LIVE BLOGGING!!

RECAP: Joel Pineiro was awesome. Molina was clutch in the first, and Rasmus homered (again).

Top 9th (10:19): Quick first out. Un-quick second out. Soriano K. Awesome game!

Bottom 8th (10:12): Two fly outs to right. Pujols double (how the hell did he get to 2nd on that?). Molina ground out. The Cards clearly feel they have scored enough runs. I hope they're right.

It's Ryan Franklin intimidating beard time!! EDIT: J.P. going for the shutout! What was I thinking?

Top 8th (10:02): Duncan and Stavinoha out. Improved defense. One pitch, one out. Another out and then a Geovany Soto K. Cubs look like shit, let's be honest.

Bottom 7th (9:57): Another easy inning for Lilly. The Brewers have a 2-run lead in Houston right now.

Top 7th (9:52): J.P. keeps rolling. Two fly outs in the game (this does not include Lee's line out to center).

Cubs broadcasters are so desperate they are hoping for Cardinal errors. "All Cardinals, all Pineiro so far."

Bottom 6th (9:45): Molina hustle out. Duncan hustle out. Stavinoha to the warning track. Lilly would be winning this game most days.

When Derrick Lee does pretty much anything the broadcasters make comments about his health. "Hope he is alright." Really? So fragile that his health is a concern everytime he fields a ball? Sad.

Top 6th (9:40): One pitch, one out. Lilly out. Soriano out. J.P. is working faster than I can type! (Not really.)

Bottom 5th (9:34): I thirst for runs. The Cardinals, however, are shit. Two hits. That's it. Two. Pathetic.

J.P. strikes out looking. Thurston lines out to 1B. The Cardinals have officially let the struggling opposing pitcher find a groove. this pathetic inning is about to end ...

Wait ...

Ryan reaches for the third time with a single to center. Rasmus no-doubt dinger. 3-run lead. Russ smiles, sips beer, sits back.

Lilly's curveball is nasty, btw. It look's unnaturally ... um ... curvy(?).

Top 5th (9:22): The Cubs keep swinging on the first pitch. Two quick outs. Unfortunately, Fontenot's swing gave him a double. Fortunately, Soto still sucks. Cubs stranded their first runner of the night. Good stuff.

Bottom 4th (9:15): Chris Duncan K's looking. Pathetic. Has he done anything recently? Stavinoha single followed up moments later by Barden double-play. I guess the Cardinals are satisfied with one run.

Rasmus' sacrifice is starting to look sensible.

Top 4th (9:10): One pitch, one out, for Soriano. 35 pitches to get the first 10 outs = nice. Two pitches, second out. One pitch, third out. 38 pitches through 4 IP = RUSS LIKES!

Now, SCORE!

Bottom 3rd (9:06): Thurston draws a walk and sprints to first base. I love that. Brendan Ryan, who also walked to lead off an inning, walks again. Two men on and no outs, Rasmus fails to move the runners over. Terrible. Got to get that runner to 3rd so the next hitter can get a sac fly.

Pujols through two at bats: 3 LOB, 2 in scoring position. Ugh.

Will Molina deliver? No. Wasted opportunity.

Bob Brenly stupid comment counter: 3 ("... when Cubs fans are in attendance all you see is blue." Really? Cubs fans don't wear white or gray?).

Top 3rd (8:50): Remember when Giovany Soto was good? Me either. Aaron Miles hits like a girl. Ted Lilly got embarrassed by a ball in the dirt.

J.P. looks pretty good. Now that I have said that I expect total failure.

Bottom 2nd (8:46): Stavinoha = CRAP. Barden = CRAP. J.P. = SHIT. Cards' half of the 2nd = *pfffttt* (that's supposed to be a fart noise -- I am trying to suggest it was a bad half inning).

Top 2nd (8:40): Before the first pitch of the inning WGN showed an overweight Cardinals fan with his chest painted and suggested a dress code for "this park." Whatever.

D. Lee gets a single up the middle. Milton Bradley hits into DP. Mike Fontenot swings like a girl.

Easy inning.

Bottom of the First (8:32): Lead-off walk, sacrifice (WHY!?), then Pujols. Teeming with anticipation ... for a foul out. Ugh. Thankfully, mercifully, Molina drives the run home -- improving his .429 average with runners in scoring position.

LaRussa looked PISSED after Rasmus' bunt. He isn't the only pissed off observer. Are the Cardinals so pathetic that they need to sacrifice runners into scoring position in the first? Terrible decision by Rasmus, who is batting .080 against lefties.

Broadcaster note: The Cardinals have only scored 13 runs with Ludwick out. I feel sick.

Top of the First (8:18): Bob Brenly just called Chris Duncan a "truck driver" and said to "be careful." I have no idea what he is talking about or who he is talking to. J.P. took one batter to piss me off. The broadcasters are already getting a lot of mileage out of how great the Cardinal staff was last month and how crappy it has been in May.

Molina pick-off! Cubs broadcasters think it was a bad call. Objectivity FAIL!

First Impressions (8:13): WGN looks like shit and their broadcasters are shit. Bob Brenly is a nice guy, but I don't like him as a broadcaster. I may have to mute this slop. They think Derrick Lee is going to have a good game because he had a good game yesterday. Great analysis, thanks.

Since I am watching this evening's game on WGN. And since I haven't watched or blogged the last three games (thankfully?). And since Art and Beth have left and hopefully un-cursed the Cards. Here goes the live blogging.

Crap.

Breaking news: Joel Pineiro is crap. There is only one out in the Reds' half of the 2nd and I am alreaady certain that the Cardinals will lose. Thanks, J.P.

