Daily Rant: Cardinals drop first game in series with Detroit

The Cardinals have really developed a bad habit of dropping the first game. They have now lost the first game in their last six series. This puts the team in a hole and they are more pressured to win both games two and three. In last night’s game, the biggest issue was Lance Lynn. After the two best starts of his career, Lynn came down to Earth a little bit and got knocked around by the Tigers vaunted offense. Who performed well for the Cardinals? Find out after the jump.

Box Score

	Final		1		2		3		4		5		6	7	8	9	R	H	E

	St. Louis	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	3	5	0

	Detroit	1	3	0	0	1	1	0	0	X	6	12	1


WP: J. Verlander (7-4) S: P. Coke (1) LP: L. Lynn (10-3)

	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	K	SB	LOB	Season Avg
R. Furcal ss	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	.283
C. Beltran rf	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.305
M. Holliday dh	3	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	.283
A. Craig lf	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	4	.327
Y. Molina c	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.324
D. Freese 3b	3	1	0	0	0	1	2	0	1	.267
M. Adams 1b	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.244
S. Schumaker cf	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.310
S. Robinson ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.257
D. Descalso 2b	3	2	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	.236
T. Greene ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.229
Totals	33	3	5	1	0	4	5	0	11

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	WHIP	Season ERA
L. Lynn (L, 10-3)	5.0	9	5	5	2	4	0	1.15	2.80
S. Freeman	1.0	2	1	1	0	1	0	1.50	6.14
V. Marte	1.0	1	0	0	2	0	0	1.30	3.52
F. Salas	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.68	4.37

The Positives

Carlos Beltran hit a single to keep his average above .300.
Matt Holliday hit his thirteenth double of the season to drive in the Cardinals only earned run. He also walked once.
Yadier Molina also hit a single. He average now sits at .324
David Freese reached base on a walk and scored a run.
Daniel Descalso had a two hit night and scored twice for the Cardinals.
Victor Marte and Fernando Salas combined to pitch the last two innings of the game. They pitched two scoreless innings. Marte allowed a hit and two walks, but Salas was perfect in his inning.

Justin’s Jeers

Rafael Furcal, Allen Craig, David Freese, Matt Adams, and Skip Schumaker were held hitless. Furcal, Craig, and Freese did reach base on walks, though.
As a team, the Cardinals stranded eleven base runners. Allen Craig led the way with four runners stranded.
Lance Lynn had a very poor outing, going five innings and allowing five earned runs. He followed up two double-digit strikeout performances with a four strikeout game while allowing eleven base runners.
Sam Freeman gave up the sixth earned run in his inning of work.

Three Stars

3) Fernando Salas – Salas pitched a perfect inning to close out the game. If only the Cardinals had given him a lead to work with.

2) Matt Holliday – Holliday’s double drove in one of the Cardinals three runs.

1) Daniel Descalso – Descalso had a two hit night and score two of the Cardinals three runs.

Standings

Cent		W	L	GB	SRS
CIN	F	38	29	—	0.4
PIT	F	35	31	2.5	-0.3
STL	F	34	34	4.5	0.4
MIL	F	31	37	7.5	-0.6
HOU	F	28	40	10.5	-0.8
CHC	F	24	44	14.5	-0.8

Today’s Game

The Cardinals hope to even the series today as 5-6 Jake Westbrook starts against 4-4 Rick Porcello. Westbrook has a 4.27 ERA and is coming off a victory over the Chicago White Sox. His career numbers against the Tigers are not encouraging, as he has a 5.58 ERA and only six wins against them in twenty career starts. Porcello currently has a 5.18 ERA and is also coming off a win over a Chicago team, his being against the Cubs. He has one career start against the Cardinals which he won. Game time is set for 6:05.

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