8 Thoughts on this Redbird Rundown from Game #2.
- For as worried as I was about Adam Wainwright, he didn’t pitch that bad. Adam went 5 innings while only allowing 3 hits (he walked a pair) and striking out 6. Both of his runs (and the only runs the Cubs needed) came in the top of the 4th. Addison Russell continued to punish Waino by hitting his third career double of him to get the rally started. Adam then walked Wilson Contreras – something that typically gets a pitcher in trouble. A dying quail by Heyward and a safety squeeze by Baez accounted for both Cub runs. The good news is Wainwright didn’t get hit overall hard – the bad news was he didn’t have a whole lot of luck tonight.
- It was a rough night for the top of the Cardinals lineup as 1-3 hitters (Fowler, Diaz, & Carpenter) went a combined 1 for 12 with 5 strikeouts.
- Stephen Piscotty had an inning he’d like to forget in the bottom of the 5th. After getting hit in the right arm while batting, he got in his left arm while advancing to 2nd base, topped off by getting hit in the helmet while scoring the lone Cardinal run on Kolten Wong’s infield single. Piscotty who thankfully left the game under his own power (after a minute lying head first in the dirt at home) will be reevaluated in the morning. I know he’s a gamer and wants to get back out there, but I’d bet that he gets the day game off after the night game/injuries.
- Matheny asked his bullpen for 4 innings of relief after Wainwright was pinch hit for in the 5th, and he got 4 innings of 2 hit baseball with no runs allowed. Maybe Oh doesn’t have to throw 38 pitches every night Mike.
- Matt Adams who had a pinch hit walk, made his MLB debut in LF (basically looked like Holliday was back out there), and finally was robbed of a potential game tying home run by Albert Almora Jr. in the bottom of the 7th. Adams really put together some nice at bats off the bench. I hope Matheny can find him playing time to stay fresh as I think he could be a valuable weapon off of the bench.
- Last year the Cardinals pinch hitters were bombing homeruns – this year they’re earning walks. The only 3 walks the Cardinals received were by all 3 pinch hitters – Adams, Greg Garcia, and Jose Martinez.
- The Cardinals best chance came in the bottom of the 6th when Randal Grichuk came up with the bases loaded and 2 out. After being the offensive hero two days ago on Opening Day, he didn’t have any magic left in his bat as he weakly popped up to short. Grichuk left 5 men on base tonight, but no Cardinal hitter reached base more than once.
- However even more disappointing than the Cardinals loss to the Cubs tonight, was Prop 2 failing in the polls today in St. Louis. Major League Soccer will not be coming to the city under the Arch. While I’m not a guy to be confused as a soccer fan – it’s an obvious loss of jobs/revenue to a downtown area that’s grasping at straws whenever the Cardinals or Blues aren’t in town. MLS doesn’t replace the NFL/Rams by any means, however it could have been a boost to the city. Unfortunate.
The rubber match will pair 38 year old veteran John Lackey and Lance Lynn tomorrow at 12:45. Lackey who pitched so well in his short stint as a Cardinal, will get to take on Lynn who is coming off of a 2016 campaign where he never took to the mound due to Tommy John surgery. It would be nice for the Cardinals to find a way to take the opening series from the Cubs as they don’t play again until June. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, John Lackey statistically pitches his best at Busch Stadium. In 24 starts he’s 12-4 with an ERA of 2.02. Not a good sign for the Cardinals.
**Today’s game has been postponed due to rain. The game will be made up tomorrow (Thursday April 6th) at 12:45
Cubs #s vs. Lynn (not a ton of history)
Jason Heyward is batting .375 with a pair of doubles in 8AB
Anthony Rizzo is batting .345 going 10 for 29 with 3 doubles and 2 homeruns.
Russell/Zobrist/Bryant are a combined 2 for 15 with 7 strikeouts
Cardinal #s vs Lackey
Matt Carpenter (who remained hitless vs Arrieta) is hitless going 0 for 11 with 5 K’s
Aledmys Diaz is batting .333 going 3 for 9
Yadier Molina is batting .333 going 4 for 12
Jhonny Peralta is batting .324 going 12 for 37 with a homer (most of that being A.L. #s) — I wouldn’t place any faith in Peralta, who shouldn’t be a cleanup hitter for even a college team.
Kolten Wong is batting .375 going 3 for 8
Stephen Piscotty is 1 for 9 so maybe his injuries tonight/lack of success will buy him a day off
Matt Adams homered off Lackey in his only AB against him
