All posts by Brian Walton

Brian Walton runs The Cardinal Nation, covering the St. Louis Cardinals and minor league system.

VSL Cardinals Report: June 28, 2009


By Josh Jones, Cardinals Best News Links

The Venezuelan Summer League Cardinals turned it around during this period taking four of five games that were completed.  The Cardinals extended their losing streak, at the beginning of the week, to four games but went on to take the final four.  The Redbirds are 18-16 and are eight games out of first in a two-way tie in third place in the league.  They are 9-9 at home and 9-7 on the road.  The team has also tied last season’s mark of 23 home runs, still with another month and a half to go.

The Mets visited the Cardinals in the first game of this period. The Mets jumped out in front and that was all she wrote.  Two big errors cost the Redbirds and gave free passes to the Mets four of six runs scored.  The Mets extended the Cardinals losing streak to four games with a 6-1 victory.

The Cardinals hosted the Phillies next.  The Cardinals scored first and their pitching held the Phils within check throughout the game.  The Phillies did out hit the Cardinals, but only scored one run the whole entire game.  The Phillies also committed three errors giving way to the Redbirds final and game-winning runs in the seventh.  The Cardinals won 3-1 to halt their losing streak.

The Cardinals went on the road to play the Tigers and broke out the good bats.  The Redbirds out hit the Tigers 18-6, with every Cards player connecting for at least one hit.  The Cardinals tacked on six runs in the first three frames and added another seven on between the sixth and eighth innings.  The Cardinals drilled three home runs and beat down the Tigers 13-2.

The Pirates came to town to take on the Cardinals in the next game.  The Cardinals got some stellar pitching from their ace but four errors during the game contributed to runs being scored against him.  The Pirates had the lead heading into the fifth but the Redbirds came out swinging in the bottom half and took the lead.  The Cardinals’ reliever held the Bucs hitters in check and won 5-3.  This marks the first win for the Cardinals over the Pirates in six games played between the two.

After an off day, the Cardinals hosted the Mariners.  The Mariners plated two runs in the first two innings before a delay in game.  The contest resumed only to be suspended after the top of the third.  The Mariners led 2-0 and the game is scheduled to be resumed on July 10.

For the final game of the period the Cardinals hosted the Rays.  Two of the top pitchers on the Cardinals’ staff shut down the Rays and held them to only six hits.  The Redbirds scored five runs in the second and added on another two, on errors, in the seventh.   The Cardinals won 7-0 and picked up their fourth shutout of the season.

Who’s Hot

Limbert Rivas extended his on base streak to six games and will carry a four-game hitting streak into the next week.  The 18-year old right-handed hitter went 7-for-17 (.412) with one RBI, two runs, two walks, two stolen bases, four strikeouts, and was caught stealing once.  Rivas played three games at first base, one as designated hitter, and split another between first and catcher.  He was on the back end of two double plays while at first.

Jose Cortez nudged his way back into the leadoff role and has a six-game hitting streak to bring into the next period.  The 20-year old right-handed hitter went 7-for-18 (.389) with two doubles, one home run, seven RBIs, six runs, two walks, and was caught stealing once.  Cortez is 12-for-36 (.400) and has drove in ten runs in his last ten games.

Hector Garcia had his hitting streak extended to ten games, but was snapped in the last game of the week.  The 19-year old right-handed hitter went 9-for-22 (.409) with three doubles, two home runs, nine RBIs, three runs, one walk, two strikeouts, and grounded into one double play.  Garcia played four games at third base, where he committed one throwing error, and split one between the corners.

Hildemaro Vargas has silently been hitting real well as of late and has made it on base at least twice in the last four games.  The 17-year old right-handed hitter went 6-for-11 (.545) with one double, one triple, three RBIs, four runs, three walks, hit by pitcher twice, and struck out twice.  Vargas committed two fielding errors and assisted in one double play in his two games at shortstop and played his other three game at second base.

Omar Viloria got his shot at some playing time behind the plate this past week.  The 18-year old right-handed hitter went 4-for-15 (.267) with one RBI, four runs, one walk, one hit by pitch, three strikeouts, and grounded into two double plays.  He had his best game of the season on June 23 going 3-for-5 with one RBI and two runs.  Viloria was the backstop for all four games he played, throwing out two of five attempting base stealers, assisting in one double play, and throwing away the ball twice for a couple errors.

Deimer Bier continued his dominance at the top of the hill this past week.  On June 21, the 18-year old right-hander had a little trouble pitching five innings allowing seven hits, four runs (two earned), and struck out eight for his second losing decision.  In his next start he gave up four hits, no runs, one walk, struck out four, and picked one runner off over six innings.  His eight strikeouts tied a season-high and the second start was an opening to the third shutout he has been involved in this season.

Moises Colorado had some control issues but was still effective in his latest start.  The 19-year old right-hander made his start on June 23, pitching five innings and allowing two hits, one earned run (home run), four walks, one balk, threw one wild pitch, and struck out five for his third winning decision of the season.  Colorado had been up and down all season but finally lasted through five innings this time around.

Carlos Oraa had one of the best starts for the Cardinals, this past week, and his best yet this season.  The 19-year old right-hander tossed five innings of shut out ball, giving up five hits, one walk, and striking out five on June 22.  This was his first start that he has not allowed a run and has struck out four plus in four of his six starts (23 over 24 innings).

Hector Corpas seems to have taken over as the Cardinals closer picking up two saves in both appearances this period.  The 19-year old right-hander closed out the June 22 game striking out his only batter faced and holding both inherited runners on for the win.  On June 24, Corpas entered in the sixth and pitched four scoreless innings giving up two hits and striking out five for another team victory.  The third-year Cardinals affiliated pitcher has not allowed an earned run in five of his seven relief outings this season.

John De Aguas returned to action after being overlooked for a week and extended his unearned runs streak to 16.1 innings.  The 17-year old left-hander made his first appearance on June 21, going three innings and allowing one hit, one unearned run, two walks, and striking out one.  He earned his first save of the season on June 27, giving up two hits, no runs, two walks, and striking out a season-high five over three innings.

Who’s Not

Jem Argenal and Carlos Yegues both went 1-for-11 (.090) during the week.  Argenal had one run, one walk, and struck out three times. Yegues struck out seven times.

Jose Weffer, still showing the rookie butterflies, pitched on June 23.  He walked three batters and induced a ground out before being pulled in the eighth inning.

The Happenings

Angelo Echeverria has still not pitched since June 12.

Jackson Solarte and Johnny Polanco have not made an appearance since June 20.

Dail Villaneuva was suspended for 50-games on June 23 for testing positive for metabolites of Nandrolone, a performance-enhancing drug banned by Major and Minor League Baseball. The 19-year old left-hander made seven appearances (three starts) posting an 0-1 record and 3.86 ERA.  He allowed 15 hits, nine runs (seven earned), ten walks, and struck out four over 16.1 innings.

Wilfredo Vivas’ days on the suspended list are coming to an end.  The Cardinals have played 34 games, as of Saturday, and it should be just a matter of time before he returns and adds some depth to the middle infield.

Venezuelan Summer League Stats

The Cardinals hitting improved from .268 to .273, good for second in the league.  The team ranks second in runs, hits, home runs (tied), total bases, OBP, and OPS.  They also rank third in doubles, walks, and SLG.

The Cardinals pitching also had a great week, watching their ERA drop from 4.63 to 4.09 (third worst) and their WHIP went from 1.54 to 1.49 (second worst).  They rank second in shutouts (tied), strikeouts, holds, and first in saves.

Roberto Perez is eighth in batting average, tied for sixth in home runs, tied for tenth in total bases, fourth in walks, fourth in OBP, fourth in SLG, and third in OPS.

Jose Cortez is tenth in batting average and tied for third in doubles.

Anthony Fonseca is tied for tenth in runs scored and tied for ninth in home runs.

Hector Garcia is tied for tenth in hits, tied for first in doubles, tied for ninth in home runs, tied for tenth in RBIs, tied for fifth in total bases, and tenth in SLG.

Hildemaro Vargas is tied for second in triples and tied for ninth in stolen bases

Alexander Castellano is tied for sixth in triples.

Carlos Yegues is tied for ninth in home runs.

Osmir Medina is tied for ninth in stolen bases.

Javier Avendano is tied for fourth in wins, second in ERA, tied for fourth in innings pitched, and third in strikeouts.

Deimer Bier is tied for fourth in wins, tied for fourth in innings pitched, and fourth in strikeouts.

Moises Colorado is tied for fourth in wins and tied for eighth in strikeouts.

Francisco Guzman is second in saves and first in game finishes.

Hector Corpas is tied for third in saves.

Fernando Cedeno is tied for first in holds.

Up Next (Overall, vs. Cardinals)

June 28: @ Mets (16-17, 2-3)

June 29: @ Phillies (12-22, 2-4)

June 30: Tigers (10-24, 0-5)

July 1: @ Pirates (26-8, 5-1)

July 2: Off Day

July 3: @ Mariners (18-15, 4-1)

July 4: @ Rays (18-16, 3-3)

Pujols’ Saturday Duos


On Saturday, Albert Pujols hit home runs in his first two at-bats against the Minnesota Twins’ Kevin Slowey, driving in four – two each time. Pujols now has 28 home runs and 74 RBI on the season.

In each of his subsequent plate appearances, Pujols was sent to first base on walks. Pujols’ fifth and final at-bat for the Cardinals in their 5-3 victory did not occur as he was in the on-deck circle when Colby Rasmus ground into a double play to end the home eighth.

Among Pujols’ Saturday feats:

  • This was the 20th time Pujols homered on consecutive plate appearances in his 29 career multi-home run games. Three other games had a walk or sacrifice fly in between the homers.
  • It was Pujols’ sixth multi-home run game in the first half of this season alone.
  • It was also Albert’s 11th multi-RBI game in June, which represents the most of any month in his eight-and-a-half year career.
  • It was the Cardinals’ 23rd two home run, two walk performance in the last 55 years. Pujols has the last four, but Mark McGwire has the most during this time with six.

Cardinals Multi-Home Run Games (1954-2009)

Albert Pujols 29
Mark McGwire 28
Stan Musial 17
Ray Lankford 17
Jim Edmonds 17
Ken Boyer 17
George Hendrick 10

Cardinals Two Home Run, Two Walk Games (1954-2009)

Date Opp PA AB R H HR RBI BB IBB SO SF GDP SB BOr Posn
Albert Pujols 6/27/2009 MIN W 5 – 3 4 2 2 2 2 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 3rd 1B
Albert Pujols 5/30/2009 @SFG W 6 – 2 5 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 3rd 1B
Albert Pujols 4/3/2006 @PHI W 13 – 5 5 2 3 2 2 4 2 0 0 1 0 0 3rd 1B
Albert Pujols 5/9/2005 LAD W 4 – 2 4 2 2 2 2 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 3rd 1B
Jim Edmonds 8/31/2004 SDP W 9 – 3 5 3 2 3 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 5th CF
Jim Edmonds 6/28/2003 @KCR W 13 – 9 6 4 4 4 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 2nd CF
J.D. Drew 4/21/2001 @HOU W 9 – 2 5 3 2 2 2 3 2 0 1 0 0 0 2nd RF
Fernando Tatis 7/13/2000 @CHW W 13 – 5 5 3 3 2 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 4th 3B
Mark McGwire 4/13/1999 @PIT W 4 – 2 5 2 2 2 2 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 3rd 1B
Mark McGwire 9/2/1998 @FLA W 14 – 4 5 3 3 2 2 4 2 0 0 0 1 0 3rd 1B
Mark McGwire 8/19/1998 @CHC W 8 – 6 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 3rd 1B
Mark McGwire 7/17/1998 LAD W 4 – 1 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 3rd 1B
Mark McGwire 4/14/1998 ARI W 15 – 5 5 3 4 3 3 5 2 1 0 0 0 0 3rd 1B
Mark McGwire 9/27/1997 CHC W 12 – 4 5 2 2 2 2 4 3 0 0 0 0 1 3rd 1B
Ray Lankford 7/15/1997 @CIN W 7 – 4 5 3 2 2 2 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 4th CF
Ray Lankford 6/27/1994 @NYM W 9 – 8 5 3 3 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 3rd CF
Ray Lankford 9/1/1991 @SFG W 14 – 1 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 0 1 0 1 0 1st CF
Terry Kennedy 6/20/1980 @CIN W 7 – 5 5 3 2 2 2 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 6th LF
Dick Allen 7/27/1970 @CIN W 16 – 9 6 4 3 2 2 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 4th 1B
Bill White 5/5/1965 SFG L 5 – 10 5 3 2 2 2 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 5th 1B
Ken Boyer 5/15/1960 @CHC W 6 – 1 5 3 2 2 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 1 1st 3B
Wally Moon 6/9/1956 PIT W 8 – 3 5 3 3 3 2 4 2 0 0 0 0 1 5th 1B
Rip Repulski 7/1/1955 @CHC L 7 – 11 5 3 2 3 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 6th LF

Thanks to Tom Orf for supplying the data.

