The St. Louis Cardinals are working on run of seven consecutive starts of seven innings or more allowing two or fewer runs.
Following Monday night’s game against Arizona in which Brad Penny scattered eight hits over seven innings while yielding two earned runs, the St. Louis Cardinals starting staff has now extended their string of starts in which they have worked at least seven innings and allowed two or fewer earned runs to seven. The Cardinals won five of the seven games.
The last time St. Louis hurlers built a similar streak of seven straight such starts was from August 28 to September 3, 1967. Prior to that, it hasn’t been accomplished by the club’s pitchers since June 12-19, 1954.
Penny has enjoyed more career success against Arizona than any other team with a 9-3 record with a 1.96 ERA in 17 career starts vs. the Snakes. The 31-year-old right-hander’s 2010 ERA lowered his season and Cardinals ERA to 1.29 as a result of his strong Monday outing.
The baton is now passed to Kyle Lohse, who receives the start against Arizona’s ace, former Cardinals pitcher Dan Haren, on Tuesday night in Phoenix.
Seven consecutive starts with seven or more innings and two or fewer earned runs, Cardinals (1954-2010)
| Player | Date | Opp | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Adam Wainwright | 4/12/2010 | HOU | W 5-0 | GS-8 ,W | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Brad Penny | 4/14/2010 | HOU | W 2-1 | GS-7 ,W | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Kyle Lohse | 4/15/2010 | HOU | L 1-5 | GS-7 ,L | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Chris Carpenter | 4/16/2010 | NYM | W 4-3 | GS-7 ,W | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Jaime Garcia | 4/17/2010 | NYM | L 1-2 | GS-7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Adam Wainwright | 4/18/2010 | NYM | W 4-3 | CG 9 ,W | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Brad Penny | 4/19/2010 | ARI | W 4-2 | GS-7, W | 7 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Pitcher | Date | Opp | Rslt | App, Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Jack Lamabe | 08/28/1967 (2) | NYM | W 6-0 | GS-9, W | 9 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Dick Hughes | 8/29/1967 | NYM | L 0-2 | GS-8, L | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Larry Jaster | 8/30/1967 | NYM | W 2-0 | GS-9, W | 8.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Ray Washburn | 8/31/1967 | HOU | W 5-1 | GS-8, W | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Nelson Briles | 9/1/1967 | HOU | W 5-0 | GS-9, W | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Steve Carlton | 9/2/1967 | HOU | W 8-2 | GS-9, W | 9 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| Dick Hughes | 9/3/1967 | HOU | W 13-1 | GS-9, W | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Pitcher | Date | Opp | Rslt | App, Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Gerry Staley | 6/12/1954 | PIT | L 2-4 | GS-8, L | 8 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Harvey Haddix | 6/13/1954 (1) | PIT | W 5-0 | GS-9, W | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Tom Poholsky | 6/13/1954 (2) | PIT | W 5-3 | GS-7 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Vic Raschi | 6/15/1954 | PHI | W 3-1 | GS-9, W | 9 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Gerry Staley | 6/17/1954 | PHI | L 2-3 | GS-12 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Harvey Haddix | 6/18/1954 | NYG | W 5-0 | GS-9, W | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Tom Poholsky | 6/19/1954 | NYG | L 2-5 | GS-8 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
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Brian, are you deliberately being coy about what the record is?
No. Earlier game log data is not as easily searchable. That is why a lot of the articles mention “since 1954″ and the like. Seven is the record back to 1952.
The betting lines reflect the announcement of our rookie catchers arrival. Should be an interesting game. Hopefully current streaks will prevail.
yes, but other articles mentioned only back to the date the record was tied — like this one. So you are saying this is the record to the extent as far back as records are kept?
No, I am saying just what I said. Seven is the record back to 1952. Will share more information when we have it.
I would say Harren can pitch. If I had two strikes against him, I might be a little bit defensive at the plate. Unlike some………………Miracle that Lohse got out of the first. He may survive. Unlikely. He’s getting trapped on his back side.
