Game #22

CARDINALS 10, BRAVES 4

There's your sweep, ladies and gentlemen.  The fact that it was a four-gamer makes it even better.  The Cardinals took advantage of the Atlanta Braves' terrible slump this week, capping the series with an easy 10-4 victory earlier today.

David Freese put a big exclamation point on a very good series with a six RBI game today, hitting his first home run of the season, a three run shot in the first, and added a bases-loaded double that drove in three more.  In his last three games, Freese is 6 for 10 with nine RBI.  

Colby Rasmus added to his National League best on base percentage with two hits and two walks today, and he was driven in all four times he got on base.   Rasmus leads all of baseball in OPS (1.241), is second in the majors in OBP (.487), and he is third in slugging (.754).  That's why I think he can hit at the top of the order as well as in the middle. He's just so good right now.  can he keep it up?  If so, we have an All Star on our hands. 

Other offensive highlights from today are Yadier Molina, who was 2 for 3 and drove in a pair, and Tyler Greene, who hit asolo home run in the sixth inning.  This was Greene's first game since being called up to take Felipe Lopez's spot on the roster after Lopez went on the DL.

Speaking of Felipe Lopez, I'm excited to have Aaron Miles back sometime in the future.  If you don't know yet, the Cardinals signed their former infielder from the World Championship run to a minor league contract.  I don't fully understand what the Cardinals are going for here.  Maybe if Lopez is out longer than they think, Miles would be a good addition for infield depth.  Whatever.  It'll be good to have him back in a Cardinal uniform.  I thought the Cardinals shouldn't have let him go in the first place.  Seeing how he did well here, then struggled horribly in Chicago, I think he'll be comfortable being back in St. Louis.  We'll see.

Other than that, that's all I have for today.  It's been an awesome week for the Cardinals.  They're on a five game winning streak now and look to make it six tomorrow.  I can't quite recall the last time the Cardinals have won six in a row, forgive me, but I know it has been a while.  Hopefully the game tomorrow night isn't rained out because I'm going to it!

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com.

Game # 21

CARDINALS 6, BRAVES 0

What an ugly game for the struggling Atlanta Braves. The Braves played some lost defense early on and starter Kenshin Kawakami threw two wild pitches, each leading to runs scored. The Braves losing streak now hits eight.

Jason Heyward is the hands down Rookie of the Year in the National League? I'm sure he will have a great year and be the favorite, but I think he's got some legitimate competition from Jaime Garcia, if this terrific start is indeed legit. I think it is. I don't expect him to be masterful every game. I'm not ruling out some bad games by the rookie. But he could give Heyward a run at that NL Rookie of the Year award. Garcia dominated Heyward's Braves today pitching seven shutout innings in route to his second win of the season.

Though the Cardinals did get some help from the Braves' defense and Kawakami's wild pitches, the bats had a good day. And none of the runs were scored on homers! Astounding! A couple of players on the rise who had been struggling are David Freese and Skip Schumaker. Schumaker had a two hit night and scored two of the runs. That's what the lead off hitter is supposed to do. Freese, who had an RBI last night, drove in two tonight with a bases loaded single in the fifth inning.

One player who is not on the rise and is starting to show a disturbing inability to deliver timely hits: Matt Holliday. The clean up hitter. And he's been doing everything but "cleaning up." Holliday is batting .111 with runners in scoring position, and has been awful at Busch Stadium this season. But the good news is that it's April, and I'm certainly not loony enough to start acting like the Cardinals should be regretting paying him $120 million for seven years. It doesn't work that way. A seven year deal isn't a bust after one bad month. And Holliday has a slight history of starting slow. He'll heat up. If you think this will continue for the entire season, or for the entire seven years for that matter, then you're out of your mind.

Adam Wainwright will try to lead the Cardinals to a four game sweep tomorrow afternoon. The Braves turn to Jair Jurrjens, a very talented young pitcher off to a rough 0-2 start, to put an end to this messy start to Atlanta's season. I feel like this Braves' team is good enough to win the NL Wild Card. I can't believe they've lost eight straight now. But that's baseball.

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com.

Game # 20

CARDINALS 5, BRAVES 4

The Cardinals' bullpen almost allowed a three run lead blow up last night against the struggling Braves, but thanks to Trevor Miller and Jason Motte, the bleeding was stopped and the Cards held on, guaranteeing at least a split in this four game set.  Three of four would be awfully nice, and the Cardinals are in a great position to do that, and maybe sweep, with Jaime Garcia pitching tonight and Adam Wainwright tomorrow afternoon.

Chris Carpenter pitched six strong innings and allowed two earned runs on three hits.  Carp also batted in a different spot, the eighth spot in the lineup, last night.  Batting the pitcher eighth is nothing new for Tony La Russa, but the idea behind this move is likely much different than it has been the last time he did it.  La Russa batted the pitcher eighth for most of last season (before Matt Holliday arrived) and all of 2008, and his philiosophy was to have an "extra lead-off hitter" in the lineup to provide more RBI chances for Albert Pujols.  This time, it seems merely to get the struggling shortstop Brendan Ryan, batting .167 so far in 2010, going offensively.  Ryan made the move pay off last night by sparking the four run rally in the sixth inning with a leadoff single.  However, you can also say the swap in lineup positions slightly hurt the Cardinals in that inning because Carpenter's spot in the lineup came up with two outs and two runners on.  Carpenter, who had a healthy pitch count of 89, was pinch hit for, thus removing him as a possibility to pitch the seventh, which turned out to be a near disaster as the Braves turned a 5-2 STL lead into a one run game.  This somewhat shows why the pitcher batting eighth doesn't have much of an impact, and I don't see why so many people make such a fuss about it.  I don't mind it for now; if La Russa wants to send a message to Ryan by batting him ninth, I'm fine with that.  But as soon as Ryan starts showing signs of improvement, I hope La Russa just goes back to batting the pitcher ninth. No biggie for now, however.

Ryan Ludwick and Yadier Molina were the prime offensive heroes in this game. Ludwick had a solo home run and tied the game in the four run sixth with an RBI double. Molina gave the Cardinals the lead with a bases-loaded single that scored two.  Though he's only batting .214 with runners in scoring position, Yadi is proving to be a trustworthy clutch hitter the Cardinals can count on.  Along with the game winning hit on Monday and the go ahead hit last night, Molina also had that epic game tying hit in the 19th inning og the 20-inning marathon against the Mets a couple of weeks ago.  The Cardinals desperately need a guy to come through with timely hits, and Yadi is coming up big.  And it's not like this is anything new.  Surely you remember this...

