The difficult season being endured by the long-standing stars of the St. Louis Cardinals continued Friday night as the home club lost to the Kansas City Royals. It was St. Louis’ seventh consecutive defeat.
Starting pitcher Chris Carpenter is now 1-7 with a 4.47 ERA in his 15 starts this season. Despite fanning seven and walking just one, Carp allowed 10 singles and lost the 5-4 game on Friday.
Gold Glove first baseman Albert Pujols committed a fielding error that allowed the winning run to score in Friday’s eighth inning. It was his fourth error in three games, though the other three were at third base. Much has been written about Pujols’ hitting this season as he is batting an uncharacteristic .271.
The fact the Cardinals have played so well despite these two having a subpar season is remarkable. Yet for the team to pull it together down the stretch, they need more from both the 36-year-old Carpenter and Pujols, 31.
Just six years ago, the two were en route to a sweep of the top pitcher and player awards in the National League. In 2005, Carpenter took his only National League Cy Young Award while Pujols won his first of three NL Most Valuable Player Awards.
Starting on June 18, 2005 through the end of that season, here are the numbers the two posted.
2005 from June 18 through end of regular season
| Starts | CG | Shut Outs | W-L | ERA | |
| Carpenter | 19 | 5 | 2 | 12-1 | 2.61 |
| BA | OBP | SLG | HR | RBI | |
| Pujols | 0.332 | 0.444 | 0.632 | 23 | 65 |
Obviously, the two now have many more miles on their frames, but if they could approach that kind of productivity, think of the benefit to their team. With neither under contract for next season, now is the time to help secure their personal futures as well.
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Carpenter pitched a fine game last night. Its a team sport, he was not rewarded with a win.
He threw 8 innings, 124 pitches, to bail out a weak bullpen. The Royals collected no extra base hits. After the Royals got 3 early runs, Carpenter kept his composure and only gave up one more earned run during the next 6 innings.
Carpenter has overcome injuries during a long career: a shoulder op with the Blue Jays; an uncommon nerve issue that flared up a couple of times with the Cards and prevented normal muscle function.
Carp has overcome these challenges, thrown a great number of ML innings, and even at age 36 is still leading the 2011 Cards in innings pitched. Last night, he rose to the occasion. Great job.
While Carpenter is pitching in his last 21 starts the Cards have won 6 times.Defense has hurt him at times,lack of offense at times and other times Carpenter just was hit hard and was ineffective.Is this a career declione or just a long extended blip? Who knows? IMO this is no way in hell Carps option gets picked up next year.As for Albert i want him to be a lifetime Cardinal like Stan.Reality says it is possible but a what cost ?
Lineup:
Theriot ss
Rasmus cf
Pujols 1b
Holliday lf
Berkman rf
Molina c
Descalso 3b
Westbrook p
Schumaker 2b
KAN +150 -145 9.0 +146 -145 9.0
STL -160 +125 -156 +125
This is a good swoon indicator………….. is it solely because they sent Greene down?
Is it the pitching match up? In the elemental struggle between Holiday?Berkman vs. AP…..which entity overcomes the dynamic tension that has built up?
For some reason I am intrigued by Cleto. Can’t wait to see him have another go.
I saw him pitch in Springfield. If he can get it anywhere near the plate he is a potent weapon.
Hey BB, you diggin the stirrups? I think it’ll make ryan much faster
Some of the guys are sporting stirrups tonight. They look like ballplayers at least.
Told you he’d be faster wow!
I’ve appreciated the traditional look as long as I can remember. Was riding high when we had Brendan and Penny. You are 100% right about the speed factor. A while ago, when Cobly tried showing some sock, I explained how cuffs dragging on the ground causes friction, and those long pants legs cause a lot of wind resistance.
I like the stirrups too.
Our starting pitchers need to stop throwing meatballs over the plate.
He’s at 57 through 3, so you won’t have to worry about it that much longer.
I missed Escobar’s triple. Anybody care to describe?
Westbrook threw a hanging breaking ball over the plate and Escobar smoked it into the gap in left center.
Gapper hit hard to left-center. Theriot took the cutoff, but double clutched before throwing to third late. Either no one yelled “3″ to him or he just muffed it. Two runs scored anyway.