"That's a Winner!" - 14

I know he looks more than a little girly in this picture, but J.P. was a MAN on Monday night in Atlanta. Before an announced attendance of 16,739 (pathetic), at least two of whom I regard as very good friends, J.P. pitched efficiently and scored the winning run. The Cardinal defense, which has been abysmal to date, was also very good, and Rick Ankiel produced with the bat (2 RBI singles). A nice win, all things considered.

Depending on what the Dodgers do tonight, we could wake up in the morning to the Cardinals being in sole possession of the best record in baseball. Very proud of this ball club and the April they are putting together.

Break It Down! - April 27th Edition

The Cardinals are in Atlanta this week. Atlanta is where my dear friends David and Emilee Terry work and live. I have not talked to him about it yet, but I am sure that Dave will guarantee Cardinals victories in each of the next 3 games, just as I will guarantee Cardinals victories against the Nationals later in the week. Thanks, Dave.

All three Atlanta starters this week have first names starting with the letter "J" (Jair, Jo-Jo, and Javier). The Cardinals are 2 - 0 so far this season against starters whose first names start with the letter "J" (Jon Garland and John Maine). We may therefore inductively reason that the Cardinals will sweep the Braves.

Why haven't I taken the time to actually analyze Monday's game? SWAMPED with work!

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

"That's a Winner!" - 10

It is simple math:

Plus


Equal

Break It Down! April 22nd Edition

The Pitchers:
- Cardinals: J.P. (that's what I call Pineiro) faces the New York Metropolitans on Wednesday. J.P. is 2-0 to date, but he hasn't exactly shutdown his opponents (5.40 ERA). That comes with a 1.80 WHIP and a whole heap of concern. On the bright side, J.P. didn't lose either of his starts against the Metropolitans last season (nevermind the fact he gave up 9 runs in 9 IP). So what should we expect? Not much.

- Mets: John Maine is starting for the Metropolitans Wednesday. He seems underqualified. (Note: Maine was crap in his only start against the Cardinals last year: 4 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 5 R, and 3 ER.)

The Lineups:
- Cardinals: Albert "The Machine" Pujols (surprise!) has 2 dingers (homeruns, round-trippers, 4-baggers, etc.) and 2 other hits in a mere 9 ABs against the Maine man. Others have been alright, but not exceptional. I feel alright about this.

- Mets: Jose Reyes and David Wright (WRONG! (get it?)) have enjoyed some success against J.P. That said, I think they're both crap. Forgive my inability to be objective, I just don't like these guys.

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

Break It Down! Tax Day Edition

The Pitchers:
- Cardinals: J.P. takes the mound again today. I am struggling to get excited about anything after last night's events. I feel like writing a bunch of gutteral noises and cuss words. That being the case, I will just lead you through the steps that I go to in order to draft a post. First, for some general stuff, go here. Then here. Now go here and look at road, day game, and Arizona splits over the past few seasons. Finally, and this also feeds the lineups section below, go here. That's about all there is to it. Venture a prediction if you care to.
- Diamondbacks: Same procedure, just do the last two steps for Jon Garland (Step 1, Step 2).

The Lineups:
- Cardinals: This info is primarily taken from the batter vs. pitcher pages of the pitchers, but I also try to consider who is playing well or poorly, and who TLR might sit for lefty-righty matchups.
- Diamondbacks: Same crap.

Now you know. Kind of like watching sausage be made, right? Whatever. Ugh. Now I need to here for some of this.

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

Break It Down! April 10th Edition

The Pitchers:
- Cardinals: On Friday Joel Pineiro takes the bump for the Cardinals for the first time in 2009. (Editorial Note: For the remainder of this post, and maybe the remainder of the season, I will call Joel Pineiro "J.P." (I have been misspelling his name "Piniero").) J.P. had a good Spring by most accounts. He hasn't face the Astros since 1007, however, so Lord knows what he is going to do against the fellas. What I do know is that last season J.P.'s ERA was better at home than on the road, it was better during at night than during the day, and it was best during the month of April. A lot of signs point to J.P. pitching well, but I ain't convinced. I expect 6 IP, 3 or 4 runs allowed.
- Astros: Ten years ago Mike Hampton won 22 games for the Astros. That seems like a lifetime ago, right? Since then he has become generally regarded as the most fragile pitcher in baseball. Most recently, Hampton has bounced around a little bit, but he hasn't been terrible when he has been healthy. I'd expect a quality start from him, 6 or 7 IP, 3 or 4 runs allowed.

The Lineups:
- Cardinals: Albert Pujols (surprise!) and Khalil Greene have enjoyed some success against Hampton. I don't expect LaRue to get his first start of the season, he is only 2-for-11 against Hampton. Since Hampton is a lefty, Rasmus and Schumaker may sit.
- Astros: Carlos Lee (1.199 OPS), Lance Berkman (1.417 OPS) and I-Rod (.967 OPS) have had some success against J.P. Berkman and Lee have both homered twice off of J.P., but that may have been at Houston's juice box, I am not sure. Whatever the case, I am concerned about J.P.'s ability to get through the middle of this lineup.

UPDATE: Cards lineup:

1. Skip Schumaker, 2B
2. Khalil Greene, SS
3. Albert Pujols, 1B
4. Ryan Ludwick, RF
5. Chris Duncan, LF
6. Yadier Molina, C
7. Rick Ankiel, CF
8. David Freese, 3B
9. Joel Pineiro, P

Ankiel has fallen to 7th already? Thanks, as always, to CardsClubhouse.

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