Daily Rant: Cardinals extinguish red-hot Dempster

The Cardinals came in to Friday’s game with the daunting task of scoring runs on the man that hadn’t given one up in 33 straight innings. They answered the call in the first inning and Kyle Lohse made sure the lead lasted.

Box Score

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago Cubs	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	0
St Louis Cardinals	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	X	4	10	1
WP	K. Lohse (10-2)
LP	R. Dempster (5-4)
SV	J. Motte (21)

	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	K	SB	LOB	Season Avg
S. Schumaker 2b	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	.316
T. Greene ph-2b	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	.220
A. Craig rf	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.299
J. Jay pr-cf	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.290
M. Holliday lf	3	2	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	.319
C. Beltran cf-rf	4	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.292
Y. Molina c	3	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	2	.309
L. Berkman 1b	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.273
D. Freese 3b	3	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	.299
R. Furcal ss	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	.276
K. Lohse p	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.100
M. Boggs p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
M. Rzepczynski p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
M. Carpenter ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	.288
J. Motte p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	34	4	10	4	1	3	4	1	12

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	WHIP	Season ERA
K. Lohse (W, 10-2)	7.0	6	1	1	1	4	0	1.10	2.71
M. Boggs (H, 14)	0.2	1	0	0	0	0	0	1.13	1.85
M. Rzepczynski (H, 12)	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.52	5.23
J. Motte (S, 21)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.98	2.85

The Positives

Skip Schumaker, Allen Craig, Carlos Beltran, Yadier Molina, Lance Berkman, and David Freese all picked up hits. Every Cardinal starter recorded at least one hit in this game. Berkman’s was his sixth double of the season.
Matt Holliday and Rafael Furcal each had two hits a piece. Both picked up singles, Furcal hit his fourteenth double of the season, and Holliday belted his fifteenth home run.
The Cardinals core of Holliday, Beltran, Molina, and Berkman each had an RBI.
Jon Jay stole his eighth base of the season.
Kyle Lohse shut down the Cubs, giving up only six hits across seven innings and only allowing one earned run.
The back end of the bullpen came through as Mitchell Boggs and Marc Rzepczynski combined for a scoreless eighth and Jason Motte pitched a perfect ninth for his 21st save.

Justin’s Jeers

Not a whole lot to complain about. I will always have a problem with the amount of runners the Cardinals leave on, though. It seems like they have the offense to get a lot of men on base, but there are games that they just can’t bring them home.

Three Stars

3) Carlos Beltran – The Cardinals center fielder drove in a run on a base hit and then scored another in the first inning.

2) Kyle Lohse – Without Lohse’s performance, the Cardinals four runs maybe don’t hold up.

1) Matt Holliday – Holliday is emerging as the Cardinals MVP.

Standings

Central	W	L	Pct	GB	Home	Road	RS	RA	Diff	Streak	L10
Cincinnati Reds	53	40	0.570	—	29-18	24-22	388	342	46	Won 2	8-2
Pittsburgh Pirates	52	40	0.565	0.5	30-14	22-26	382	347	35	Won 3	6-4
St Louis Cardinals	48	45	0.516	5	24-20	24-25	445	378	67	Won 1	4-6
Milwaukee Brewers	44	48	0.478	8.5	26-23	18-25	412	418	-6	Lost 1	6-4
Chicago Cubs	38	54	0.413	14.5	24-21	14-33	347	405	-58	Lost 1	7-3
Houston Astros	34	60	0.362	19.5	24-21	10-39	365	457	-92	Lost 4	2-8

Tonight’s Game

The Cardinals face the Cubs at 6:15 tonight in the second game of their three game series. Jake Westbrook takes the mound against Matt Garza. Westbrook has a 7-8 record to go with his 3.82 ERA. He has had average success against the Cubs, as his 4.89 ERA against them is washed out by four wins in seven starts. Garza has been disappointing for the Cubs this season and, like Ryan Dempster, may be making one of his last starts with the team thanks to the looming trade deadline. Garza has a 5-7 record this season and a 4.02 ERA. In five starts against the Cardinals, he has two wins and a 4.66 ERA.

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