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. ;)