...Yeah, you do. Let  Yadi's knack for timely hits be known.

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com.  Pictures (in order from top to bottom) courtesy of fanster.com and nytimes.com.

Game # 19

CARDINALS 4, BRAVES 3

As I was watching the FSM postgame interview with Kyle Lohse, I heard a very fitting song in the background that demonstrates my theme for this post: "Don't Stop Believin'," by Journey.

Okay, so maybe it's a little cliche to reference that song in a post about resiliency. But you can't NOT do it when you hear the song in the Cardinals' locker. I can't pass up the opportunity. I'm a sucker for symbolistic irony.

The Cardinals showed some real guts and resiliency in their come-from-behind win against Atlanta in the first of four to open the home stand. The Cardinals played awful in the first few innings of the game. Lohse, who started for the Cardinals, was sluggish and laboring during the first four innings, allowing the Braves to take a quick 3-0 lead. At times, the fielding was shaky. And at the plate, the Cardinals could not push a run across for the life of them. Highlighted by a wasted golden scoring opportunity in the second inning, the Cardinals' struggles with timely hitting continued. They were 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position in this game.

But those two hits with RISP were the difference in the game. After the Cardinals pulled within one run with a Colby Rasmus home run, rookie backup catcher Brian Anderson tied the game with a pinch hit RBI single in the seventh. In the eighth, Yadier Molina doubled in Albert Pujols to put the Cardinals on top. Ryan Franklin held on for his seventh save in seven chances.

The Cardinals showed that even when they're down and playing really messy baseball, they won't give in. They play by Tony La Russa's motto: play a hard nine. This is something, I'll think, was missing last season. In '09, the Cardinals seemed to rely on taking early leads. If they didn't score early, they wouldn't score at all. This team is different. They fight until the end.

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com.

Game # 18

CARDINALS 2, GIANTS 0

Did I just say Albert Pujols will get it straightened out?  Today was a good start.  Pujols went 3 for 4 today with two singles and a solo home run.  He can take that positive back to St. Louis, and maybe there he will heat up, and we will really see this offense going.  Like I said in my last post, when Pujols goes, this team as a whole goes.

Brad Penny was the story of today's game, with probably his best start so far.  Penny pitched seven and two-thirds, and allowed no runs on eight hits.  Penny is off to a spectacular start to the season.  I'm starting to get excited about him.  Ryan Franklin got the save, his sixth on the season, and continues to roll.  No one should be heading for the bomb shelter yet.

There's not much more for me to say about today's game, but I do have something on my mind regarding the lineup against left handed starters.

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Tony La Russa may need to reconsider his lineup for left handed starters.

I think Colby Rasmus should play every game, regardless of whether it's a lefty or righty on the mound.  Yes, Raz has been abysmal against lefties.  But he's not going to learn how to hit them while riding the bench.  Besides, I don't like the lineup TLR writes up for games against lefties.  The RBI potential is less deep in the vLHP lineups than in the vRHP lineups.  I have nothing against Yadier Molina as a run producer, but him batting fifth in those lineups just shows how significantly weaker the Cardinals' RBI potential is in those lineups.  

Since the number 2 spot in this lineup is golden because of the luxury of hitting in front of Pujols, I believe La Russa should give Rasmus a shot at batting 2nd against lefties and move Ludwick to 5th.  I love Luddy in the 2 hole; he's been fantastic there.  But having him bat fifth against lefties adds more depth for RBI potential.  If Rasmus is ever going to find a way to hit lefties, batting second in front of Pujols is the way to do it.  On top of that, Rasmus has shown that he is not only good for driving in runs, but he's also good for setting them up.  Rasmus is the team leader in on-base percentage, getting on base an impressive 41.9% of the time.  He also leads the team in walks.  Yes, he has more than Pujols.  That both demonstrates how badly Pujols has been struggling and how much more patient Rasmus has gotten at the plate.  He's a great run producer, but I also think Rasmus can do well at setting up scoring chances for Pujols, Holliday and Ludwick.

And just for the record, I love the lineup against righties.  Nothing wrong with it.  But I hope Tony reconsiders this lineup against lefties and decides to tweak it later on.  In my opinion, it just can't produce runs very effectively the way it is set up.  I say bat Rasmus 2nd and Ludwick 5th against lefties.  That way, you have a similar structure to your lineup that has been successful against righties, but you're just swaping the Ludwick and Rasmus in the 2 and 5 spots.

That's just my take.  But I'm no major league manager, so maybe I'm completely wrong.  Who knows?

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com.

Game #17

GIANTS 2, CARDINALS 0

The Cardinals are running into a real buzzsaw in the Giants' awesome starting rotation.  Ace Tim Lincecum took care of the Birds on Friday night.  Last night, it was revitalized Barry Zito going eight shutout innings and struck out ten.  This is the Barry Zito who won a Cy Young when he was in Oakland, the Barry Zito the Giants originally thought they were getting for $126 million.  It was not the Barry Zito who went a mediocre 31-43 in his first three seasons with San Francisco, who at one pointwas demoted to pitching out of the bullpen.

Adam Wainwright was just outdueled last night by Zito.  Waino pitched another quality game, and he rolled along just as well as Zito until things began to to fall apart in the eight inning, where Wainwright gave up the deciding two runs on the way to his first loss of the season.  

There's not a whole lot more to write about, besides Wainwright simply being outpitched by a masterful Zito, but I do want to mention Albert Pujols.  Everybody knows what kind of expectations Pujols is playing with.  He's the undisputed best baseball player on the planet.  And even the best can have his slumps.  Pujols has had his slumps, and it's always confusing because we expect him to be great every time out.  But he's going through another slump, and this one stands out to me.  He's swinging at far more pitches out of the strike zone.  Over 30% of his swings this season have been at pitches out of the strike zone, according to FanGraphs.  He's struck out 14 times this season in his 69 at bats.  20% of his at bats have ended with strikeouts.  This is the most lost I have ever seen Pujols at the plate.  

This lineup needs Pujols to hit.  When he's not taking his walks nor doing what he does best: pounding the stupid out of the ball, the rest of the lineup struggles.  He's not the "only thing," but he's the engine.  Pujols is what makes this lineup go.  You can talk about Matt Holliday, Ryan Ludwick or Colby Rasmus.  But it's Pujols whom this team revolves around.

