Daily Rant: Cardinals complete sweep with 7-0 trouncing

The Cardinals successfully swept the rebuilding Chicago Cubs with a 7-0 victory yesterday. The sweep was necessary to keep pace with the Pirates and Reds who also swept their opponents. The Cardinals will now face a much stiffer challenge. Details after the jump.

Box Score

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Chicago Cubs	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
St Louis Cardinals	4	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	X	7	12	0
WP	L. Lynn (12-4)
LP	T. Wood (4-5)

	AB	R	H	RBI	HR	BB	K	SB	LOB	Season Avg
T. Greene 2b	4	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	.214
A. Craig 1b	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.304
F. Salas p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
S. Schumaker ph-lf	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	.321
M. Holliday lf	4	2	2	1	1	1	1	0	0	.321
M. Rzepczynski p	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
C. Beltran rf	5	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	5	.292
D. Freese 3b	2	1	1	0	0	2	1	0	0	.305
J. Jay cf	4	1	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	.304
T. Cruz c	4	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	5	.197
D. Descalso ss	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	.231
L. Lynn p	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.086
M. Carpenter ph-1b	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	.282
Totals	34	7	12	7	2	4	5	0	14

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	WHIP	Season ERA
L. Lynn (W, 12-4)	6.0	4	0	0	3	5	0	1.21	3.10
F. Salas	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1.53	4.41
M. Rzepczynski	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.47	5.06

The Positives

Allen Craig hit a single and scored a run. His average is now back over .300
Matt Holliday had another two hit night, as he his his 24th double and his sixteenth home run of the season. He scored twice and drove in a run.
Carlos Beltran belted his 21st home run of the season. He leads the Cardinals with 69 RBIs
David Freese hit a single and reached base twice on walks.
Jon Jay had a perfect 4-4 day. He hit three singles, his eighth double, scored once, and drove in two runs.
Tony Cruz hit his fifth double of the season and drove in two runs.
Daniel Descalso hit two singles and scored a run.
Lance Lynn had another fantastic outing. He pitched six shutout innings and only allowed four hits and three walks.
Fernando Salas and Marc Rzepczynski pitched a combined three shutout innings to close the game out.

Justin’s Jeers

Tyler Greene was held hitless. He and Descalso are the only Cardinals starters with averages under .300

Three Stars

3) Carlos Beltran – Beltran blasted another home run to put another run on the board for the Cardinals.

2) Matt Holliday – Holliday had yet another two hit night and belted a home run for good measure

1) Jon Jay – Jay went on a tear, belting four hits to lead the Cardinals to victory.

Standings

Central	W	L	Pct	GB	Home	Road	RS	RA	Diff	Streak	L10
Cincinnati Reds	55	40	0.579	—	31-18	24-22	396	345	51	Won 4	8-2
Pittsburgh Pirates	54	40	0.574	0.5	32-14	22-26	390	348	42	Won 5	7-3
St Louis Cardinals	50	45	0.526	5	26-20	24-25	464	378	86	Won 3	5-5
Milwaukee Brewers	44	50	0.468	10.5	26-23	18-27	415	426	-11	Lost 3	5-5
Chicago Cubs	38	56	0.404	16.5	24-21	14-35	347	424	-77	Lost 3	6-4
Houston Astros	34	62	0.354	21.5	24-21	10-41	370	477	-107	Lost 6	1-9

Today’s Game

The Cardinals start a four game set with the Dodgers at 7:15 tonight. Rookie Joe Kelly takes the mound against Chad Billingsley. Kelly is 1-2 with a 2.75 ERA. He hasn’t made any starts against the Dodgers, but he is currently riding a five game quality start streak. Billingsley is 4-9 with a 4.30 ERA and is making his first start back from the disabled list for elbow inflammation. He has one win in eight starts against the Cardinals and a 4.63 ERA to go with his record. This could potentially be his last start before Tommy John surgery if his elbow isn’t as healed as the Dodgers are hoping

Schedule