SB Nation St. Louis - Cardinals Vs. Brewers: St. Louis Gets Back In Win Column

Lance Berkman Injury Update: Cardinals Slugger Does Not 'Have Any Bat Speed'

2012-07-19T18:49:23Z

According to his own admission, 1B Lance Berkman is struggling. In a recent talk with the media, Berkman said his timing and vision were where they needed to be, but that his bat was just not moving at the right pace:

"The fact is I feel great in terms of how I'm seeing the ball," Berkman said. "I'm not swinging at many bad pitches. I feel like my timing is good. What's lacking is bat speed. I just don't have any bat speed right now."

The 36-year-old Berkman is hitting an impressive .275/.393/.471 in the 2012 season, despite sporting only 1 home run. He hit 31 homers in 2011 season, a comeback year for him, in which he helped lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series victory.

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Cardinals Vs. Brewers Final Score: Early Errors Lead To 4-3 Defeat

2012-07-18T21:13:02Z

Errors on defense are always frustrating, but they proved to be particularly costly on Wednesday for the St. Louis Cardinals in a 4-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Cardinals shortstop Rafael Furcal made a pair of painful errors in the first inning of Wednesday's game, allowing Milwaukee to take a lead that it would never relinquish.

The Cardinals' defense was shaky from the beginning on Wednesday, as Brewers lead-off hitter Norichika Aoki reached base on a fielding error from Furcal. The Cardinals' shortstop would only compound that issue later in the inning with Milwaukee already leading 2-0, when a two-out throwing error would allow two additional runs to score.

Trailing 4-0 early, the Cardinals needed a quality performance from their offense, but they didn't get it on Wednesday despite facing struggling young starter Tyler Thornburg. Thornburg managed to allow just two runs over 4.2 innings, at which point the bullpen came in and finished off the remainder of the game.

St. Louis really threatened in the top of the ninth inning, but Francisco Rodriguez managed to end the scare before blowing the lead. K-Rod gave up a bases loaded walk with two outs in the ninth to cut Milwaukee's lead to a single run, but he got Lance Berkman to fly out for the game's final out.

Beyond the Cardinals' late rally in the ninth inning, the team's first two runs were scored on a pair of solo homers from David Freese and Allen Craig.

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Trevor Rosenthal Hits 100, Strikes Out Two In St. Louis Cardinals Debut

2012-07-18T20:52:10Z

The St. Louis Cardinals' newest reliever, Lees Summit native Trevor Rosenthal, made his debut Wednesday afternoon against the Milwaukee Brewers, and he was everything--good and bad--that was advertised.

The good news: He hit 100 miles per hour on the radar gun, on a running fastball for called-strike-three to Corey Hart, flashed the beginnings of one of those buried-in-the-dirt Ben Sheets curveballs, and struck out two. The bad news: He threw a hanging breaking ball to Carlos Gomez that was hit 400 feet foul down the third base line, and walked two. The good news again: after that ball tailed just foul, Rosenthal went back to the curveball and struck Gomez out in the dirt with the bases loaded, a preternaturally confident move.

Overall, though, Rosenthal looked like someone who could move quickly up the Cardinals' damaged relief chain of command. His control problems weren't so pronounced as the ones that have sunk Eduardo Sanchez or Maikel Cleto; Yadier Molina didn't have to dive into the batter's boxes for anything.

Much like Lance Lynn last year, Rosenthal's gameplan is to vary the location on his fastball and try to throw one by each hitter he faces. If his curveball or the low-90s cutter he tried once can become consistent enough to keep their timing in question, he could have the same results Lynn did.

Cardinals Vs. Brewers Lineups: Carlos Beltran Gets Day Off On Wednesday

2012-07-18T17:38:26Z

St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Carlos Beltran is getting the day off as the team faces the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday afternoon at Miller Park. The two teams split the first two games of the three-game series, which each game being decided by just a single run.

At the moment, it appears that Beltran is simply getting a standard day off given the early start time for Wednesday's game. After being plagued by injuries in 2009 and 2010, he appeared in 142 games last season, and has been similarly healthy in 2012.

