Daily Rant: Cardinals drop first game in series with Marlins

The Cardinals lost in more ways than one last night. Not only did they drop a close game, but earlier in the day they lost Yadier Molina for a couple of days. They also may have lost Rafael Furcal. Find out more after the jump.

Box Score

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Miami	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	3	6	1
St Louis	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	12	3
WP	R. Nolasco (8-6)
LP	J. Westbrook (7-7)
SV	H. Bell (19)

	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	K	SB	LOB	Season Avg
R. Furcal ss	5	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	4	.276
T. Greene pr	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.228
J. Jay cf	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.324
M. Holliday lf	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.317
C. Beltran rf	5	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	4	.304
A. Craig 1b	4	1	1	0	0	0	2	0	2	.298
D. Freese 3b	4	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	.291
D. Descalso 2b	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	.224
T. Cruz c	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	.186
S. Schumaker ph	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.300
J. Westbrook p	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	.185
V. Marte p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
M. Cleto p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
F. Salas p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
M. Carpenter ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.292
Totals	36	2	12	2	0	1	5	0	20

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	WHIP	Season ERA
J. Westbrook (L, 7-7)	6.2	5	2	1	2	2	0	1.32	3.75
V. Marte	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.46	4.21
M. Cleto	1.0	1	1	1	0	2	1	1.44	5.00
F. Salas	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.67	5.34

The Positives

Rafael Furcal hit a single and a double and drove in a run.
Jon Jay hit his fifth double of the year.
Matt Holliday hit his 21st double of the season.
Carlos Beltran hit a single.
Allen Craig also hit a single and scored one of the Cardinals three runs.
David Freese had a three hit night, including his fourteenth double, and drove in one of the Cardinals runs.
Daniel Descalso hit a single also.
Jake Westbrook did what he did to keep the Cardinals in the game. He lasted six and two thirds and only gave up one earned run.
Fernando Salas pitched a scoreless ninth inning.

Justin’s Jeers

Rafael Furcal and Matt Holliday both had scares as Furcal re-aggravated a shin injury and Holliday was hit on the elbow with a pitch. Losing either player would be rough as Lance Berkman is not back until after the break and Yadier Molina is on the bereavement list.
David Freese committed two errors in the game, while Westbrook committed another.
Tony Cruz was held hitless starting in Yadier’s absence.
The team had a lot of base runners, but couldn’t capitalize as twenty men were left stranded. Furcal and Beltran led the way with four strands a piece.
Mikael Cleto pitched an inning and gave up the game-winning home run to Logan Morrison.

Three Stars

3) Jake Westbrook – Westbrook pitched well enough for the win, but the offense just couldn’t put runs on the board.

2) Rafael Furcal – Furcal had two hits and drove in a run.

1) David Freese – Freese had three hits and had the other RBI for the Cardinals.

Standings

Central	W	L	Pct	GB	Home	Road	RS	RA	Diff	Streak	L10
Pittsburgh Pirates	46	37	.554	—	27-14	19-23	329	310	+19	Lost 1	8-2
Cincinnati Reds	45	38	.542	1.0	23-16	22-22	348	309	+39	Won 1	4-6
St. Louis Cardinals	44	40	.524	2.5	21-20	23-20	418	350	+68	Lost 1	5-5
Milwaukee Brewers	39	44	.470	7.0	22-21	17-23	376	384	-8	Won 1	6-4
Chicago Cubs	32	51	.386	14.0	19-20	13-31	309	383	-74	Won 1	7-3
Houston Astros	32	52	.381	14.5	23-20	9-32	335	408	-73	Lost 9	1-9

Today’s Game

The Cardinals host the Marlins in game two today at 3:15. Kyle Lohse takes the hill for the Cardinals against Carlos Zambrano. Lohse is 8-2 with a 2.80 ERA this season. In eight starts against the Marlins, Lohse has four wins and a 4.60 ERA. Zambrano currently has a 4-6 record with a 4.14 ERA. From his time with the Cubs, he has 29 career starts against St Louis and has wins in twelve of those starts. He has a 3.47 ERA against the Redbirds.

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