“The Cardinal Nation” blog Sunday on KSDK Channel 5


What better place to feature “The Cardinal Nation” than on “This Week In Cardinal Nation”?

That’s right! I am pleased to announce that this blog, “The Cardinal Nation”, will be highlighted on St. Louis’ KSDK Channel 5’s weekly series “This Week In Cardinal Nation” on Sunday.

A segment called “The Cardinals Time Machine” will feature an interview with a youthful Albert Pujols back in Spring Training 2001. Backing that up will be a series of stats from here at TCN demonstrating Pujols’ excellence during the eight-and-a-half record-breaking seasons since.

For those unfamiliar with it, “This Week In Cardinal Nation” is not a highlight show, but instead a light-hearted series that celebrates the fun of the game and romance between the Cardinals and their fans.

Those in the Channel 5 broadcast area can catch “This Week In Cardinal Nation” on KSDK in St. Louis every Sunday at 10 a.m and again at 11 p.m. In addition, a subset of the segment that includes my contribution will be posted on KSDK’s website by mid-day on Monday. I will post the link here at that time.

As promised, here is the video:

Cards’ ninth-rounder McCully to sign


Right-handed pitcher Nick McCully, the St. Louis Cardinals’ ninth-round selection in the 2009 draft, has agreed to terms with the organization, reports Scout.com’s Dustin Mattison. The 20-year-old junior from Coastal Carolina is scheduled to report to the Quad Cities River Bandits of the Midwest League after signing on Saturday.

This spring, McCully posted an 8-1 record with a 2.10 ERA in 28 appearances. He collected eight saves and struck out 64 in 73 innings pitched. Opposing batters hit just .197 against him.

Taken with the 279th pick overall this June, McCully was listed on the tentative season-opening roster of the short-season Batavia Muckdogs of the New York-Penn League, but apparently took a bit longer to come to terms.

McCully will be the 40th of the Cardinals’ 50 draftees to sign and the second member of the class to be assigned to the full-season league, following eighth-rounder Jason Stidham, who joined the River Bandits on Thursday.

Cardinals vs. Twins – Regular season history


This weekend, the St. Louis Cardinals are meeting the Minnesota Twins for the first time since the two clubs played a three-game interleague series during the 2001 season. The Cardinals swept the Twins at Busch Stadium II from July 15-17, 2001 as they out-scored Minnesota 13-6.

St. Louis has faced the Twins 15 times during the regular season and holds a 9-6 advantage. The two clubs matched up for five consecutive seasons beginning in 1997 before a seven-year hiatus.

Cardinals vs. Twins (1997-2001)

July 17, 2001-Cardinals 4, Twins 2

Darryl Kile allowed 1 run over 6 1/3 with no walks and six strikeouts in a 4-2 win. The Cardinals scored on RBI singles by Matheny, Paquette, Vina and Edmonds and Jason Christiansen got the final two outs for his third save. Kyle Lohse (pictured) started for the Twins but was pinch-hit for in the 5th after allowing four runs and eight hits in four innings.

July 16, 2001-Cardinals 4, Twins 3

Albert Pujols’ RBI single in the bottom of the 8th drove in the winning run in a 4-3 game. All the previous runs came on home runs as Chad Allen put the Twins up 1-0, Polanco’s two-run homer and Renteria’s solo shot made it 3-1 before Luis Rivas made it 3-2 off Bud Smith (7 IP, 4 H 2 R) before Allen hit his second of the game off Gene Stechschulte to make it 3-3 in the top of the 8th. Steve Kline got the win in relief and Christiansen got the last out for the save.

July 15, 2001-Cardinals 5, Twins 1

Dustin Hermanson pitched seven shutout innings in a 5-1 Cardinals win. The Cardinals knocked Joe Mays out in the 5th when they scored all five of their runs on 7 hits (Hermanson-1B, Vina 2B, Polanco-1B-RBI, Edmonds-SF-RBI, McGwire-1B, Pujols-2B-RBI, Lankford-1B-2 RBI, Renteria 1B). Christiansen got the two final outs to squelch a small Twins rally.

July 18, 2000-Twins 3, Cardinals 2

A pitching duel between Brad Radke and Andy Benes (CG-8 IP-3 R-2 ER) ended on Matt Lawton’s RBI single in the bottom of the eighth for a 3-2 lead and LaTroy Hawkins put the Cards down in order in the 9th. Craig Paquette had put the Cards up 2-0 on a RBI single and sac fly before the Twins tied it with two in the 6th.

July 17, 2000-Twins 5, Cardinals 2

Pat Hentgen pitched six solid innings to improve his record to 9-6 in a 8-3 win. The Cardinals used the long ball to put the Twins away with a solo shot by Chris Richard (Richard would go 2-for-18 in his Cardinal career as he would be traded for Mike Timlin 12 days later), a two-run shot by Tatis and a three-run homer by Edmonds in the 8th that moved the lead to 7-2.

July 16, 2000-Twins 5, Cardinals 2

Ankiel allowed four runs over six innings including three in the fourth, the first on a David Ortiz RBI-single and Mark Redman held the Cardinal offense down, allowing only a 2-run double by Renteria in the eighth.

July 20, 1999-Twins 4, Cardinals 2

Brad Radke held the Cards to one run over 7 1/3 innings and Larry Luebbers took the loss. The Cardinals runs came on solo homers by Darren Bragg and McGwire. Jacque Jones had a homer and an RBI-double and Terry Steinbach also had an RBI for the Twins.

July 19, 1999-Cardinals 8, Twins 4

The Cardinals knocked out Mike Lincoln with six runs in the third and Kent Mercker pitched six solid innings for the win. The six runs came on two-run homers from Joe McEwing and Fernando Tatis followed by RBI singles by Alberto Castillo and Mercker. Tatis would add another two-run home run the next inning. Ricky Bottalico pitched the final 1 1/3 for the save after Manny Aybar ran into trouble in the eighth.

July 18, 1999- Twins 5, Cardinals 2

Darren Oliver and LaTroy Hawkins matched up in a pitchers duel with both going seven innings and the Twins leading 1-0 going into the ninth. Denny Hocking led off the game with a home run off Oliver, who would only allow three more hits. The Twins would score four unearned runs off Rick Croushore in the top of the ninth and the Cardinals could only counter with Darren Bragg’s two-run homer in the bottom of the inning.

June 28, 1998-Twins 3, Cardinals 2

The Twins scored the winning run on a squeeze bunt by Otis Nixon in the seventh. Orlando Merced and Marty Cordova’s RBI-singles in the first put the Twins up 2-0 but the Cards tied it up by Bob Tewksbury on Willie McGee’s sac fly and Gary Gaetti’s infield single for an RBI. Kent Bottenfield took the loss going 6 2/3. Tewksbury twice used lob pitches to get out McGwire.

June 27, 1998-Cardinals 7, Twins 2

Todd Stottlemyre pitched a complete game five-hiitter, allowing only one earned run in a 7-2 win. The Cardinals took an early lead on Brian Hunter’s home run and then jumped on Eric Milton for three in the sixth on a Jordan RBI-single, Pagnozzi’s RBI-double and Hunter’s groundout. McGwire’s two-run homer the next inning made it 6-1.

June 26, 1998-Twins 5, Cardinals 1

Matt Lawton’s home run put the Twins up early before a Ray Lankford solo home run cut the lead to 2-1 in the seventh. Marty Cordova’s two-run home run in the bottom of eighth off Rick Croushore gave the Twins some breathing room. Juan Acevedo took the loss giving up two runs in seven innings. Greg Swindell got the win in relief after starter Mike Morgan had to leave the game in the third.

July 2, 1997-Cardinals 2, Twins 1

Willie McGee’s walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth off Eddie Guardado gave the Cardinals a 2-1 win. Mark Petkovsek pitched the final two innings for the victory after the pitching duel between Alan Benes (8 IP-1 R) and Bob Tewksbury (6 IP-1 R).

July 1, 1997-Cardinals 2, Twins 0

Todd Stottlemyre went seven innings allowing five hits and striking out ten and T.J. Mathews and Dennis Eckersley put the Twins down in order the last two innings for the shutout. All of the scoring was provided by Tom Lampkin’s two-run home run in the fourth off losing pitcher LaTroy Hawkins.

June 30, 1997-Cardinals 2, Twins 1

Dennis Eckersley struck out Chuck Knoblauch with runners on second and third and two outs in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the victory. Matt Morris allowed one run in 7 1/3 for the victory. Rich Becker homered off Morris in the 2nd for a 1-0 Twins lead before the Cardinals countered on John Mabry’s RBI double in the bottom of the inning and Gary Gaetti’s RBI single in the third for the game’s final run. T.J Mathews also got off a jam in the eighth – second and third with one out, striking out Terry Steinbach and getting Ron Coomer to fly out.


In addition, the 1987 World Series featured these two teams with the Twins claiming the World Series title in seven games. Each club won all their home games and Minnesota picked up a 4-2 victory in Game Seven for the win.

Thanks to Tom Orf for providing the individual game capsules.

Carpenter dominates, but needs more help


Since the start of the 2004 season, just over five-and-a-half years ago, St. Louis Cardinals pitchers have started 24 games in which they went on to pitch seven or more innings on four or fewer hits with nary a base on balls.

Despite the dominance, the team has won only about four of every five of these games. Specifically, the team’s record is 19-5 (.792) in such outings. The starters themselves are 19-3 (.864) with two no-decisions in games the bullpen later lost in part due to the lack of a cushion provided by the club’s sputtering offense.

Despite missing most of two seasons during that time, ace Chris Carpenter (pictured) has authored the vast majority of these fine performances, ten. His record in these games is 8-1-1 (.889), but lately has not achieved the desired bottom line result after having won his first seven such outings.

No other Cardinals pitcher has more than three of these games (Braden Looper) and even the next four on the list combined after Carpenter do not reach his impressive total. Interestingly, budding ace Adam Wainwright has yet to make an appearance among this group, though each of the club’s other current starters are represented.

Cardinals starters – seven or more innings on four or fewer hits and no walks (2004-2009)

G Starter
10 Chris Carpenter
3 Braden Looper
2 Kyle Lohse, Joel Pineiro, Jason Marquis
1 Todd Wellemeyer, Anthony Reyes, Jeff Suppan, Mark Mulder, Matt Morris
24 Total

Carpenter’s tenth such outing was on Thursday afternoon in New York as he and Cardinals fell to the Mets, 3-2. It was his third such start in the last month and amazingly, the team’s second loss in the three games. Chris took a no-decision on May 25th in Milwaukee despite fanning ten in eight two-hit scoreless innings.

With six of these gems this season to-date and almost half the schedule remaining, the starting staff seems poised to top their best season in the last five. In 2006, they also registered six of these games. Just as in 2009, Carpenter had half of them, but perhaps encouragingly, they were all in the second half of the season.