Thanks. Most of the time, a triple is a double that got played into a triple somehow. The exception being the crazy ricochet in the corner. This sounds like a routine gapper that should have gone for 2. Didn’t matter. This time. It will matter another time.
Played the wall pretty cleanly to be running a galloping Theriot to the plate with 2 outs and Berkman standing there………………. I surprised that it was that close
Small guys tend to look faster than they are. Maybe Jose forgot.
It took a good play by two guys to get him, not a bad gamble.
????????????……………………………………………… lots of gamblers around here………..
Albert takes that chance all the time.
Mazzaro………………..????? We’re lucky to have Haladay and Lee on Tuesday and wednesday…….
Westbrooke at 119?……………………Tony took a chance………….why was that again?
Same reason as last night.
Brown takes a death breath every time he steps in the box…………. and it shows……….. whats that about?
They have to deal with the hitters one more time…………. one break, and the get to pitch around 1 or 2 of them……………after Berkman there is nothing…………how you going to win?
Off the wall single. That’s what an arm does for you.
How is that a single for a speed guy from the left side? Was he watching his hit……….KC just showed the replay………..he was watching it instead of running…………… incredible……..
the stirrups bring luck!
Having Holliday back is huge!
I am as old school as the next guy.With that being said……I hate the socks!
stirrups are worn over socks
Tony runs the AP sacrifice…………..and wisely……….he beats the guaranteed DP……… Holiday says enough……………. will that be enough for Salas to finish it? End the swoon????????
Salas looks nervous………….. too much plate……….
Sorry WestCoastbirdWatcher but I can not understand most of what you write. Is it just me?
Its a baseball thing LB…………. don’t fret……….. an AP sacrifice is a hit and run on the first pitch…knowing that he always takes a strike……its always around the plate……..if he misses Colby is out……..80% of the time………………. its why won the game……..otherwise AP hits into the DP and….they pitch around Holiday………and they win……….. AP didn’t like it………..Tony steals his hero stance without making him bunt………….. its why the swoon exists in the first place……….
Nice explaination Westy. Did Tony sprout a pair or something?
I have been around the game for over 40 years and understand baseball lingo.
Mr. Bird, no it is not you.
Great win by the Cards! Salas has cemented the closer role!
The stirrups did it. Broke the funk.
I have still not seen any stirrups.
If Theriot plays the rest of the season like he did tonight I will be a very happy woman.
Now all he needs is the pornstache.
I prefer the soul patch.
I agree. Looking like ballplayers helps create the right atmosphere. Result is less defensive bungling. That was the difference.
Berkman looked bad in that last ab………….. and Molina was worse in the Vortex created by Holiday slaying the dragon………………….. If Pujols goes flat tomorrow……..and Colby and Berkman show up……..they might finish this thing with a big day………. that would mean Cardinals win by at least 4.
Albert definitly didn’t like being used to set up Holliday. But he did it. He doesn’t have to go flat, he just has to be managed.
How did Albert seem mad about hitting and running?
I thought he looked unhappy about it, but that’s beside the point.
Albert doesn’t like to swing at the first pitch. He likes to decide what to swing at, and he chooses the ones he thinks he can hit out. He definitly doesn’t like being ordered to swing at a certain pitch so as to avoid erasing the tying run in a DP. That’s the kind of stuff a situational hitter is told to do. King Albert is not.
Think of it like this, how funny would it have been for the hit and run to be put on with the game on the line and Hank Aaron at the plate. All for the purpose of ensuring the guy after Hank would come up with the tying run in scoring position. Never in a million years would that happen.
It appeared tto me that Albert did not run very hard to first, that appaers to be a sign of his displeasure at the call. The way Colby hustled and tried to disrupt the throw he may have made it, AP is fast enough.
Albert never really runs hard to first, it will eventually cost them a game. I am not saying he should sprint all out, but when he jogs slowly and then suddenly tries to speed up when a ball is bobbled ect, he increases his chance of injury. That is my big pet peeve with Albert. I still love him though, and hope he stays a Cardinal forever.
The chart in the article shows what great second halves Carp and Albert had six years ago. It’s not hard for me to imagine Albert getting hot and having a nice second half. With Carp its harder. His results depend on a lot more than is own performance.
