The streaking St. Louis Cardinals (72-54) begin a nine game homestand when they take on the Houston Astros (61-63) who are 10 games behind but have won 4 out of their last five games and do not fear the Cardinals. Although the Astros are 4-5 against the Cardinals this season, the Astros swept the Cardinals a little over a month ago in Houston, and are 4-2 in their last six against the Cards.
The series will feature three great pitching matchups. On Tuesday, Wandy Rodriguez (12-7) will face Adam Wainwright (14-7). On Wednesday, Roy Oswalt (7-4) will face Joel Pineiro (12-9). On Thursday in the finale, the Astros will pitch Brian Moehler (8-9) against staff ace Chris Carpenter (14-3). The Cardinals have an opportunity to give both Wainwright and Carpenter their 15th wins of the season, which will most likely continue to tie them for the league lead.
The Cardinals need to win, because the Cubs have an opportunity to gain ground as they host the Washington Nationals for a three-game series.
Showing posts with label Joel Pineiro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joel Pineiro. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Pineiro's Quality Start and Strong Offensive Output Leads Cardinals to 7-4 Win Over Padres
Joel Pineiro (11-9) went 6 and 2/3 innings and gave up 3 runs, while Matt Holliday hit his 16th home run of the year to lead the Cardinals (66-52) past the San Diego Padres (49-69) to remain 4.5 games over the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central.
Pineiro started off a little shaky, giving up a run in the first inning, but the Cardinals were able to score 3 in the bottom half of the first to give Pineiro a 3-1 lead. Colby Rasmus singled with one out, Albert Pujols doubled and Matt Holliday homered to give the Cards a quick 3-1 lead.
Adrian Gonzalez closed the gap in the third inning when he hit a lead-off solo shot to make it 3-2.
Skip Schumaker made it 4-2 when he drove in Julio Lugo from 2nd with two outs in the fourth. Schumaker did the same in the 6th to extend the Cardinals lead to 5-2. Each time, Pineiro helped his cause, first with a walk in the 4th to push Lugo to second, and then with a sac bunt in the 6th to do the same.
The Padres once again made a comeback bid when they scored 2 in the 7th, but the Cardinals answered with two of their own in the bottom of the seventh.
Ryan Ludwick doubled off reliever Luke Gregerson, who had just entered the game. Mark DeRosa then singled to drive Ludwick in, and Yadier Molina hit a ground rule double. Then Brendan Ryan grounded out to score DeRosa.
Ryan Franklin picked up his 29th save to seal the Cardinals win and keep the Cardinals 4.5 games over the Chicago Cubs, who beat the Pirates today 3-1.
The Cardinals will look to sweep the series behind Kyle Lohse tomorrow afternoon.
Pineiro started off a little shaky, giving up a run in the first inning, but the Cardinals were able to score 3 in the bottom half of the first to give Pineiro a 3-1 lead. Colby Rasmus singled with one out, Albert Pujols doubled and Matt Holliday homered to give the Cards a quick 3-1 lead.
Adrian Gonzalez closed the gap in the third inning when he hit a lead-off solo shot to make it 3-2.
Skip Schumaker made it 4-2 when he drove in Julio Lugo from 2nd with two outs in the fourth. Schumaker did the same in the 6th to extend the Cardinals lead to 5-2. Each time, Pineiro helped his cause, first with a walk in the 4th to push Lugo to second, and then with a sac bunt in the 6th to do the same.
The Padres once again made a comeback bid when they scored 2 in the 7th, but the Cardinals answered with two of their own in the bottom of the seventh.
Ryan Ludwick doubled off reliever Luke Gregerson, who had just entered the game. Mark DeRosa then singled to drive Ludwick in, and Yadier Molina hit a ground rule double. Then Brendan Ryan grounded out to score DeRosa.
Ryan Franklin picked up his 29th save to seal the Cardinals win and keep the Cardinals 4.5 games over the Chicago Cubs, who beat the Pirates today 3-1.
The Cardinals will look to sweep the series behind Kyle Lohse tomorrow afternoon.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Cardinals vs. Padres Series Preview
The NL Central Division leading St. Louis Cardinals (64-52) host the NL West's last place team, the San Diego Padres (49-68) this weekend for a three-game set. Don't let the records fool you, however. This could be a land mine for the Cardinals. The Padres, although they have a bad record, are 15-14 against the NL Central, and are 11-5 since July 27th.
