Game Chatter, May 3 vs. Cincinnatti
« Just in Time for Mothers' Day | Main | Baseball Tonight »After the most dramatic ninth inning victory in living memory for the Cardinals, this game versus the reeling Reds has a real chance to cement the Cards on an upwards surge to start the year. It's Marquis against Harang, a very winnable game, but unlike previous late inning outburts, the Cards bats need to stay hot this time. The best news from the early divison lead is that it's been accomplished without the strength of this team coming in to play. The starting pitching is going to even out soon, and the bats need to be there to pick up the slack. Once the Cards put some early season injuries behind them (Walker, Sanders, Rolen), the hitting should gel and the rest of the regular season will just be warm-up for October.
Posted by Iron_Throne at May 3, 2005 05:54 PMWalker gets another day off.
Posted by: Rob at May 3, 2005 06:26 PMMolina takes another day off behind the plate and at the plate. What a rough start for this kid.
Posted by: Iron_Throne at May 3, 2005 06:44 PMNice Molina pick-off of Dunn at first; that made the 3rd inning quite a bit easier.
I have confidence in the kid. He makes outs on alot of hard-hit balls, which something I don't remember Matheny doing much.
He's 22 years old. I think by the end of the year we'll look back and see that he's done a great job.
Posted by: salvo at May 3, 2005 07:22 PMHow 'bout those Runnin' Redbirds? Albert exploits the high kick to hustle into scoring position then motors around on the Sanders flare.
Great opportunistic play.
Posted by: salvo at May 3, 2005 07:27 PMThose were a couple of well-placed two-out hits by Eckstein and Nunez.... Nunez has been a lot better than I thought he'd be, as a career scrub who had a hot spring training and caught the eye of Tony, I figured he'd be another Marlon Anderson type, but with less power...I've been pleasantly surprised.
Posted by: salvo at May 3, 2005 07:34 PMNunez can play defense. He shouldn't pinch hit, but he's useful.
Freel found out the difference between Matheny and Molina.
Posted by: Rob at May 3, 2005 07:54 PMFor those of you watching this on TV, is Marquis having as much trouble as it looks? (I'm watching Gamecast)
Posted by: at May 3, 2005 07:57 PMWhat I mean by that is, 92 pitches thru 6 (50 strikes), with 3 walks and a hit batter -- doesn't sound like he's too sharp.
Posted by: at May 3, 2005 08:02 PMHe's actually been pretty sharp---the walks came early, when he misses he's missing low, and the Reds are beating the ball into the ground.
Posted by: salvo at May 3, 2005 08:14 PMWow---another homer by Nunez!!!! Hard to believe this guy came into the year with a career .622 ops. He's already halfway to his career high in homers.
Posted by: salvo at May 3, 2005 08:16 PMI'd say Marquis is his usual OK-but-not-much-better self. He does like to make it difficult.
Nunez tells me.
Posted by: Rob at May 3, 2005 08:17 PM