Cardinals starters – seven or more innings on four or fewer hits and no walks (2004-2009) – game log

# Player Date Opp Res Score App Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR
1 Chris Carpenter 6/25/2009 @NYM L 2-3 GS-7 L 7 4 3 3 0 5 0
2 Chris Carpenter 6/4/2009 CIN W 3-1 CG 9 W 9 3 1 1 0 3 1
3 Chris Carpenter 5/25/2009 @MIL L 0-1 GS-8 8 2 0 0 0 10 0
4 Kyle Lohse 5/23/2009 KCR W 5-0 GS-8 W 8 4 0 0 0 6 0
5 Joel Pineiro 5/19/2009 CHC W 3-0 SHO9 W 9 3 0 0 0 5 0
6 Kyle Lohse 4/12/2009 HOU W 3-0 SHO9 W 9 3 0 0 0 4 0
7 Braden Looper 9/5/2008 FLA L 1-4 GS-8 7.1 4 0 0 0 6 0
8 Todd Wellemeyer 8/31/2008 @HOU L 0-3 GS-7 L 7 4 1 1 0 4 0
9 Braden Looper 6/11/2008 @CIN W 10-0 SHO9 W 9 3 0 0 0 4 0
10 Braden Looper 9/2/2007 CIN W 3-2 GS-7 W 7 4 0 0 0 3 0
11 Joel Pineiro 8/9/2007 SDP W 5-0 GS-7 W 7 4 0 0 0 4 0
12 Chris Carpenter 9/1/2006 PIT W 3-1 CG 9 W 9 3 1 1 0 8 0
13 Chris Carpenter 8/15/2006 CIN W 5-0 SHO9 W 9 4 0 0 0 6 0
14 Jason Marquis 7/23/2006 @LAD W 6-1 GS-8 W 8 4 0 0 0 2 0
15 Chris Carpenter 7/14/2006 LAD W 5-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 7 0
16 Anthony Reyes 6/22/2006 @CHW L 0-1 CG 8 L 8 1 1 1 0 6 1
17 Jeff Suppan 4/25/2006 PIT W 6-3 GS-7 W 7 4 3 0 0 3 0
18 Jason Marquis 8/27/2005 @WSN W 6-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 3 0
19 Chris Carpenter 7/17/2005 HOU W 3-0 SHO9 W 9 3 0 0 0 9 0
20 Chris Carpenter 6/25/2005 PIT W 8-0 SHO9 W 9 4 0 0 0 11 0
21 Mark Mulder 5/4/2005 @CIN W 7-3 GS-7 W 7 3 0 0 0 3 0
22 Chris Carpenter 4/5/2005 @HOU W 7-3 GS-7 W 7 4 1 1 0 2 0
23 Matt Morris 9/3/2004 LAD W 3-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 11 0
24 Chris Carpenter 5/9/2004 @MON W 5-2 GS-8 W 8 4 2 2 0 4 1

As is often the case, a tip of the cap is offered to Tom Orf for the supporting data.

Thursday live blogging with FOX Sports Midwest


Join me, Brian Walton, and Pat Parris from New York’s Citi Field along with other panelists during Thursday afternoon’s live blog on FOX Sports Midwest’s website. Alternatively, once the event begins at noon Central, you can enter your comments right here in the “CoveritLive” area below.

In a match-up of aces and former Cy Young Award winners, Chris Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals take on Johan Santana and the New York Mets in the series-ending contest. Thursday’s first pitch is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. Central.

<a href=”https://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&#038;task=viewa<br ></a> ltcast&#038;altcast_code=2bc8d7bb2f” >FOX Sports Midwest Cardinals Live Blog — Cards at Mets, June 25</a>

Carpenter doesn’t own the Mets


By Tom Orf

Chris Carpenter’s only career game against Mets in New York was an interleague game. When with Toronto, he allowed one run and four hits in six innings in a 1-0 loss to the Mets (the run was scored by Joe McEwing on a single by Mike Piazza in the first).

Of course his last game against the Mets was his only one game in 2007 before going on DL. His only start as a Cardinal against the Mets was in 2005 when he shut them out for seven innings on three hits to move to 21-4 in his Cy Young Award year. Albert Pujols hit two solo home runs, the first in the sixth to put the Cards up 1-0 and John Gall added a two-run home run.

Johan Santana’s only game against Cardinals was last year, when he pitched a six-hitter in a 9-1 win. A Pujols home run provided the only run for the Cardinals.

Carpenter against the Mets

Date Tm Opp GmReslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR
4/1/2007 STL NYM L 1-6 GS-6 ,L 6 9 5 5 1 3 0
9/8/2005 STL NYM W 5-0 GS-7 ,W 7 3 0 0 1 7 0
7/17/2001 TOR @NYM L 0-1 GS-6 ,L 6 4 1 1 2 2 0
7/18/2000 TOR NYM L 7-11 GS-4 ,L 4 5 7 7 6 3 2

Jason Stidham to sign with Cardinals


Jason Stidham was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the eighth round of the Major League First-Year Player Draft earlier this month. There was apparently enough confidence in his signing that he was listed on a preliminary Batavia roster before the New York-Penn League season began.

But the expected announcement did not occur. It is coming, but a few days later than thought.

“Jason is signing today if he hasn’t already,” Mike Martin, Florida State University’s head baseball coach told the Talahassee Democrat on Wednesday. “The last couple of days I hadn’t gotten my hopes up that he might come back. I kind of figured he would sign.”

The second-team All-ACC infielder led FSU this season with 24 doubles. Stidham hit .363 and started all 63 games. The junior added 12 home runs for the FSU squad that had reached the NCAA super regionals before falling.

“The hard thing is replacing a player with his experience and a player who was a clutch guy for three years,” Martin said. “When you needed a big hit, Jason got it done. He was an outstanding leader.”

The Cardinals organization roster matrix: Short-season update

Following is the most current St. Louis Cardinals system roster matrix, including the initial 2009 rosters of the Batavia Muckdogs of the New York-Penn League, Johnson City Cardinals of the Appalachian League and the Gulf Coast League Cardinals.

I apologize for the delay in posting, but I needed to get an accurate GCL roster. There are still unassigned players noted below. When I get a read on their status, this matrix will be updated and the changes listed.

Hopefully, you have been here to the site previously and know what the Cardinals organization roster matrix is all about. If not, here is quick summary:

At the time of this posting, the St. Louis Cardinals have 318 players under contract – 280 previous players augmented by 38 signed members of the 2009 draft class. The matrix places each one at his current assigned level in the system as well as by position. It is kept updated throughout the season. Nowhere else will you find this comprehensive information in one place.

You will also note that I separated the pitchers on the short-season rosters between 2009 draftees and returning pitchers. At this point, starting and relieving roles are unclear and fluid.

This should be the version of the roster matrix I will be updating the rest of the summer, so remember how to find this page. Type “Roster Matrix” in the dark blue search box at the upper right or use the dropdown menu at the top of the page “Players/Staff” > “Depth Charts/Roster Matrix”.

For details behind the format used in the matrix as well as 2009 transactions to date, check out the earlier versions of the Cardinals organization roster matrix as follows:

Link to previous matrices: Jan–March 2009, April 2009, May 2009, June 2009

Transactions

June 23 updates: Mem 1B Javier Brito released. RHP Oneli Perez assigned to Mem. Mem LHR Kat Maekawa onto temporary inactive list.

June 24 updates: 2B Jaime Landin to Bat restricted list. P Edouard Estalis from EST to DSL. Ps Jose Arredondo and Matt North plus OF Joey Hage on JC DL.

June 25 updates: IF Jason Stidham (8th rd) to QC. IF Alex Castellanos to QC DL. New total 319.

June 26 updates: C Brandon Yarbrough off Mem DL. IF Allen Craig (retro to 6/25) and C Bryan Anderson onto Mem DL.

June 27 updates: 1B Mark Hamilton from Spr DL to Mem. RHR Chris Perez traded from StL to Cle for IF/OF Mark DeRosa. LHP Jonny Bravo from QC DL to GCL (rehab only).

June 29 updates: RHP Clayton Mortensen onto 40-man, from Mem to StL. IF Khalil Greene onto StL DL. LHR Kat Maekawa to Mem active roster from temp inactive list.

Earlier moves missed: OF Edwin Gomez Bat to GCL on 6/23. IF Hector Alvarez Bat to JC on 6/25. RHS David Kopp to Spr DL on 6/10.

June 30 updates: IF Alex Castellanos act from QC DL. IF Guillermo Toribio from QC to Bat.

July 1 updates: IF Brett Lilley and OF Paul Cruz released (QC). RHR Andres Rosales QC to Bat. 3B Matt Carpenter Bat to QC. OF Kyle Conley (7th rd) and RHP Nick McCully (9th rd) to QC. RHP Clayton Mortensen StL to Mem and 2B Jarrett Hoffpauir from Mem to StL. RHP Joe Kelly (3rd rd) to Bat.

July 2 update: OF Wagner Mateo signed (Dominican). New total 320.

July 3 updates: OF Daryl Jones to Spr DL, IF Daniel Descalso from Spr to Mem. OF Shane Peterson and IF Colt Sedbrook from PB to Spr. OF Andres Beras off susp (DSL). RHP Scott Bittle (4th rd) signed. New total 321.

July 4 updates: 1B/OF Andrew Brown off Spr DL, assigned to PB. LHR Ian Ostlund onto Mem DL.

July 6 updates: IF Tyler Greene from StL to Mem. IF Brian Barden from Mem to StL. C Juan Castillo back on restricted list (GCL).

July 7 updates: IF Mark DeRosa to StL DL. OF Nick Stavinoha from Mem to StL. C Paul Vazquez to PB DL. C Charles Cutler from QC to PB. C Jack Cawley from Bat to QC. OF Joey Hage from JC DL to GCL. IF Allen Craig act from Mem DL.

July 8 update: 1B Matt Arburr from Spr to PB.

July 9 updates: LHP Brad Furnish from Spr to PB. RHS Scott Gorgen from PB to Spr. RHR Fernando Salas from Mem DL to Spr. 1B/OF Andrew Brown from PB to Spr. RHP Trevor Rosenthal (21st rd) signed and assigned to GCL. RHP John Folino NOT signed, removed from Bat roster.

July 10 updates: OF Daryl Jones activated off Spr DL. RHR Eddie Degerman onto Spr DL.

July 11 updates: RHP P.J. Walters from Mem to StL. IF Brian Barden StL to Mem. RHP David Kopp activated from Spr DL.

July 12 updates: RHS Kyle Lohse activated from StL DL. RHP Blake Hawksworth StL to Mem.

July 13 updates: OF Daryl Jones returned to Spr DL. RHP Kenny Maiques from Spr susp list to Spr DL.

July 15 updates: RHP Jared Bradford from QC to GCL. C Jesus Montero from DSL to VSL. LHP Jonny Bravo from QC DL (via GCL rehab) to Bat. RHP Jorge Rondon PB to QC. RHS Brett Zawacki to QC DL. RHP Jose Arredondo from JC to GCL. 1B Mark Hamilton to Mem DL.

July 16 update: C Juan Castillo from GCL suspended list to DSL.

July 17 updates: IF Wilfred Vivas off VSL suspended list. RHP Eddie Degerman off Spr DL. RHP Brian Broderick from Spr to PB. LHP Kristhiam Linares off PB DL (GCL rehab).

July 18 updates: IF Mark DeRosa activated from StL DL. 2B Jarrett Hoffpauir from StL to Mem.

July 19 update: RHP Fermin Montanez signed, assigned to VSL. New total 322.

July 20 updates: IF Donovan Solano from Mem to Spr. RHP David Kopp from Spr to PB. RHP Cale Johnson from GCL to JC.

July 21 update: OF Chris Duncan from StL to Mem. IF Brian Barden from Mem to StL.

July 22 update: OF Chris Duncan traded to BOS for SS Julio Lugo.

July 23 updates: RHP P.J. Walters from StL to Mem. RHP Jose Pasen from DSL to GCL. P Scott Bittle from unassigned to PB DL.

July 24 updates: IF Brian Barden from StL to Mem. OF Matt Holliday from Oak for Brett Wallace (Mem), Clayton Mortensen (Mem), Shane Peterson (Spr). LHP Ian Ostlund off Mem DL. New total 320.

July 25 update: 3B David Freese from Mem DL to Spr (via 4G GCL rehab).

July 26 updates: RHP Josh Kinney from StL to Mem. RHP Blake Hawksworth from Mem to StL. RHP Jess Todd from Mem to CLE to complete Mark DeRosa trade. 1B Mark Hamilton off Mem DL. New total 319.

July 28 updates: RHP Trey Hearne from Spr to Mem. LHP Nick Additon from PB to Spr. RHR Eddie Degerman released (Spr). LHR Kat Maekawa to Mem DL.

July 30 updates: RHP Chuckie Fick from PB to Spr. LHS Hector Cardenas onto QC DL.

July 31 updates: 3B David Freese from Spr to Mem. LHP Samuel Freeman onto Spr DL. RHP Kenny Maiques released (Spr DL). LHP Justin Fiske from Spr DL to GCL. RHP Jared Bradford from GCL to PB. RHS Mitchell Boggs from Mem to StL. OF Nick Stavinoha from StL to Mem. RHP Yonathan Gonzalez from PB to QC. New total 317.

August 1 updates: LHP Justin Fiske from GCL rehab to Spr. RHS Mitchell Boggs from StL to Mem. IF Khalil Greene activated off StL DL. UT Casey Rowlett released from Mem. New total 316.

