Tag Archives: Jhonny Peralta

3 Bright Spots From A Disappointing Cardinals Loss

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What a frustrating game. After battling back to take the lead twice — which, given the team’s offensive challenges for much of the season, was impressive — the Cardinals lost to the Pirates 6-4.

Bourjos catch

Photo: Pittsburgh Trib Live

Ugh.

Just when the offense had shown some spark, Michael Wacha and Carlos Martinez have off nights. Guess that’s why the Cardinals are back at .500 again with an 18-18 record.

Despite the loss. there were three bright spots in the game — two on offense, one on defense.

1. Peter Bourjos’ awkward but great catch

It wasn’t very pretty (or should I say gorgeous?) but Peter Bourjos lost the ball hit by Starling Marte in the lights, found it, jumped against the wall and managed to make a great catch. Seeing is better than reading the description, for sure — and that picture sure gives you the idea how awkward it looked. But it got the job done. Honorable mention for a bright spot goes to Pete’s triple in the ever-increasing downpour following moment No. 2 below. (Whoever decides what videos to post on MLB’s highlights is obviously not female nor a fan of watching really speedy baserunners — that was a play worth seeing again.)

2. Allen Craig’s three-run homer

Maybe it just took the rain to get Allen Craig going. He came to the plate in the top of the fourth with Jhonny Peralta and Matt Holliday on base — each had singled — and connected for a home run into the Cardinals bullpen. It gave the Cards a 3-2 lead … which only lasted until the bottom of the fifth, but let’s focus on a positive. Craig also singled in the eighth. Continue reading →

So What Now For The Cardinals?

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No positives after today’s Cardinals game, which was a 3-0 loss to the Cubs.

5611453557_158a23d554For the first time since April 8, 2013, the Cardinals are below .500. They’ve now lost four of their last five games.

The offense, as you can tell by the score, disappeared once again. The Cards had only 7 hits today, all singles — with 3 from Matt Adams, 2 from Jhonny Peralta, and 1 each from Yadier Molina and pinch-hitter Mark Ellis. The one best chance they had to score, in the top of the 9th, ended when Jon Jay grounded into a double play with Yadi and Peralta on.

They were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. They left 8 on base.

Michael Wacha was good, giving up 2 runs on a 6th inning bomb to center by Junior Lake along with 4 other hits while striking out 6. But he wasn’t perfect, which is what’s needed with an offense like today’s. Randy Choate wasn’t perfect either, allowing a homer to Anthony Rizzo — his first homer allowed since 2012, and his first as a Cardinal.

So, what now?

What’s your one solution to get the offense going?

 

3 Positives From The Cards Loss To The Cubs

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If there ever was a game that seemed like a guaranteed win for the Cardinals, yesterday was it. Adam Wainwright had a perfect 6-0 record at Wrigley Field to go along with his 25-inning scoreless pitching streak, as well as a 1.20 ERA after a terrific April. The offense had come to life in the last game. The wind was blowing out in Chicago.

Positive-AttitudeAnd then we were reminded that nothing is guaranteed, especially in baseball.

Wainwright did not have a Wainwright-like day, with the scoreless streak ending in the first with two runs scoring on Anthony Rizzo’s single (which came after Luis Valbuena’s was-it-fair-or-foul double that was called fair). Waino allowed all 6 runs to the Cubs, and has allowed 10 runs in 12 innings pitched this season against them.

Still, even with the loss for the Cards — and despite the fact that puts their record at 15-15 — there were some positives to be found.

1. The offense kept its momentum
With yesterday’s 5 runs on 8 hits, the Cardinals now have 14 runs and 21 hits in two games. That’s a welcome change. Sure, there were missed opportunities — they were just 2 for 7 with runners in scoring position — but, still, we know it could have been worse because we’ve recently had to endure it being worse. Progress is progress … even when it’s slow. Continue reading →

7 Highlights From A 7-0 Win, Plus 2 Roster Moves

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Welcome back, Cardinals offense! You were greatly missed. Yes, it was definitely nice to see runs being scored — more Sunday, 7, as the Cardinals beat the Pirates 7-0, than they had in Wednesday through Saturday’s games combined — and even a home run for the first time in 366 at-bats since Allen Craig last launched one on April 16.

7And while things are starting to get better at the plate, just like Michael wrote they would on Saturday, one game is apparently not enough of a jumpstart, since two roster moves were announced late Sunday night. Promoted to the Cardinals are infielder Greg Garcia and outfielder Randal Grichuk and one of the subsequent demotions, Shane Robinson, is not a surprise. But the other is: Kolten Wong.

