinals managed to lose to the Florida Marlins on Monday night 6-5.  For the first time in a while, this loss can be pinned fully on the starting pitcher Kyle Lohse.

Lohse was cruising through the first two innings, needing only 17 pitches to retire the first seven Marlins hitters he faced.  The lone baserunner reached on a ball that went through SS Ryan Theriot's legs for an error.  But Lohse lost the strike zone in the third inning.  After getting the first out, Marlin's pitcher Chris Volstad got the first hit against Lohse - a single.  Now pitching out of the stretch, Lohse walked two more Marlins.  You can guess what happens after you give the opposing pitcher and then walk two, right?  You guessed it, a two-out two-strike grand slam by Gaby Sanchez.

The Big Puma Strikes
The Cardinal hitters came to the rescue, and regained the lead 5-4 in the bottom of the frame on a three-run dinger by Lance Berkman - his ninth of the season.  Fresh off a second NL Player of the week award, Berkman drove in four runs on his two hits, and added a walk.  But Lohse kept struggling with the strike zone and his pitch count kept rising.  Marlins slugger Mike Stanton launched a bomb into Big Mac Land at Busch Stadium, tying the game.

The game would remain tied until the eighth, when Stanton struck again, greeting Mitchell Boggs with a lead-off triple.  The next batter, Greg Dobbs, was able to plate Stanton with a sacrifice fly and the Marlins had the late lead.

Tyler Greene Fails
Now to the bottom of the ninth with Florida leading 6-5.  Daniel Descalso lead off with a walk.  Tyler Greene was asked to move Descalso over with a sacrifice bunt but he failed, bunting straight to the pitcher who got a force-out at second.  Allen Craig - fresh off the DL - struck out.  Ryan Theriot then singled.  If Green does his job and gets the runner to second, the Cardinals tie the game.  Alas, Leo Nunez coaxed a ground ball out of Colby Rasmus, and the rally - and the game - were over.

Greene was particularly brutal this game.  He went 0-4 and failed to get the sacrifice bunt down.  Now batting .219 on the season, Greene again is failing to show he has the stuff to be a Major League ball player.  As Bernie Miklasz points out, Greene is now 1-6 in his career in sacrifice situations.

With David Freese's broken hand and Skip Schumaker still on the DL, the Redbirds will need someone to step up and replace some of Freese's slugging.  Greene has shown good power in the minors, but at the big league level, he just doesn't hit.  Plus, Greene has been inconsistent with the glove with the parent team.  Daniel Descalso has had some good at bats lately, but he went hitless on Monday also.

Monday's loss went to Mitchell Boggs, but Kyle Lohse finally had a poor start.  He was due one, though.  He still looks healthy and this observer expects a very good season from him. 

Should Cardinals Let The Grass Grow?

The St. Louis Cardinals are a ground-ball machine.  And no, I am not referring to the pitching staff.  I mean the hitters.  The Cards are currently leading the entire Major Leagues with 28 Grounded Into Double Plays (GIDP's), with a healthy lead in the NL (the Pittsburgh Pirates come up short yet again with only 20 GIDP's).

The Redbirds have an astounding 18 GIDP's at home in Busch Stadium in only 11 games.  Compare that to a (still) healthy ten in the team's ten road games.  Granted, in the first home-stand of the season many GIDP's were caused by a scuffling lineup rolling over on pitches and managing only weak grounders to the opposing middle infielders, while in the last five games at home it's been sharply hit balls that account for many of the double plays the team has endured.

Perhaps it's time to let the grass grow at Busch III.

That may seem like a joke, but maybe we should take a moment to consider it.  In the last five games at Busch, Colby Rasmus has three GIDP's.  Tyler Greene and Nick Punto have one each.  On the current home-stand, the entire team has a total of eight.  The three players listed represent a large portion of the team's speed.

If the infield grass was let to grow a tad higher, perhaps those grounders turn into productive outs - moving the runner up.  At worst, they may have only been force outs.  And this is important, as 11 of this season's home GIDP's  came with at least one runner on base with no outs with no runs scored in the inning - true rally killers.  Additionally, four GIDP's at home have been super rally killers, transforming two on, no out opportunities into wasted innings.  Missing that many wonderful chances to post runs has left the team vulnerable to the bullpen implosions suffered in 2011.

Of course this all supposition.  If the grass was longer, and the ground balls slower, the Redbirds could have even more  GIDP's (perish the thought).  Or well struck grounders for hits instead could become standard ground outs for Cardinal batsmen.  I know of no way to quantify this, not being a stat freak (gimme some help?)

