2012 Cardinals Roster: St. Louis Promotes Maikel Cleto, Options Chuckie Fick And Brandon Dickson To Triple A

The St. Louis Cardinals made a few moves on Thursday in an effort to rearrange the bullpen. Maikel Cleto has been promoted to the big club, while Chuckie Fick and Brandon Dickson have been sent down to triple-A Memphis.

Bullpen shuffling continues: Cards option Dickson, Fick to Memphis, promote Cleto. Still one player to be added tomorrow. #Intrigue

— B.J. Rains (@BJRains) May 31, 2012

Related: St. Louis Cardinals Promote Cleto, Demote Dickson & Fick In Attempt to Upgrade Bullpen

Cleto made three relief appearances for the Cardinals in 2011 but did not fare well: he allowed seven hits and six runs in 4-1/3 innings. In 22 appearances for Memphis this season, Cleto has a 4.50 ERA with 34 strikeouts and nine walks.

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Cardinals Vs. Braves Final Score: St. Louis Falls In Rubber Match 10-7

The Atlanta Braves got out to a 5-0 lead through three innings, and though the St. Louis Cardinals mounted a valient effort to close the gap, the Braves were able to hang on to earn a 10-7 victory in the series rubber match. The teams combined for 24 hits (14 for Atlanta) on the night. The win moves the Braves to 28-24, while the Cards continue to struggled, falling to 27-24.

Brian McCann and Freddie Freeman each homered in the first inning to get Atlanta out to the early lead.The Cards would tie the score at 5-5 with a four-run inning in the top of the sixth, but Atlanta would answer back with three runs in the bottom of the frame to regain the lead for good.

Cards starter Kyle Lohse was roughed up for nine hits and five earned runs in five innings. Matt Holiday and Tyler Greene each drove in two runs in the loss for St. Louis. McCann powered Atlanta with four RBI. Craig Kimball picked up his 15th save of the season for the Braves.

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Cardinals Vs. Braves Score Update: St. Louis Trails 8-5 After 6 Innings

The St. Louis Cardinals are trailing 8-5 to the Atlanta Braves through six innings on Wednesday night in a game that's already seen both starters get knocked out. The Braves took an early 5-0 advantage in the first few innings, but they actually blew that lead before ultimately taking it back.

Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse struggled early, giving up five runs in the first three innings to put St. Louis down 5-0. Lohse gathered himself and finished off his outing with two shutout innings, but significant damage had already been done. The Cardinals would respond with four runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game up, but the Braves strung together some hits in the bottom frame to take back the lead.

Matt Holliday is the only St. Louis batter with two hits, but Tyler Greene had a key two-run single in the sixth inning. Freddie Freeman and Brian McCann have each hit home runs for Atlanta while Jose Constanza has singled in each of his first three plate appearances.

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

The St. Louis Cardinals are looking to take the rubber game of their three-day series against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday, but right fielder Carlos Beltran is getting a day off to keep his hot bat fresh. It doesn't appear that Beltran has any sort of injury, so this is merely some time off to prevent the sort of injuries that have plagued him earlier in his career.

In his place, the Cardinals have Skip Schumaker making the start in right field with Shane Robinson taking over in center. Here's the full lineup for St. Louis:

Lineup vs Braves: Furcal SS, Schumaker RF, Holliday LF, Molina C, Adams 1B, Greene 2B, Descalso 3B, Robinson CF, Lohse P

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 30, 2012

And here's the lineup for Atlanta:

Tonight's lineup vs. STL (7:10, SPSO/680AM/BRN): Bourn 8 Prado 5 McCann 2 Uggla 4 Freeman 3 Heyward 9 Constanza 7 Wilson 6 Hudson 1

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 30, 2012

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Cardinals Vs. Braves Preview: Kyle Lohse Starts In Series Finale At Turner Field

The St. Louis Cardinals will look for a victory in the first series on their 10-game road trip when the Cards meet the Atlanta Braves in a rubber match on Wednesday. The Cardinals won the series opener, but fell last night as Atlanta's bats came alive early. The Cardinals will send out Kyle Lohse on Wednesday, while Atlanta will give Tim Hudson the start.

Lohse has been spectacular this year through his first 10 starts. The 33-year old righty enters at 5-1 with a 2.90 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. Hudson is 3-2 with a 4.12 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. The 36-year old starter allowed seven earned runs in his last start, a loss to the Washington Nationals on May 25.

Game Date & Time: Wednesday, May 29, 6:10 p.m. CT

Location: Turner Field, Atlanta, GA.

TV: FS-M

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Cardinals Vs. Braves Final Score: St. Louis Falls 5-4 At Turner Field

The Atlanta Braves snapped a eight-game losing streak by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 on Tuesday. Catcher Yadier Molina drove-in runs in the sixth and seventh inning as the Cards tried to mount a comeback, but Atlanta closer Craig Kimbrel nailed down his 14th save of the year to give the Braves a wire-to-wire victory. The win moves the Braves to 27-24, while St. Louis falls to 27-23.

Center fielder Michael Bourn led off the game for the Braves with his fifth homer of the year, and Atlanta would brake open the game in the fourth when Dan Uggla clubbed a three-run homer to left center.