He'll get it together.  He knows that.  The team knows that.  Us, as fans, know that.  He's the best.  And when he's lost, we're lost watching him.  We're not used to this.

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com.

Game #16

GIANTS 4, CARDINALS 1

Tim Lincecum is just too good.  I can honestly say that he has the potential to be the next Sandy Koufax.  'Nuff said.

Aside from some ugly defense, there's nothing about this loss to feel bad about from the Cardinals' end.  And even though Lincecum was solid yet again, I think the Cardinals gave an encouraging performance at the plate against him, I really do.  It wasn't anything like their surprising bashing of Dan Haren the other night, but there was hardly a lack of effort from the bats today.  There were some very good, patient at bats from the Cardinals, and against a guy like Lincecum, where you know he can weave a masterpiece every time he's on the mound.  The Cardinals are showing that they don't care how good the guy is on the mound, they will put every bit of effort into beating him, and they won't give away at bats.  Now, that's not to say there weren't a few give-aways tonight.  Matt Holliday swinging at a 3-0 pitch and hitting into a crucial inning ending double play early in the game was an example of giving away an at bat.  But for the majority of the game, the Cardinals' hitters gave Lincecum their best. 

Along with an okay pitched game from Jaime Garcia, this is a game that I would just shrug my shoulders at.  I feel this way about this whole series.  Coming away with one win this weekend would be nothing to be disappointed about.  And if the Cardinals actually DO come back and win the next two games, then that would be something this team would be very proud of, considering this is against the Giants' top three guys, and it's on the road. 

I couldn't help but feel like the Cardinals were getting a taste of their own medicine tonight.  Imagine how other teams feel when they see the Cardinals on their schedule.  They know they're going to get at least one ace, and most likely more than one ace.  It's not very encouraging going into a series where you have to face either Chris Carpenter or Adam Wainwright, or even worse, both.  And Brad Penny is no slouch either.  Hopefully, Garcia can have gain some respect as well.  He's had a good start.

With that said, it is Wainwright going for St. Louis tomorrow, and the Giants will go to Barry Zito, who is starting to get his career back together after an awful start following his leave from Oakland.  This game is Wainwright's chance to shine.  Tim Lincecum added to his Cy Young audition tonight.  Tomorrow night, it will be Wainwright's turn. 

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com.

Game #15

CARDINALS 9, DIAMONDBACKS 4

The NFL Draft slowed me down, but I can get away with not posting yesterday because of the off day.  So, Sam Bradford is the franchise QB.  I'm not going to pretend like I'm any expert like other nutty fans out there by saying this was the "right" pick or the "wrong" pick because I honestly don't know.  Why do people have to act like they know better than real NFL scouts and personnel?  It's sad.  I'm glad Bradford was drafted.  I hope it turns out that this was the right choice.

Now on to a team whose franchise isn't in jeopardy...

The Cardinals finished off their fifth straight series win to start the season.  This, believe it or not, is the first time the Cardinals have ever won the first five series of a season in their franchise history.  I was quite surprised by that fact.  

Chris Carpenter had en eventful night.  Carp, being the fierce competitor that he is, was the centerpiece of a bench clearing fiasco early on in the game.  The fuse was lit after Carpenter was hit on the left forearm by a pitch from Edwin Jackson.  Carpenter was barking at Jackson on his way to first base, and this is likely because Jackson hit Ryan Ludwick with a pitch in the first inning, possible retaliation for Ludwick hitting two home runs yesterday.  I honestly don't believe that's true, but I can't blame Carp for sticking up for himself and his teammates.  But it gets more heated.  After being put out at second on an inning-ending double play, Diamondbacks' shortstop Stephen Drew was apparently having some words with Carpenter, setting the Cardinals ace off and the benches cleared.

I love the competitive nature of Carpenter.  Don't get me the wrong way.  He's old school, alot like Bob Gibson.  But unfortunately, this isn't the '60s, and I just hope Carpenter doesn't take his flares too far where he risks getting ejected, especially if he has to pitch inside.  If Carpenter would have hit a batter after that episode, he more than likely would have been tossed, and that would not have been good.

Carpenter struck out ten and was in line for his third win of the season, but the bullpen blew that in the eighth inning. Trevor Miller just didn't do a good janitorial job.  But that won't lead me to knee jerk and say, "The bullpen SUCKS!"  Not my style.  But it is shaky, I will not deny that. 

A five run ninth gave the Cardinals an eventual victory, and Colby Rasmus started that ninth inning with his second home run of the game.  Rasmus is raking on the road so far.  He's hitting .423 with four homers and seven RBIs, an OBP of .571 and a slugging percentage over 1.000, all on the road.

Yeah, Colby belongs in that 5 spot.  Ludwick can stay at the 2 spot.  I don't care what the "experts" say.  So what if it isn't "conventional?"  It's working.  And that's all that matters.

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com.

Game #14

DIAMONDBACKS 9, CARDINALS 7

Who would have thought the Cardinals would put seven up on Dan Haren?  And who would have thought they'd still manage to lose the game after putting up seven on Dan Haren?  It was not a good night for the pitching to just implode.

Lohse went a frustrating three-plus innings and gave up seven earned runs, blowing a pair of two-run leads along the way.  He exited the fourth inning with two runners on base and a chance to blow the Cardinals' third two-run lead, and the dirty work was left to Mitchell Boggs, who gave up a three run bomb to Mark Reynolds.  Once again, a Cardinal lead evaporated, but this time they wouldn't be able to recover.

This game would have been a steal anyway.  A match-up  between one of the best pitchers in the NL (Haren) and Lohse is the Diamondbacks' to lose.  We can still be encouraged by the Cardinals' bats giving Haren quite a pounding. Ryan Ludwick had a monster day with two homers, and Albert Pujols hit his first dinger since the home opener in St. Louis. The offense appears to be coming around, and this is what the Cardinals are going to need going into the weekend where they play a three gamer against the Giants.  San Francisco will have their top three going in that series, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Barry Zito.  I wouldn't expect a seven run performance like this against the likes of Lincecum, but each of these games are winnable.  It would be a nice accomplishment to come out of that series with a series win.

They go for a series win against Arizona tonight.  Chris Carpenter pitches for the Cardinals, Edwin Jackson for the Diamondbacks.

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com.

