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Brian Walton's news and commentary on the St. Louis Cardinals (TM) and their minor league system

Wainwright’s big July 4 boom stick

Adam Wainwright (AP/Jeff Roberson)St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright was the team’s top pitcher – and hitter – on Sunday.

Adam Wainwright doubled the St. Louis Cardinals’ lead from three to six over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday afternoon with his three-run, two-base hit off fellow All-Star Yovani Gallardo. The blow, along with Wainwright’s complete-game pitching, helped to erase the memories of Saturday’s equally disappointing defeat.

It was only the third bases-clearing double by a Cardinals pitcher since 1990 and first since 2001.

Following are all 37 three-or-more RBI hits by Cardinals pitchers since 1952, thanks to researcher Tom Orf.

Date DH Batter Opp Pitcher Score H Inn RoB Out RBI
7/4/2010 Adam Wainwright MIL Yovani Gallardo ahead 3-0 2B b 3 123 2 3
5/21/2010 Brad Penny LAA Joel Pineiro tied 4-4 HR b 3 123 2 4
10/1/2009 Chris Carpenter @CIN Kip Wells ahead 1-0 HR t 2 123 1 4
6/5/2008 2 Mark Worrell @WSN Tim Redding down 3-8 HR t 6 1-3 2 3
4/12/2005 Jason Marquis CIN Aaron Harang down 0-1 3B b 2 123 1 3
6/5/2003 Woody Williams TOR Mark Hendrickson ahead 4-0 3B b 3 123 2 3
7/26/2003 Jason Isringhausen PIT Joe Beimel ahead 10-6 3B b 8 123 2 3
4/15/2001 Andy Benes HOU Jose Lima down 1-3 2B b 4 123 1 3
4/26/2000 Rick Ankiel MIL Steve Woodard ahead 1-0 HR b 4 -23 1 3
9/2/1998 Kent Mercker @FLA Jesus Sanchez ahead 3-0 HR t 4 123 0 4
9/7/1996 Donovan Osborne SDP Andy Ashby tied 1-1 HR b 5 123 1 4
7/25/1990 John Tudor CHC Mike Harkey ahead 4-0 2B b 1 123 1 3
4/27/1989 Scott Terry SFG Joe Price ahead 4-0 HR b 6 1-3 2 3
4/4/1988 Joe Magrane @CIN Mario Soto tied 1-1 HR t 4 12- 2 3
5/10/1986 Ray Burris SFG Roger Mason tied 0-0 2B b 2 123 1 3
5/24/1986 Ray Burris ATL David Palmer tied 0-0 2B b 2 123 2 3
9/12/1986 Bob Forsch MON Floyd Youmans down 0-2 HR b 2 12- 2 3
5/15/1984 Joaquin Andujar ATL Jeff Dedmon ahead 5-1 HR b 8 123 2 4
5/7/1980 Bob Forsch SFG Al Holland ahead 4-0 HR b 6 1-3 1 3
8/22/1976 Lynn McGlothen ATL Pablo Torrealba ahead 5-0 2B b 8 123 1 3
9/27/1974 Bob Gibson @CHC Tom Dettore tied 0-0 2B t 2 123 2 3
7/26/1973 1 Bob Gibson NYM John Strohmayer ahead 6-1 HR b 5 123 0 4
8/1/1973 1 Rick Wise @MON Bill Stoneman ahead 4-3 HR t 6 1-3 1 3
8/21/1973 Rick Wise @ATL Roric Harrison ahead 3-0 HR t 3 123 2 4
6/21/1972 Bob Gibson SDP Mark Schaeffer ahead 10-1 HR b 7 12- 2 3
8/4/1972 Don Durham PHI Ken Reynolds down 0-1 HR b 2 12- 2 3
8/27/1972 Rick Wise SDP Fred Norman ahead 3-0 2B b 1 123 2 3
6/29/1971 Reggie Cleveland PIT Luke Walker ahead 4-1 2B b 3 123 2 3
9/18/1970 Mike Torrez PHI Grant Jackson down 0-2 3B b 2 123 2 3
9/1/1969 Steve Carlton @HOU Don Wilson ahead 2-0 HR t 7 1-3 2 3
7/22/1966 Joe Hoerner @CHC Fergie Jenkins ahead 3-2 HR t 8 1-3 2 3
8/15/1965 Bob Gibson CIN Sammy Ellis down 1-3 HR b 2 1-3 2 3
9/29/1965 Bob Gibson @SFG Gaylord Perry ahead 4-0 HR t 8 123 1 4
9/10/1963 Bob Gibson CHC Glen Hobbie ahead 2-0 HR b 2 12- 1 3
8/6/1961 1 Ray Sadecki PHI Frank Sullivan tied 0-0 2B b 2 123 2 3
9/3/1957 Vinegar Bend Mizell @CIN Bill Kennedy ahead 11-3 2B t 8 123 2 3
6/23/1953 Harvey Haddix NYG Frank Hiller ahead 4-0 HR b 1 12- 2 3

