Thank you John Lackey. You were what we thought you were coming into today’s game. Worth every fan favorite penny. While the man may not earn any personality points around the league due to his cold demeanor, the man chilled the Brewers bats today. After a couple early runs, Lackey shut Milwaukee down and closed the door on home plate. He allowed 3 hits after the first inning and went 7 innings in nailing down the win today and helping the Cards take the series. While many will point to the Brewers loss of Matt Garza after the sixth inning as the turning point, Lackey started the comeback with his right arm.
Lackey struck out 7, walked nobody and generally seemed to be in control, throwing 77 strikes out of his 109 pitches. While Justin Masterson will need a little more fine tuning in his transition into the National League and coming back from a knee injury, Lackey didn’t waste any time in letting Cards fans know what he can do for a team in a time of need. With the series on the line, Lackey delivered. The big Texan fired strikes, struck out Carlos Gomez twice and won his 12th game of the season and the 150th of his career. Lackey has spun four solid starts in a row dating back to early July. He was just what the doctor ordered for a team dying for innings. The only pitchers to normally complete seven innings for the Cardinals are Adam Wainwright and Lance Lynn. You can add Lackey to that list.
Matt Holliday launched a home run off reliever Zach Duke, and it was only the 3rd Duke had allowed in 2014. Holliday now has 6 home runs and 13 RBI since the All Star Break. He is hitting well over .300 and slugging over .525 in that time. While his average hangs around .270, his on base percentage still sits at .371. The man is turning it on with the long ball at the right time.
Matt Garza did depart the game after the sixth inning due to an oblique injury and it helped the Birds but Duke is no slouch. He hadn’t allowed an earned run since June 20th. Duke had spun 14.2 innings without an earned run before allowed two Friday and a pair today. Garza leaving was a break but the Cards bats still had to deal with a tough competitor.
Matt Adams came out of a small funk and blasted a couple of hits to raise his average to .315. Oscar Taveras supplied the game winning hit in the 7th and quietly had 5 RBI since the Thursday trade. He is slowly showing signs of being the right fielder this team needs right now. He fouled off pitches and laid off others before he got his big hit. Pat Neshek pitched his second straight scoreless inning since switching to a different number and giving his #41 to Lackey.
Trevor Rosenthal tightened his grip on the National League saves lead with his 34 save. Rosenthal gave up a hit and walked his first batter since July 9th. Rosenthal doesn’t make it easy out there, but he also gets the job done. He has the overpowering ability to throw his fastball past any hitter in the league and buckle their knees with his changeup. In my mind, he still doesn’t throw his changeup up enough. He could fire 4-5 straight fastballs and flip that changeup in there and dismantle people. He does put people on edge. Today, I actually fell asleep(I later went back and watched what I missed) the 7th and 8th innings and woke up in Rosenthal’s ninth inning. I will be honest my blood pressure spiked a bit. I sat up and griped the remote extra tight. I felt like putting soothing ocean music on and muting the television. However, Rosenthal made fantastic pitches and struck out Kevin Reynolds, Scooter Gennett, and Carlos Gomez to nail down the win. That is the 6th time he has struck out the side in an inning this season.
Rosenthal’s work as closer is a lot like this 2014 season. Sometimes hard to watch, unbearable at times, but in the end, a hopeful sight to build on.
The Cards get Monday off before welcoming in Boston on Tuesday. They are one game behind Milwaukee, who plays San Francisco at home. The Pirates could win today and remain a half game up on St. Louis. The Reds won and are now 4.5 games behind Milwaukee. The Central Division is the tightest division in baseball.
There are 52 games left in the 2014 season folks. Things are going to get interesting, but I will promise you this. While it may not be pretty on an everyday basis, the Cards will be there in the end.
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