Break It Down! April 12th Edition

The Pitchers:
- Cardinals: Kyle Lohse battled with the Pirates early last week, allowing 2 earned runs over 7 IP. Lohse won, but struggled at times, allowing six baserunners and throwing 108 pitches. Still, Lohse was 3-0 against the Astros in 4 starts last year with a 2.42 ERA. I generally have luke warm feelings about Lohse. I expect 6 or 7 innings, 3 or 4 runs allowed. Hopefully that will be enough.
- Astros: Wandy Rodriguez, a pitcher that throws the ball with his left hand, was 1-2 against the Cardinals last year in four starts. Great, right? Only problem: he had a 1.11 ERA over those four starts, allowing a mere three runs over 24 1/3 innings. That is not good news for the Cardinals. In his first start this season, Rodriguez allowed 1 run in 6 IP, with 4 hits and 3 walks given up. This is also not good news for the Cardinals. Personally, I hate it when the Cardinals face this guy for one simple reason: His name is Wandy. Losing to a guy named Wandy is like getting beat up by a girl.

The Lineups:
- Cardinals: Albert Pujols has been pretty dreadful against Rodriguez (actual surprise!). Pujols only has 3 singles in 18 ABs against Rodriguez. I am NOT saying that we should sit Pujols, expecially since he is a MAN who hits MAN-SIZE homeruns, but Tony might give it some thought since the Cardinals have so many consecutive games to start this season. Pujols' defense should keep him on the field, in my mind.
- Astros: Carlos Lee, Hunter Pence and Geoff Blum have hit pretty well against Lohse. Berkman hasn't been so bad either. These happen to be the Astros off to the best starts (Pence and Blum) and the Astros that are most fearsome (Lee and Berkman). Still, these guys haven't been very good this season, and I am pretty confident they won't be very good Sunday.

UPDATE: Bernie had a great piece on Pujols in today's paper. His point: Pujols is an Indescribable Winner. The point is well taken. I have only been writing this blog for a week, and I have to agree, Pujols makes it hard to not feel like you're repeating yourself. Anyways, read the article, it is written MUCH better than anything you'll find here.

Well that's it in the way of analysis(?). Wish I were in St. Louis. GO CARDS!!