Game # 13

CARDINALS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 2

It doesn't look like they're quite there, but the Cardinals' offense seems to be coming around.  We saw that the "all or nothing" trend with the Cardinals relying almost solely on the home run early in the game when Matt Holliday turned a 2-0 deficit into a 2-2 tie with a line drive two run home run in the fifth inning.  Meanwhile, the Cardinals continued their struggles manufacturing runs and coming up with timely hits.  They were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position tonight and left 11 men on base.  However, Colby Rasmus and company showed a glimmer of hope in the eighth and ninth innings.  

In the eighth, Rasmus led off the inning with a double, and after being moved over on a sacrifice bunt, Rasmus scored on a hard hit ball to first by Yadier Molina that ate up Adam LaRoche, who was charged with an error on the play.  Though it was on an error and thus scored as an unearned run, I felt that the run was well earned by the Cardinals as they were finally able to manufacture a run in a well executed manner.  The woes with runners in scoring position officially snapped when Rasmus singled in Albert Pujols with two outs in the ninth, adding a insurance run for Ryan Franklin, who pitched another encouraging inning.  Franklin successfully recorded his fifth save of the year.

Brad Penny cruised today in route to his second win of the season.  Though it's early, I can safely say that the Cardinals have the most reliable starting rotation in the National League and possibly the majors.  I'll just leave it at that.  

It was a big win today too.  As I said in my last post, the Cardinals are about to face a tough test with a line of suberb starting pitchers, and that line starts tomorrow with former Cardinal Dan Haren going for the Diamondbacks against Kyle Lohse.  The Cardinals could have been looking at an ugly road trip if they managed to lose tonight's game.  But now, a series win in Arizona should be the expectation. And as for San Francisco... well, let's take it one series at a time, shall we? ;)

What a bland post compared to my last one.  Compared to the eventful weekend, tonight's game was just routine.  These days happen in a season of 162.

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com.

(Special post in addition to the normal game summary from Sunday)

Thoughts on the 20-inning Marathon

Before I get to my normal routine and sum up Sunday night's refreshing win over the Mets, I must address the controversial 20-inning marathon the Cardinals played on Saturday against the Mets, especially since I didn't give a very proper game summary for Saturday's post.  

It was inevitable that Tony La Russa would get bashed by fans and onlookers of that game.  This game stood out as one of TLR's more controversial games as far as managing decisions go.  I didn't agree with everything either, but I don't see the reason to scutinize La Russa for how he managed a game in mid-April given the circumstances.  The Cardinals are clear favorites to win the NL Central-- run away with it, in fact.  When your team is a heavy favorite to make the postseason, the season becomes a marathon.  That's how La Russa played it on Saturday.  He was concerned about the long run.  He decided to go with position players to pitcher over starter Kyle Lohse because he wants to prevent his staff from wearing down, and there's nothing wrong with that approach.

The Mets needed to win that game far more than the Cardinals.  They are desperately looking for any win they can get to help turn the tide of a season that has started off on the wrong foot for a team that could compete for a playoff spot.  To add to that, Mets' manager Jerry Manuel (surprise, surprise) is fighting for his job.  Every win matters for the Mets right now, even though it is just April.  The Cardinals were 7-4, and the matchup for Sunday night clearly favored St. Louis.  Tony La Russa is certainly not fighting for his job.  The Cardinals are in an entirely different boat than the Mets. The Cardinals would easily be happy with a 2-1 series, and look what happened.  Does that 'L' really mean that much?

And it means nothing to me when I hear any rant that says, "Well, if the Cards' lose the division by one game, then this loss is going to really mean something, now won't it?"  Oh, really?  If the Cardinals lose the division by one game, it was THIS game that ultimately lost it for them?  What about other games they lose?  Do those not matter?  I can easily say in that hypothetical situation that, "If the Cardinals lose the division by one game, it's because La Russa didn't have the proper game plan to hit Bud Norris in that April game against the Atros," or "It was because La Russa went with the wrong relief pitcher in the ninth inning against Cincinatti/ Milwaukee in those early April games."  You can't just look back at your season and pick out one game and say it was the key to how the season turned out.  No game is any more meaningful in a 162 game season than the next.  If the Cardinals DO manage to lose the division by one game, it will not be because of Saturday's loss.  It will be either because the Cardinals either severely underperformed, or because they happened to lose some core players for an extended amount of time due to injuries.

On Saturday, La Russa did what he felt was best.  And you can't just ignore all of the missed opportunities the Cardinals had to win the game.  You can't blame management for bad execution and horrendous at bats in big situations.  La Russa's managing was strange, yes.  I didn't agree with the call to have Ryan Ludwick steal in the 19th inning.  With Albert Pujols up and the pitcher's spot due up after Pujols, leaving first base open is about the worst thing you can do, and La Russa probably shouldn't have tried it.  

Oh well, let's get over it.  It's one game, and the Cardinals are still in great shape.  Winning last night behind a complete game by Adam Wainwright removes the sour taste of the night before, which leads me to wrap up this post with a short summary of last night's game.

_________________________________________________________________

Game #12

CARDINALS 5, METS 3

Adam Wainwright does what an ace does.  He picked up a team that came up empty after a tough day playing 20 innings of baseball.  Waino went all nine innings, and his only bad inning was the second.  All three of the Mets' runs scored in that inning, two were earned, and the other was scored on a throwing error by Wainwright.  Afterwards, Wainwright was dynamite and only allowed one hit for the remainder of the game on his way to his third win of the season.

The Cardinals continued their trend using home runs as their primary source of scoring.  Colby Rasmus tied the game with a three run home run in the fifth inning, and Ryan Ludwick hit a two run shot in the eighth to give the Cardinals the lead.  Some slumping Cardinals showed some much needed life last night, including Rasmus and Ludwick.  Matt Holliday, who was dealing with flu problems all week long and had been hitless at Busch Stadium for the young season prior to last night's game, had a three hit night that included a double and runs scored.  Ludwick's go-ahead home run was his first of the year.

The Cardinals head west for the week and will take on some of the league's best in this road trip.  Danny Haren, Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain will be tough chores for an offense that is struggling to manufacture runs.  This trip also should include Edwin Jackson and Barry Zito, no slouches in their regard.

I hope you enjoyed the read.  This was my first "special" post of the year, and that game was worthy of some extra elaboration.

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com. 