John Tudor started out in 85 going 1-7, but one of his old friends and college (or high school) teamates noticed a mechanical change in Tudor’s delivery. He contacted Tudor and informed him of what he saw. Tudor made an adjustment and finished the year at 21-8 with a 1.93 era and WhIP under 1. Would love to see that kind of turn around for Carp.
I would love to see Carp have that kind of second half as well. I would start off by giving him Tudor’s defense. Smith and Herr middle infield with Willie McGee in CF giving him a world class defense up the middle. Add in Coleman and VanSlyke, Pendleton and Clark at the corners, and I’d give Carp more than a fighting chance.
Tudor also pitched in a lot more pitcher friendly park. Walls were taller and 386 in the allys and 414 to center. Unless you pulled it right down the line there was no such thing as a cheap homerun.
Good point.
Coleman and McGee were just the thing for patrolling that big outfield. VanSlyke was not slow either, and all were very aggressive hustlers. Nobody stood around watching.
Busch II had the carpet infield in 1985. Very fast and unfreindly to pitchers, although the Cards had the infielders for it, so had an advantage.
Yep, Ozzie played so deep he was actually in left field, but he was always able to somehow get the ball over just in time to get his man. Threw every runner out by half a step it seemed like.
Edwin Rodriguez resigned this morning.
Baseball is a tough business.
I wonder if Loria knows its not the manager.
Hanley Ramirez gets another manager fired. He is also a big reason I am in the bottom half of my fantasy league. I will now conduct all of my fantasy drafts with a strict no knucklehead policy. Randy Moss and Brandon Marshall in football season and now Hanley this baseball season have caused me to adopt this Spagsesque pillar system.
So your strategy is going to be avoiding anybody you could see the Cubs giving a bunch of money to?
LOL!! The Cubs ownership has been burning my phone up this past year trying to hire me as their GM. They said I was a perfect fit for what they’ve been trying to do the past 3 years.
Hendry’s admiration for Albert is sad. . . . . . . for Albert.
1. Ryan Theriot (R) SS
2. Colby Rasmus (L) CF
3. Albert Pujols (R) 1B
4. Matt Holliday (R) LF
5. Yadier Molina (R) C
6. Andrew Brown (R) RF
7. Daniel Descalso (L) 3B
8. Jaime Garcia (L) P
9. Pete Kozma (R) 2B
With TLR has to work with, its a good lineup. Kozma gets into action against a lefty. Brown gets another chance. When Freese returns, he would help against a southpaw.
Question, Jumbo. If we’re ahead late, who is Jay a defensive sub for? ???
Brown
No John Jay? Resting Berkman and still no Jay. Can’t say I care for that. Reminds me of TLR sitting Ludwig two games in a row, while he was on a white hot tear a couple of years ago. Jay isn’t exactly on a tear but he has been fairly consistant offense and one of the few plus defenders.
Tony doesn’t believe being on a white hot tear has any predictive value. When it comes to what a guy might do today, he thinks what he did three years ago has as much predictive value as what he did the last week. Sitting Luddy when he was hot used to infuriate me.
It was a running joke in my family. Whenever Luddy would go on one of his 10 for 16 with 4 homeruns streaks, we would say “Hey Luddy is on a rampage, time to get him off the field for a week or so. “
Holliday said he might don the stirrups again today. Let’s see who else will man up.
ALWAYS ride out the steak. Has to wear em till they lose.
I agree, although I wouldn’t call one in a row a streak.
That was a nice picket fence we put up at the start yesterday, but I hope we can hang a crooked number on them right off the bat today.
Time to head to pop’s house for a BBQ. Should have 4 generations of Cards fans to watch the game. Good luck today.
Tony is gambling against Garcia that he can rest Berkman 2 days………… The flaw is Molina hitting 5th…………….Holiday won’t see a pitch……………………. Colby against a lefty is gambling here….if he fizzles that further isolates Holiday………………. A swoon breaker turns into a Tony speculation……
If we win………Berkman gets an extra days rest…………if we loose…. and Pujols has reasonable day, we are back in bad weather……………………… I take the 1st place Cards and the struggling AP …..over
AP……….and his 3rd place band of renowns…………… any day…………. 4/0 boston……we would be playing for 1st place……………
That HBP was stupid, stupid, stupid.