Daily Rant: Cardinals take fourth game in series with Rockies

The Cardinals hosted the Rockies in the fourth game of a four game set. The Redbirds entered the night with a 2-1 lead in the series and Lance Lynn shut down the Rockies through six innings to help his team pick up the win. Find out more after the jump.

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Colorado	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	9	2
St Louis	1	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	X	6	7	1
WP	L. Lynn (11-4)
LP	C. Friedrich (4-6)
SV	J. Motte (19)

	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	K	SB	LOB	Season Avg
R. Furcal ss	4	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	4	.274
J. Jay cf	2	1	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	.324
M. Holliday lf	4	1	1	2	0	0	2	0	1	.318
C. Beltran rf	4	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	1	.306
A. Craig 1b	4	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	2	.299
Y. Molina c	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	.304
D. Freese 3b	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.285
M. Carpenter 2b	1	1	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	.295
B. Browning p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
V. Marte p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
F. Salas p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
S. Schumaker ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.294
M. Boggs p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
J. Motte p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
L. Lynn p	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	.097
D. Descalso ph-2b	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.223
Totals	30	6	7	6	0	4	7	0	12

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	WHIP	Season ERA
L. Lynn (W, 11-4)	6.0	4	0	0	2	7	0	1.23	3.41
B. Browning	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00	0.00
V. Marte	0.2	3	2	2	0	0	1	1.47	4.25
F. Salas	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.73	5.53
M. Boggs	0.2	2	0	0	0	1	0	1.10	1.98
J. Motte (S, 19)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.99	3.13

The Positives

Rafael Furcal, David Freese, and Matt Carpenter all hit singles and scored runs. Carpenter got a rare start at second base and looked capable enough. With Daniel Descalso able to cover all infield positions and Carpenter able to cover everything but shortstop, Tyler Greene becomes even more expendable.
Jon Jay hit a single, scored a run, and drove in his twelfth run of the season.
Matt Holliday continued his tear with a two RBI single. He has 56 RBIs on the season and has driven in a run in each of the last six games.
Carlos Beltran had a two hit night including his eleventh double of the season. He drove in two runs and had 65 RBIs on the year.
Lance Lynn hurled a six inning shutout. He only allowed six base runners and struck out seven.
Barrett Browning is now up to four scoreless innings to start his career. Orel Hershiser’s record is still safe…for now.
Fernando Salas, Mitchell Boggs, and Jason Motte pitched a combined inning and a third of scoreless baseball to close the game out. Boggs ran into some trouble in the ninth when he put two runners on, but Motte came in to close the door.

Justin’s Jeers

Allen Craig and Yadier Molina were held hitless. Craig’s average has now dipped below .300 and Yadi is just above.
The Cardinals stranded twelve runners. Rafael Furcal led the way with four men stranded.
Victor Marte pitched two thirds of an inning and gave up two earned runs on three hits.

Three Stars

3) Lance Lynn – Lynn’s solid pitching kept the Cardinals in this game.

2) Matt Holliday – Holliday has been on fire lately. He drove in two in this game.

1) Carlos Beltran – Beltran drove in two runs and recorded two hits.

Standings

Central	W	L	Pct	GB	Home	Road	RS	RA	Diff	Streak	L10
Pittsburgh Pirates	46	36	.561	—	27-13	19-23	324	304	+20	Won 4	8-2
Cincinnati Reds	44	38	.537	2.0	23-16	21-22	342	309	+33	Lost 3	4-6
St. Louis Cardinals	44	39	.530	2.5	21-19	23-20	416	347	+69	Won 2	6-4
Milwaukee Brewers	38	44	.463	8.0	22-21	16-23	369	383	-14	Lost 2	5-5
Houston Astros	32	51	.386	14.5	23-19	9-32	334	401	-67	Lost 8	2-8
Chicago Cubs	31	51	.378	15.0	19-20	12-31	301	376	-75	Lost 1	7-3

Today’s Game

The Cardinals open a three game set with the Marlins tonight at 7:15 in Busch Stadium. Ricky Nolasco takes the mound for the Marlins against Jake Westbrook. Nolasco is 7-6 with a 4.62 ERA. He is winless in three starts in St Louis with a 7.88 ERA at Busch Stadium. Jake Westbrook is also 7-6 with a 3.91 ERA. If not for one of his earned runs in his last start, Westbrook would be on a five game quality start stretch. As it were, though, he has still looked solid in his last five stints.

Schedule