Redbirds Week in Review—9/3/12 to 9/9/12

Okay, I am a couple of days late with my weekly review—life intervened.  Last week featured a six game home stand against the Mets and the Brewers, and well, it wasn’t the best—the Cards went 3-3.  They took the series against the Mets, but barely avoided a sweep by the division rival Brew Crew.  It was a mixed bag of lackluster offense and less than stellar pitching.  Onward with the recaps.

St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Allen Craig (21) makes a catch on a ball hit by New York Mets center fielder Andres Torres; September 4, 2012 . Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-US PRESSWIRE

Monday September 3, 2o12—Cardinals 5 Mets 4

This was not one of the less than stellar pitching outings.  Joe Kelly had on of his best starts of his major league career, going 6 2/3 innings while allowing only 5 hits and 2 earned runs.  The Cardinals got on the board first in the 1st, with Jon Jay hitting a lead off triple to left field.  A ground out to second off the bat of Matt Carpenter scored Jay.  The Birds score two more in the 3rd on a lead off double by Joe Kelly, a sac bunt by Jon Jay, and a sac fly by Matt Carpenter to score Kelly. Three consecutive singles by Matt Holliday, Allen Craig and Yadier Molina, plated the second run.  In the 4th, Skip Schumaker‘s first home run of the season brought home another run.  The Mets finally get on the board in the 7th when Mike Baxter hits a 2 run home run to left.  Joe Kelly gives up a follow up triple and is removed from the game in favor of Edward Mujica, who gets the final out of the inning. In the bottom of the 7th, the Cardinals score one more on a Jon Jay hit by pitch, and two singles by Matt Holliday and Allen Craig.  The Mets add two more in the 8th when Mitchell Boggs has a rare bad outing and gives up a two run home run to Daniel Murphy.  The Cardinals do hold on to win the game 5-4.

Tuesday September 4, 2012—Cardinals 5 Mets 1

Jaime Garcia on the mound in Busch, where he pitches better.  The Cardinals score 3 in the 2nd, starting with a rare Yadier Molina infield single to the shortstop, followed by a David Freese single, a passed ball, and a Skip Schumaker single to score Molina.  A Daniel Descalso single scores Freese and after a sac bunt by Jaime Garcia and a Jon Jay hit by pitch, Matt Carpenter hits a sac fly to score Schumaker.  The Cards add one more in the 6th on a Daniel Descalso single, a Jaime Garcia sac bunt, a stolen base by Descalso, and an RBI ground out by Jon Jay.  The Birds add another run in the 7th, on a Matt Holliday walk, a Yadier Molina single and a David Freese single.  The Mets plate their only run in the 8th on two singles, a force out and a sac fly.  The Redbirds prevail and Garcia gets the win.

Wednesday September 5, 2012—Cardinals 2 Mets 6

Adam Wainwright has one of his rare not so good outings.  The Mets score first in the 2nd on a double and a single.  The Mets add another in the 3rd, when Wainwright walks in a run.  The Birds get on the board in the bottom of the 3rd when Wainwright hits a solo home run off of knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.  But the Mets add three more in the 5th when Wainwright gives up a three run homer to Ike Davis.  The Cardinals add one more in the seventh when Daniel Descalso singles and then advances to third on a Tony Cruz single.  A double play ground out by Allen Craig brings Descalso home.  The Mets add their final run in the 8th off of reliever Victor Marte. Wainwright takes the loss.

Friday September 7, 2012—Cardinals 4 Brewers 5

Extra innings disappointment.  The Cardinals score first in the 1st off Brewer’s starter Yovanni Gallardo.  Jon Jay singles to left and advances to second on a passed ball.  Matt Carpenter doubles into center field, scoring Jay. Carpenter advances to third on a Carlos Beltran ground out and scores on a sac fly by Allen Craig.  The Brewers score in the 4th off of starter Kyle Lohse.  In the 7th, Lohse walks Martin Maldonado and gives up a single to Jeff Bianchi.  Reliever Edward Mujica gives up a double to Travis Ishikawa, which scores Maldonado.  The Brewers score two more in the 8th off of Mitchell Boggs, but the Cardinals tie it up again in the bottom of the 8th on a 2 run home run by Yadier Molina.  The game is extended into extras and in the top of the 13th a Ryan Braun homer off of Lance Lynn puts the Brewers on top.  The Cardinals are unable to come back in the bottom of the 13th.  Lance Lynn gets the loss.

Saturday September 8, 2012—Cardinals 3 Brewers 6

Jake Westbrook on the bump.  Brewers score first in the 2nd, plating the first on a walk, two singles and a misplayed bunt, followed by another walk and another single to score run number 2.  The Cardinals score one in the bottom of the second on a David Freese double and a Daniel Descalso single.  The Brewers add another one in the 3rd on two singles and a fielding error by Skip Schumaker.    In the 7th the Brewers add one more run off of reliever Trevor Rosenthal.  The Birds score one in the bottom of the 7th on a single by Bryan Anderson and a triple by Adron Chambers.  The Cardinals add another in the 8th on a Yadier Molina walk, a Pete Kozma double, and a sac fly by Skip Schumaker.  The Brewers add two more in the 9th when reliever Fernando Salas gives up a home run to Aramis Ramirez and single to Corey Hart, who scores when reliever Victor Marte gives up consecutive singles to Jonathan Lucroy and Carlos Gomez.  Cardinals cannot stage a comeback and lose 6-3, Westbrook with the loss.

Sunday September 9, 2012—Cardinals 5 Brewers 4

Another extra innings game, but this one turned out better.   Joe Kelly on the mound again.  The Birds score three in the 1st, a Jon Jay single to center and two run homer by Matt Holliday scores the first two and a solo homer by Carlos Beltran scores the third.  The Brewers score one in the 2nd off a double, a ground out and a wild pitch.  The Birds come back in the bottom of the 2nd with one more on doubles by Joe Kelly and Matt Carpenter. The Brewers add another in the 4th on three singles.  In the 9th, Jason Motte blows the save giving up a two run home run to Norichika Aoki to tie the game.  But the Birds come back in the 10th, winning the game in walk off fashion on a single by Matt Carpenter, who advances to second on a wild pitch, and an RBI single by Allen Craig.  Reliever Lance Lynn gets the win.