Game #11

METS 2, CARDINALS 1 (20 innings)

Those two words in the parenthesis.... that is all I need to write.  Words cannot explain the insanity that took place at Busch Stadium today.  If you missed the game, you missed undenialbly the craziest Cardinals game I have ever watched.  I am at a lost for words.

Game recap, because a boxscore can't tell the story good enough, courtesy of espn.com.

Game #10

CARDINALS 4, METS 3

For years now, left handed pitching has been the Cardinals' kryptonite.  I have become convinced that this has become a serious issue, and with just two pure left handed hitters on the team, the Cardinals appear to be doing the best they can to keep that problem at a minimum.  Last night, the offseason signing of Felipe Lopez appeared to pay off for a game, as Flip gave the Cardinals' the offense they sorely needed by hitting a game-deciding Grand Slam last night off of lefty Oliver Perez.  

With "Big Bad Bud" Norris again frustrating the Cardinals on Thursday, and the team was dragging offensively with only one earned run in the last two games against the Astros, the weekend was not going to get easier for the Cardinals having to face Perez last night and Mets' ace Johan Santana today.  So far in '10, it has not been too bad against the lefties. The Cardinals hit Wandy Rodriguez well on Monday and eventually got to Randy Wolf last Sunday.  So, maybe I'm concerned over nothing.  Whether or not left handed opponents will be as big of a problem this season as it has in the past is still to be determined, as many things are in mid-April.

Ryan Franklin's stapled status as the closer is still to be determined.  Though he did ultimately get the job done, Franklin did not help his cause last night when almost allowing a 4-1 lead get away.  But I'm not going to let this drive me to panic like other Cardinals fans apparently are about Franklin.  I don't ignore the good performances.  And Franklin has shown me so far that he can handle this role with what we have seen.  I realize it will not always be pretty, and I am prepared for a blown save from time to time, but I'm not in any way expecting him to dominate like he did for most of 2009.  I have said this before, and I don't mind repeating myself.  I am not worried about Ryan Franklin, at least not yet.  Be patient.  Give him time.

Chris Carpenter proved that there's nothing to worry about with him with a very good seven innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits.  Carp also struck out ten on route to his second win of the season.

Later today, it's Jaime Garcia vs Johan Santana.  Though the Mets should have the advantage on the mound today, I would not be surprised to see Garcia outpitch Santana, who has not quite been himself so far.  

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com.

Game #9

ASTROS 5, CARDINALS 1

The Astros were bound to win a game eventually.    The Cardinals were denied yet another sweep by Bud Norris, who pitched five innings, allowing only an unearned run on four hits.  "Big Bad Bud," as I am officially coining now, improved to 3-0 lifetime against the Cardinals with a perfect 0.00 ERA.  If "Big Bad Bud" pitched every game against the Cardinals, he'd probably have a shot at breaking Cy Young's all time wins record. 

Seriously, after watching this guy pitch, I was impressed with his stuff.  Norris throws a sick slider that was making even Albert Pujols look bad all day.  Pujols struck out twice against Norris today, an amazing feat for the young lefty.  I was reading some "Bud Norris jokes" (an obvious reference to Chuck Norris jokes) on a message board today, and they're well deserved.  For whatever reason, Big Bad Bud pitches against the Cardinals like it's nothing.  And though I do give Norris a big tip of the cap today for pitching such an outstanding game, the Cardinals' offense doesn't quite get a free pass today.  Though Norris had some nasty stuff today, there were some ugly at bats by the Cardinals today.  And it continued after Norris was out of the game by the sixth inning.  The Cardinals could not take advantage of the Astro's bullpen, and they wrere fortunate to have Norris throw so many pitches and leave after only five.  The last couple of games have been sluggish offensively, but I don't think it's anything to be concerned about... yet.

Kyle Lohse pitched today as well as he should be expected to pitch.  Lohse went seven innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits.  That is good enough for me considering he is the fourth starter.  No one should be expecting him to dominate the way Carpenter, Wainwright, and, to an extent, Penny are capable of dominating.  Don't get spoiled with the starting pitching.  I am now convinced that the starting staff will be improved from last season.  And Kyle Lohse may be a better number four than people think.  He pitched well enough to win today, and he kept the Cardinals in the game last Friday, which they eventually won on the thrilling Nick Stavinoha home run.  I will say that Lohse's contract is a bit of a joke, considering that he's one of the highest paid players on the team, and he's just the number 4 starter.  Though I think he's overpaid given his talent, I don't regret having Lohse on this team.  But I sure hope this contract doesn't hurt the Cardinals' efforts to sign Albert Pujols to a new contract. Just sayin'...

So, the Cardinals still can't pull off the sweep.  I'm mildly disappointed because I was expecting a sweep, but I forgot about how strangely dominant Big Bad Bud has been against the Cardinals.  The Mets come to town this weekend.  With Garcia, Carpenter and Wainwright pitching, maybe that will be the Cardinals' first sweep of the season.  Because being on pace for an 108 win season isn't good enough! ;)

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com.

Game #8

CARDINALS 2, ASTROS 1  (I'm starting to link the boxscores to these "score titles" for now on.)

So far so good for Ryan Franklin, as he pitched a perfect ninth inning for his third save of the season.  And even though the Astros don't hit well, that doesn't mean you can disregard this save as a piece of cake for Franklin, as he had to face the only possible source of production in Houston's lineup right now, Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence.  Franklin made quick work of the 'Stros with only six pitches in the ninth, and not one pitch was a ball.  It is certainly a long season, and I don't demand Ryan Franklin to emulate his 2009 dominance (though that, without saying, would be nice), but the more saves he notches out of the gate, the better.

Brad Penny pitched another outstanding game, and this time he has a win to show for it.  Seven innings pitched and one unearned run on three hits ranks right up there with Adam Wainwright's performance on Monday.

Again, so far, so good.  

The same goes for Dennys Reyes, who got the Cardinals out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth inning, continuing his impressive success on the young season.  However, Kyle McClellen was the one mostly responsible for that eighth inning scare.  So far, not so good for K-Mac.  What role he belongs in in this bullpen appears to remain a question mark.

To look at the big picture, however, I must say that those cries about the bullpen dragging the Cardinals' down can remain silent so far.  But as I said, it is a long season, so this doesn't mean the bullpen won't be a problem.  Specific roles have certainly not been discovered yet.

So, the Cardinals keep the Astros winless for another day, and Kyle Lohse will try to make them leave St. Louis winless.  It's amazing how long ago the days of the Killer B's seem.

