Goodbye, Justin Masterson

With giving up five runs for the fourth game in six starts with the St. Louis Cardinals, starting pitcher Justin Masterson might as well hang it up this season.

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When the Cardinals traded outfielder James Ramsey for the Cleveland Indians pitcher, it was very much understandable. There was no room for Ramsey on a Cardinals roster loaded with talent in the outfield with the likes of Matt Holliday, Jon Jay, and Oscar Taveras. With Peter Bourjos relegated to spot starts and Stephen Piscotty waiting around in the wings, there was no room for Ramsey. Randal Grichuk is lucky if he will see some spot starts off the bench during the 2015 season.

In 67 games with Springfield, Ramsey hit .300/.389/.527 with 13 home runs and 36 RBI. In 26 games with Columbus since being traded, Ramsey is hitting .290/.371/.490 with 3 home runs and 16 RBI.

Was giving up Ramsey worth it for Masterson? Masterson was coming off an injury when he was traded to the Cardinals but he just hasn’t really delivered the goods.

There’s a Cardinal rule when it comes to Cardinals fans: You don’t lose to the Cubs. Masterson pitched 4.1 innings against Cubs in the first game this afternoon and was pegged for five runs on six hits. Three runs came from solo home runs. Masterson walked one and struck out three as his ERA jumped up to combined 6.03 on the season. With just the Cardinals this year, Masterson has posted a 7.90ERA and a .312 opponents’ batting average.

The Cardinals were thankful for Tyler Lyons on Saturday. The left-hander pitched the final 4.2 innings against the Cubs. He struck out a career-high eight batters and limited the Cubs to just one hitter. Lyons should see some decent time down the stretch even if it means competing with the likes of Marco Gonzales when it comes to the left-handers on the roster.

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