The Cardinals will need to be on top of their game to make sure they can get the series win. The Cardinals will throw out Adam Wainwright, Joel Pineiro and Kyle Lohse, all coming off wins in their last starts. They will be facing three young pitchers in Mat Latos, Tim Stauffer, and Clayton Richard, two of whom (Latos and Richard) won games against the Mets and Brewers in their last starts, and Stauffer was a hard luck loser against Johan Santana and the Mets in his last start. Stauffer is a former first round draft pick for the Padres, so all three starters will attempt to get wins for the Padres and this will not be a series in which the Padres will lie down.
The Chicago Cubs will face the Pittsburgh Pirates this weekend, so the Cubs will be looking to gain ground on the Cardinals in the NL Central race. This weekend will be yet another interesting weekend in the race, and should shed further light on where the NL Central is going the rest of the way.
The Cardinals will need to be on top of their game to make sure they can get the series win. The Cardinals will throw out Adam Wainwright, Joel Pineiro and Kyle Lohse, all coming off wins in their last starts. They will be facing three young pitchers in Mat Latos, Tim Stauffer, and Clayton Richard, two of whom (Latos and Richard) won games against the Mets and Brewers in their last starts, and Stauffer was a hard luck loser against Johan Santana and the Mets in his last start. Stauffer is a former first round draft pick for the Padres, so all three starters will attempt to get wins for the Padres and this will not be a series in which the Padres will lie down.
The Chicago Cubs will face the Pittsburgh Pirates this weekend, so the Cubs will be looking to gain ground on the Cardinals in the NL Central race. This weekend will be yet another interesting weekend in the race, and should shed further light on where the NL Central is going the rest of the way.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Cards Sweep Pirates, Go 2 Up Over Cubs
What a big weekend for the Cardinals (62-51) who are now 2 full games ahead of the Chicago Cubs (58-51) and 6 full games ahead pf both the Milwaukee Brewers (55-56) and the Houston Astros (55-56). While the Cardinals swept the Pirates in Pittsburgh, the Cubs lost 2 out of 3 to a hot Colorado Rockies team in Colorado.
The only negative for the Cardinals is that the Chicago Cubs have the same amount of losses (51). The Cubs simply have played 4 fewer games than the Cardinals and they could theoretically win all 4 games which would put them in a dead heat. The Brwers and Astros being 6 six games back just seem a little too far back to be real contenders in the race for the NL Central crown and now it definitely seems to be a two-team race between the Cardinals and the Cubs.
The big problem for the Cardinals if they want to win this division is the back end of their rotation. Kyle Lohse has not done well since he has returned to the rotation after many injuries, and Todd WEllemeyer has gotten lit up time after time. Amazingly, Wellemeyer after being sent to the bullpen will get another start on Tuesday at home vs. the Cincinnati Reds. If the Cardinals want to win the division, they need to find at least one good starter to get them through to the end of the regular season and give them a solid fourth starter for the playoffs.
My prediction is that the Cardinals will need to go 30-20 in their last 50 games to win the division, which would put them at 91-71. With Carpenter, Wainwright and Pineiro pitching well this is a real possibility, but you can't hope that all three pitchers win all their games from here on out, so either Lohse or Wellemeyer or someone else (Boggs?) is going to have to step it up.
The only negative for the Cardinals is that the Chicago Cubs have the same amount of losses (51). The Cubs simply have played 4 fewer games than the Cardinals and they could theoretically win all 4 games which would put them in a dead heat. The Brwers and Astros being 6 six games back just seem a little too far back to be real contenders in the race for the NL Central crown and now it definitely seems to be a two-team race between the Cardinals and the Cubs.
The big problem for the Cardinals if they want to win this division is the back end of their rotation. Kyle Lohse has not done well since he has returned to the rotation after many injuries, and Todd WEllemeyer has gotten lit up time after time. Amazingly, Wellemeyer after being sent to the bullpen will get another start on Tuesday at home vs. the Cincinnati Reds. If the Cardinals want to win the division, they need to find at least one good starter to get them through to the end of the regular season and give them a solid fourth starter for the playoffs.
My prediction is that the Cardinals will need to go 30-20 in their last 50 games to win the division, which would put them at 91-71. With Carpenter, Wainwright and Pineiro pitching well this is a real possibility, but you can't hope that all three pitchers win all their games from here on out, so either Lohse or Wellemeyer or someone else (Boggs?) is going to have to step it up.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Cardinals Need Sweep of Pirates
52 games are left in the 2009 season for the St. Louis Cardinals and every game counts. When you are playing a team like the Pirates who are 17 games under .500, you need to do one thing - CRUSH THEM. All week, teams in the hunt have been losing to teams long gone, such as today when the Florida Marlins (55-53) gave up an 8-3 lead in the 5th to lose to the woeful Washington Nationals (37-72) 12-8. When it comes to crunch time, you have to win the games you are supposed to win. For the Cardinals that means that they must sweep the Pirates who are 12.5 games back of the Cardinals and have just sold off half their team for prospects. The Cards are perfectly positioned for a sweep, with Carpenter, Wainwright and Pineiro going in the Friday through Sunday sweries. Whether the Cardinals will pull it off, that remains to be seen.
