Daily Rant: Cardinals drop game in late innings

The Cardinals took a 2-1 lead into the seventh inning and squandered it last night. The Reds scored three runs in the bottom frame and the Cardinals couldn’t answer back. They ended up losing 5-3. Details follow after the jump.

Box Score

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
St Louis	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	9	1
Cincinnati	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	1	X	5	7	0
WP	A. Simon (1-1)
LP	A. Wainwright (7-9)
SV	A. Chapman (12)

	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	K	SB	LOB	Season Avg
R. Furcal ss	4	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	3	.274
J. Jay cf	4	0	1	0	0	1	2	0	0	.312
M. Holliday lf	5	0	1	1	0	0	2	0	3	.315
C. Beltran rf	4	0	1	0	0	1	2	0	2	.296
A. Craig 1b	5	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	5	.304
Y. Molina c	4	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	2	.307
D. Freese 3b	2	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	1	.292
S. Schumaker 2b	3	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	.314
S. Robinson ph	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.256
B. Browning p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
F. Salas p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
A. Wainwright p	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	.057
V. Marte p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
T. Greene ph-2b	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	.226
Totals	34	3	9	3	0	6	11	1	19

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	WHIP	Season ERA
A. Wainwright (L, 7-9)	6.1	5	4	4	2	4	1	1.34	4.62
V. Marte	0.2	0	0	0	1	1	0	1.46	4.30
B. Browning	0.2	1	1	1	0	1	0	0.20	1.80
F. Salas	0.1	1	0	0	1	0	0	1.67	5.10

The Positives

Rafael Furcal picked up a single and a stolen base. He also scored one of the Cardinals three runs.
Jon Jay and Carlos Beltran also hit singles and drew walks.
Matt Holliday drove in his 57th run of the season with an RBI single.
Yadier Molina had a two hit game including a run scored and his 16th double of the season. Welcome back, Yadi!
Skip Schumaker also had a two hit night and drove in his sixteenth run of the season.
Lance Berkman was activated from the disabled list after the game. He may even start in tonight’s game.

Justin’s Jeers

Allen Craig and David Freese were held hitless. Craig did score a run and Freese drew two walks.
The Cardinals stranded nineteen runners. Allen Craig led the way with five men left on.
Adam Wainwright actually had a solid outing going before coming out for the seventh inning. He ended with a line of four runs allowed in six and a third, but that number would have been one run in six innings if he had been pulled sooner.
Barrett Browning gave up his first earned run of the season.
The Cardinals found out before the game that Kyle McClellan was officially done for the season. Due to McClellan being arbitration-eligible, there is a good chance he doesn’t get tendered a contract. We may have seen K-Mac’s last outings as a Cardinal.

Three Stars

3) Shane Robinson – Robinson had a pinch-hit single that drove in a run in the eighth. The Cardinals couldn’t complete the rally, though.

2) Yadier Molina – Molina picked up two hits and a run in his first game back from the bereavement list.

1) Skip Schumaker – Schumaker hit two singles and drove in a run in this losing effort.

Standings

Central	W	L	Pct	GB	Home	Road	RS	RA	Diff	Streak	L10
Cincinnati Reds	48	38	.558	—	24-16	24-22	363	319	+44	Won 4	6-4
Pittsburgh Pirates	48	38	.558	—	29-14	19-24	352	323	+29	Lost 1	7-3
St. Louis Cardinals	46	41	.529	2.5	23-20	23-21	429	361	+68	Lost 1	6-4
Milwaukee Brewers	41	45	.477	7.0	23-21	18-24	394	400	-6	Won 2	7-3
Chicago Cubs	34	52	.395	14.0	20-20	14-32	325	387	-62	Won 2	7-3
Houston Astros	33	54	.379	15.5	24-21	9-33	345	421	-76	Lost 2	1-9

Today’s Game

The Cardinals now enter game two and hope to even the series with the Reeds. Kyle Lohse starts for the Cardinals against Mike Leake. Lohse is 9-2 this season with a 2.79 ERA. He has ten starts against his former team in his career and has picked up wins in three of those starts. He currently has a 3.38 ERA against Cincinnati and has been solid on the road this year. Leake is 3-6 with a 4.01 for the Reds this season. He has three starts against the Cardinals in his young career and has picked up a win against them. His career ERA against St Louis is 6.06. Game time is set for 3:05