But here's something to keep in mind.  Pitching coach Dave Duncan has pruned and preened his staff to be worm-murders - preaching the sinker and his pitch-to-contact philosophy.  With an infield defense focused on offense, would higher grass and slower ground balls mollify the middle infield's lack of range?  I know only one way to prove my theory - practice it.  Have the grass mown long.  There are proven eye-ball analysts sitting (or standing) in the Cardinals dugout every day their in Busch III.  It wouldn't take long for them to get a feel for the way it's working.  And if the experiment raises the hackles of TLR, Dunc, and the Ol' Redhead it's an easy fix to return to the way it was.

I'll admit, this all sounds like a joke.  But with the double-play hindering St. Louis' run differential, raising the issue for debate isn't really such a ridiculous a thought.

Cardinals Cure Norris' Voodoo, Exorcise Demons In 8-0 Win Over Astros

The St. Louis Cardinals finally found the cure for the strange voodoo Houston Astros starter Bud Norris has had over them in his short career. Entering Friday nights game, the second year right-hander had earned 4 of his 8 career victories against the Cardinals. But a run-scoring double by Albert Pujols in the first inning broke the spell, Adam Wainwright's magical pitching supplied the potion, and Matt Holliday's 8th inning home run delivered the cure as Norris and the Astros succumbed 8-0.

Norris is best described as a serviceable starter for the Astros, coming into Fridays game with a career record of 8-9 with a 5.29 ERA and 123 strikeouts in 22 starts. Against the Cardinals, however, he became Walter Johnson reincarnated - 4 wins in 4 starts giving up only 1 earned run and striking out 25 in 26 innings and giving up no home runs. That's a 0.38 ERA folks. Bob Gibson is jealous. But the Cardinals cast off his curse, and just when they had to.

For the first time this season, Holliday homered after Pujols was intentionally walked. It came in the 8th inning, and was the the coup de grace that chased Norris and his voodoo from the game - and Cardinals fan's nightmares - a rocket shot off the back wall of Minute-Maid Stadium. And when Pujols homered deep to right field in the ninth inning it was another rarity in this season of disappointment for the St. Louis offense, marking only the second time this season Holliday and Pujols had connected in the same game. That's the recipe the team envisioned when it signed Holliday to the largest free agent contract of the off-season. Walk Pujols and Holliday will hurt you, don't walk Pujols and he will kill you.

Other themes of optimism emerged for St. Louis. Rookie OF John Jay was 2-4 and has now hit in 8 straight games dating back to May 30. He now has 8 hits in 14 AB with 2 HR since being recalled on July 3. Infielder Tyler Greene went 1-3 and since his call-up on July 2 is 5-17 with 3 extra-base hits, and seems to be taking over for Brendan Ryan at SS - plugging a gaping hole in the line-up.

But the wizardry was all Wainwright's. The lanky right-hander tossed 8 shutout innings, giving up only 6 hits, lowering his ERA to 2.11 and giving him 13 wins on the season - 2nd in both categories in the NL. And he blessedly took pressure off the beleaguered bullpen.

The voodoo curse of Bud Norris has been lifted. But not necessarily broken. After the Cardinals scored their second run in the 2nd inning, Norris retired 13 in a row. He still has a 1.81 ERA against St. Louis in his 5 starts. And, perhaps, spun a little more voodoo devilry as CF Colby Rasmus had to leave the game with a hamstring injury. No word yet on the severity. If Norris is to blame for that, he would indeed be a Santerian priest.


This post originally posted on Bleacher-Report

Failure Is Just Part of the Game

With the sour, bitter taste of the ninth inning yesterday unwashed from our mouths, Angela Weinhold has a nice historical take on what to expect after the break from our Cardinals:  Tony LaRussa And The Second Half | Baseball Digest.

The despair and frustration on twitter last night did not have the cathartic effect one gets from listening to the blues after your wife walked out.  But the sun did rise today.  And the good of last nights game comes back to the front of my mind.  Tyler Greene was good.  Aaron Miles showed he's still  a pest with the singles.  Felipe Lopez's HR makes the case that his bat when utilized every day is sharp, and when Flip's bat is sharp it is dangerous.  Hawksworth was effective if not efficient.  And we got to see Pujols and Holliday both hit well at the same time, and lose the game.

Baseball is a game of failure.  If you fail 68% at the plate you get a huge raise.  To succeed, you need the ability to maintain a calm mindset.  Never get too wrapped up in the moment, because you got to get after it again tomorrow.  So Ryan Franklin finally stunk one up during the first half of the season.  It happens.

Here's to forgetting the ninth, and building on the great things that happened in the game.  Then Angela can amend her article with a nice, happy entry about 2010.