Redbirds Week in Review—6/11/12 to 6/17/12

The interleague odyssey continues.  Two series this week against the White Sox and the Royals.  The Cardinals take the series against the Sox but lose the series against the Royals in a heartbreaking 15 inning marathon on Sunday.  Lots of second guessing, lots of what ifs.  But it’s still just June and there is still plenty of baseball left, so take heart Cardinal Nation, the cavalry will be returning soon.  On to the recaps………

Tuesday June 12, 2012—Cardinals 1 White Sox 6

After an off day on Monday the Redbirds take on the Southsiders. Adam Wainwright is on the mound.  In the top of the 2nd, the Sox put 2 runs on the board on two singles and a triple by Orlando Hudson.  Nothing doing for either team until the bottom of the 6th, when Matt Holliday doubles to left field and Allen Craig hits an RBI single to center scoring Holliday. This will be the only run scored by the Birds.  Waino holds off the Sox through the 7th.  In the 8th, reliever Marc Rzepczynski can’t hold on to the Sox who score two runs on a double, a single and a solo home run.  Reliever Mitchell Boggs comes in after Rzepczynski is pulled and gives up a single and a home run to score two more runs for the Sox.  No come back for the Cards and the game ends in a 6-1 victory for the White Sox.

Wednesday June 13, 2012—Cardinals 1 White Sox 0

Lance Lynn went for his 10th win and he got it.  The Cardinals’ sole run was scored in the 3rd when Carlos Beltran hit a solo shot to right center field.  Lynn pitched a gem, going 7 1/3 and keeping the Sox off the board. Marc Rzepczynski got the hold and Jason Motte got the save.

Thursday June 14, 2012—Cardinals 5 White Sox 3

Birds get on the board first in the 2nd.  Allen Craig hits a double to center and David Freese follows with another double to center, scoring Craig.  1-0 Cardinals.  Craig and Freese strike again in the 3rd, when Craig doubles to left and Freese hits a 2 run shot to center field.  In the 5th, the Redbirds add two more.  Daniel Descalso singles to right field and Allen Craig walks.  After David Freese flies out, Yadier Molina hits an infield single (yes, he did, I am not making it up), which loads the bases.  Matt Adams then smokes a line drive single to center, scoring Descalso and Craig.  5-0 Cardinals.  After 5 scoreless innings Jake Westbrook falters in the 6th and gives up a 3 run home run to Adam Dunn.  But the Cardinals bullpen holds on and the Birds prevail 5-3.

Friday June 15, 2012—Cardinals 2 Royals 3

Kyle Lohse did not have his best outing.  The Royals score first in the 2nd on a Alcides Escobar double and a Jarrod Dyson single.  The Royals add another in the 3rd making it 2-0 Royals.  In the 7th the Royals add their final run against Lohse, on two singles and a sac fly.  The Cardinals come back in the bottom of the 7th, scoring two. David Freese singles to center.  Matt Adams doubles to center, scoring Freese.  Shane Robinson singles to right field, scoring Adams, but then Daniel Descalso pops out to end the inning.  The Cardinals are unable to put any more runs on the board and the Royals take the first game of the series, 3-2.

Saturday June 16, 2012—Cardinals 10 Royals 7

This one was a wild one.  Major controversy in the top of the 1st inning when with a Royal on first and second with no one out, Eric Hosmer hits what appears to be a soft liner to the Cardinals’ pitcher, Joe Kelly.  Kelly scoops the ball and holds it up as if he caught it.  The home plate umpire raises his hand to signal an out, and Kelly turns and throws the ball to first base as the two baserunners have advanced to second and third on the “line out”. Neither base runner attempts to return to their previous bases, and Kelly then throws to second base.  It appears there has been a triple play and the Cardinals’ players leave the field.  Royals manager Ned Yost comes out to talk to the umpires and the umpires then confer with each other.  After a brief conversation, the umpires signal for the Cardinals to return to the field, ruling that the ball was not caught and that the throw to first to get the batter out was the only out.  The runners on second and third remain.  Cardinals’ manager Mike Matheny then comes out on the field, and a lengthy argument ensues between him and two of the umpires.  Matheny is eventually ejected and the play continues.  Kelly gets the second out on a fielder’s choice.  But Mike Moustakas then hits a single to center, scoring Chris Getz from third and the Royals lead 1-0.  Kelly gets the final out of the inning when Brayan Pena pops out to third.  In the bottom of the 1st, perhaps fueled by what had occurred in the top of the inning, the Cardinals proceed to score 4 runs off of Royals starter Bruce Chen.  Carlos Beltran singles to center field, and Matt Holliday then hits a no doubter into Big Mac land.  David Freese doubles to right and Yadier Molina hits a 2 run shot to left.  The rally ends when Shane Robinson flies out to left field. In the 2nd, the Cardinals score two more.  Tyler Greene singles to the shortstop and is advanced to second on a sac bunt by pitcher Joe Kelly.  Carlos Beltran hits a single to center and Tyler Greene scores.  Matt Holliday doubles to right and Carlos Beltran scores.  6-1 Birds.  Then in innings 4, 5, 6, and 7, the Royals chip away at the Cardinals’ lead scoring 6 more runs and taking the lead 7-6.  But the intrepid Birds battle back in the bottom of the 7th. Daniel Descalso walks.  Rafael Furcal bunts a pop up that the Royals catcher attempts to catch, but his pitcher makes a dive for it and knocks it down in fair territory.  Furcal is safe on first and Daniel Descalso moves to second.  Matt Holliday singles to right, scoring Descalso, Furcal to third and Holliday to second on the throw. Allen Craig walks to load the bases and Yadier Molina singles to center, scoring Furcal and Holliday.  9-7 Redbirds. In the eighth the Cardinals score another one when Adron Chambers singles to right, Daniel Descalso bunts Chambers over to second, Furcal grounds out, Chambers to third, Carlos Beltran is intentionally walked, and Matt Holliday doubles to right, scoring Chambers.  Jason Motte gets the save in the 9th inning. Final 10-7 Cardinals.

Sunday June 17, 2012—Cardinals 3 Royals 5

This was a 15 inning heartbreaker.  The Royals got on the board first in the 2nd.  Three consecutive singles, one of them a bunt, off of starter Adam Wainwright made the score 1-0 Royals.  In the 6th, back to back homers by Matt Holliday and Allen Craig put the Bird on top 2-1.  The score remained there until the 9th when Jason Motte entered the game for the save.  After two quick strikeouts, Motte had two strikes on pinch hitter Billy Butler when Butler hit a high fastball over the fence in left center field to tie the game.  The game remained tied until the 14th, when reliever Eduardo Sanchez allowed the Royals to score.  With the game on the line in the bottom of the 14th, Allen Craig draws a walk.  Adron Chambers singles to center, and Allen Craig advances to third with one out.  With the tying run on third, Tyler Greene hits a line drive to center and Allen Craig sc…..nope.  Craig, in a monumental moment of brain freeze extraordinaire, fails to tag up on the line drive and is stuck at third.  Tyler Greene puts his hands on his head in shock, as did all of Cardinal Nation.  However, in the fashion we have all come to know and love, pinch hitter Yadier Molina comes to the plate and bails Craig out, hitting a single to left to score the tying run.  But, the effort was for naught when in the 15th Eduardo Sanchez once again executes a major fail and gives up a two run home run to Yuniesky Betancourt which puts the game out of reach for the Redbirds.  The win for Adam Wainwright that was lost in the 9th inning, ends up a loss for Eduardo Sanchez and the Cardinals.