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65 Responses to “Wainwright’s big July 4 boom stick”

  1. CardFanSince57 says:

    To be sure, Adam’s clutch hit supplied the offense needed to underscore his complete game mastery of the Brewers, but has the victory indeed “helped to erase the memories of Saturday’s equally disappointing defeat”? The problems which fostered Saturday’s colossal debacle definitely have NOT been erased. Lo! The our offense has been flummoxed by Bud Norris in each of the three times we’ve faced him, but we can be thankful that Adam Wainwright will be our pitcher when we face him for the fourth time on Friday. When we send Jeff Suppan against Brett Myers on Saturday, however, we won’t have Adam’s offensive prowess. Remember Brett Myers? Yeah, he’s the guy who held our offense scoreless for 9 innings, opening the gate for that bitterly disappointing 20 inning marathon… No, as long as we have an offense suffering from narcolepsy, those rotten memories of Saturday’s misery will never be forgotten. Nay, for as long as we keep adding to Brian’s Bud Norris Club roster, the memories will persist and fester…

  2. blingboy says:

    I’ve been looking at the reverse engineered Elias rankings produced by that Eddie Bajek guy. The season to date rankings, which as I understand contemplates more data than just this season, show the value of padding your stats, and prove the value of putting up numbers whether or not you are contributing to winning a game. In the catagory NL 1B OF, Albert is ranked first and Matt third. Luddy, who has done at least as much to win games is well down, not even in the ‘A’ FA designation group. Further down, not in the ‘A’ or ‘B’ groups there is Colby. It is worth noting the Colby ranks above all-star Jason Heyward.

    http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0AoSOMyrC9cB7dFo5YlF2NjVIanlydjAyN1RGdU15c0E&hl=en&output=html&widget=true

  3. CardFanSince57 says:

    Bernie Miklasz’ scathing rebuke on July 1st contained a paragraph which was nigh unto prophetic:

    “An intervention is in order. There are kids in Class AAA Memphis who are getting hits, running the bases, and making plays. John Jay and Tyler Greene deserve to be here. Will they make outs? Sure, they will make outs, and make mistakes. But they’ll also fly around and kick up some dirt and bring some energy to the place”.

    blngboy: How did you find such a gem? I immediately bookmarked the link for the purpose of coming back and copying all the National League pages.

  4. blingboy says:

    57, sometimes there is a functioning link to it on the MLBtraderumors site. I am by no means an authority, but I’ll give you a couple of cautions.

    First, its not the real Elias rankings which come out at the end of the year and are used to determine compensation for teams losing free agents, and also as a tool in figuring the value of an arb eligible player. This is the result of a guy who has reverse engineered to try to approximate the formulas used by Elias. Last year when the real Elias came out, the reverse engineered version proved very close except for a handful of players.

    Second, the rankings contemplate a couple years or so of stats, so for example, Strasburg has a very low ranking right now. A guy like Freese ranks pretty low just because he doesn’t have enough time in yet to be fully represented in this kind of a ranking system. Yadi ranks very high, but if he hits .230 all year and into next he will be well down the list.

  5. Brian Walton says:

    bb’s view of Elias is pretty accurate. Two years worth of stats. I will just reinforce that relative ranking between players is not particularly important. What really matters is in which group a prospective free agent player lands – Type A, B or no ranking – as it relates to free agent compensation.

