Daily Rant: Cardinals comeback attempt falls just short against Astros

One day after breaking their five game losing streak, the Cardinals failed to start a winning streak. The Astros touched up Jaime Garcia early and held off a late onslaught by the Cardinals to pick up the win. Find out who excelled for the Cardinals after the jump.

Box Score

Final		1		2		3		4		5		6		7	8	9	R	H	E

	St. Louis	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	4	8	12	2

	Houston	4	2	0	1	0	1	1	0	X	9	13	1


WP: L. Harrell (5-4) S: B. Myers (14) LP: J. Garcia (3-4)

	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	K	SB	LOB	Season Avg
R. Furcal ss	5	2	1	2	1	0	0	0	2	.314
D. Descalso 2b	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.226
C. Beltran ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.275
M. Holliday lf	4	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	.271
T. Greene pr	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.212
A. Craig rf	5	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.358
D. Freese 3b	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.268
M. Adams 1b	4	2	2	3	1	0	0	0	1	.294
S. Robinson cf	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.259
V. Marte p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
M. Boggs p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
S. Hill ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	.167
T. Cruz c	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	.179
J. Garcia p	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.292
M. Cleto p	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	.000
S. Freeman p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
A. Chambers cf	2	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	.316
Totals	39	8	12	8	2	1	4	0	10

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	WHIP	Season ERA
J. Garcia (L, 3-4)	2.0	5	6	6	2	2	1	1.46	4.48
M. Cleto	2.1	4	1	1	1	3	1	1.75	2.25
S. Freeman	1.1	1	1	0	0	3	0	2.14	7.71
V. Marte	1.1	2	1	1	0	2	0	1.19	4.15
M. Boggs	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1.14	2.19

The Positives

Rafael Furcal has a 1 for 6 night, hitting a two run home run in the ninth to spark the Cardinals comeback attempt.
Allen Craig, David Freese, Matt Adams, and Tony Cruz all had two-hit nights. Of the four, Adams performance was the biggest as he hit a three run home run in the third inning.
Shane Robinson returned from the flu and had a one hit night starting in center field.
Adron Chambers came into the game late to take over in center field and hit a triple that drove in two runs.
Mitchell Boggs had a strong outing out of the bullpen, pitching a scoreless inning.

Justin’s Jeers

There were a handful of sluggers with zero hits. Daniel Descalso and Matt Hollidy were the two starters putting up 0fers.
The pitching was poor for the Cardinals. It all hinged on Jaime Garcia’s poor night. It appears that he may be more injured than the Cardinals thought. He lasted two innings and gave up six earned runs while allowing seven base runners.
Mikael Cleto did some mop-up work and lasted two and a third innings. His performance was solid overall, but he gave up a home run. Without that homer, the Cardinals four run ninth would have tied the game.
Sam Freeman and Victor Marte pitched two and two thirds and gave up two runs.

Three Stars

3) David Freese – Freese had a two-hit night, including a double. He score a run to help the Cardinals chances.

2) Rafael Furcal – Furcal hit a ninth inning home run to try to spark a comeback victory for the Cardinals.

1) Matt Adams- Adams his his second home run of the season and knocked in three runs.

Standings

Cent		W	L	GB	SRS
CIN	F	30	24	—	0.1
PIT	F	28	26	2.0	-0.6
STL	F	28	28	3.0	0.3
HOU	F	24	31	6.5	-0.5
MIL	F	24	31	6.5	-1.0
CHC	F	19	36	11.5	-1.0

Today’s Game

The Cardinals take on the Astros in game two today at 7:05. Adam Wainwright takes the mound for the Cardinals. He sports a 4-6 record and has been an enigma for the team in his return from Tommy John surgery. He has bounced between poor performance and stellar play. He currently has a 4.98 ERA. Starting for the Astros is Cardinal killer Bud Norris. He has a 5-2 record and a 4.52 ERA but for some reason has historically pitched well against the Cardinals. In eleven starts against the Redbirds, he has seven wins and a 2.17 ERA.

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