August 2 update: C Kevin Moscatel from GCL to PB.

August 3 updates: RHR Casey Mulligan from PB to Spr. 1B Osvaldo Morales, 3B Matt Carpenter, IF Jose Garcia, RHP Arquimedes Nieto from QC to PB. 3B Jermaine Curtis, IF Domnit Bolivar from PB to QC. 1B Xavier Scruggs, OF Ryde Rodriguez, OF D’Marcus Ingram, OF Kyle Conley from QC to Bat. RHP Justin Smith, 1B Matt Adams, OF Michael Swinson, RHP Jesse Simpson from JC to Bat. 3B Rich Racobaldo from JC to QC. RHP Daniel Richardson, OF Jairo Martinez released from Bat. New total 314.

August 4 updates: 2B Aaron Luna from PB to Spr. LHP Jaime Garcia from GCL to PB (rehab). From GCL to JC: RHPs Angel De Jesus and Zach Russell, 1B Jonathan Rodriguez, 3B Kleininger Teran, OF Joey Hage. OF Mark Shorey to Mem DL. RHP Fernando Salas from Spr to Mem. LHP Kat Maekawa off Mem DL and released. New total 313.

August 5 update: LHR Ian Ostlund onto Mem DL.

August 7 updates: IF Alex Castellanos from QC to PB. IF Guillermo Toribio from Bat to QC. IF Brian Barden outrighted off 40-man roster. LHP Pat Daugherty from GCL to JC. C Blake Murphy onto PB DL (retro 8/5).

August 9 update: RHP Javier Avendano from VSL to GCL.

August 10 updates: RHPs Jose Arredondo and Omar Javier released from GCL. 1B Matt Arburr onto PB DL. New total 311.

August 11 update: RHS Scott Schneider from Bat to QC. RHR Joel Pichardo to QC DL. RHP Mitchell Boggs from Mem to StL. RHP Todd Wellemeyer to StL DL.

August 12 update: LHR Ian Ostlund activated from Mem DL.

August 16 updates: C Blake Murphy off PB DL. C Kevin Moscatel from PB to GCL.

August 17 updates: IF Juan Cabrera from DSL to GCL. RHP Joel Pichardo off QC DL. RHP Miguel Tapia onto QC DL. 1st rd pick RHP Shelby Miller signed. New total 312.

August 18 updates: RHP Gary Daley from QC to Spr. RHP Mark Diapoules from PB DL to QC. LHR Tyler Norrick from Spr to Mem. OF Antone DeJesus onto Spr DL.

August 19 update: RHP John Smoltz signed. RHP Mitchell Boggs from StL to Mem. LHR Ian Ostlund onto Mem DL (retro 8/17). New total 312.

August 20 update: LHS Jaime Garcia off StL DL and optioned to Mem.

August 21 updates: RHS Trey Hearne from Mem to Spr. LHR Charlie Manning onto Mem DL. 1B Matt Arburr off PB DL.

August 22 updates: RHS Kyle Lohse onto StL DL. RHS Mitchell Boggs from Mem to StL. OF Mark Shorey off Mem DL. LHR Justin Fiske onto Spr DL.

August 24 updates: OF Daryl Jones off Spr DL. C Nick Derba onto Spr DL. OF Beau Riportella released (Bat). OF Edwin Gomez from GCL to Bat. New total 311.

August 25 updates: OF Mark Shorey onto Mem DL. LHR Ian Ostlund off Mem DL.

August 27 updates: RHP Keith Butler from GCL to JC. RHP Mark Diapoules from QC to PB. RHR Francisco Samuel to Spr DL. RHR Blake King from PB to Spr. OF Nick Stavinoha onto Mem DL. LHR Charlie Manning off Mem DL.

August 28 updates: RHR Elvis Hernandez off PB DL. RHP Pablo Ortiz from JC to GCL.

August 30 update: C Robert Stock from JC to QC.

September 1 updates: RHP David Kopp onto PB DL sometime after 8/22. 3B Troy Glaus activated off StL DL. OF Mark Shorey activated off Mem DL. 2B Daniel Descalso to inactive list for Team USA.

September 2 updates: RHPs Andrew Moss and Aaron Terry from JC to Bat.

September 3 updates: RHR Todd Wellemeyer off StL DL. RHP Shelby Miller activated by QC. C Roberto Espinoza onto QC DL. LHP Ryan Kulik onto Spr DL. LHP Justin Fiske off Spr DL

September 4 updates: LHS Jaime Garcia onto Mem temp inactive list. RHS Lance Lynn from Spr to Mem. RHP Scott McGregor onto QC DL. RHP Miguel Tapia off QC DL. C Paul Vazquez off PB DL. LHP George Brown onto PB DL.

September 5 updates: RHP Lance Lynn from Mem to Spr. 1B Curt Smith onto PB temp inactive list. 1B Matt Arburr onto PB DL.

September 6 update: RHP Kyle Lohse activated from StL DL.

September 8 updates: LHR Ian Ostlund onto Mem DL (retro 9/7), IF Donovan Solano from Spr to Mem. LHS Jaime Garcia off Mem temp inactive list. IF Jose Garcia from PB to Spr.

September 9 updates: LHP Ryan Kulik off Spr DL. RHR Blake King onto Spr DL.

September 22 update: Contract of July 2 signee OF Wagner Mateo is voided. New total 310.

September 23 updates: IFs Tyler Greene and David Freese, RHR Josh Kinney and C Matt Pagnozzi from Mem to StL. Pagnozzi added to 40-man roster.

October 6 update: IF Alan Ahmady (Bat) suspended 50 games, starting 2010 season.

October update: IF Brian Barden and LHR Royce Ring (both Mem) elected free agency. New total 308

October 17 update: RHP Elvis Hernandez (PB), C Jack Cawley (QC), 2b Guillermo Toribio (QC), RHP Tyler Leach (Bat), 1B Matt Rigoli (JC) released. New total 303.

October 19 update: RHR Fabian Marquez, IF Moises Marquez. OF Jose Cortez, SS Carlos Yeguez, RHR Gregorio Ramos. LHR Ruben Alvarado (all VSL) released. 2B Michael Avila (DSL) released. New total 296.

October 21 update: Signed RHP Kevin Cueto, 3B Ronnierd Garcia, RHP Jhonatan Escudero (VSL). New total 299.

October 29 update: Signed RHP Pedro Rodriguez. Released LHP Jonny Bravo.

November 3 updates: 2B Jarrett Hoffpauir claimed by Toronto. RHP Brad Thompson released. RHR Matt Scherer and IF Joe Thurston outrighted to minors. New total 297.

November 11 updates: RHP Angel Cruz and SS Juan Mosquera (GCL) released. New total 295. C/3B Wilmer Alvarado reinstated from inactive list and released.

November updates: Nine major leaguers declare free agency: John Smoltz, Todd Wellemeyer, Joel Pineiro, Jason LaRue, Mark DeRosa, Rick Ankiel, Troy Glaus, Khalil Greene, Matt Holliday. Seven minor leaguers declare: Kristhiam Linares, Julio Castellano, Brandon Yarbrough, Oneli Perez, Evan MacLane, Ian Ostlund, Charlie Manning. New total 279.

November 18 updates: Eight added to 40-man roster: Allen Craig, Daryl Jones, Jon Jay, Bryan Anderson, Adam Ottavino, Mark Hamilton, Francisco Samuel, Tyler Norrick.

November 20 updates: 2B Joe Thurston declared free agency. RHR Omar Diaz released. New total 277.

November 30 updates: C Jason LaRue re-signs. IF Ruben Gotay signed to minor league deal with spring invite. New total 279.

December 4 update: DSL RHP Jefferson Segundo suspended 50 games.

December 8 update: Free agent RHS Brad Penny signs. New total 280.

December 10 updates: RHP Mike Parisi to ChC, LHP Ben Jukich to StL and LHP Matt Meyer to Mem in Rule 5. New total 281

December 11 update: RHP Mark McCormick released. New total 280.

December 21 update: GCL OF Tyler Bighames suspended 50 games.

January 5 update: Free agent OF Matt Holliday re-signs. New total 281.

January 14 updates: GCL RHP Geney Rios and IF Juan Cabrera released. Mem RHS Charlie Zink signed. New total 28.

January 20 updates: RHP Oneli Perez and LHP Evan MacLane re-signed (Mem). RHP Pablo Ortiz (GCL) to restricted list. New total 282.

January 26 updates: 17 non-roster invitees in italics. LHP Rich Hill signed to minor league deal with MLB camp invite. Minor league pitchers Rich Rundles, Yoffri Martinez and Houston Summers and IF Kevin Howard signed. New total 287.

February 22 updates: RHP Shelby Miller and LHP Samuel Freeman added to major league camp.

The St. Louis Cardinals Roster Matrix (effective 2/22/10)

St. Louis (25) 40-man (38)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
C Carpenter Franklin LaRue

 Pujols Schumaker Holliday
Lohse

Molina

Ryan

Penny McClellan Pagnozzi

Lugo

 Freese
 Ludwick
Wainwright Motte
 T Greene

 Rasmus

Hawksworth

Boggs

 T Miller (L)

Reyes (L)
Jukich (L)
Kinney
Memphis (25) 9 NRI
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
O Perez Parise Anderson
 Hamilton Descalso Craig
 Jay
MacLane Rundles (L) Gotay Howard

Cazana
Zink Scherer Solano Shorey
Ottavino
 Robinson
Ja Garcia (L) Salas Stavinoha
R Hill
Walters
Meyer (L)
Norrick (L)
Springfield (34) 7 NRI
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Gorgen M Gonzalez S Hill
 A Brown Luna Kozma Folli Jones
Additon (L) Fick T Cruz
 Jo Garcia Jo Martinez Rapoport
Dickson Freeman (L) Derba Sedbrook Ant. DeJesus
Lynn Samuel
 Henley
Kulik (L) Y Martinez Mather
Hearne Dew
King
Daley, Jr.
Sanchez
Mura
Fiske (L)
Mulligan
Summers
Palm Beach (25+1) 1 NRI
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
G Brown (L) Buursma P Vazquez Rivera Marmol M Carpenter Chambers
R Castillo  Eager Murphy C Smith Pham
Kopp Cutler Arburr A Castellanos Swauger
Furnish (L) Reifer Morales
Broderick
Nieto Bradford
Diapoules Garceau
Bittle
Quad Cities (27+1) 2 NRI
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
D Carpenter Scruggs Stidham Curtis Parejo
Fornataro Delgado Espinoza Bolivar Racobaldo R Rodriguez
Schneider Pichardo Stock Ingram
McCully Bogany
Cardenas (L) M Tapia
Thomas Frevert
Zawacki McGregor
S Miller Veres
Rondon
J Wilson (restr) Y Gonzalez
Batavia (29+2)
2009 draft P Other P C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Calhoun (L) Blazek L DeLaCruz Adams Landin (restr) Jackson N Vasquez
Corrigan Castro Ahmady (susp) Goodwin Mitchell
Ju Edwards (L) Hooker Gomez
Kelly Jo Edwards
Lavigne Maertz Conley
Simpson Mayes Swinson
Squatrito
J Smith Siegrist (L) Shepherd
Moss Rosales
Terry P Rodriguez
Johnson City (31)
2009 draft P Other P C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Durham (L) A Ferrara (L) Tartamella J Rodriguez L Mateo Y Castillo Teran Beatty
Heim (L) R Gonzalez A Perez Obregon R Smith
Kington Notti R Ruiz Lara
Lawler Alvarez R Rosario
Rada Hage
Novak Santos
Daugherty (L) Ang. DeJesus
C Johnson North
Russell
M Thompson
Butler
GCL (20+2)
2009 draft P Other P C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Calero Je Polanco D Medina Mambell R DeLaCruz Babrick
Rosenthal A Garcia Washington Valera Bighames (susp)
M DeLaCruz (L) A Castillo Moscatel V Hill
Rivero
H Hernandez (L) Avendano
Ortiz (restr)
Pasen
Munoz
Orozco
July 2 signings (0)
P P C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
DSL (32+2)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
A Tapia T4 Concepcion Alcala Pimentel G Hernandez Beras
Santana T2 L Mata L Perez V Ferreira J Lopez Encanacion
Jimenez T3 Rudecindo J Castillo W Perez J Pena
Urena R Reyes
Pinard T1 D Rodriguez (L) Hiraldo (restr) Sandoval
Herrera (L) T1 Mercedes (L) Taveras
S Lopez T4 P Pena (L)
Uribe (L) T3 Paulino
Segundo (susp)
B Martinez
Estalis
VSL (32+1)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Cedeno Rivas R Perez O Medina H Garcia Argenal
Bier Cueto Viloria Vargas R Garcia
Corpas Guzman Velazco Vivas H Martina Fonseca
Nieves Jh Polanco Montero Inojoza
Oraa Ulacio A Castellano
Colorado (L) Escudero Martines
Solarte
Weffer (L)
De Aguas (L)
Echeverria (L)
Villanueva (susp L)
Montanez

Codes:

(#): My Cardinals prospect ranking from over the winter at Scout.com

(i): injured – on the disabled list

(t): temporary inactive list

(susp): suspended list

(L) left-handed pitcher

Bold: on the Cardinals’ 40-man roster

(#+#) number of active players on the roster plus number of inactive (i+t+susp) players

Follow me on Twitter.

