The eighth of FOX Sports Midwest’s live chats of the 2010 season will be held throughout Thursday afternoon’s Cardinals-Rockies series finale. Join in the discussion with me and the FSM personalities.
You can participate via the frame below or through FOX Sports Midwest’s website.
Chris Carpenter (9-2, 3.16) faces Ubaldo Jimenez (14-1, 2.27) in a match-up of All-Stars as the Cards try to erase the bitter taste of two consecutive walkoff losses and avoid being swept.
Thursday’s first pitch is scheduled for 2:10 P.M. Central with the pre-game show starting at 1:30.
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Lineup from FOX Sports Midwest:
Lopez 3B, Rasmus CF, Pujols 1B, Holliday LF, Jay RF, Molina C, Ryan SS, Carpenter P, Schumaker 2B.
I feel like LaRue is getting a bad rap here…………. I expected to see Molina there, but hitting 6th again? Day/Night after 2 long games…………… Zero flexibility on the PH8th………..like “this is no time to point the finger at my self”, from Tony. Too many people are praying……and not playing.
In the midst of the holocaust, by inserting .198 Brendan in the starting lineup, Tony is evidently trusting that the offense really has permanently awakened. If the offense responds today, it will cover for the likely “Oh, for…!” However, if the offense should fail, the insertion and resultant “Oh, for…!” will only add to Brainiac’s mounting humiliation.
Here’s hoping for Brendan to supply a clutch hit and rise to that coveted Mendoza Line, despite the fact that such a scenario will only serve to enhance the idea of Brainiac being a genius… Then, he will NEVER point that finger at himself and will keep Albert’s boy hitting 6th (“hitting”?) and will continue with the legendary PH8th…
Brian: I would feel remiss if I failed to express thanks for the early posting of the lineup.
Oooh! What a way to start the game, Colby!
Well… At least Albert’s productive out got you to third, Colby!
Ah, well… The Alpha Dogs left ya stranded, boy…
20+ pitches, 4 hits, 2 runs and 2 outs: This is NOT looking good…
After that 25 pitch 1st inning horror, I am hoping upon hope that Chris will now settle-in…
Give Yadier an “E” for effort on that one: At least the out was an opposite field blast…
Ol’ Side-Arm Brendan went down a-swangin’ !
A 25 pitch inning followed by a 20 pitch inning… The situation appears to be improving for Chris…
However, 3 up an 3 down… The situation does NOT appear to be improving for our offense…
The 20 pitch inning was followed by a 16 pitch inning, but alas…
With 61 pitches after only 3 innings, we can only hope that Chris can get us through 5…
Another 3 up and 3 down, this time featuring our Albert goin’ down a-swangin’… It seems as though he doesn’t like the beach balls waist-high and down the middle, but is willing to chase after one which is up and away…
Carpenter is 61 through 3……………….. Tony isn’t going to labor him here…….Boggs in the 5th or 6th and then we wait for the feeding.
Leave it to a guy, fresh from AAA!
Good thing that Jon was on second. Otherwise, ol’ Mendoza Molina would have grounded into another DP…
Well, if ya havta gone down to .196, ya might as well bring Jon home! Good clutch work there, Brendan; nevertheless…
Molina was victimized by his step in move. Jimenez just kept pounding his hands.
Carp will be tempted to be overly aggressive here so I predict a home run.
Giving-up that run was enough… He’s at 86 pitches now and methinks Braniac will keep him in for the 6th…
He was aggressive, alright…….and made some pitches….. 6th no problem now. Even with luck, 7th will be dangerous.
Colby just could not resist the ol’ “low and in”!
Behold! Apha Dog-1 cometh to the plate!
Good thing for Albert that no one was on first!
Behold! Alpha Dog-2 doing what Alpha Dog-1 cannot!
Attaboy Jon! “Ofer Albert” needs to take notes about the Matt-Jon combo…
Mendoza Molina goes down to a .227 grounding into a DP! He just killed a rally… Is anyone surprised?
Tony calls not one, but two plays to avoid the inevitable…………..and .that was a good pitch to bunt.
With all things considered……..he could not pinch hit…..
Hey! Fly balls will eventually kill you, Reyes!
Both Albert and his boy are “Ofer”…
Thankfully for Winn (and us), Jimenez got real sloppy with him…
Attaboy, Mitchell! Make ‘em ground into the pitcher’s best friend!