Wong was hitting .225 and hadn’t played since going 0 for 4 against the Pirates Friday night. And, courtesy of Rick Hummel in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, here’s a very interesting comment from general manager John Mozeliak:

“This will give him a chance to play every day and if he gets back on track, that would be helpful,” said Mozeliak.

Hmmmmm.

Back to yesterday, in addition to the offense, it’s always good to see Adam Wainwright be Adam Wainwright, isn’t it? Here’s more on him and six other highlights from the series-winning victory.

1. The Cards manufacturing a first-inning run
Matt Carpenter did a very Matt Carpenter-like thing (guys doing what they typically do was a theme of the day) and doubled to lead off the game for the Cardinals. While there was plenty of Twitter outrage when Jon Jay then bunted him over to third base, the move immediately paid dividends: the Cards took a 1-0 lead on a Matt Holliday sacrifice fly. With the way the offense had been struggling, the move was understandable at the moment — regardless of opinions on Mike Matheny and his bunting strategies. Continue reading →

4 Highlights From Lance Lynn’s 4th Win

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First off, see? Saturdays are better than Fridays for this year’s Cardinals. Their Saturday winning streak increased to a perfect 3-0 for 2014 with yesterday’s 4-3 victory over the Nationals.

LanceLynn419And speaking of perfect records, Lance Lynn has one as well — he’s now 4-0, the first (and, at the moment, only) pitcher in the National League with that many wins. There’s only one in the American League too: Mark Buehrle of the Blue Jays, who also won yesterday afternoon.

Just a reminder: Lynn does rhyme with win …

Anyway, the win more importantly was the Cardinals 11th of the season. And here are four highlights from the victory.

1. The top of the second inning

Yes, another error, and not surprisingly by the Nationals. This time it was after a one-out walk to Allen Craig, when Jhonny Peralta grounded it to Anthony Rendon at third, whose throw to Danny Espinosa at second was wide. Both Craig and Peralta were safe. They each moved up a base when Kolten Wong grounded out, which meant they each were able to score easily on Tony Cruz’s base hit to right when the Nationals chose to pitch to him with Lance Lynn on deck. Although pitching to Lynn perhaps wasn’t a wise decision either, given that he doubled to the right field corner and drove in Cruz. A 3-0 lead in the second inning courtesy of the 8th and 9th hitters? Now that’s a highlight. Continue reading →

Brewers Streak, Meet Lance Lynn

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With the exception of Ryan Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers seem far less annoying than they were back in 2011. Different players plus a 2013 season in which they were really awful make it hard to hate them like before. But with all the hype coming into the first 2014 meeting between the Brewers and the St. Louis Cardinals thanks to a nine-game winning streak, halting it was bound to be sweet.

LynnLance Lynn dominating the Brewers to do it? Now that would be even better.

And it was, as the Cardinals beat the Brewers 4-0 to indeed stop that streak. Plus hopefully even Lynn’s most ardent Cards fan detractors appreciated his performance.

It was a shutout — meaning, to be ridiculously obvious, he gave up no runs. He also allowed only three hits, struck out 11 (including Braun twice plus got him to ground into a double play) and walked three. Yes, a couple of those walks led to the possibility of a “Lance Lynn big inning” in the fifth and the sixth, as the Brewers had two on both times — yet also two out in those innings too. And, again, it was a shutout. Crisis averted. Twice.

Lynn now joins Mark Buehrle, Zack Greinke, Felix Hernandez and Chris Sale as the only pitchers in the majors with three wins. Oh, and Luis Avilan of the Braves — who has a 13.50 ERA, meaning Lynn’s now 4.00 is not the highest either. Continue reading →

Winning Makes For A Better Night All Around

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From the very beginning, things were much improved for the St. Louis Cardinals compared to Friday night. For that matter, things were much improved in facing the Pittsburgh Pirates Francisco Liriano than they had been during the entire 2013 regular season when they only scored two runs off him in three games.

Last night, the Cardinals scored two runs before they even made two outs in the top of the first and finished that inning with a 3-0 lead. Matt, Matt and Matt all played a role as Carpenter led off with a single, Holliday drove him in following a Jhonny Peralta walk and Adams followed an Allen Craig sacrifice fly and Yadier Molina single with an RBI single of his own.

Allen Craig

Allen Craig driving in a run, always a good thing. (Photo: STLToday.com)

And though Liriano settled in and began throwing like his usual self facing the Cards, retiring 13 straight from the second inning through the sixth, Yadi homered to make the final total on the night four runs allowed.

