Redbirds Week in Review—4/17/12 to 4/22/12

The Redbirds played two series this past week, one at home and one on the road, and won both.  The Birds dropped one game each to the Reds and the Pirates.  Unfortunately for me, one of those losses was the one I attended.  Oh well.  Here is your recap of the past week’s games.

Tuesday April 17, 2012—-Cardinals 2 Reds 1

The Redbirds get on the board first in the bottom of the 1st.  Carlos “Albert Who?” Beltran smokes a solo home run to right field.  Matt Holliday followed with a double to center, but was left stranded when Lance Berkman and David Freese both struck out to end the inning.  A pitcher’s duel between Kyle Lohse and Johnny Cueto ensued for the next 6 innings with both pitchers putting up zeros.  Then, in the top of the 8th the Reds tie the game when two Cardinal errors, a sac bunt and a single by Reds shortstop Zack Cozart brings in the tying run. The game goes into extras and the Cardinals win in walkoff fashion in the bottom of the 10th on two walks and a sac bunt by Yadier Molina and a sacrifice fly by Matt Carpenter to score the winning run.  Closer Jason Motte picks up the win.

Wednesday April 18, 2012—Cardinals 11 Reds 1

This was a fun game to watch, seeing as how it was basically a major whuppin of the Reds by the Cardinals.  The fun got started in the bottom of the 1st when Rafael Furcal led off with a double to right field.  Carlos Beltran followed with a walk and a fly out by Matt Holliday moved Furcal to 3rd.  Lance Berkman plated Furcal with an infield hit to second base.  With David Freese at the plate, Beltran and Berkman execute a flawless double steal. Freese then hits a double to left field, scoring both Beltran and Berkman.  Yadier Molina grounds out and Jon Jay strikes out to end the inning.  Cardinals 3 Reds 0.  In the bottom of the 2nd, Tyler Greene leads off with a walk and then steals second.  Jaime Garcia strikes out and then Rafael Furcal grounds out, moving Greene to 3rd.  Carlos Beltran then hits a 2 run shot to right field.  Matt Holliday strikes out.  Cardinals 5 Reds 0.  In the top of the 5th, the Reds score their only run of the game, on a triple by Chris Heisey and a single by Devin Mesoraco.  In the bottom of the 6th, David Freese singles to left, Jon Jay singles to left, and Jaime Garcia delights the crowd by hitting a triple to center, scoring Freese and Jay.  Rafael Furcal then singles to right, scoring Garcia.  Cardinals lead 8-1.  In the bottom of the 8th the Redbirds score their final 3 runs when Molina doubles to left field and Tyler Greene hits a 2 run homer to left.  Shane Robinson follows with a double to left and scores on a Furcal single to right.  Final score Cardinals 11 Reds 1.  Jaime Garcia is the winning pitcher and hitter extraordinaire.

Thursday April 19, 2012—Cardinals 3 Reds 6.

I attended this game, sitting 5 rows behind the Cardinal dugout.  It wasn’t a winner, but hey, I got some great pictures, including some shots of Chris Carpenter drinking Gatorade and spitting sunflower seeds.  It doesn’t get better than that on a losing day.  The Reds got on the board in the top of the 4th, after 3 pretty good innings from pitcher and Tommy John surgery survivor Adam Wainwright.  The 4th started out with a strike out of Joey Votto, but then Cardinals’ antagonist and boo bird victim Brandon Phillips belts a solo shot to left center field. Insult was then added to injury when Jay Bruce singles and ex-Cardinal Ryan Ludwick hits a two run shot to left field. Reds lead 3-0.  The Reds score again in the 5th on two singles and a walk.   The Cardinals bring it within one run in the 6th when Furcal and Jay single and Matt Holliday smokes a high and long 3 run jack to left field that ended up in East St. Louis.  But the Reds come back and score another run in the 7th when Drew Stubbs hits a solo shot off reliever Victor Marte, while Jon Jay sacrifices his body to the center field wall in an attempt to catch it. The Reds add their final run in the 9th on three singles by Ryan Hanigan, Drew Stubbs and Joey Votto. Adam Wainwright suffers his 3rd straight loss of the season.

Friday April 20, 2012—Cardinals 4 Pirates 1

The Swashbucklers get on the board first in the bottom of the 1st when lead off hitter Alex Presley hits an inside the park home run off of starter Lance Lynn.  Skip Schumaker, newly off the DL, does his best Jon Jay against the center field wall impersonation and gets himself out of the game and a run put on the board by the Pirates. But that would be all she wrote for the Buccos on this day.  In the 2nd the Cardinals tie the game when Carlos Beltran reaches on an error and Yadier Molina doubles him home.  The Redbirds score again in the 5th on a single by Lance Lynn, a walk, a force out and an RBI single by Carlos Beltran.  The Cardinals score their final two in the 9th with a solo home run by Daniel Descalso, an error putting Shane Robinson on, and a double to left by Rafael Furcal.  Lance Lynn picks up his 3rd win.

Saturday April 21, 2012—Cardinals 0 Pirates 2

The Cardinals drop this one to the Buccos on a cold and wet night.  The Redbirds start out in the 1st with the bases loaded and no outs, but fail to capitalize.  The Pirates score one run in the 4th off starter Jake Westbrook.  Andrew McCutcheon singles to center, followed by a single to right by Neil Walker.  After Casey McGehee strikes out, Pedro Alvarez hits a line drive past third baseman David Freese, scoring McCutcheon. In the 6th, McCutcheon and Alvarez again combine with a double and a single to score the Pirates second and final run.  Starter Jake Westbrook pitches a solid 6 and 2/3 innings, but gets no run support from the Cardinals offense, who were shut down by a stellar pitching performance by Pirate starter A.J. Burnett after a shaky 1st inning.

Sunday April 22, 2012—Cardinals 5 Pirates 1.

The Redbirds take the series with the Pirates on a pitching gem by starter Kyle Lohse.  The Cardinals start out with another 1st inning bases loaded no outs situation, but manage to squeeze one run out of it this time.  Rafael Furcal singles to center field, Tyler Greene singles on a perfect bunt down the third base line and Matt Holliday draws a walk.  Rafael Furcal scores on a double play ground out by Carlos Beltran.  The Cardinals plate two more in the 3rd when Furcal doubles to center, Tyler Green walks, and after Matt Holliday flies out to center, moving Furcal to third, and Tyler Greene advances to second on a passed ball during a Carlos Beltran at bat, David Freese hits an opposite field single to score Furcal and Greene, making it 3-0 Cardinals.  The Pirates manage a single run in the 8th on a double by Michael McKendry followed by a single by Casey McGehee, which takes starter Kyle Lohse out of the game.  In the 9th, the Cardinals add two more runs when Shane Robinson walks, pinch hitter Skip Schumaker singles on a line drive to center sending Robinson to third, Rafael Furcal singles Robinson home, and slumping Matt Holliday hits an RBI single to right field scoring Schumaker.  Kyle Lohse gets the win, his third of the season.

The Cardinals travel to Wrigley for a three game series with the Cubbies before returning home to play the Brewers this weekend.

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