As game 3 enters the lenses tonight in Los Angeles between the Cardinals and Dodgers, things are looking pretty good for the home team redbirds. Â Why are things looking shiny red for the team in the craziness and zany lost soul depravity that is LA, here are some reasons.
*They won two games started by the Dodgers’ best starters. Â While only scoring 4 runs in two wins, the Cards managed to sneak past both Zach Greinke and Clayton Kershaw on full rest, and used the strength of a man named Wacha, their young bullpen, The Beltran and other cameo clutch appearances by guys wearing birds on the bat. Â If they see the two hurlers again, it may be on short rest which might not bode well for the Dodgers. Â Instead of escaping Busch with a win, the Cards got 2 and put the Dodgers and Don Mattingly in a pressurized situation that may seem worse than Sandra Bullock’s space odyssey in Gravity by the end of this evening. Â We got first blood and more.
*In a freak wild fastball, Joe Kelly broke one of Hanley Rameriz’s ribs and has thrown the hot hitting shortstop into a panic trying to get ready for Game 3. Â The young man will wear everything except an medieval armor set to play tonight but won’t be near 100 percent. Â That means he won’t be so hot hitting anymore. Â He doesn’t have to swing viciously to connect but Hanley will be wincing in pain and could tear a muscle or harm other vital pieces of his torso trying to play baseball with a broken rib. Â This isn’t football or hockey where men are thrown into a phone booth to wrestle with other human beings for 3 hours. Â This is a finesse game. Â Watch out Dodger fans, you may see the cart tonight. Â Adding insult to injury, Andre Ethier isn’t 100 percent and may be scratched or pulled midway through tonight’s game. Â This LA team is built on mercenaries and when they fail there is no waiting option like Matt Adams or Trevor Rosenthal. Â There is a far lesser threat waiting in Nick Punto for Rameriz.
*Yasiel Puig is very human and can be solved. Â His patience and mental game are way off. Â In 10 at bats at Busch this weekend, he struck out 6 times physically and 40 times mentally. Â He looked lost, mad and resembled Lance Lynn with a bat after strike calls. Â Mark McGwire tried to console him to no avail. Â He had to be talked to several times. Â This guy was happy as pigs in shit in August but now looks like a man who has only played MLB for 3 months. Â He isn’t ready for this stage and while he has the dripping juicy talent, he is a liability until the Cards make a mistake to him. Â He looks like the untrained kid lurking near the lions den. Â This young Cardinal pitching may just eat him up. Â He is still dangerous but the Cards have written a book on how to stop him over 2 games.
*Adam Wainwright going tonight is Chuck Norris leading you into foreign territory. Â He is mentally tough and stronger than any pitcher alive right now in another team’s park. Â In his past 6 starts, Waino has been as dominant as one pitcher can be. Â Deep into games. Â Strikeouts. Â Deadly curve or not Wainwright is money bags right now. Â He only gets better as the game progresses. Â Having him in Games 3 and 7 is like having a Tommy Gun waiting at the vital and end point of a knife fight. Â Lights out ladies and gents. Â Can the Dodgers beat our ace or will we just own the Hollywood hills tonight?
*Allen Craig is taking swings in batting practice. Â No offense music fans but that is like seeing the original group of Led Zeppelin performing a soundcheck in a Walmart parking lot. Â It’s gravy. Â If he can make it back for the World Series, the American League team has ZERO home field advantage.
*Trevor Rosenthal’s right hand is still on fire from the 14 fastballs he threw on Saturday. Â Holy thunderbolts from Zeus’ ass did we see him doing that after going 3-2 on the first hitter. Â Unless you told Andre Ethier to swing 5 seconds before Trevor pitched, he had no chance. Â I call him Super Smoke Stack Special. Â SSSS. Â Rosenthal deserves a barbecue joint to be named after him. Â For every strikeout, a free rack of ribs. Â Go ahead. Â You can use that until it goes dry.
*What else? Â After further testing, Carlos Beltran isn’t a postseason monster. Â He is just the calmest man in the ballpark at the moment. Â Every night. Â Remember when Marc Bulger was awesome and he was so quiet and blank. Â Beltran is the same thing minus the 256 sacks. Â He is a stone cold killer.
*Chris Carpenter is retiring. It was suspected but now confirmed. Â My take. Â Good for him. Â Get out before your arm falls off and you can’t pick up your kid. Â When nerve damage entered the equation in February, any chance of a Carpenter comeback was incredibly rare. Â He came back from 5 potential career ending injuries. Â He has more additional parts than Robocop and Iron Man combined. Â He is a true pro, future coach and my favorite Cardinal of all time. Â I will miss seeing him take the mound. Â Truly miss it. Â It was a special night and while Waino is almost there and Wacha is starting to resemble the older men, Carpenter is one of a kind. Â When his rehab mission short circuited, I wrote this column about him for my site.
http://doseofbuffa.com/2013/07/24/chris-carpenters-fight/
That’s all I got. Â Go Cards and let’s take one more step towards a World Series visit.
For Max Scherzer, I am sorry man. Â There’s getting kicked in the testicles and then there is what happened to you last night in Boston.
Thanks for staying to the end,
Dan L. Buffa
PHOTO CREDIT-Jackson Rossi