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com.

Game #7

CARDINALS 5, ASTROS 0

It's good to be home, ain't it?  The Cardinals gave fans the perfect Opening Day in St. Louis with an easy shutout victory accompanied by gorgeous weather at Busch Stadium.  Here is your boxscore.

Adam Wainwright gave the best performance by a Cardinals' starter so far on this young season pitching eight scoreless innings.  Cardinals' starters can do their vulnerable bullpen a favor by going deep into games and not giving them too much to work with.  But then again, I'm beginning to become convinced that the bullpen really won't be that big of a problem this season.  I still don't see it being a strength; there still isn't that one stellar reliever whom you can count on on any given day.  But they have not been that bad.  The bullpen ERA is 3.45 so far, which ranks 12th in the majors so far.  Again, they certainly are not the best, but they're not even near the worst yet.  Of course, it's early, so we'll just have to wait and watch it play out.

More good news from today was Ryan Ludwick's performance in the number two spot in the lineup.  Ludwick was 4 for 4 with an RBI triple and run scored.  He and Skip Schumaker played a huge part in today's win by setting up RBI opportunities for Albert Pujols, and Pujols, being Pujols, delivered today with four RBIs, three of which came on his fifth home run of the season.  Back to Ludwick, though, I think it is safe to say he's coming around now, and La Russa's decision to bat him second is paying off.  Ludwick batted second in last night's loss to Milwaukee, and if you watched the game, you may have noticed Ludwick hitting the ball a lot better.  He almost had his first home run of the season in that game, but it fell just short in deep center field.  His triple today almost left the park.  I'm expecting to see some producting from Ryan Ludwick very soon.

It's good to see the Cardinals back at home.  We'll have an off day tomorrow and get back at it Wednesday with Brad Penny's debut in the home uniform.  Until then, enjoy the weather!

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com.

Game #6

BREWERS 8, CARDINALS 7

Tonight was fun game.  Here's the boxscore.

The Cardinals had their first test this season against a left handed starter (Randy Wolf), and Tony La Russa went righty happy on us with an all-right-handed lineup.  Though I didn't agree with the order, I liked La Russa's choices.  The Cardinals did hit Wolf fairly well today, but could not capitalize on a couple of chances for big innings.  However, the offense was still able to score seven runs, thanks in large part to the power of Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday.  

It looked like the Brewers were on their way to a nice, clean victory on Sunday night until things got messy once again against all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman.    Down 7-4 in the ninth, the Cardinals managed to tie it up on a two-run home run by Albert Pujols, his second homer of the day, followed by a solo shot to dead center hit by Matt Holliday.  The Cardinals can take a lot of pride in freezing Hoffman at 593 saves.  Unfortunately, they could not come away with the victory this time as the Brewers won on a walk-off home run by Casey McGehee.  You may remember McGehee having a monster series against the Cardinals in the first week of September last season, where he went 5 for 11 with nine RBIs.  He came back to haunt the Cardinals today.

Aside from one bad pitch by Kyle McClellen to surrender the game winning home run, the bullpen performed well today. Trevor Miller, Blake Hawksworth, and Dennys Reyes combined for 3 and 1/3 scoreless innings following a rare bashing of Chris Carpenter.  Carpenter gave up seven runs, but two were unearned due to a bad inning defensively by David Freese.  Freese made two errors in the third inning that led to the two unearned runs.  Freese now has three errors on the young season, so it has clearly been a rough start defensively for Freese.

I am noticing a trend with Carpenter where once in a while, he will have just an ugly start like he did last night.  Of course, Carp still has the ability to dominate and is still one of the best pitchers in the National League, but I do get a different feeling with Carpenter from how I felt about him in his Cy Young season in 2005.  In 2005, you would just assume Carpenter would dominate each game, and you would likely get a Cardinal victory.  Now, I feel 90% sure that he'll pitch a good game.  I'm certainly not saying, "Stick a fork in him, he's done!"  I'm just saying he is not quite as automatic as he used to be, but he is still pretty damn good.

That is all for today.  I hope you all enjoy the home opener.  I don't care what anybody says, no city presents Opening Day like St. Louis.  Nothing can top the Cydesdales rounding the field, followed by all of the red and white convertables carrying the players and coaches, and all this is going on with that catchy "Here Comes the King" tune.  It does not get better than that.

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com.

Game #5

CARDINALS 7, BREWERS 1

Jaime Garcia made an impressive debut today with his first start as an official member of the Cardinals' starting rotation, as the Cardinals coast to victory and assure themselves another series win.  Here is the boxscore.  I include the word "official" in there because he has made a start with the Cardinals before in 2008 against the Saan Diego Padres.  That start and some reliable relief pitching from Garcia down the stretch in 2008 proved that he could pitch at the major league level, and it was only a matter of time until Garcia would become part of the regular pitching staff.   Today, Garcia's start was crisp, as the young lefty went six innings, allowed only four hits and one earned run.

Mitchell Boggs, who had been serving as a back up fifth starter for the past couple of years for the Cardinals, has shown his potential as a relief pitcher.  It's only been three innings in total, but they have been three clean innings nonetheless.  Today, Boggs provided two scoreless innings of relief and only allowed one baserunner.  If you remember the games he used to start for the Cardinals, Bogs would pitch with runners on all the time.  Jason Motte closed the game out today with a flawless ninth inning.  As I said in my post yesterday, I did not want to see Tony run him out there in a close game after what happened to him in Cincinatti.  This was the right kind of situation to use Motte in following that walk-off home run.  Give him some confidence, and see if he can get it together and come through in tight situations.  

Yadier Molina got the biggest hit of the game, a three-run home run in a four-run second inning.  Molina's first two home runs of the season have both had high rewards.  This one was a three one shot, and his first one was a grand slam on Opening Day.  Colby Rasmus also hit his second home run of the season, a solo shot in the sixth.

I don't have a whole lot of thoughts about today's game, so this was a rather short entry.  I'm just happy to see Jaime Garcia pitch  like he did today.  He didn't seem nervous or giddy.  It was like he's been pitching in the big leagues for years.  I have been excited about Garcia since I first saw him up with the team in 2008, and have consistantly said that he will be the real deal.

That's all for today.  Tomorrow's game gets the national spotlight, as it will be ESPN's Sunday Night game of the week.  Chris Carpenter will oppose our old friend Jeff Suppan.

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com.