Arizona is swinging very well. Everyone is hitting it hard………..rarely do the chase. Lohse better get angry……..soon.
Ludwick must be plumb loco, and even Albert could be having some problems up in the old coconut, since they are using Dan Haren like a batting practice pitcher. Go crazy, Cards.
I doubt Tony does it but I PH for Lohse here. He’s got nothing.
Lohse refuses to get a little wild. These guys are just looking at him like he’s meat. If you’re gonna waste a pitch, waste it up and in. He won’t, or should go 5. I would be looking to pull him.
Haren loves to throw certain pitches. If Lohse last one more round, I’d pull him. Ryan Ludwick is a dork.
It appeared the Lohse was going to get a cheap win. Ludwick must be getting pollinated by the desert weeds.
A two tater dork though. Hopefully Lohse isn’t going for the most two run leads blown record.
Looks like he caught 18 holes on Monday…………amongst other things……………… A real tell in this game is Ryan batting in the 9th……….Tony had made his decision….. These guys can hit a breaking pitch so I hope that Carpenter is a little wild tomorrow. I hate to see teams that comfortable in the box. Lohse was getting under his breaking pitch………………hangers………. and then trying to pitch these guys down and in….unwise.
Lohse was pitching though sick.
“Pitching coach Dave Duncan noted Lohse’s reluctance to throw his fastball but stopped short of drawing any connection to rookie catcher Bryan Anderson making his first major-league start. Lohse admitted he never found a comfortable rhythm as he pitched with severe head congestion caused by a cold or allergy attack. Lohse also worked without a consistent slider and constantly struggled to get the ball down”.
If I had to analyze this, I would speculate that not all stopped short. Congestion wasn’t all that bad probably, an assignment of accountability spurred by the former. Reluctance to throw the fastball is one reason why he didn’t give up the HR I would guess. Failure to locate it is an ancient malady when your feeling short…………….. I doubt Anderson gets a second start.
Sick, bad game calling, didn’t have his best stuff……how many excuses can you cram into one article? If he was sick Tony should have got him out of there as soon as he realized he wasn’t going to be able to be effective.
CC, one problem is we don’t really have any long reliever other than McClellan and he’s needed as a later inning guy due to the tendency of the other RHRP’s to be erratic. Having the sniffles is a crappy excuse.
I don’t intend this as mean spirited, but I wonder if the poor performance of the Duncan boys in the minors so far this year is an issue for Dave. He has pull with Tony, and wouldn’t normally leave one of his starters in to get hammered inning after inning.
Should have thrown Hawksworth out there and let him go 3-4 innings.
Good idea, I’d like to see Tony experiment with Hawk’s role too, see what he can do.
Haren gave up 7 runs in a few innings. He was awful. What did the Arizona manager do? He left Haren in the game and got a few more innings (and hits) out of him. He got a win too. That’s what a manager hopes for, get some innings out of the starting pitcher, before having to tax the bullpen.
For those that pay attention to the details of baseball. There were several nice views of Colby’s hands in his stance and pre-swing. He is back to the week 1 position. It doesn’t feel comfortable, but if I were him, I would try to understand why it works. That was a bang.
The Cardinals needed that little “fun”. Jackson clearly threw at him. He would make a poor poker player…………….. Its their only chance to win. Lets see where this goes.
Carp struck out Jackson with a big round house curve. If you have replay watch Jackson’s knees buckle…………… smart pitch that also sent a message.
Motte in a tight place?
Kelly Johnson has a nice compact stroke with little or no follow through. I like his swing for his roll. Tough no decision for Carp.
Mus admit that Colby’s short swing with follow through is impressive. That had Barry Bond’s
tooth pick speed, with a Phil Michelson finish.
Albert rakes anything in but he will continue to struggle unless he squares up. I would even close him a few inches. He doesn’t take much of a step and his hips are his swing trigger. They are just flying open…………He will change or realize the 280 I’ve predicted for him.
Colby’s improvement is key for this club. If he can be the 3rd/4th bat and Freese can get some power this offense will be unstoppable. Pujols and Holliday 1-9 and we have 9 runs. What more can one ask for.
