Win Some Lose Some

Baseball is a great game.  It’s strange sometimes, but always great.  One day, a team can put up eight runs, the next, only two.  That’s understandable when you think about how much different two opposing pitchers can be.  Other times though, the bats just go quiet.

After stomping the Padres in game one of the series 8-2, the Cardinals couldn’t get it done in game two.  They scored early, but couldn’t tack anything on through the final seven innings.  Even with a mediocre outing from Greg Maddux, the Cards couldn’t get the offense going.  Four Cardinal batters scattered seven hits in the 3-2 loss, and only one was for extra bases.

Joel Pineiro pitched well through five, but struggled in the sixth, allowing a pair of walks before a Kevin Kouzmanoff home run to center.  The bullpen didn’t allow a hit in their 2.1 innings, and as a whole, the Cardinal pitching was very good.  Here’s the full recap and box score.

You just can’t expect to win when you only score two runs.  I hate the title of the article on the Cardinals’ website, “One bad pitch dooms Pineiro, Cards.”  It sure makes it sound like Pineiro blew the game by serving up the homer.  If you’re going to put it on Pineiro, you might say the walks were worse than the hit.  In my opinion, it was the offense that lost this game for the Redbirds. Got any ideas for a better headline?

Anyway, the rubber game is tonight.  The Padres send Chris Young to the mound, while the Cardinals give the ball to Braden Looper.  With the off day tomorrow, Tony La Russa is likely to rest a couple of starters.  Either way, it should be a good one, if you happen to stay awake for it.