It wasn't Molina's fault the Cards lost. The veteran catcher drove-in runs in three separate innings finished the night 4-for-4 with a homer (his eighth of the season) and three RBI.

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Cardinals Vs. Braves Lineups: St. Louis Goes For 3 Wins In A Row

The St. Louis Cardinals can clinch a series victory over the struggling Atlanta Braves with a win on Tuesday night. Jake Westbrook will be on the mound for St. Louis as the Cardinals look to extend their current winning streak to three games.

Here are the lineups for Tuesday's game:

Lineup vs Braves: Furcal SS, Schumaker CF, Holliday LF, Beltran RF, Molina C, Adams 1B, Greene 2B, Descalso 3B, Westbrook P

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 29, 2012

Related: Pitching Like Chris Carpenter (Starring Lance Lynn and Chris Carpenter)

Tonight's lineup vs. STL (7:10, SPSO/680AM/BRN): Bourn 8 Prado 5 McCann 2 Uggla 4 Hinske 3 Heyward 9 Pastornicky 6 Delgado 1 Constanza 7

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 29, 2012

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Cardinals Vs. Braves Preview: Jake Westbrook Takes Mound With St. Louis Aiming For 3rd Straight Win

The Atlanta Braves are free-falling down the National League East standings, and the St. Louis Cardinals would like nothing more than the extend the suffering for another game or two. On Tuesday, St. Louis will try to give the Braves their ninth straight loss as Jake Westbrook opposes Atlanta's 22-year old righty Randall Delgado.

The Braves swept the Cards in a three-game series in St. Louis earlier this month, but St. Louis' emerging ace Lance Lynn was able to help give the Cardinals an 8-2 win in the series opener on Monday. Westbrook will attempt to give St. Louis its third straight victory. The 34-year old veteran enters at 4-3 with a 3.38 ERA and 1.36 WHIP.

The highly-touted Delgado is 2-5 this year with a 4.53 ERA and 1.45 WHIP.

Game Date & Time: Tuesday, May 28, 6:10 p.m. CT

Location: Turner Field, Atlanta, GA.

TV: FS-M

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Lance Lynn Leads Baseball In Wins, And It's Not (Entirely) A Fluke

The bad news the St. Louis Cardinals got back in the spring—about Chris Carpenter being out until June, at least—could not, in hindsight, have worked out for them any better: It kept them from wasting Lance Lynn in the bullpen. Lynn, who was solid in an abbreviated bullpen campaign in 2011, was called back to the rotation from whence he'd came and now, through May, leads Major League Baseball with eight wins. And here's the crazy part: His pitching to date hasn't been a fluke, at least not entirely.

This is no Storm Davis 1989 season, at least not entirely; Lynn's eight-strikeout performance on Memorial Day gave him a perfect three-to-one strikeout-to-walk ratio, and he's also kept home runs down so far. His ERA—2.54—might be a little lower than those numbers say it should be, but his fielding-independent numbers are all still in the low-3s.

He was sent in to replace Chris Carpenter, but he doesn't quite have Carp's command; what Lance Lynn has done instead is a pretty faithful impression of Adam Wainwright, striking out just under a batter an inning while keeping his walks down at the edges of control-pitcher territory. It's a neat trick, and as long as he can keep doing it the Cardinals will keep him in the rotation.

Cardinals Vs. Braves Final Score: St. Louis Rolls Past Atlanta, 8-2

Matt Adams was 3-5 at the plate, Lance Lynn struck out eight in seven innings of work, and the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Atlanta Braves 8-2 on Monday afternoon.

Related: So Far St. Louis Cardinals First Baseman Matt Adams Has Been Who We Thought He Was

Offense has been a problem for the Braves on what is now an eight-game losing streak, and Lynn did a good job of keeping them bottled up for most of the afternoon. The Cardinals got all the runs they would need during a four-run fourth inning.

Rafael Furcal also had a three-hit day for the Cardinals, while Skip Schumaker, Matt Holliday and Daniel Descalso recorded two hits apiece.

The win moves St. Louis to 27-22 overall.

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Cardinals Lineup: Schumaker, Descalso Get Stars On Memorial Day

With the St. Louis Cardinals battling a host of injury to many of its key position players, manager Mike Matheny has had to do enough mixing and matching to make old Cards skipper Tony La Russa proud. WIth the Cards suffering a bit of a slump lately, Matheny has tried various combinations of outfielders and infielders, and with the Cardinals playing an early game on Memorial Day, his lineup today features a few subs.

That includes Daniel Descalso, who gets the start for David Freese, and Skip Schumaker, who gets the start at CF, where the Cardinals have missed starter Jon Jay.

Here is Monday's lineup for St. Louis' opening series game vs. the Atlanta Braves:

1. Rafael Furcal, SS
2. Skip Schumaker, CF
3. Matt Holliday, LF
   
4. Carlos Beltran, RF
   
5. Matt Adams, 1B
6. Yadier Molina, C
7. Daniel Descalso, 3B
8. Tyler Greene, 2B
9. Lance Lynn, SP

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Cardinals Vs. Braves Preview: St. Louis Heads To Atlanta For Three-Game Set

The Cardinals begin a three-game series with the Atlanta Braves on Monday.