Daily Rant: Cardinals complete sweep with 7-0 trouncing

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The Cardinals successfully swept the rebuilding Chicago Cubs with a 7-0 victory yesterday. The sweep was necessary to keep pace with the Pirates and Reds who also swept their opponents. The Cardinals will now face a much stiffer challenge. Details after the jump.

Box Score

Final123456789RHE
Chicago Cubs000000000050
St Louis Cardinals40012000X7120
WPL. Lynn (12-4)
LPT. Wood (4-5)
ABRHRBIHRBBKSBLOBSeason Avg
T. Greene 2b400100101.214
A. Craig 1b411000000.304
    F. Salas p000000000.000
    S. Schumaker ph-lf000001000.321
M. Holliday lf422111100.321
    M. Rzepczynski p000000000.000
C. Beltran rf511110005.292
D. Freese 3b211002100.305
J. Jay cf414200000.304
T. Cruz c401200005.197
D. Descalso ss412000002.231
L. Lynn p100000100.086
    M. Carpenter ph-1b200000101.282
 Totals347127245014
IPHRERBBKHRWHIPSeason ERA
L. Lynn (W, 12-4)6.04003501.213.10
F. Salas2.01000101.534.41
M. Rzepczynski1.00000001.475.06

The Positives

  • Allen Craig hit a single and scored a run. His average is now back over .300
  • Matt Holliday had another two hit night, as he his his 24th double and his sixteenth home run of the season. He scored twice and drove in a run.
  • Carlos Beltran belted his 21st home run of the season. He leads the Cardinals with 69 RBIs
  • David Freese hit a single and reached base twice on walks.
  • Jon Jay had a perfect 4-4 day. He hit three singles, his eighth double, scored once, and drove in two runs.
  • Tony Cruz hit his fifth double of the season and drove in two runs.
  • Daniel Descalso hit two singles and scored a run.
  • Lance Lynn had another fantastic outing. He pitched six shutout innings and only allowed four hits and three walks.
  • Fernando Salas and Marc Rzepczynski pitched a combined three shutout innings to close the game out.

Justin’s Jeers

  • Tyler Greene was held hitless. He and Descalso are the only Cardinals starters with averages under .300

Three Stars

3) Carlos Beltran – Beltran blasted another home run to put another run on the board for the Cardinals.

2) Matt Holliday – Holliday had yet another two hit night and belted a home run for good measure

1) Jon Jay – Jay went on a tear, belting four hits to lead the Cardinals to victory.

Standings

CentralWLPctGBHomeRoadRSRADiffStreakL10
Cincinnati Reds55400.57931-1824-2239634551Won 48-2
Pittsburgh Pirates54400.5740.532-1422-2639034842Won 57-3
St Louis Cardinals50450.526526-2024-2546437886Won 35-5
Milwaukee Brewers44500.46810.526-2318-27415426-11Lost 35-5
Chicago Cubs38560.40416.524-2114-35347424-77Lost 36-4
Houston Astros34620.35421.524-2110-41370477-107Lost 61-9

Today’s Game

The Cardinals start a four game set with the Dodgers at 7:15 tonight. Rookie Joe Kelly takes the mound against Chad Billingsley. Kelly is 1-2 with a 2.75 ERA. He hasn’t made any starts against the Dodgers, but he is currently riding a five game quality start streak. Billingsley is 4-9 with a 4.30 ERA and is making his first start back from the disabled list for elbow inflammation. He has one win in eight starts against the Cardinals and a 4.63 ERA to go with his record. This could potentially be his last start before Tommy John surgery if his elbow isn’t as healed as the Dodgers are hoping