Cardinal bats take care of Red Sox

The Cardinals beating the Astros by such a large margin proved to not be a fluke on Tuesday as they took care of the Red Sox with a 15-4 beating.
Feb 19, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams (53) poses for a picture during photo day at Roger Dean Stadium. Image Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
The Cardinals took the lead in the 3rd inning on Tony Cruz‘s bases-clearing double. Yadier Molina is not the only Cardinals catcher that can hit. The Cruz double came on a fly ball to center with two outs. He drove in Adron Chambers, Daniel Descalso, and Matt Carpenter.

Despite giving up 2 runs in the bottom of the 5th inning, the Cardinals would never relinquish the lead as they would go on to spot 5, 4, and 3 runs, respectively, in the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings.

The five-run fifth inning came as a result of an error by the Red Sox to say the least. Ronny Cedeno was able to drive in Matt Carpenter on a ground out and advanced to second base as the result of a throwing error. Cedeno and Justin Christian would score on a Ryan Jackson single.

Matt Adams, pinch-hitting for Rob Johnson, would blast a home run center, scoring Jackson. This took the Cardinals to an 8-2 lead in the 6th inning.

All in all, it was a good day for the Cardinals offense.

The standout performances to me were second baseman Matt Carpenter and outfielder Oscar Taveras. Carpenter was 1 for 2 with 2 walks. He would score 3 times for the Cardinals. Taveras was 3 for 5 with 2 runs and an RBI.

Ryan Jackson played first base instead of short stop so I’m not sure what is happening with regards to Jackson.

The shortstop situation will be figured out by the end of spring or the Cardinals will be expected to make some moves. I would prefer that they stay in-house and find a shortstop that way but we shall see what develops over the course of the rest of March.