Daily Rant: Cardinals rally late to take series from Marlins

It was well worth sitting in 97 degree heat to watch the Cardinals pull off a phenomenal ninth inning three run rally to steal the game from the Marlins on Sunday afternoon. The starters pitched very boring quality starts, the Cardinals bullpen imploded, and Heath Bell had a complete meltdown for the Marlins. Find out more after the jump.

Box Score

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Miami	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	4	6	1
St Louis	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	5	8	1
WP	M. Boggs (2-1)
LP	H. Bell (2-5)

	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	K	SB	LOB	Season Avg
R. Furcal ss	5	0	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	.275
J. Jay cf	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	.314
M. Boggs p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
M. Holliday lf	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.317
C. Beltran rf-cf	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	.296
A. Craig 1b	4	2	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	.312
M. Carpenter 3b	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.291
S. Schumaker 2b	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.304
T. Greene ph-2b-rf	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.226
D. Freese ph	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	.294
T. Cruz c	3	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	.197
J. Kelly p	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	.111
B. Browning p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
M. Cleto p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
V. Marte p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
F. Salas p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
S. Robinson ph	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	.250
M. Rzepczynski p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
D. Descalso 2b	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	.223
Totals	33	5	8	5	0	3	6	0	7

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	WHIP	Season ERA
J. Kelly	6.0	2	1	0	5	5	0	1.44	2.70
B. Browning (H, 1)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.00
M. Cleto	0.0	1	2	2	1	0	0	1.67	7.00
V. Marte (BS, 2)	0.2	1	1	1	0	0	1	1.46	4.38
F. Salas	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1.62	5.16
M. Rzepczynski	0.2	2	0	0	2	0	0	1.60	5.52
M. Boggs (W, 2-1)	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.09	1.91

The Positives

Rafael Furcal had two hits and three RBIs, including a walk-off two RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning. The RBIs brought his season total to 36.
Matt Holliday hit a single to bring his average up to .317
Allen Craig had two hits including his fourteenth double of the year. He scored two of the Cardinals five runs.
Matt Carpenter hit his eleventh double of the season and scored the game-tying run.
Skip Schumaker had an RBI single in the second inning to tie the game.
David Freese was a late scratch, but drew a walk in a pinch hit appearance in the ninth and then scored the game-winning run.
Tony Cruz his his fourth double of the season and drove in a run in the ninth inning.
Joe Kelly hurled a quality start, but didn’t look good doing so. He didn’t give up any runs and only gave up two hits, but he walked five.

Justin’s Jeers

Jon Jay and Carlos Beltran were held hitless.
The bullpen was a complete mess, as Mikael Cleto gave up a hit and a walk and Victor Marte then gave up a three run home run to Austin Kearns. Marc Rzepczynski gave up two hits and two walks before Mitch Boggs came in to end the game and pick up a vulture win.

Three Stars

3) Daniel Descalso – Descalso only had one plate appearance in the ninth inning, but he battled Heath Bell and earned a walk to keep the inning alive.

2) Allen Craig – Craig had two hits and scored the first run of the game.

1) Rafael Furcal – Furcal’s late inning heroics won the game for the Cardinals.

Standings

Central	W	L	Pct	GB	Home	Road	RS	RA	Diff	Streak	L10
Pittsburgh Pirates	48	37	.565	—	29-14	19-23	345	313	+32	Won 2	8-2
Cincinnati Reds	47	38	.553	1.0	23-16	24-22	358	316	+42	Won 3	6-4
St. Louis Cardinals	46	40	.535	2.5	23-20	23-20	426	356	+70	Won 2	6-4
Milwaukee Brewers	40	45	.471	8.0	22-21	18-24	384	393	-9	Won 1	6-4
Chicago Cubs	33	52	.388	15.0	19-20	14-32	317	386	-69	Won 1	7-3
Houston Astros	33	53	.384	15.5	24-21	9-32	344	416	-72	Lost 1	1-9

Today’s Game

The Cardinals have a three day break for the All Star Game, but tonight Carlos Beltran competes in the Home Run Derby. Redbird Rants will have plenty of midseason and All Star coverage over the next three days.

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