Don’t pitch to Pujols – especially with the bases loaded


In the seventh inning Tuesday night at New York’s Citi Field, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols came to the plate finally knowing he would get a pitch to hit. Mets starting pitcher Livan Hernandez had filled the bases with Cardinals in a tense 1-0 game.

Albert shot a two-run single through the hole at shortstop, providing the final margin of victory of 3-0 in the series-tying contest. Livan had walked Albert intentionally in the third inning with two on and first base open. Hernandez had no such cushion this time and paid for it.

In this case with the full benefit of hindsight, the Mets would have caused less damage by intentionally walking Pujols again as it would have forced in only one run.

Pujols already has four multiple-intentional walk games this season and is on pace to receive over 50 intentional passes in 2009. That would shatter his top season to date and the Cardinals team record of 34 IBBs last year.

The Mets were not alone in making the mistake of pitching to Albert with the sacks jammed. Over the last year, in his ten most recent plate appearances with the bases loaded, Pujols is batting a perfect 1.000.


During this stretch, Albert has gone 8-for-8 with a whopping 26 RBI. This includes two sacrifice flies, two singles, two doubles and four (grand slam) home runs. Six of the ten times, Pujols hopped on the first pitch offered him.


Pujols’ ten most recent plate appearances with the bases loaded

Date Opp Pitcher Score Result I nn RoB Out C n t Pit RBI Play Desc.
7/9/2008 @PHI Chad Durbin down 0 – 2 Out t 7 123 1 0 – 0 1 1 Flyball: LF/Sacrifice Fly
7/19/2008 SDP Randy Wolf down 0 – 5 2B b 5 123 1 0 – 0 1 3 Double to LF
8/6/2008 LAD Derek Lowe tied 3 – 3 HR b 4 123 1 0 – 0 1 4 Home Run
8/22/2008 ATL Charlie Morton ahead 1 – 0 2B b 2 123 1 1 – 1 3 2 Double to RF
4/11/2009 HOU Roy Oswalt ahead 2 – 0 HR b 5 123 1 0 – 0 1 4 Home Run
4/14/2009 @ARI Chad Qualls down 5 – 6 1B t 9 123 1 0 – 2 3 1 Single to RF
4/17/2009 @CHC Carlos Zambrano down 0 – 3 Out t 3 123 1 0 – 1 2 1 Flyball: LF/Sacrifice Fly
4/25/2009 CHC David Patton ahead 3 – 1 HR b 7 123 1 0 – 0 1 4 Home Run
6/21/2009 @KCR Gil Meche tied 4 – 4 HR t 4 123 1 3 – 2 7 4 Home Run
6/23/2009 @NYM Livan Hernandez ahead 1 – 0 1B t 7 123 1 0 – 0 1 2 Single to LF

Details provided by Tom Orf.

Pineiro delivers career-best outing


When right-hander Joel Pineiro spun a two-hit shutout at the New York Mets on Tuesday evening, it was the St. Louis Cardinals’ fifth shutout of the season and fifth in Pineiro’s career. It was the third shutout by a single Cardinals pitcher in 2009, in other words, a complete-game shutout. Pineiro has two of the three.

Pineiro, a free-agent to be, had lost his previous five starts and eight of nine. He secured 22 ground ball outs on Tuesday and the two hits allowed are Pineiro’s fewest ever in a complete game. His 2.67 ground-to-fly ball ratio this season is second-best in the National League.

It was the Cardinals’ 29th complete-game shutout this decade. The others are below, starting with the most recent.

Cardinals complete-game shutouts (2000-2009)

Cnt Player Date Opp G App Dec IP H R ER BB SO
1 Joel Pineiro 5/19/2009 CHC W 3 – 0 SHO9 W 9 3 0 0 0 5
2 Kyle Lohse 4/12/2009 HOU W 3 – 0 SHO9 W 9 3 0 0 0 4
3 Braden Looper 6/11/2008 @CIN W 10 – 0 SHO9 W 9 3 0 0 0 4
4 Chris Carpenter 9/11/2006 HOU W 7 – 0 SHO9 W 9 6 0 0 2 6
5 Chris Carpenter 8/15/2006 CIN W 5 – 0 SHO9 W 9 4 0 0 0 6
6 Chris Carpenter 7/14/2006 LAD W 5 – 0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 7
7 Jason Marquis 8/27/2005 @WSN W 6 – 0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 3
8 Mark Mulder 8/17/2005 ARI W 5 – 0 SHO9 W 9 5 0 0 2 4
9 Chris Carpenter 7/17/2005 HOU W 3 – 0 SHO9 W 9 3 0 0 0 9
10 Chris Carpenter 6/25/2005 PIT W 8 – 0 SHO9 W 9 4 0 0 0 11
11 Chris Carpenter 6/14/2005 @TOR W 7 – 0 SHO9 W 9 1 0 0 1 10
12 Mark Mulder 4/23/2005 HOU W 1 – 0 SHO10 W 10 5 0 0 0 5
13 Chris Carpenter 4/21/2005 CHC W 4 – 0 SHO9 W 9 7 0 0 1 6
14 Matt Morris 9/3/2004 LAD W 3 – 0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 11
15 Matt Morris 7/25/2004 SFG W 6 – 0 SHO9 W 9 7 0 0 3 4
16 Matt Morris 9/7/2003 CIN W 9 – 0 SHO9 W 9 3 0 0 1 8
17 Matt Morris 5/24/2003 @PIT W 6 – 0 SHO9 W 9 9 0 0 2 3
18 Matt Morris 5/19/2003 CHC W 2 – 0 SHO9 W 9 4 0 0 0 8
19 Chuck Finley 2002-08-27(2) @CIN W 5 – 0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 1 7
20 Matt Morris 5/13/2002 CHC W 3 – 0 SHO9 W 9 4 0 0 2 7
21 Woody Williams 9/5/2001 @SDP W 2 – 0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 6
22 Bud Smith 9/3/2001 @SDP W 4 – 0 SHO9 W 9 0 0 0 4 7
23 Darryl Kile 5/16/2001 @PIT W 3 – 0 SHO9 W 9 7 0 0 1 4
24 Matt Morris 5/7/2001 PIT W 7 – 0 SHO9 W 9 4 0 0 1 6
25 Pat Hentgen 9/14/2000 CHC W 4 – 0 SHO9 W 9 3 0 0 0 9
26 Garrett Stephenson 8/5/2000 ATL W 5 – 0 SHO9 W 9 5 0 0 1 5
27 Darryl Kile 7/31/2000 @MON W 4 – 0 SHO9 W 9 6 0 0 1 6
28 Garrett Stephenson 5/29/2000 @ARI W 3 – 0 SHO9 W 9 6 0 0 0 8

It was also the Cards’ tenth complete game two-or-fewer hitter against the Mets in their history and the first since Anthony Reyes accomplished it just short of two years ago – in a game he managed to lose.

Cardinals complete game two-or fewer hitters vs. Mets

Cnt Player Date Opp Gm Reslt App Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR
1 Anthony Reyes 6/27/2007 @NYM L 0-2 CG 5 L 5 2 2 2 2 3 1
2 John Denny 8/9/1979 @NYM W 4-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 3 3 0
3 Silvio Martinez 9/25/1978 @NYM W 3-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 2 6 0
4 Silvio Martinez 5/30/1978 @NYM W 8-2 CG 9 W 9 1 2 2 6 2 1
5 Bob Forsch 8/17/1977 NYM W 2-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 2 5 0
6 Larry Jaster 5/31/1968 @NYM W 2-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 7 0
7 Bob Gibson 1965-09-05(1) NYM W 3-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 3 8 0
8 Ernie Broglio 6/8/1963 @NYM W 4-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 3 10 0
9 Ernie Broglio 4/9/1963 @NYM W 7-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 2 8 0

It was the club’s 75th complete-game two-or-less hit shutout in the last 55 years, but only the first since mid-2006. The others since 1954 follow.

Cardinals complete-game two-or-fewer hit shutouts (1954-2009)

Cnt Player Date Opp Gm Reslt App Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR
1 Chris Carpenter 7/14/2006 LAD W 5-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 7 0
2 Jason Marquis 8/27/2005 @WSN W 6-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 3 0
3 Chris Carpenter 6/14/2005 @TOR W 7-0 SHO9 W 9 1 0 0 1 10 0
4 Matt Morris 9/3/2004 LAD W 3-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 11 0
5 Chuck Finley 2002-08-27(2) @CIN W 5-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 1 7 0
6 Woody Williams 9/5/2001 @SDP W 2-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 6 0
7 Bud Smith 9/3/2001 @SDP W 4-0 SHO9 W 9 0 0 0 4 7 0
8 Jose Jimenez 7/5/1999 ARI W 6-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 1 9 0
9 Jose Jimenez 6/25/1999 @ARI W 1-0 SHO9 W 9 0 0 0 2 8 0
10 Vicente Palacios 7/19/1994 @HOU W 10-0 SHO9 W 9 1 0 0 1 8 0
11 Bob Tewksbury 8/17/1990 HOU W 5-0 SHO9 W 9 1 0 0 0 3 0
12 Jose DeLeon 9/13/1989 PIT T 0-0 SHO6 5 1 0 0 2 4 0
13 Jose DeLeon 4/21/1989 MON W 1-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 1 6 0
14 Joe Magrane 8/12/1988 @CHC W 4-0 SHO9 W 9 1 0 0 1 6 0
15 John Tudor 6/23/1988 PHI W 2-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 4 0
16 Larry McWilliams 5/25/1988 CIN W 6-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 6 8 0
17 John Tudor 8/8/1985 CHC W 8-0 SHO9 W 9 1 0 0 1 6 0
18 John Tudor 6/23/1985 CHC W 7-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 1 6 0
19 Danny Cox 5/31/1985 CIN W 5-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 3 0
20 Ricky Horton 6/29/1984 @SDP W 5-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 2 5 0
21 Bob Forsch 9/26/1983 MON W 3-0 SHO9 W 9 0 0 0 0 6 0
22 John Fulgham 8/17/1979 SFG W 3-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 5 0
23 John Denny 8/9/1979 @NYM W 4-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 3 3 0
24 Silvio Martinez 6/27/1979 MON W 5-0 SHO9 W 9 1 0 0 0 7 0
25 John Denny 5/15/1979 MON W 1-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 4 5 0
26 Silvio Martinez 9/25/1978 @NYM W 3-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 2 6 0
27 Silvio Martinez 7/8/1978 PIT W 4-0 SHO9 W 9 1 0 0 7 1 0
28 John Denny 5/24/1978 MON W 2-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 1 3 0
29 John Denny 5/6/1978 SDP W 1-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 2 6 0
30 Bob Forsch 4/16/1978 PHI W 5-0 SHO9 W 9 0 0 0 2 3 0
31 Bob Forsch 8/17/1977 NYM W 2-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 2 5 0
32 Bob Forsch 6/6/1975 @HOU W 6-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 2 3 0
33 Bob Forsch 4/9/1975 MON W 4-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 6 0
34 Reggie Cleveland 9/27/1973 CHC W 2-0 SHO9 W 9 1 0 0 0 3 0
35 Rick Wise 6/18/1973 MON W 1-0 SHO6 W 5 2 0 0 0 3 0
36 Rick Wise 6/13/1973 @CIN W 8-0 SHO9 W 9 1 0 0 3 4 0
37 Reggie Cleveland 7/13/1972 ATL W 2-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 1 4 0
38 Bob Gibson 8/14/1971 @PIT W 11-0 SHO9 W 9 0 0 0 3 10 0
39 Chris Zachary 5/27/1971 CHC W 10-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 3 0
40 Jerry Reuss 8/28/1970 @LAD W 1-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 1 5 0
41 Bob Gibson 8/22/1970 @SDP W 7-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 6 0
42 Jerry Reuss 1970-08-09(2) MON W 4-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 6 5 0
43 Bob Gibson 6/17/1970 @SDP W 8-0 SHO9 W 9 1 0 0 2 13 0
44 Mike Torrez 4/15/1970 MON W 10-0 SHO9 W 9 1 0 0 6 3 0
45 Ray Washburn 9/18/1968 @SFG W 2-0 SHO9 W 9 0 0 0 5 8 0
46 Bob Gibson 8/19/1968 @PHI W 2-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 2 11 0
47 Steve Carlton 6/19/1968 CHC W 4-0 SHO9 W 9 1 0 0 0 9 0
48 Larry Jaster 5/31/1968 @NYM W 2-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 7 0
49 Steve Carlton 9/15/1967 @CIN W 4-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 1 8 0
50 Dick Hughes 5/25/1967 @ATL W 5-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 9 0
51 Ray Washburn 5/3/1967 CIN W 2-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 3 5 0
52 Bob Gibson 5/2/1967 CIN W 5-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 2 12 0
53 Al Jackson 4/25/1967 @HOU W 4-0 SHO9 W 9 1 0 0 3 3 0
54 Jim Cosman 10/2/1966 CHC W 2-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 2 5 0
55 Ray Washburn 1966-06-19(1) PHI W 1-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 3 5 0
56 Bob Gibson 1965-09-05(1) NYM W 3-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 3 8 0
57 Bob Gibson 8/31/1965 @CHC W 3-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 2 6 0
58 Bob Gibson 5/7/1965 @PHI W 2-0 SHO9 W 9 1 0 0 3 8 0
59 Bob Gibson 9/11/1964 @CHC W 5-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 1 6 0
60 Ernie Broglio 8/3/1963 PHI W 7-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 5 3 0
61 Ernie Broglio 6/8/1963 @NYM W 4-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 3 10 0
62 Ernie Broglio 4/23/1963 @HOU W 15-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 3 2 0
63 Ernie Broglio 4/9/1963 @NYM W 7-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 2 8 0
64 Ernie Broglio 9/29/1962 @LAD W 2-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 3 9 0
65 Ernie Broglio 7/15/1960 CHC W 6-0 SHO9 W 9 1 0 0 2 14 0
66 Larry Jackson 9/1/1959 @LAD W 3-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 2 4 0
67 Ernie Broglio 6/27/1959 @CIN W 5-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 6 0
68 Vinegar Bend Mizell 7/29/1957 PIT W 4-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 0 6 0
69 Von McDaniel 1957-07-28(1) PIT W 4-0 SHO9 W 9 1 0 0 0 4 0
70 Von McDaniel 6/21/1957 BRO W 2-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 3 4 0
71 Vinegar Bend Mizell 9/7/1956 CIN W 1-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 3 6 0
72 Murry Dickson 1956-08-19(1) CHC W 6-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 1 9 0
73 Harvey Haddix 4/25/1956 CHC W 6-0 SHO9 W 9 2 0 0 5 3 0
74 Willard Schmidt 1955-08-11(2) @MLN W 4-0 SHO9 W 9 1 0 0 3 6 0