Now is a good time for that double, Albert! Matt at least tapped him over to third…
What a man! Jon Jay is a hero! Now is the time for Yadier to cover a multitude of sins!
Thanks be to Mendoza Molina for killing another rally and for ruining any chance of tying it up! Did he just groundout again… really?
Anybody here that doesn’t believe we have developed “factions” on this team….sit down.
No pinch hitter for Molina??????????????????????????????????????????????? Tony is incredible.
Now we go to Houston where we face Bud Norris. Thankfully, our pitcher will also be a hitter…
That’s almost as bad as AP coming out with a bandage on his right elbow……..that’s his agent on the phone.
I thought that we would go 1-2 in the series against Colorado and 2-1 against Houston. But, now…
On Tuesday night, after our first humiliation, I think it was Westy who said, “I smell a sweep here…” I didn’t believe him…
That series is now in the past 57……………. lets move on.
Ludwick knows he won’t have to go back to the 4th……he has to be happy about that. Colby showed no inclination to target the whole field as 2 hitter……that puts Ludwick back at 2.
With the All star game on the horizon……and the inevitable press questions surrounding AP’s situation…… along with the possibility that Holiday could win the HR derby, the one he isn’t in…..
AP dons the old “he must be hurt routine”……….. that is a calculated tactic that shows how involved he is in the “appearance” that is developing surrounding his decline.
I’m a little tired of this situation, so I’m putting AP on the bench till after the AS game….sorry Albert. Lets talk about the big move coming up until then.
In Derrick Goold’s most recent column (“Sweep Sorrow for Cards”), a reader with the screen name of SicilianJ59 said it well:
“Carp you still are the man… I love your moxy, your determination, you will get it together. This is a rough stretch, but I am worried about the chemistry, mind set, and attitude of this team… Who is the leader, what is it like in the club house and can it get corrected? Interesting questions, second half of the season has to be better…”
By now, everyone knows that the Cardinals have signed Mike MacDougal to a minor league contract. In view of MacDougal’s pathetic minor league stats this year, a reporter said, “One would presume the signing has something to do with Cardinals pitching coach seeing something that has potential”. Sure hope so: Compare the great job that he did with the Nationals last season (which included 20 saves) with the job he has been doing this year with their AAA affiliate:
2009 IP-50 SO-31 BB-31 ERA 3.60
2010 IP-22 S0-13 BB-13 ERA 5.32
MacDougal had hip surgery during the off-season, so one has to wonder if that has affected his results.
From Jeff Gordon:
We can be thankful that Adam Waiwright is a hitting pitcher…
“PITCHING FOR THE ASTROS: Bud Norris (2-5, 5.98 ERA): The Cards just can’t hit this guy. He has cast a mysterious spell over their hitters. The rest of baseball hammers this guy, but not the Cards. In four starts against them he’s 4-0 with a 0.35 ERA.”
Some hopeful news:
“DOWN ON THE FARM: Salas earned his 15th save, striking out two of the three batters he faced. In 27 innings at the Triple-A level, he has recorded 30 strikeouts and just four walks. Given his 1.23 ERA in six appearances for the Cards this season, he appears a good bet to return to St. Louis for the rest of the summer.”
Brian: To my untrained eye, it certainly seems that the surgery is largely responsible, not only for MacDougal’s rehabilitative stint in the minors this year, but also for his poor performance there. Since Dave Duncan has been so right so many times in the past, I won’t dare to begin doubting his wisdom now…
Bernie’s take…
* Houston’s bizarre Bud Norris is 4-0 with an 0.35 ERA in four career starts against the Cardinals. He’s 4-8 with a 6.75 ERA against everyone else. And this season at home Norris has an ERA of 7.89. The Cardinals face him Friday night. It’s time to put an end to this nonsense — yes, even if Cardinals hitters have to take a crowbar to the mound. (Just kidding about that last part. Yes, really.)
* I think Adam Wainwright is the perfect man for the job. If Wainwright can’t outpitch Norris in this one, if Wainwright can’t muffle an Astros offense that has struggled to score runs, then maybe it’s a sign that this just isn’t the Cardinals’ year.”
Read all about it…
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/article_45774aaa-8b73-11df-b421-0017a4a78c22.html
I predict that Bud Norris’ record against the Cards will be broken tonight.