Game #4

CARDINALS 5, BREWERS 4

Did you have fun? It was quite the thriller!

Here's your boxscore.  (courtesy, this time, of ESPN.com.)

I have to admit, this was a pretty ugly game for the Cardinals offensively, going a dreadful 0-8 in situations with runners in scoring position.  I don't mean sound down after such an electrifying victory, but I can't help it.  The lack of hitting with runners in scoring position against Dave Bush was disappointing.  Of course, this was the Cardinals' downfall last year.  I'm not too worried about these problems returning, but it was eerie to watch tonight, I'm not going to lie.  This time, the long ball was able to bail the Cardinals out.

Nick Stavinoha, making his first at bat of the season, was the hero today.  Stavs prevented all time saves leader Trevor Hoffman from taking a step closer to that amazing 600 saves mark with a two out, go-ahead two run home run on a pitch down and away in which he was able to yank into left field into the stands.  What's that, TLR haters?  The Cardinals win in spite of Tony La Russa?  Yes, I know it was obviously not him hitting the home run, or keeping the Brewers from pulling away with stellar relief pitching, but Tony pushed all the right buttons today.  Stavinoha was one of those.  The others came from the bullpen, which was outstanding tonight and gave Cards' fans a glimmer of hope.

Blake Hawksworth made his season debut today and pitched a scoreless seventh inning.  Dennys Reyes continued his surprising dominance with a scoreless eighth.  I'm sure Cards' fans were holding their breaths when they saw Jason Motte warming up.  I do think it would have been a mistake for TLR to send him back out there with the team only down one, and, of course, following Motte's surrender of the walk-off home run yesterday in Cincinatti.  I think it would have been unfair to Motte if he had been run back out there so soon after yet another rough go.  I know he needs to regain his confidence, but tonight was not the night to do it.  Props to Hawksworth and Reyes.  Am I forgetting someone?

How could I forget?  This time, Ryan Franklin reminded us of a guy we saw dominate the ninth inning for most of the 2009 season.  Franklin took a gigantic stride today, preserving a one run lead with a pretty harmless inning in which he faced four batters.  Unlike his first save in Cincinatti, Franklin did not need flashy defensive plays to bail him out.  These balls were all hit weakly, and Franky looked superb.  This was a gigantic stride indeed.

It was a rough outing for Kyle Lohse tonight, but at least he was able to stick it out for six innings.  It could have been worse.  Jaime Garcia makes his debut tomorrow, and that should be a treat.  I'm anxious for that one.  Jaime is an intriguing talent, and the Cardinals can use a consistant southpaw in the rotation.  Mark Mulder in 2006 was really the last time they had that.

Until tomorrow, have a good night!

Game #3

REDS 2, CARDINALS 1

Boxscore <--- (With even more interesting features.  Courtesy of mlb.com.)

Brad Penny had a great debut today for the Cardinals.  He pitched a typical Brad Penny game.  Seventy of his 100 pitches were strikes, and his fastball was effective when he located it.  When he misses, hitters usually take advantage, and the Reds appeared to do so today with six hits off Penny.  But only one run allowed in seven innings is a good debut.  Penny wasn't blemish-free, but like I said, it was a typical Brad Penny game.  He's not usually a dominator like Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright.  Penny will give up hits, and he will walk a guy here and there; there will be baserunners.  But he keeps from allowing the small damage to pile up into runs, and that is what he did today.  This was the kind of outing that Penny usually can win with.  The Cardinals just couldn't get it done today.

Props to Bronson Arroyo.  The high-leg-kicking righty quieted the Cardinals' heated bats today with eight sparkling innings, allowing four scattered hits, and the only one that was hit really hard was Matt Holliday's first home run of the season, which accounted for the Cards' only run of the game.  Also, Arroyo drove in the only run that Penny gave up with a two-out single in the fifth inning.

Though I can imagine Cardinal nation is probably beating this subject to death already, I'll just say the bullpen hasn't shown anything to be happy about yet.  But do I really need to elaborate on it?  Everybody figured the Cardinals may not be strong at the far end of games this season, and no one is surprised to see some shakiness already out of the gate.  But I think it is alittle ridiculous to begin doing this...

...when we only have a sample size of three games.  Look, I realize the bullpen will probably not be a strength this season.  I don't expect Ryan Franklin to be Mariano Rivera, and I don't even think he will be in that role all season long.  Let's give Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan some time to evaluate these relief pitchers and determine which roles best suit each reliever.  Soon, they'll discover somebody who can handle a tie game in the ninth or extra innings situation better than Jason Motte did today.  Just let it flesh out.  Hopefully, TLR can figure it out.  And if it is not figured out by midseason, then expect the Cardinals to seek some relief help from outside the organization, perhaps through a trade before the deadline.  If that has to happen, then the good news would be that the Cardinals should not have to give up too much value for bullpen help.  Let's put it this way, don't expect the Cardinals to give up nearly as much for reinforcements this season as they did last season.  We've come a long way in only a year, folks.

So, the sweep couldn't happen.  Oh well.  The weekend should be interesting.  Kyle Lohse makes his first start tomorrow. On Saturday, Jaime Garcia will make his first start as an official member of the Cardinals' rotation.  Garcia was originally going to pitch on Sunday night, but La Russa didn't want the young pitcher making his debut on national television.  Good call by the manager.  Instead, Carpenter will go on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.

This will all be against the Brewers.  Let's keep those shirts tucked in!

Jaime Garcia news courtesy of stltoday.com.

Game #2

CARDINALS 6, REDS 3

For Adam Wainwright, it was as if his frustrating Spring Training never happened.  Here's the boxscore for the Cardinals' satisfying victory over Cincy tonight.  They will go for the sweep tomorrow in the early afternoon.

Wainwright's performance speaks for itself.  He had good control for most of the game, and his movement was spot on.  He had six strikeouts to show for it in his seven innings of work while allowing only three hits.

Contributions came from all around the lineup tonight, as everybody by Wainwright and Brendan Ryan had at least one hit today.  

Colby Rasmus continues to impress, going 2 for 2 with a double and run scored.  If you watched the game, you could just tell he's showing a lot more patience at the plate than last year.  I really do believe we're going to see the fully polished Colby Rasmus in 2010.  Unlike last season, where he batted just .251, he should prove to people this year that he does hit for average.  Of couse, nobody's saying it was a bad year for Colby last year, but the average probably gave people a false impression that he couldn't hit for average.  I'm predicting he'll hover around .280-.290 this season, assuming he's healthy.  Who knows? Maybe he'll break .300.