As always, thanks to Tom Orf for the data pulls.

Gulf Coast League Cardinals opening roster


The 32-man 2009 season-opening roster for the Gulf Coast League Cardinals follows. It includes ten 2009 draftees, led by sixth-rounder Virgil Hill, plus a new signing, pitcher Hector Hernandez, drafted in the tenth round. All 2009 draftees are noted below with round taken in this draft.

Hernandez is the 38th member of the 2009 draft class to be signed. 11 are assigned to Batavia, 16 to Johnson City and one, third-rounder Joe Kelly, is non-rostered at this time.

On Wednesday morning, I will update the Roster Matrix for the entire organization, including Batavia, Johnson City and GCL.

P (16) Butler, Keith 2009-24
Calero, Jose
Castellano, Julio
Castillo, Amaury
Cruz, Angel
Daugherty, Patrick 2009-12
DeJesus, Angel
DeLaCruz, Manuel 2009-43
Diaz, Omar
Hernandez, Hector 2009-10
Javier, Omar
Johnson, Cale 2009-41
Muñoz, Orlando
Orozco, Luis
Rios, Geney
Russell, Zach
C (4) Castillo, Juan
Garcia, Anthony 2009-18
Moscatel, Kevin
Polanco, Luis
1B (2) Medina, David
Rodriguez, Jonathan 2009-17
IF (5) DeLaCruz, Roberto
Mambell, Geraldo
Mosquera, Juan
Teran, Kleininger
Valera, Cesar
OF (5) Babrick, Joseph
Bighames, Tyler 2009-31
Hill, Virgil 2009-6
Rivero, Alberto
Washington, David 2009-15

Cardinals New York minutes – 06/23/09


Spoke with an anxious Kyle Lohse at exactly 31 minutes before he was scheduled to throw a bullpen session of about 60 pitches. The injured right-hander noted he is already throwing faster than the 76 mph he managed before going on the shelf a month ago. His wife is expecting their second child, a daughter, in October, an event Lohse hopes to miss.

Tony La Russa was predictably non-committal about what he will do with his rotation when Lohse is ready. He did note that Todd Wellemeyer “is not pitching as good as he can”. The manager is only telling Brad Thompson to “take the ball and help us win” and in terms of any implications is “leaving the other stuff out of it”.

On Jess Todd Brad Thompson: “He was already proven” as a starting pitcher, but “if we would have had five starters, he would have been a reliever”.

Word is that Memphis outfielder Joe Mather had wrist surgery in Phoenix the last few days after first having a procedure on his hamate bone last September. This makes 2009 a complete washout for a player about whom there were great hopes coming into the season.

I asked TLR about Rob Rains’ new book, “Tony La Russa: Man on a Mission”. “He put a lot of work into it,” was La Russa’s initial comment. “I read about 100 pages before I was tired of reading about myself.” He acknowledged he “read it in pieces” and offered several corrections. (Former ChiSox GM Roland) “Hemond and Dunc also read it as they were a part of it.” La Russa thought the recent years in St. Louis had less detail than his early years in Chicago and Oakland but overall seemed very favorable about the book. (Note: Scout.com forum readers can win one of three autographed copies of the book for the best message board post in each of the months of June, July and August. More details here.)

Cards GM John Mozeliak is with the club and spent time of the field before the game chatting with his Mets counterpart Omar Minaya along with former Cardinal Eduardo Perez. La Russa noted that Perez has a “good feel” for the game and is a “natural for field manager”. He also commented that when with StL, Walt Jocketty tried to hire Perez for a front office position. Perez recommended both Joe Thurston and Juan Gonzalez to the Cardinals.

First impressions of Citi Field follow. TLR noted it was “supposed to play big”, but it “may not play as big in summer. It is a very fair park.” Both Chris Duncan and Khalil Greene noted that Shea was louder. Greene added that the acoustics of the closed Shea created “more energy” for both clubs. Brendan Ryan said the infield plays “a little fast, but is good”. All comments were positive, especially the predictable ones about the improved clubhouse over the below-average facilities at the now-demolished Shea Stadium.

Ryan was aware that he received some negative attention for his relay home late in Monday’s game. I saw the Keith Hernandez version on SportsNet New York. Ryan was well aware that he should have taken the throw turned sideways instead of with his back to the plate, but said the throw was breaking away from him. The shortstop commented that his intent remains to play “aggressive smart”.

When asked about Colby Rasmus’ catch on Monday, the manager called it “just good”, suggesting that the rookie “did not get back as well as he should.” Rasmus is not starting again Tuesday.

As La Russa was signing a baseball commemorating his 2500th win on Sunday and deciding which seat number from a block of tickets to select to send to a friend, he was asked about the feat. La Russa noted that two of his best friends, Tom Kelly and Jim Leyland “would have had 2500 or 2600 if they had been with my three teams. Both are outstanding.” TLR went on to reminisce about his “hellacious games” against Kelly’s Twins from 1987 through 1992.

La Russa was asked about the 1989 Oakland A’s reunion this evening, noting those three consecutive World Series clubs were “obscene” (ly good), winning 104, 99 and 103 games, respectively.

Rumors are that Troy Glaus is hitting down in Arizona, but having trouble making throws from third base. La Russa said that he had heard the same thing, but not directly. He made it pretty clear that Glaus won’t be back until he can play third base defensively.

The manager, an NL All-Star coach under Charlie Manuel, said he was told indirectly that Manuel “will talk to me and Joe (Torre) a lot about things.” He offered a quick “yes” when asked if he thought closer Ryan Franklin deserved a berth on the team. TLR also said that if Chris Carpenter “keeps taking the ball”, he should also be an All-Star. “I’ve seen many times when an injury is not held against a guy.”

Khalil Greene’s knee is ok. He was hit Sunday and Monday was the day if there was to be trouble. There was none.

Asked what characteristics make the ideal manager, La Russa mentioned leadership and personality as the two key factors. He would not name his ideal skipper, begging off by saying it would vary by the type of team provided.

The skipper stopped by Madison Square Garden during the day and was presented a jersey by New York Rangers general manager Glen Sather.

La Russa left four game tickets for Leslie West, famous as the guitarist and lead singer of the band “Mountain”. The skipper is interested in seeing the musical “Rock of Ages” on Broadway after his club’s current series ends.

Look for reports from MLB.com’s Matthew Leach and the Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold, who are both with the team here in New York. Cardinals fans should be thankful for the breadth and depth of coverage of their team.

Walton on KXnO FOX Sports Radio Tuesday


I will be calling from the new home of the New York Mets, Citi Field, into the Matt and Miller Radio Show today, Tuesday, June 23 at 6:30 P.M. Eastern/5:30 P.M. Central to discuss St. Louis Cardinals baseball. You can listen in live on FOX Sports Radio Des Moines, kxno.com.


Assuming I can master the technology on the road, I will post up the segment on Scout.com tonight for subscribers to review on demand.

Batavia Muckdogs opening roster


Last week, I posted a preliminary roster for the Batavia Muckdogs of the New York-Penn League. That roster included 31 players. The official opening club consists of 30 players, which follows.

Changes from earlier:

Off

Nick McCully (P) 9th round (2009)

Jason Stidham (IF) 8th round (2009)

Adam Heisler (OF) 45th round (2009)

Devin Shepherd (OF) 11th round (2008) – to restricted list

On

Chris Corrigan (P) 30th round (2009)

Tyler Leach (P) 39th round (2005)

Hector Alvarez (IF) free agent (2007)


Corrigan makes the 36th 37th official signing of the 50 draftees from 2009. As soon as I can get the Gulf Coast League Cardinals roster, I will update the Roster Matrix for the entire organization, including Batavia, Johnson City and GCL.


Johnson City Cardinals opening roster


The 2009 season-opening roster for the Johnson City Cardinals of the Appalachian League follows. 31 players are on the club, including 16 members of the 2009 draft class. The signing of all 16, including second-rounder Robert Stock, had previously been announced. Johnson City begins their regular season on Tuesday evening at Kingsport.

As soon as I can get the Gulf Coast League Cardinals roster, I will update the Roster Matrix for the entire organization, including Batavia, Johnson City and GCL.

For additional details on the 2009 Johnson City club, Scout.com subscribers should be sure to check out Shawn Kerrick’s pre-season report at The Birdhouse.