Even better for the Cardinals is that the Chicago Cubs visit the Colorado Rockies this weekend, a team that until playing the red hot Phillies has been on a bit of a hot streak. It would be great if the Cardinals could get the sweep while the Cubs falter a bit. But no matter what it looks like on paper, the game of baseball is a crazy game. And that is why they play it on the field.
Go Cardinals!
Even better for the Cardinals is that the Chicago Cubs visit the Colorado Rockies this weekend, a team that until playing the red hot Phillies has been on a bit of a hot streak. It would be great if the Cardinals could get the sweep while the Cubs falter a bit. But no matter what it looks like on paper, the game of baseball is a crazy game. And that is why they play it on the field.
Go Cardinals!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Offensive Surge Gives Cardinals Big Comeback Win Over Mets
If you would have told me before the game that Joel Pineiro would not have a good night, and Johan Santana was pitching for the Mets, I would said, "Easy loss for the Cardinals."
It was not the case, as Santana was not totally on his game either, and Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez gave up his fourth blown save of the year. What was on for the Cardinals was their bats, as they scored 12 runs in 10 innings to beat the Mets in a comeback win, 12-7. Even bigger for the Cardinals might be that Albert Pujols came out of his slump and went 4-for-5 with two home runs, 11 total bases and 5 huge RBI's, one a homer off Santana in the 8th and the other a grand slam in the 10th inning to put the game away off Mets reliever Sean Green.
It was a great offensive display for the Cardinals, who came back from a 7-4 deficit with one run in the 8th and two runs in the 9th to tie the game at 7-7. Seven batters for the Cards had at least one RBI and the Cardinals pounded out 15 hits.
This was a huge win for the Cardinals and kept them in a tie for first place (but 2 back in the loss column) with the NL Central leading Chicago Cubs. The Cubs (57-48) beat a woeful Reds team 6-3 and are now 9 games above .500, while the Cards record goes to 59-50.
It was not the case, as Santana was not totally on his game either, and Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez gave up his fourth blown save of the year. What was on for the Cardinals was their bats, as they scored 12 runs in 10 innings to beat the Mets in a comeback win, 12-7. Even bigger for the Cardinals might be that Albert Pujols came out of his slump and went 4-for-5 with two home runs, 11 total bases and 5 huge RBI's, one a homer off Santana in the 8th and the other a grand slam in the 10th inning to put the game away off Mets reliever Sean Green.
It was a great offensive display for the Cardinals, who came back from a 7-4 deficit with one run in the 8th and two runs in the 9th to tie the game at 7-7. Seven batters for the Cards had at least one RBI and the Cardinals pounded out 15 hits.
This was a huge win for the Cardinals and kept them in a tie for first place (but 2 back in the loss column) with the NL Central leading Chicago Cubs. The Cubs (57-48) beat a woeful Reds team 6-3 and are now 9 games above .500, while the Cards record goes to 59-50.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Can the Cardinals win the NL Central?
With two months to go, the Cardinals are leading the second place and red-hot Chicago Cubs by a half game, but are two back in the loss column. Do the Cardinals have what it takes to win the NL Central? The rotation is very top heavy, with Carpenter, Wainwright and Pineiro doing great work, but Kyle Lohse is just back off the DL and Wellemeyer has been relegated to the bullpen. Can the Cardinals win with just 3 solid starters? The Cubs rotation is much stronger all around, but their bullpen has given up games, as they did to the Marlins Sunday (a big thank you to Kevin Gregg for blowing the save!).
My prediction is that Tony LaRussa will get the Cardinals into the playoffs - whether they win the division or not I'm not sure, but both the Cubs and the Cardinals will be very good in August and September and both might make the playoffs. The Giants, Rockies and Marlins are all getting hot too, so I am not sure the Cardinals can count on the wild card.
One thing is for sure, Albert Pujols needs to get hot again. Matt Holliday can't keep this pace up for much longer! Go Cards!
My prediction is that Tony LaRussa will get the Cardinals into the playoffs - whether they win the division or not I'm not sure, but both the Cubs and the Cardinals will be very good in August and September and both might make the playoffs. The Giants, Rockies and Marlins are all getting hot too, so I am not sure the Cardinals can count on the wild card.
One thing is for sure, Albert Pujols needs to get hot again. Matt Holliday can't keep this pace up for much longer! Go Cards!
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