  6. crdswmn says:

    Waino’s double and Jay’s HR were really the only significant offense in the game. Colby did get a couple of hits, but in all honesty I think the game was won more on the defensive mistakes of the Brewers than anything. I do not take anything away from Waino’s performance when I say that.

  7. CardFanSince57 says:

    Right, you are, crdswmn! The key ingredient to the Brewers’ slaughter of the Cardinals on Saturday was also the key ingredient to the Cardinals’ reciprocation-in-kind on the following day: Not offensive superiority, but defensive mistakes! It was Adam Wainwright who capitalized most on the Brewers bungling, driving-in 3 of the 5 unearned runs that inning.

  8. blingboy says:

    Not being the type to cry over spilled milk, I am looking ahead to the road trip. On the positive side, perhaps Coors Field will inspire Matt to reclaim his former manhood. Also, the thin air tends to flatten out curveballs, so it is good that we have our starters going who don’t rely on it so much. And next up we have the crawford boxes at Minute Maid, which should allow any righthander in the lineup to hit the big one. On the down side, I expect that the infields are in good shape, cutting down on bad hops. Niether thin air nor a short porch will have much effect on a DP grounder.

    All in all, I expect good things to happen. Hopefully, Jay and Greene will not get with the program.

  9. RCWarrior says:

    I hope you are right Bling but it seems like the suckiness is contagious. I hope Jon and Tyler continue to play well. This team needs it. They are bad.

  10. CardFanSince57 says:

    In his last outing, Jeff Francis suffered a Chris Carpenter kind of meltdown day (3 IP, 7 H & 8 ER). Although his career ERA of 4.74 assures us that he is a bona fide mediocre, his performance against the Cardinals this season indicates the familiar mastery of inferior pitching over our vaunted offense (1-1, 3.58). Against Francis, Jeff Suppan’s record with the Cardinals this season offers little comfort (0-2, 4.19). Let us hope that Matt will continue the dominance against former teammates that he so resoundingly evidenced against Oakland.

  11. Brian Walton says:

    Good Lord. If I didn’t know better, I would think I am running The Pirates Nation or The Astros Nation. Those teams are bad. The Cardinals are a good team not playing well. Sometimes I think you guys forget the difference. This place needs some more Jumbo sunshine! (just not too much, please) ;-)

  12. blingboy says:

    Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
    The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
    And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
    But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out.

  13. CardFanSince57 says:

    Brian, we certainly look for Tyler and Jon to bring some refreshing energy to the clubhouse, but we are fearful that the pervasive deadness and our inconsistent offense will give us more of the same, as “a good team not playing well” in the weakest divison of the National League. As I said yesterday, both of the namby-pamby Central Division leaders will have their hands full during the next few days against real contenders in tough divisions. While the Reds hopefully run into a buzz saw in the Big Apple, the Cardinals will pit their lack of chemistry against the Rockies in Denver. The weekend may be somewhat decisive, since the Reds will be in the midst of a 4-game series in Philadelphia and continuing to get worn-down by an actual contender, while the Cardinals go to Houston where our impotent offense will likely depend upon Adam Wainwright’s bat to beat Bud Norris. Remember your Bud Norris Club? None of us can forget the shut-out Brett Davis gave us back when the sorry Astros were at their sorriest. We need only for the best players in the National League to actually play together as a unit. Indeed, what we really need is the golden sunshine that only a cohesive, jelling Cardinal team can give us!

  14. CardFanSince57 says:

    Brett Davis? I meant Brett Myers!

  15. RCWarrior says:

    Brian wrote, “Good Lord. If I didn’t know better, I would think I am running The Pirates Nation or The Astros Nation. Those teams are bad. The Cardinals are a good team not playing well. Sometimes I think you guys forget the difference. This place needs some more Jumbo sunshine! (just not too much, please) ”

    Therein lies the problem with the cardinals. They were not expected to play like the Astro’s but have been. I do believe Tony is trying to bring this bunch together and maybe he can. My impression is they are playing the game like Tony wants them too, like professionals. They may not talk to each other or even like each other but they come to the park and go to work.