# Catchers B T HGT WGT Hometown DOB Age Obtained Years
31 Travis Tartamella R R 6′ 205 Alta Loma, CA 12/17/1987 21 19th round 2009 0
35 Robert Stock L R 6’1″ 190 Westlake Village, CA 11/21/1989 19 2nd round 2009 0
5 Audrey Perez R R 5’9″ 180 Santo, Domingo, DR 12/23/1988 20 Free Agent 2008 1
# Infielders B T HGT WGT Hometown DOB Age Obtained Years
54 Matthew Adams L R 6’3″ 240 Philipsburg, PA 8/31/1988 20 23rd round 2009 0
7 Yunier Castillo S R 6’0″ 160 Miami, FL 5/15/1989 20 Free Agent 2008 1
4 Luis Mateo R R 6’0″ 160 Orocovis, PR 5/23/1990 19 20th round 2008 1
15 Ted Obregon S R 5’11” 165 Caracas, VZ 4/5/1990 19 Free Agent 2007 1
11 Rich Racobaldo R R 6’1″ 220 Marlton, NJ 7/10/1985 23 37th round 2009 0
29 Matt Rigoli R R 5’11” 220 Parsippany, NJ 11/19/1985 23 21st round 2008 1
16 Romulo Ruiz R R 6’0″ 170 Cagua, VZ 11/30/1989 19 Free Agent 2006 1
# Outfielders B T HGT WGT Hometown DOB Age Obtained Years
44 Christian (CJ) Beatty S R 5’10” 190 Winston Salem, NC 9/29/1988 20 26th round 2009 0
27 Edgar Lara R R 6’3″ 175 Santo Domingo, DR 3/2/1989 20 Free Agent 2006 2
30 Rainel Rosario R R 6’1″ 185 Sabana Perdida, DR 3/29/1989 20 Free Agent 2006 2
28 Ross Smith R R 6’2″ 200 Eastman, GA 10/6/1987 21 14th round 2009 0
10 Michael Swinson L R 6’2″ 185 Douglas, GA 9/24/1989 19 12th round 2008 1
# Pitchers B T HGT WGT Hometown DOB Age Obtained Years
19 John Durham L L 6’1″ 170 Port St. Lucie, FL 8/19/1987 21 38th round 2009 0
33 Anthony Ferrara Jr. R L 6’2″ 205 Riverview, FL 9/2/1989 19 7th round 2008 1
57 Reynier Gonzalez R R 6’3″ 180 Puerto Ordaz, VZ 11/5/1988 20 Free Agent 2006 2
47 Kyle Heim L L 6’4″ 220 St. Joseph, MO 9/30/1987 21 44th round 2009 0
26 David Kington R R 6’2″ 205 Coquitlam, B.C., Canada 12/1/1987 21 34th round 2009 0
25 Travis Lawler R R 6’3″ 180 College Station, TX 6/13/1988 21 32nd round 2009 0
32 Andrew Moss R R 6’1″ 210 Peidmont, MO 10/8/1986 22 35th round 2009 0
51 Chris Notti R R 6’5″ 220 Mailibu, CA 9/3/1988 20 36th round 2008 1
40 Jason Novak R R 6’2″ 200 Agoura Hills, CA 10/19/1987 21 48th round 2009 0
23 Pablo Ortiz R R 6’4″ 175 Maturin, VZ 6/11/1988 21 Free Agent 2006 2
56 Jose Rada R R 6’1″ 180 Puert Cabella, VZ 4/13/1988 21 Free Agent 2006 2
50 Randy Santos R R 6’2″ 190 Santo Domingo, DR 8/21/1988 20 Free Agent 2007 1
22 Jesse Simpson R R 6′ 180 Baton Rouge, LA 1/29/1987 22 40th round 2009 0
34 Justin Smith R R 6′ 190 Pleasant Grove, UT 3/23/1988 21 36th round 2009 0
9 Aaron Terry R R 5’11” 185 Rison, AR 12/28/1986 22 42nd round 2009 0
24 Michael Thompson L R 6′ 200 Newburgh, IN 8/28/1986 22 47th round 2009 0

DSL Cardinals Report: June 22, 2009


By Josh Jones, Cardinals Best News Links

The Dominican Summer League Cardinals ended their three-game losing streak and went on a five game terror, to have it end in a losing effort.  The Cardinals took five of six games during this period and improved to 10-9 on the season.  The team is only three games out of first, 6-3 at home, and 4-6 on the road.

After a well rested day off, the Cardinals hosted the Mariners to open the week.  The game was scoreless heading into the bottom of the fourth when the Cards plated two runs to take the lead.  They then went on to score four more over the next four frames as the pitching staff held the M’s to no runs and only four hits.  The Mariners committed a total of five errors, but they didn’t really factor into the game as the Cardinals won 6-0.

The Cardinals visited the Athletics in the next game.  Both teams traded off runs and the lead throughout the contest and errors cost the A’s the game in the end.  Both pitching staffs were hammered for a total of 23 hits and 21 runs.  The Cardinals came out on top 11-10 as their closer pitched two scoreless innings to close out the game.  The DSL Official Site posted photos from this game.

The Phillies came to town to take on the Cardinals in the following game.  Both teams pretty much shut each other down until late in the game, with the Phils out in front heading into the seventh.  The Cardinals then jumped all over the Phillies closer in the ninth and took a lead for the win.  The Cardinals won 5-4.

The Cardinals took on the Mariners for the second time this period, this time on the road.  The Cards received almost the same results as they did in the first game.  The Redbirds took an early lead and the pitching staff held it for them.  The Cardinals knocked the M’s starter out with four runs in the first two innings and ran through another four pitchers for an 8-2 victory.

The Athletics visited the Cardinals in the next game.  The Cards and A’s traded off leads until the Redbirds plated six runs on one reliever in the sixth.  All the A’s runs were unearned on the Cardinals staff due to three errors committed.  The Cardinals extended their winning streak to five games by doubling up the Athletics 8-4.

The Cardinals hoping to go for six straight wins visited the Phillies for the finale of the week.  The Cardinals were up 1-0 heading into the fifth when the Phils proceeded to slap on five runs in the following four innings.  The Cards were held to four hits by two Philly pitchers.  The Phillies ended the winning streak with a 5-1 win over the Cardinals.

Who’s Hot

Luis Pimentel continues to tear up the Dominican Summer League.  The 20-year old right-handed hitter went 13-for-24 (.542) with five doubles, one home run, three RBIs, seven runs, three walks, one walk, and one caught stealing.  Pimentel began the week out extending his hitting streak to six games (four straight multi-hit games), but was broken up on the second to last game.  The second-year DSL participant does have an eight-game on base streak and played at three different positions during the week, including third and first base, where he committed two errors, and as the team designated hitter in one game.

Grabiel Hernandez returned after a three-game absence, just as if he hadn’t missed a beat.  The 17-year old switch hitter went 9-for-28 (.321) with three triple, three RBIs, five runs, three stolen bases, and five strikeouts.  He had three multi-hit games, assisted in four doubles plays, and committed four fielding errors in the last three games while at shortstop.  Hernandez leads the team in triples and stolen bases.

Roberto Reyes became the first Cardinal hitter to connect for two home runs in a game this season.  The 20-year old left-handed hitter went 5-for-16 (.313) with one triple, two home runs, six RBIs, three runs, one walk, two stolen bases, and eight strikeouts.  On June 18 he drilled his two home runs and drove in four runs, but in the following game struck out all five times to the plate.

Michael Santana made two great starts for the team, even though one ended in a loss.  The 18-year old right-hander hurled six scoreless innings on June 15, allowing three hits and striking out two for his first winning decision of the season.  Then on June 20 he gave up six hits, two earned runs, one walk, and struck out a season-high seven over 4 and two-thirds innings for a losing decision.  Santana has struck out 17 and walked only five over 20 innings this season.

Angel Tapia had himself another effective relief appearance this season.  The 19-year old right-hander followed the Cardinals starter on June 18 with five scoreless innings for his second winning decision of the season.  He only allowed three hits, two walks, hit one batter, struck out four and even assisted in one double play.  Tapia has only given up two earned runs over 16 innings this season.

Keury Herrera showed some of the potential he showed in 2008 in his latest start.  The 18-year old left-hander made his start on June 19 and allowed one hit, no runs, two walks, threw one wild pitch, and struck out four over four innings.  Herrera has not allowed an earned run in his last two appearances (six innings) and has struck out eight.

Who’s Not

Jorge Lopez ended his his four-game hitless streak but didn’t get much going after that.  The 18-year old right-handed hitter went 2-for-14 (.143) with one double, one RBI, two runs, three strikeouts, and one caught stealing.  He played three of four games at second base, where he turned one double play and committed one error, and the other as designated hitter.

Juan B. Cabrera (pictured) went hitless in three of four games this last week.  The 21-year old right-handed hitter went 1-for-12 (.083) with two RBIs, three runs, two walks, and two strikeouts.  He has been on base his last three games but hitless in the last two.  The third-year DSL infielder played three games at third and two at second base, turning a total of four double plays and committing one fielding error.

Victor Encarnacion has seen a lot of his playing time deplete in the last week or so.  The 19-year old went 2-for-11 (.182) with one hit by pitch and three strikeouts.  He’s gone 4-for-28 in his last ten games, including ten strikeouts.

Ramon Urena made his first start of the season, which ended bad for him.  The 19-year old right-hander started on June 16 and lasted just three innings giving up five hits, four earned runs, one walk, one balk, threw two wild pitches, and struck out three.  His ERA took a huge hit shooting up to 7.20 on the season.

Juan Mercedes made his return to the team after sitting for eight days.  The 20-year old left-hander walked both batters faced and was pulled from the game.  The following reliever (Jefferson Segundo) let both runners score and in the process hiked his ERA up to 135.00 on the season.  Mercedes has made three relief appearances and allowed one hit, five earned runs, six walks, and struck out only one over a third of an inning in 2009.

The Happenings

Wader Perez made his return on June 16 and hasn’t played since.

Victor Ferreria has also returned to the team and went 1-for-8 with a double and six strikeouts in the two games played upon return.

Adriano Uribe hasn’t pitched since June 11.

Two pitchers made their 2009 debuts, Bryan Martinez on June 16 and Luis Mata on June 19.

Word is that Major League Baseball is investigating Miguel Angel Sano’s age, courtesy of ESPN Insider.

The Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins, and Cardinals are considered to be the frontrunners in the Sano sweepstakes, with the Cards having a small lead, courtesy of MASN Sports.

The New York Yankees are still thinking about making a run at Sano even though they have a verbal agreement with top catching prospect Gary Sanchez (not yet 16) and are eyeing two Cuban defectors, according to New York Post.

The Boston Red Sox signed left-handed pitcher Victor Payano, according to Jorge Arangure’s Twitter.  The Cardinals had been linked to him in past weeks as somebody of interest by the organization.

Dominican Summer League Stats

The Cardinals hitting jumped up from .217 to .234.  The team is fifth in doubles, second in triples, fifth in strikeouts, sixth in stolen bases, and pretty much in the bottom half of the league in all other stats.

The Cardinals team ERA improved from 4.22 to 3.73 and their WHIP went from 1.61 to 1.53.  The team is fifth in strikeouts and middle of the pack in all other stats.

Luis Pimentel is tied for third in doubles.

Grabiel Hernandez is tied for second in triples and tied for tenth in stolen bases.

Roberto Reyes is tied for sixth in triples.

Eduard Estalis is tied for eighth in saves.

Next Up (Overall, vs. Cardinals)

June 21: Mariners (13-6, 3-3)

June 22: Day Off

June 23: @ Athletics (6-13, 3-3)

June 24: Phillies (9-10, 3-4)

June 25: @ Mariners (13-6, 3-3)

June 26: Athletics (6-13, 3-3)

June 27: @ Phillies (9-10, 3-4)

June 28: Mariners (13-6, 3-3)

Cardinals weekend hitting feats


Albert Pujols’ six RBI against Kansas City in St. Louis’ interleague game on Sunday tied the Cardinals team high for RBI in an interleague series contest:

Albert Pujols-2009-KCR-6

Mark McGwire-1999-CHW-6

Ryan Ludwick-2007-OAK-5

Albert Pujols-2007-LAA-5

John Mabry-2005-KCR-5

John Mabry-2004-TEX-5


Pujols extended his team lead in games with five RBI or more over the last 55 years to 13.

Cardinals five-RBI games (1954-2009):

13-Albert Pujols

8-Mark McGwire

7-Ken Boyer

7-Stan Musial

6-Ted Simmons

4-Scott Rolen

4-Edgar Renteria

4-George Hendrick

4-Jim Edmonds


Over his career, Pujols has 28 multi-home run games. 19 of them were on consecutive plate appearances and 22 were on consecutive at-bats.

Before Pujols’ feats this past weekend, the only other Cardinal with multiple RBI games in all three games of an interleague series was Edgar Renteria on June 3-5, 2003 against Toronto in St. Louis.

The only player other than Khalil Greene to hit a home run in all three games of an interleague series was Pujols on May 19-21, 2006, also in Kansas City.


