St. Louis Cardinals Fall To Reds, Tie Pirates For Second, Seriously
The St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates go into an unexpected tie for first place in the National League Central.
St. Louis Cardinals Fall To Reds, Tie Pirates For Second, Seriously
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almost 2 years ago Update 0 comments
St. Louis Cardinals Fall To Reds, Tie Pirates For Second
So here we are: The St. Louis Cardinals are tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates for second place in the National League Central, a half-game short of the Milwaukee Brewers, thanks to a 3-1 loss against the Cincinnati Reds, who are 47-48 despite an excellent run differential. Like sand through the hourglass, these are the standings of the NL Central. Jaime Garcia took the hard-luck loss after an ugly sixth inning in which Ryan Theriot was ejected for disputing a call at second base. Lance Berkman homered for the Cardinals, who are 50-45.
With the Pirates' extra-innings win against the Astros and the Brewers' 4-3 win over the Colorado Rockies, the Reds were unable to gain any ground in the NL Central themselves; the Brewers now have first place all to themselves.
The Cardinals will continue their road trip on Tuesday, when they head to Queens to take on the New York Mets in the long-suffering pondscum rivalry. The Mets' trade of closer Francisco Rodriguez to the Brewers for, well, pondscum to be named later should be enough to get things heated, right?
almost 2 years ago Update 0 comments
St. Louis Cardinals Beat Reds On Albert Pujols's 20th Home Run
.300 average, 30 home runs, 100 RBI—if you've glanced at the back of Albert Pujols's baseball card at any point in the last 10 years then you're aware that he's hit those numbers every time since he joined the St. Louis Cardinals in 2001. His cold start and recent injury have made them more of a chase than usual in 2011, but Pujols's 20th, a three-run shot, was at least enough to put the Cardinals over the Cincinnati Reds 4-1. Chris Carpenter turned in another strong performance, allowing one run in eight innings to improve to 5-7 on the season.
Jon Jay's three hits provided the rest of the offense for the Cardinals, whose struggling bullpen only had to pitch one inning a night after every reliever was used in the Cardinals' bitter loss in game one. He also provided one of the Cardinals' three unusual double plays when he picked a runner off at second base after catching a line drive; Pujols caught a runner between second and third, while Daniel Descalso, playing shortstop for the fourth time in his Major League career, charged toward second base for the 6-3 double play before that.
And in case you were wondering, Pujols is now on pace for a .282 average, 34 home runs, and 95 RBI. Not a bad year for anyone else on the planet, but he's got 18 points of batting average and five more RBI to add before the baseball card fans will be satisfied.
almost 2 years ago Update 0 comments
Cardinals Lose To Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates First In Wild NL Central
The St. Louis Cardinals came back twice in their hard-luck loss against the Cincinnati Reds, but home-field advantage turned out to be the difference-maker when Brandon Phillips hit a walk-off home run against closer Fernando Salas in the bottom of the ninth inning. But the real shocker: With the Cardinals' loss and their own win, the Pittsburgh Pirates are now first in the National League Central.
The good news for Cardinals fans, such as it is, is that Albert Pujols appears to be all the way back. After Chris Heisey robbed him of a home run in the first inning, Pujols hit a scorching 400-footer off of dinged-up Reds superprospect Aroldis Chapman to put the Cardinals on top in the eighth inning. It wasn't enough, but Pujols is now hitting .282/.357/.508 on the year and has seven hits—including two home runs and a double—in his last three games.
The Pirates' win is the feel-good story of the season for disinterested observers, but it's good news for the Cardinals, too, who'd probably rather chase them than the Brewers, who lost to fall a half-game behind both clubs.