  16. Brian Walton says:

    Astros: 32-51 (.386) 15 games out
    Cardinals: 45-37 (.549) 1.5 games out

    Apparently the difference is a rounding error to some.

    P.S. One year ago today, the Cardinals were 45-39. The sky is not falling.

  17. blingboy says:

    Next weekend we will find out. Be there or be square.

  18. RCWarrior says:

    Expectations cause things to look smaller in your rear view mirror. Therefore those numbers look close to me. :)

  19. CardFanSince57 says:

    One year ago today, we didn’t have Matt and Albert’s power had not yet begun to erode. Ah, yes! One year ago today, we didn’t have nearly the team (on paper) that we do presently. When we played the Astros during the embarrassing 20 inning marathon, they were at their worst: Now, they are playing a bit tougher. Hopefully, by now, our scouts have got a solid book on both Norris and Myers (and, hopefully, our batters will respond to the book – instead of a damned video).

  20. Brian Walton says:

    Of course, I agree the Cardinals are not playing up to their capability or meeting expectations. I am just not prone to exaggerate for effect. I want readers to know I am on the level. Plenty of others to do the drama thing.

  21. CardFanSince57 says:

    Brian looks into his brainchild and behold! The natives of the Nation are restless!

  22. RCWarrior says:

    The Reds are not backing off to this point.

  23. Brian Walton says:

    Watching the Reds now. Pelfrey of the Mets lost his composure after a couple of questionable calls. Dusty trying to nurse rookie Travis Wood through five to get the win on three days rest, but Mets scratching back.

  24. CardFanSince57 says:

    Travis Wood smacks a triple Joey Votto goes past Albert with homers 20 and 21. The Mets have three more innings to do us a favor…

  25. RCWarrior says:

    Votto is better than Albert this year, maybe not over their careers yet but Votto has been a monster this year.

  26. RCWarrior says:

    Got Direct TV today complete with the MLB package. My wife has 8 games on the screen at once. She is in Baseball Heaven :)

  27. CardFanSince57 says:

    I agree, Warrior… The rapidly up and coming young man is even being billed as the one who will soon replace Albert upon the Throne.

  28. crdswmn says:

    The 20 inning marathon was against the Mets, not the Astros.

  29. CardFanSince57 says:

    With an agonizingly slow dial-up operation and ESPN’s “Gamecast”, I am green with envy!

  30. CardFanSince57 says:

    Yes, crdswmn, the 20 inning marathon was indeed against the Mets, not the Astros…

  31. crdswmn says:

    It doesn’t look like the Mets are going to help us out.

  32. RCWarrior says:

    El Diablo did of course. He was embarrassed when I brought out the food stamps to pay so he picked up the check.

  33. CardFanSince57 says:

    It’s now the bottom of the ninth in the Big Apple and we need the Mets to scrape-up at least a couple of runs…

  34. Brian Walton says:

    I know that is a tall tale as he is not embarrassed about anything. Anyway, we’ll be eagerly awaiting the next collaboration between you two…

  35. CardFanSince57 says:

    We are now 2 behind… Here’s hoping that the Mets will take the series…

  36. RCWarrior says:

    Actually Joe is about as big of a smart ass as am I. I actually enjoyed our conversation. I don’t think you will see anything about me in anything ever again. Like I told Joe, it could never be a positive for anybody involved IMO.

    Joe actually told me and my wife to meet him at a steak house and when we arrived it didn’t open for like 4 hours. :) I ended up with a cup of soup from…….well, it wasn’t a steak house.

  37. Brian Walton says:

    Taken at face value, it would seem a change in approach for Team Rasmus. Then again, it all began with some posts at a place very much like this one – never named, of course… ;-)

  38. blingboy says:

    There is something about hoping the Mets will bail our sorry asses out that I just can’t abide, 57. I understand though, but I’ll have to leave it to you.

    We face another one of those pesky lefties tomorrow, so we might be looking at another one of Tony’s masterpieces when the lineup card goes up.