I thought Ludwick had a good night. He hit the ball where it was pitched. Got on base. He will get those Cherry pitches of he forces the arms to try and use the whole strike zone. That’s when mistakes happen.
Westie, did you mean 3rd place in the division by May or 3rd best record in the National League?
A couple games ago it was Albert and Matt doing all the offense. Nice to see Colby and Luddy lighting it up. Frankie lights out getting it done.
WC wrote
“For those that pay attention to the details of baseball. There were several nice views of Colby’s hands in his stance and pre-swing. He is back to the week 1 position. It doesn’t feel comfortable, but if I were him, I would try to understand why it works. That was a bang.”
Unfortunately Colby easily loses his feel for his hands and can get away from what makes him successful.
He was hot from the jump then you can see his hands had dropped to just above his hip and he was beaten by some middle away FB’s.
Cory(Colby’s brother) and I went on a text messaging barrage to get him on the high tee to get those hands back up. The only way for him to do it once it gets bad is to go hard the other way, which is why you saw the hands all of a sudden so high. Then when he tried to make the adjustment to get them back up he started pushing them away from his body which forces him to cut across the ball.
Last night the front shoulder was closed better and his hand height was ok.. Still a little to far from his body but better than last week.
He is still learning how to keep from slipping out of the honey hole with regards to his swing and still needs a little guidance but he is better. As the year goes on he will do better I would guess at preventing these little problems to get to the point where they cause him the 0 for 18 droughts.
Thanks RC for the update.
Keep in mind that Colby is an emotional/physical learner. “Technically right”, has a correlation to tactical functionality. How he ” feels” will always come into play in his set-up, how he is being pitched and how he adapts is the game……………………. Translation……………. He is keeping his hands low and pressing them back low and behind. What that is doing to his swing trigger emotionally, may seem like a technical liability, but it is a very important to the way his body image relates to emotional being (yoga). It will change as his self image grows. Because scouts will attempt to find ways to slow him down, (just like moving your dogs food bowl) the way he feels as he adapts is the pathway to greatness. He has to rely on a number of swing positions to adapt to the many different situational at-bats he will take. His recognition and confidence in his ability to recognize them will be his emotional template for organizing all the bat positions that represent his best tactical posture……………………….
Rick Ankiel is back in the cycle of hot and cold. He wants to be excepted for his instability and that is his way of asking authority figures to recognize him….(Coaches, Daddy’s) Lets hope he finds himself in all that…………………………………….
It is Albert’s inflexibility to make a few simple adjustments, that is haunting him. Because they have now come from a source outside himself, (MM) he fears the change. His own personal mythology is what haunts him. He believes that his preparation to open his hips early is a deterrent to teams pitching him on the hands. He arrived at that solutions because of how he feels about things that he doesn’t want to change.(he fears their loss) In the end, his feelings of inadequacy have him compensating with overwhelming desire to pull something. To use the big muscles. The good pitchers are feeding him inside stuff that he is pulling foul with ferocious cuts………then they bleed him away until he is ready for the slider in the dirt or the fastball up and away. Everyone is celebrating his confusion. The adjustments are small, insignificant even. His real issues lie elsewhere it seems.
Yes, RC, thanks for sharing the insight.
“I don’t like to be a reliever,” Zambrano said. “I don’t want to be a reliever but this team needs somebody to step up and help out the bullpen.”
Zambrano struck out nine over six effective innings in Chicago’s 4-0 loss to the Mets on Wednesday night. He is 1-2 with a 7.45 ERA in four starts this year but his numbers are skewed by a rough outing on opening day.
Wow……….talk about organizational propaganda. I’d guess Zambrano him self might be on the block. Any takers out there?
Belated thanks from me too RC (I just got home from work). I just can’t pay attention to that technical kind of stuff when I’m watching a game, but its very interesting to read peoples observations afterword.
My idea of an outrageous lineup would be if Colby gets to the point where Tony can split up the two big righties with Colby in between. Holy cow would that be magnificent.