I'm really happy for David Freese.  It was crucial for him to start the season on the right foot, and three RBI singles in the first two games is just what he needed.  Let's hope the success continues.  Freese is a guy you can really root for.

We got to see our first true glimpse of the Cardinals' fierecome 3-4 combo doing damage together.  In the deciding four-run seventh inning, Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday drove in three runs collectively via an RBI single by Pujols and two-run double by Holliday that soared to dead center.  Pujols was being his aggressive self on Holliday's double, scoring from first base.

After a shaky first game, the bullpen looked alittle better tonight.  Though Kyle McClellen surrendered a run in the eighth, he had superb stuff as he struck out two.  Dennys Reyes finished off the inning with a strikeout of the dangerous Joey Votto.  I was surprised to see Reyes used again instead of the superior lefty, Trevor Miller.  But as I would say about the lineup, if it ain't broke, don't fix it (because La Russa actually used the same lineup as yesterday, save for Wainwright, of course).  Reyes got the job done on Opening Day, so Tony had to go with his hot hand, and the big dude got it done again tonight. Of course, Miller will have to see action eventually.

And then there is Ryan Franklin.  Of course, everybody is scared that Franklin will become the next Jason Isringhausen (the one that blew saves).  He gave up two runs in the Opener, but is cut some slack because the Cardinals had a seven run lead at the time.  Tonight, he got the job done, but not without the help of some superb defense from the guys behind him.  The first out was made by Brendan Ryan, and it was a grounder deep in the hole at short, but Ryan with his good range played it perfectly and made a tough play look easy.  to be fair to Franklin, he didn't make a bad pitch there, and the ball wasn't hit particularly hard.  The same can be said for the next batter, Scott Rolen, who hit a harmless grounder that deflected off Franklin's lower leg and Rolen reached.  It would have been an easy play for Skip Schumaker if it had not deflected off Franklin.  Now as for the next two plays...  sorry, Franky, I can't back you up here.  Fortunately, Ryan Ludwick did.  The final two outs of the inning were both made on hard-hit balls to right field that could easily have been an extra base hit and an RBI single respectively.  But Ludwick made two spectacular plays to bail Franklin out.  Another bullet was dodged there, and though it's good to see the on-paper result for Franklin, we still have not seen anything yet that shows he can return to the form he was when he pitched like an All-Star last season.  We will have to wait another day for that.

Again, it was a satisfying win, mostly because every single player made a contribution of their own.  The struggling Skip Schumaker got his first hit of the season, and it set up the fatal four-run seventh inning.  Good for Skip!  

I hope you don't have to miss too much of the early game tomorrow.  As for me, I have the day off, so I'm going to see the whole thing! Let's see if the Cardinals bring their brooms with them!

Boxscore courtesy of mlb.com this time, all revamped and neat lookin' now. ;)

I'm playing around with new layouts and trying to make this look alittle neater and presentable.  A pretty nice addition I made is the magic number widget, seen at the right of the page.  If you happen not to know what that number is, once it hits zero, the Cardinals have officially won the Central Division. 

I'm still not quite satisfied with the layout yet.  I'll try to get more work done tomorrow.  I really want to add more widgets on the page, like team news updates and maybe the NL Central Standings.

Game #1

CARDINALS 11, REDS 6

I realize that I stopped updating for Spring Training, but that doesn't matter anymore.  It's Opening Day! It's time to REALLY get the blog going!

BOXSCORE  (courtesy of stltoday.com, only because mlb.com is being obnoxious. >__>)

It was just nice to be watching baseball again. REAL baseball.  Baseball that actually means something.  I've had enough of that Spring Training crap.  I love the opening Monday of the baseball season.  Every team is 0-0, the Royals are just as good as the Yankees (and still are, as both teams are 0-1).  The Pirates are just as good as the Phillies (again, still are, each team is 1-0).  It's a brand new season for everybody.

But we don't care about the rest of those teams.  This is about the birds on the bat! The Cardinals couldn't have started the season any better.  Though not masterful, Chris Carpenter pitched like an ace.  Carp only gave up two runs on five hits, and both runs came off of solo home runs.  Hey, if you're going to get hurt, the solo shot is the easiest way to do it!  Good ol' Scott Rolen hit one of those and could have had two if it weren't for an awesome catch by Colby Rasmus.  It was probably the best play he's made since becoming a major leaguer.  Rasmus, who also homered in the game, is showing every sign that he will not suffer through the BS myth called the "sophomore slump."  He's been playing improved center field since the start of Spring Training, and he doesn't appear to be slowing down at all offensively.  He's going to have a good year.

You know who else might, just maybe, have a pretty good year in 2010?  I have a crazy hunch that Albert Pujols will put up respectable numbers this season.  I know, I know.  I can be daring sometimes.  But, hey, two home runs in the first game isn't too bad.  Could the Machine finally reach that 50 mark this year?  I think it's about damn time.

I'm sure a lot of your were surprised by Yadier Molina even being in the lineup today.  I was too, and I'll be honest, I wasn't completely comfortable with the decision to let him play this early.  Yes, I know he had good results from previous batting practice sessions, but I was just skeptical of how the catching position would wear on him with his oblique problem.  And even after today, it still could come back to bother him.  It could only be a matter of time, but what do I know?  Maybe it won't come back.  I'm just looking at this from a cautious perspective.  Either way, I am now more than confident that he is already healthy enough to hit.  A grand slam in the ninth to put the game out of reach certainly helps.  It was Yadi's first career grand slam, and this, paired with Pujols's two home runs, resembles something very familiar.

On Opening Day for the 2006 season, the Cardinals were playing the Phillies in Philadelphia.  Pujols had a two home run day, and though it wasn't hit by Yadier Molina, a grand slam was hit by a Cardinal player (Scott Rolen).  Ironically enough, the very same Scott Rolen did hit a home run in today's game (as mentioned before).  To go along with that, it was a game started by Chris Carpenter, who allowed two home runs in that game, too! *Gasp* Could this be a parodox? IS IT A SIGN???

...

...Probably not.  But, hey, it's worth building optimism.  I hope you all are as optimistic as I am about the season.  You won't be disappointed.

If you want to check out the boxscore of the 2006 opener and make sure I'm not making stuff up, be my guest.  (this one courtesy of Baseball Reference.)