  39. CardFanSince57 says:

    When it comes to my team, blingboy, I am shamelessly opportunistic. If we were in a tie for first place on the very last day and the Reds were playing a make-up game, I have no doubt that you would be rooting for the Mets (ONLY for that game). Well, ONLY for the series with the Reds, do I find myself wishing that the Mets will hand their butts to them. I would much rather for circumstances to be as they were before we went to Philadelphia. But, alas, we find ourselves in a struggle against the Reds. For as long as they remain ahead of us, not only do I want the Cardinals to kick their butts, but also for every other team to do the same. I won’t be satisfied until we go into September 20 games ahead – and THAT requires other teams to beat our rivals, as well as ourselves!

  40. Brian Walton says:

    RC, you already know all this. You are welcome to post here or there or anywhere of course, but your comments are surely still being read. A side point, but I believed your comment from a previous day that all you care about is Team Rasmus. Not being particularly critical of it. It just resonated.

  41. blingboy says:

    Well RC, I for one am happy to have been able to follow along a little bit. A rare chance for an ordinary fan. Also kind of unheard of to have been able to ride you a little about some things. I appreciate that little adventure. As I’ve said before, I hate it when Colby is looking bad out there, but when he is he is, and he is no good at looking bad inconspicuously. Hope your efforts pay off. Best wishes to him and you.

  42. WestCoastbirdWatcher says:

    It warms old Westie’s heart to read such a nice red blooded Cardinal fan thread.

    I read somewhere that Lohse wasn’t going on the trip. The team has set him back a couple of weeks apparently, even though he was doing fine. Go figure……. just playing it safe I guess….$$

    Molina plays on my team any day…………..but he bats 8th…………and his very presents denies Brendan a place on the team. One defensive specialist is all a team can afford.

    If the Pirates had our pitching staff……they lead the division by 5 already.

    There is a possibility that the early hoopla surrounding MM has compromised his effectiveness. That is a troubling prospect………because it was foreseeable.

  43. CardFanSince57 says:

    Respect for the Warrior and love for his son are solidly intact at The Cardinal Nation.

  44. WestCoastbirdWatcher says:

    Where is my post?

  45. Brian Walton says:

    WC, the site’s spam filter especially loves your posts. It has been removed from jail.

  46. CardFanSince57 says:

    It appears that Brian was right there at the threshold, awaiting Westy’s arrival!

  47. Brian Walton says:

    WC, your comment about the Pirates in post #43 is completely ridiculous. Their offense has scored just 267 runs this year. Even with the Cardinals’ pitching staff, they would have yielded 302 runs. That would surely equal a losing record.

  48. blingboy says:

    You have to consider the division they’re in Brian

  49. RCWarrior says:

    Trust me Bling, you don’t stress out more than I do. Colby is a nobody, making the minimum so while I wish for him to be the man, he is not the man at this point. Therefore I don’t put the weight of the success or failure of the team on his shoulders. He is doing better this year than last. He is gonna screw up from time to time, but he is working to be a better player. I’ve always felt you learn way more from your failures than you do from your successes. But all things considered Colby is a better player this year than last.

  50. Brian Walton says:

    Last I checked, the Reds were in first place and playing pretty well. Another “team” with a negative run differential of 35 isn’t going to be five games ahead of them. Sorry for being a realist. I rarely take WCs posts completely literally, but all the negativism around here lately has seemed a bit much so I joined a bit more of the discussion. Where is Jumbo when he is needed? I hope the rest of you didn’t wear him down…. ;-)

  51. RCWarrior says:

    Brian, I’ve tried to email you a dozen times so keep checking until they come in or I figure out how to do it right. :)

  52. WestCoastbirdWatcher says:

    Brian, as you sift through the dung heap of statistical time tracks, your missing the game. All of it. Any time you want to become predictive, you let everyone here know. ……….West Coast will show up. Bring it on.

  53. crdswmn says:

    I unfollowed two people on Twitter for bashing Colby. I am very protective of my boys.

  54. RCWarrior says:

    Well there has been a few times this year where Colby needed a good bashing. The stakes are high when you play here in Baseball Heaven and fans expect their players to be better than most. They love them when they are good and scold them when they don’t meet their expectations. Bling will surely rip up some tails here from time to time. And Colby has been at times one of his favorite targets, and rightfully so I’m afraid to admit.

  55. crdswmn says:

    A good bashing never hurt anybody as long as it is done with love. Since Yadi is the current whipping boy, here’s hoping the bashing will do some good.