That kind of game is so much better, as the Cardinals ultimately won 6-1 since Jhonny Peralta has apparently decided the only kind of hits he’s going to get as a Cardinal are home runs — he hit a two-run shot in the ninth with Matt Carpenter on base. (Now, if only Peter Bourjos can get that bat going …)

With just a lone run scored by the Pirates, it’s obvious the pitching was much better too. Yes, Pirates Stopper Joe Kelly retains that title once again. And while it wasn’t necessarily the most efficient of outings for him — the run allowed came on a bases-loaded walk, one of four he gave up for the night along with six hits and four strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings — it was good enough to get the job done. Continue reading →

7 Things We Learned From The Cardinals Crazy 7-6 Win

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Attention, everyone worried about the St. Louis Cardinals offense through the first two games: the bats are still there, the Cards know how to use them, and they can indeed still hit and score runs. They just needed another long rain delay to figure that out …

And another long delay was definitely in store before the Cardinals 7-6 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Once it finally began, it was about as crazy as the amount of time they spent waiting to play on Wednesday and Thursday. No pitchers’ duel this time, although some great pitching to close it out. And here are seven things we learned.

collage-4-41. Lance Lynn is Lance Lynn

Your opinion of Lance Lynn’s performance yesterday depends on your opinion of Lance Lynn. To his legion of detractors, it was just another typical start and emphasized why you can’t stand him. Of course he had a bad inning — this time it was the first, when he allowed back-to-back mammoth home runs to put the Reds up 3-0 — and of course his luck from last year of getting tremendous run support continued.

If you like Lynn, yes, the bad inning frustrated as it always does but he settled in after that and gave up plenty of hits but limited the damage.

2. Trevor Rosenthal is Trevor Rosenthal

Continue reading →

Cardinals Haiku Wednesday: On Spring Games and Kolten Wong

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There’s no prize for having the best record in spring training, no Grapefruit League or Cactus League championships. But, even with games that really aren’t important once March 31 arrives, it’s painful to look at the standings and see the St. Louis Cardinals at the bottom with only two wins to go with seven losses (and, though not listed, two ties).

MathenyEven with the small number of innings to skew things, looking at the pitching stats thus far is not terribly pleasant either. The hitting stats are a little better … until you really start looking at some of those toward the bottom.

Patience, right? It’s only March 12. Things will improve, because these are the Cardinals. They are talented. They have depth. They are the reigning National League champions. They’re good enough, they’re smart enough and, doggone it, people like them!

We like them!

Even when we get frustrated by them … which we sometimes do these days. Right?

But things can — and will — change. A week ago, we were all worried about Kolten Wong. Now look at him. Not that he’s at the top of those stats, and that’s OK. He’s improving. He’s relaxing. He’s doing back flips and being featured everywhere, with this story in the New York Times especially good. As is this one by Derrick Goold. Plus you can see his homer from yesterday in this story by Jenifer Langosch (which is not to say her story isn’t good, because it is as well).

With all of that, plenty of poetic fodder …

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Jhonny Peralta’s Big Spring Moment, Times Two

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Yes, it was just a spring training game. No, it doesn’t count for anything.

Jhonny Peralta

               Photo: STLToday.com

Still, Jhonny Peralta hitting a home run yesterday on the first pitch to him from his former team, the Detroit Tigers, was pretty cool.

Hitting another homer in his second at-bat? Even more cool — even if it sounds like the wind helped that one a bit.

Baseball moments like that are great, no matter when (or how) they happen.

And especially when they happen in a game that’s a long bus ride away from Cards camp in Jupiter, Fla., as Andrew Simon writes at MLB.com:

Veterans with 11 years of Major League service, a new $53 million contract and a guaranteed spot in the lineup don’t make too many 150-minute bus rides to play in Spring Training games. Jhonny Peralta was an exception on Monday, and the cross-Florida trip proved to be well worth it.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny suggested that his new shortstop go so that he could visit his former Tigers teammates and play in front of their fans after spending more than three seasons with the club. Peralta agreed, then went out and blasted two home runs off left-hander Drew Smyly in two plate appearances, hitting one out to left field and one to right.

“I feel really happy to be at home plate here and to face the Detroit Tigers,” Peralta said. “I was excited to hear the fans and everything. It made me excited to play today.”

As for the outcome of the game itself, well — remember that spring training games don’t count. Not every Cardinal had as good of a day as Jhonny did.

Continue reading →