After Jon Jay was placed on the DL, shifting today’s starting lineup once, it changed again when Lance Berkman was scratched at the last minute. Instead, Matt Carpenter slid to first, and David Freese didn’t get the day off after all.
With Kyle Lohse on the mound, the Redbirds desperately needed to snap a four-game skid … especially against the Cubs.
Trouble is, when the Cardinals went 14-8 in April, they had a team ERA of 2.61. Sitting at 6-7 in May headed into today’s game, that ERA had vaulted to 4.88 (thanks to B.J. Rains for that tidbit!).
This was me watching today’s Cubs/Cardinals game:
Kyle Lohse gives up three runs in the first.
Then,
Cards score two in the first, one in the third, and Matt Holliday hit go-ahead home run in the fifth!
But,
Bryan LaHair happened. AGAIN. And in the seventh, the Cubs score again to take a one-run lead, 5-4.
But once again,
And Allen Craig RBI-single in the seventh, and a Matt Carpenter BOMB in the eighth meant it was #straightheat time!
Sigh.
No, Jason, a game-tying homer to Alfonso Soriano was NOT the plan!
But, THIS:
Holliday scores on a Yadi single, Cards win in walk-off style, and the losing streak is over!
Holliday went 3-for-4 with 3 runs and a walk.
Allen Craig went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI and a walk.
Tyler Greene had a day — 3-for-3 with a run and a walk!
David Freese continues to struggle, going 0-for-5 in the win.
But it all came down to Yadi. He may have gone 1-for-4, but that one was the biggest of the day!
Next up, the Redbirds fly to California for a pair with the Giants, then a three-game set with the Dodgers.
HAPPY FLIGHT, Cardinal Nation!
Tara is a St. Louis Cardinals reporter for Aaron Miles’ Fastball and a contributor to Around the Horn. Follow her on Twitter @tarawellman.
Aaron Miles' Fastball 
Can the Cardinals just walk LaHair from here on out? It is getting quite tiresome to see him scorch us darn near every game.
Seriously, it’s getting annoying. I cringe every at bat!
Can the Cardinals just walk LaHair from here on out? It is getting quite tiresome to see him scorch us darn near every game.
Seriously, it’s getting annoying. I cringe every at bat!
That said, seeing news of the walk off win made me smile! 🙂
That said, seeing news of the walk off win made me smile! 🙂
Haha. I don’t even need to read the recap! The emoticons said it all!
Haha. I don’t even need to read the recap! The emoticons said it all!
Being a Cubs fan imparts the lessons that bring strength of character to endure unimaginable suffering, the lessons of stoicism in the face of cruel taunts year after year of fans of more successful teams (such as ours), lessons of perseverance when there is no rational reason to continue on the journey … why, being a Cubs fan is a lot like being a working-class Catholic. A game at Phil’s Corner Tap is like going to Mass, except with lots of beer, plenty of sunshine, girls falling out of their tops, guys puking Old Style all over the place; and common to both, nobody really paying much attention to the sermon whether in the pulpit or the play on the field; a sermon the subject of which is an eternal belief passing all earthly evidence to the contrary that through this suffering we’ll come to the Great Beyond; a championship. Cardinals fans, though, are more like Episcopalians from the better neighborhoods — we know we’re all going to make it to the Great Beyond, but we really don’t have to suffer too much on the way there.
Being a Cubs fan imparts the lessons that bring strength of character to endure unimaginable suffering, the lessons of stoicism in the face of cruel taunts year after year of fans of more successful teams (such as ours), lessons of perseverance when there is no rational reason to continue on the journey … why, being a Cubs fan is a lot like being a working-class Catholic. A game at Phil’s Corner Tap is like going to Mass, except with lots of beer, plenty of sunshine, girls falling out of their tops, guys puking Old Style all over the place; and common to both, nobody really paying much attention to the sermon whether in the pulpit or the play on the field; a sermon the subject of which is an eternal belief passing all earthly evidence to the contrary that through this suffering we’ll come to the Great Beyond; a championship. Cardinals fans, though, are more like Episcopalians from the better neighborhoods — we know we’re all going to make it to the Great Beyond, but we really don’t have to suffer too much on the way there.