  56. WestCoastbirdWatcher says:

    Molina is not a strong hitter………… he went down with the boys and they sat him on the bench till he showed he could put it in play during the WBC. He came back and had a good year……slapping away and to the center, occasional turning on a defensive pitch not far enough in………….

    This year when the all star balloting began he really tanked………all he wanted was baseball tonight…….. he sacrificed team for future earning power…………….. he embarrassed his way on the the All star team. As hard as he tried he couldn’t contribute because he was trying to hit a “vote getter”. That’s exactly true. …………I expect more from him in the second half all this being out of the way……………..no way he bats twice in the all star game. Holliday’s appearance on the all star team raises some eyebrows is a good guess I’d say.

  57. crdswmn says:

    I’m certainly learnimg a lot on this blog. Maybe what is needed for Yadi is a good public Upton/Longoria fight.

    Just kidding.

  58. WestCoastbirdWatcher says:

    Last I checked, the Reds were in first place and playing pretty well. Another “team” with a negative run differential of 35 isn’t going to be five games ahead of them.

    The Reds are feeding on carrion……which includes us. Walter built that team to beat us. In the end they won’t…..because they “are” the Reds. The Cuban is wild……and Volkez? is a liability long term. He needed the juice. He brings instability. As good as Votto is, he is emotional unstable. Flying high being just as challenging as low………. if we just play well, they will fold.

  59. CardFanSince57 says:

    “Holliday’s appearance on the all star team raises some eyebrows is a good guess I’d say”

    In the reader feedback portion of one of the Post-Dispatch columns today, I couldn’t help but to respond to a fan bitching and moaning about Matt being an All-Star. I wrote, “You aren’t the only fan that did not vote for Matt: It was his peers who disagreed with you. Aye, the players themselves recognized Matt as an All-Star!” He will likely be inserted in the 7th or 8th inning…

  60. CardFanSince57 says:

    I agree with the premise, “if we just play well, they will fold”. Since it all hinges upon “if we just play well”, I am hoping for a turn-around (a 4 or 5 game winning streak) to begin just before the break.

  61. WestCoastbirdWatcher says:

    One other point……….. negativity that becomes accurate and predictive speculation is called intelligence. Who wants to be negative. Here are a few more predictions. Jay and Greene crash on this road trip………….how not? They just look good against a weak team with no one even competing against them on this team. I haven’t studied the match ups……but I will. Houston will be tougher as we get close to the trade deadline……….they have guys that want to move on and will be sniffing for weakness.

  62. WestCoastbirdWatcher says:

    Holiday comes alive when he finds a contest he likes…..A’s……. He may carry us there trying to encourage an at bat in the all star game……………… lets hope so.

  63. CariocaCardinal says:

    Predictive? I can predict that Westie will start making rational posts but that would be about as solid as one of Westie’s own predictions.

  64. WestCoastbirdWatcher says:

    http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/article_56fe005a-0807-59f8-9294-8eb740e417b5.html

    Looks like Derrick is on to something…………….. a reader?

  65. WestCoastbirdWatcher says:

    “WC, your comment about the Pirates in post #43 is completely ridiculous. Their offense has scored just 267 runs this year. Even with the Cardinals’ pitching staff, they would have yielded 302 runs. That would surely equal a losing record.”

    Brian, do you think the Cardinals starters give up 302 runs if the had the lead early? If they had some responsive team hitting? ……………. Do you imagine that the Pirates with said leads wouldn’t have fed like dinosaurs (Yankee’s) if they were squashing wannabe’s under their cleats?…………

    The pirates are a sound ball club…………they have glaring weaknesses, but they are playing MLB. The Cardinals have a number of players that don’t even make that team the way they have played…
    Brendan isn’t coming out of this slump……………he has been exposed is all. His value in a trade would never be higher than it is now……….when some may still perceive it as a slump……..or an AP proximity distortion. Question is………..are we playing to win? Tony saying, “what options do I have”……………….. has put the ball in Mo/BD’s court……………. they are pounding AP/TL at this point……………. are they going let go of a very profitable scenario?…………..Just to win an expensive WS? Stay tuned and we’ll see.

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