Here's the Cardinals' full lineup:

1. Rafael Furcal (SS)
2. Jon Jay (CF)
3. Allen Craig (RF)
4. David Freese (3B)
5. Lance Berkman (1B)
6. Yadier Molina (C)
7. Matt Carpenter (LF)
8. Skip Schumaker (2B)
9. Adam Wainwright (SP)

And the Brewers' lineup:

1. Norichika Aoki (RF)
2. Nyjer Morgan (LF)
3. Aramis Ramirez (3B)
4. Corey Hart (1B)
5. Rickie Weeks (2B)
6. Martin Maldonado (C)
7. Carlos Gomez (CF)
8. Jeff Bianchi (SS)
9. Tyler Thornburg (SP)

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Cardinals Vs. Brewers Preview: Wainwright Takes The Hill On Wednesday

2012-07-18T16:07:33Z

The St. Louis Cardinals have lost four of five games since returning from the All-Star Break, but they can take the series from the Milwaukee Brewers with a win today at Miller Park. The Cardinals will also be looking to bounce back from a disappointing loss on Tuesday night that saw them fail to even tie the game in the ninth inning after getting the winning run in scoring position with no outs.

On the hill for the Cardinals will be Adam Wainwright, whose second half got off to a so-so start in Cincinnati over the weekend. In that start on July 13, Wainwright pitched 6.1 innings, but gave up four earned runs on five hits. He'll be opposed by Brewers rookie Tyler Thornburg, who has given up six earned runs in 7.1 innings for Milwaukee this season.

Game date/time: Thursday, July 18, 1:10 p.m. CT

Location: Miller Park, Milwaukee, Wisc.

TV: FSN Midwest

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Cardinals Vs. Brewers Final Score: St. Louis' Bats Go Quiet Late In 3-2 Loss

2012-07-18T03:46:23Z

The St. Louis Cardinals managed 10 hits but only two runs on Tuesday night during a 3-2 loss to the division rival Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. St. Louis starter Joe Kelly was the hard luck loser, falling to 1-2 on the season after throwing six innings and allowing six hits and two earned runs. The loss drops the Cards to 47-44 on the year, while Milwaukee moves to 43-47.

Rickie Weeks' solo homer in the fourth inning that broke a 2-2 tie proved to be the decisive swing of the game. It was the ninth long ball of the year for the second baseman, and his only hit of the night. Third baseman David Freese went 3-for-4 for St. Louis with a double. Carlos Beltran drove in his 66th run of the season with a sacrifice fly in the third for the Cards.

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Francisco Rodriguez Replaces John Axford As Brewers Closer After Cardinals Comeback

2012-07-17T22:20:49Z

The St. Louis Cardinals' 3-2 Monday night victory over the Milwaukee Brewers could be a turning point in the Cardinals' rocky 2012 season, but it's definitely the start of something different for the Brewers--they'll be replacing snakebitten closer John Axford, who blew the save on Matt Holliday's ground-ball single, with Francisco Rodriguez, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.

For K-Rod, who went from 34 saves with the Mets to the Brewers' set-up man in 2011, it's a chance to return to the pace that gave him a chance to set the all-time saves record; for the Brewers, it's a chance to figure out what ails Axford, who was dominant in 2011 but has struggled with control and command in 2012.

Axford, who saved 46 games last year, has walked 21 batters and allowed six home runs in 37 innings, but his case hasn't been helped by a BAbip of .344. He'll get every chance to work his way back into high leverage innings, but Rodriguez, who's rarely anything less than cromulent as a reliever, will be hard to dislodge if he stabilizes the Brewers' beleaguered bullpen even temporarily.

Cardinals Vs. Brewers Lineups: Allen Craig Batting 2nd, Carlos Beltran Starting In CF

2012-07-17T22:01:00Z

Carlos Beltran will make just his third start in center field this season when the the Cardinals face the Brewers on Tuesday night. Tyler Greene is also making just his third start in the month of July. Full lineups for Tuesday's game are listed below.

St. Louis:

1. Rafael Furcal (SS)
2. Allen Craig (1B)
3. Matt Holliday (LF)
4. Carlos Beltran (CF)
5. David Freese (3B)
6. Yadier Molina (C)
7. Matt Carpenter (RF)
8. Tyler Greene (2B)
9. Joe Kelly (SP)

Milwaukee:

1. Norichika Aoki (L) RF
2. Carlos Gomez (R) CF
3. Ryan Braun (R) LF
4. Aramis Ramirez (R) 3B
5. Corey Hart (R) 1B
6. Rickie Weeks (R) 2B
7. George Kottaras (L) C
8. Cesar Izturis (S) SS
9. Randy Wolf (L) P

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