Home runs by Cardinals designated hitters (single game):

Player Date Opp **HR**
Albert Pujols 6/21/2009 @KCR 2
Larry Walker 6/14/2005 @TOR 2
Tino Martinez 6/14/2003 @NYY 2
Jim Edmonds 6/12/2003 @BOS 2-1 after moving to LF
Albert Pujols 6/29/2008 @KCR 1
Yadier Molina 6/20/2008 @BOS 1
Scott Spiezio 6/17/2007 @OAK 1
Chris Duncan 6/14/2007 @KCR 1
Chris Duncan 5/21/2006 @KCR 1
Larry Walker 5/21/2005 @KCR 1
Albert Pujols 6/10/2003 @BOS 1
Miguel Cairo 6/8/2002 @KCR 1
Fernando Tatis 7/17/2000 @MIN 1
Shawon Dunston 7/13/2000 @CHW 1
Thomas Howard 6/9/2000 @DET 1


Cardinals career DH home run totals:

4-Albert Pujols

3-Larry Walker

2-Tino Martinez

2-Chris Duncan

1-Jim Edmonds

1-Scott Spiezio

1-Yadier Molina

1-Miguel Cairo

1-Fernando Tatis

1-Shawon Dunston

1-Thomas Howard


Thanks to Tom Orf for gathering the above stats.

VSL Cardinals Report: June 21, 2009


By Josh Jones, Cardinals Best News Links

The Venezuelan Summer League Cardinals has another slow week in the winning department taking only two of six games this period.  The team will be riding a three-game losing streak into the next week.  The Cardinals have fallen under the .500 mark with a 14-15 record overall and sit in fourth place and eight games out.  The club is now 8-7 on the road and 6-8 when defending their home territory.  But not is all lost as the team saw an increase in power as they have now clubbed a total of 19 home runs on the season (four shy of 2008’s total of 23) and have jacked one out in eight of their last ten games.

The Cardinals opened this period up visiting the Mets.  The Mets took an early lead scoring four in the third and knocking out the Redbirds starter.  The Redbirds were held within check the hole game and made their own comeback late in the game plating four runs in the eighth and taking a one run lead.  The Cardinals’ closer couldn’t hold the lead and gave up the game in the eighth as the Mets won 6-5.

The Cardinals stayed on the road and took on the Phillies in the second game of the week.  The Phillies struck first, but the Cardinals came back to tie and win in a low scoring game.  The Redbirds received solid pitching from their starter and bullpen and held the Phils to only four hits and two runs.  The Cardinals won 3-2.

The Tigers came town in the next game and the Cardinals tore them up.  The game was tied up heading into the fifth at 3-3 and the Redbirds capitalized on some Tiger mishaps.  The Cardinals twice scored four in the following four frames and the bullpen held the Tigers to one run as the Cards went on to win 13-4.

The Pirates welcomed in the Cardinals in the following game and jumped on them quick.  The Bucs scored five in the first three frames for an early lead and tacked on another two runs on Cardinals errors.  The Redbirds had the hits but couldn’t get the runners across the plate and lost 7-3.

The Cardinals stayed on the road and visited the Mariners and were beat on in this game.  Again errors by the Cardinals came back to bite and the M’s knocked the Redbirds’ ace out after four innings.  The Mariners plated ten runs in the fifth, including eight on one Cards reliever, and went on to win 14-6.

The Cardinals ended the period with their third straight road game, this time against the Rays.  The Redbirds took an early lead of 5-2 until the bullpen took over in the sixth.  In The sixth, the relievers coughed up the lead and game allowing the Rays to score eight in two innings.  The Rays won 10-7.

Who’s Hot

Carlos Yegues broke out the hot stick and will be carrying a four-game multi-hit streak into the next week.  The 18-year old right-handed hitter went 9-for-29 (.450) with one double, three home runs, nine RBIs, five runs, and two strikeouts.  Yegues has managed to play himself into the starting lineup, getting time in at second and third base, and is tied for second on the team in home runs, second in RBIs, and second in SLG.

Hector Garcia found his swing after slumping recently.  The 19-year old right-handed hitter went 8-for-22 (.364) with three doubles, two RBIs, three runs, two walks, and four strikeouts.  Garcia assisted in one double play, committed one throwing error, and is riding a six-game hitting streak.

Jem Argenal is another that broke his bat back out after a short slump.  The 17-year old left-handed hitter went 7-for-19 (.368) with two doubles, one RBI, four runs, and five strikeouts.  He played two of his six games at first and will bring a four-game hitting streak into the next period.

Kaizer Hinojoza has also caught fire and even pushed himself into a starting role for the Cardinals.  The 18-year old right-handed hitter went 7-for-25 (.280) with three doubles, one triple, one RBI, five runs, two walks, nine strikeouts, and one caught stealing.  He began the week with a five-game hitting streak, broke up on June 19, and drilled his first career home run in the last week on June 13.  Hinojoza has become the everyday right fielder and showed off the cannon throwing out a couple runners on June 17.

Deimer Bier was one of two pitchers in the rotation to put together a solid start this past week.  On June 15, the 18-year old right-hander pitched five innings allowing three hits, two earned runs, two walks, and struck out five.  Bier has made it through five innings in three of his six starts this season, struck out five or more in two outings, and has the second best ERA (3.52) among the starting rotation.

Carlos Oraa made his return to the rotation after missing a little over a week and was just as effective as usual.  The 19-year old right-hander ate up the most innings by any starter this week, on June 16,  going six and gave up five hits, three earned runs, two walks, threw two wild pitches, and struck out five.  He picked up his first winning decision of the season and has struck out five or more in two of five starts.

Who’s Not

Alexander Castellano played himself out of an everyday role and is still having problems at the plate.  The 20-year old went 2-for-13 (.154) with two doubles, six strikeouts and one caught stealing.  Castellano has gone 4-for-22 (.182) with no RBIs in his last ten games and leads the team in strikeouts with 26.  The Colombian born native had one outfield assist and one fielding error while playing in left field.

Hector Corpas had one great relief appearance and was plastered to the wall in his second.  The 19-year old right-hander pitched three hitless and scoreless innings on June 15.  He struck out a season-high three, earned his second save of the season, and hit one batter for the only runner allowed by him in the game.  Things flipped in his next save opportunity on June 20, as he was clubbed for four hits, four earned runs, one walk, and struck out only one in two-thirds of an inning.  Corpas also let all three inherited runners score and had his first blown save of the season.

Moises Colorado again struggled in his second start of the season.  The 19-year old left-hander lased just two and a third innings allowing three hits, four earned runs, three walks, threw one wild pitch, and struck out three.  In his only two starts this season he has only lasted into or through the third inning and picked up a losing decision in one of them.  Colorado has struck out 24 batters over 20.2 innings, which is the best among the pitching staff.

Fernando Cedeno, like Corpas, started off fine and was just clobbered in his last outing.  The 19-year old right-hander picked up his second winning decision on June 15, allowing one hit no run, and striking out one over an inning of work.  Everything came crumbling down for him on June 19, when he was tagged for six hits, eight earned runs, and two walks, over a third of an inning.  This was indeed Cedeno’s worst game of his career and his ERA has shot up to over 10.00 (now at 10.80).

Ramon Ulacio had two not so pretty relief appearances this last week.  The 18-year old right-hander made his first on June 16, pitching one inning and giving up one hit, one earned run, one walk, one balk, hit one batter, threw one wild pitch, and struck out one.  The on June 19, Ulacio coughed up two hits, two earned runs, one walk, and struck out one over two-thirds of an inning.  His season ERA sits at 6.39, but he’s struck out 13 and walked only five over 12.2 innings.

The Happenings

Both Jose Weffer and Angelo Echeverria have not pitched since June 12.

John De Aguas hasn’t made an appearance since June 14.

Fabian Marquez made his return on June 19, after missing 17 days, pitching a hitless and scoreless inning for the Cardinals.

Venezuelan Summer League Stats

The Cardinals hitting improved from .265 up to .268, which is good for second in the league.  In the seven-team league they rank second in hits, total bases, OBP, SLG, and OPS.  They rank third in walks and fourth in home runs.

The Cardinals’ pitching took a major hit as their team ERA jumped from 4.19 to 4.63 (second worst) and their WHIP went up three notches to 1.54 (tied for last).  The team is tied for second in shut outs, first in saves, and rank as one of the worst in walks allowed.

Jem Argenal is eighth in batting average.

Roberto Perez is ninth in batting average, tied for fifth in home runs, tied for seventh in RBIs, tied for fifth in total bases, tied for fifth in walks, sixth in OBP, third in SLG, and third in OPS.

Anthony Fonseca is tied for tenth in runs scored, tied for seventh in home runs.

Hector Garcia is tied for third in doubles.

Jose Cortez is tied for eighth in doubles.

Hildemaro Vargas is tied for fourth in triples and seventh in stolen bases.

Alexander Castellano is fourth in triples.

Carlos Yegues is tied for seventh in home runs.

Osmir Medina is tied for seventh in stolen bases.

Javier Avendano is tied for second in ERA, tied for eighth in wins, tied for sixth in innings pitched, and fifth in strikeouts.

Deimer Bier is tied for eighth in wins.

Moises Colorado is tied for eighth in wins and ninth in strikeouts.

Fernando Cedeno is tied for eighth in wins and second in holds.

Francisco Guzman is tied for first in saves and first in game finishes.

Hector Corpas is tied for seventh in saves.

Next Up (Overall, vs. Cardinals)

June 21: Mets (13-15, 1-3)

June 22: Phillies (11-18, 2-3)

June 23: @ Tigers (10-19, 0-5)

June 24: Pirates (22-7, 5-0)

June 25: Off Day

June 26: Mariners (15-14, 4-1)

June 27: Rays (16-13, 3-2)

Pujols extends Cards two-RBI game lead


Ho hum. With his two RBI each on Friday and Saturday against the Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols extended his lead in the club’s list of two-or-more RBI games this decade to 285.

Pujols will soon pass the next two (former) Cardinals on the list as Jim Edmonds (175 games) and Scott Rolen (114 games) together accomplished the feat 289 times since the start of the 2000 season. Yadier Molina has the second-most such games of any active Cardinal at 54, one ahead of Ryan Ludwick.

Two or more RBI games (2000-2009)

(players still in the Cardinals organization in bold)

Albert Pujols 285
Jim Edmonds 175
Scott Rolen 114
Edgar Renteria 88
Yadier Molina 54
Ryan Ludwick 53
J.D. Drew 51
Chris Duncan 46
Mike Matheny 46
Mark McGwire 38
Rick Ankiel 36
So Taguchi 36
Tino Martinez 35
Craig Paquette 30
Juan Encarnacion 29
Fernando Vina 28
Troy Glaus 28
Eli Marrero 27
Ray Lankford 27
Reggie Sanders 26
David Eckstein 20
Scott Spiezio 20
Larry Walker 19
Aaron Miles 18
John Mabry 18
Skip Schumaker 18
Eduardo Perez 16
Placido Polanco 16
Fernando Tatis 15
Miguel Cairo 15
Hector Luna 14
Mark Grudzielanek 13
Will Clark 12
Eric Davis 10
Gary Bennett 10
Shawon Dunston 9
Adam Kennedy 8
Kerry Robinson 8
Preston Wilson 8
Thomas Howard 8
Abraham Nunez 7
Jason LaRue 7
Colby Rasmus 7
Bobby Bonilla 6
John Rodriguez 6
Brendan Ryan 5
Mike Difelice 5
Nick Stavinoha 5
Orlando Palmeiro 5
Roger Cedeno 5
Bo Hart 4
Brian Barton 4
Einar Diaz 4
Felipe Lopez 4
Jason Marquis 4
Joe Mather 4
Marlon Anderson 4
Ron Belliard 4
Chris Widger 3
Joe Thurston 3
John Gall 3
Scott Seabol 3
Tony Womack 3
Adam Wainwright 2
Brett Tomko 2
Carlos Hernandez 2
Cody McKay 2
Darryl Kile 2
Jason Isringhausen 2
Keith McDonald 2
Khalil Greene 2
Matt Morris 2
Mike Mahoney 2
Wilson Delgado 2
Andy Benes 1
Braden Looper 1
Brian Barden 1
Cesar Izturis 1
Gene Stechschulte 1
Jeff Suppan 1
Jeff Weaver 1
Joel Pineiro 1
Jose Vizcaino 1
Kelly Stinnett 1
Kip Wells 1
Kyle Lohse 1
Mark Mulder 1
Mark Worrell 1
Mike Parisi 1
Steve Kline 1
Woody Williams 1

A special thank you to Tom Orf for the data.

Carpenter extends stingy streak


With his one-run, three-hit, 7 2/3-inning win over Kansas City on Saturday, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter extended his current streak of allowing fewer than six hits and three runs to ten games.

That ties the team best over the last 55 years, first set by Woody Williams, accomplished over the end of the 2001 and start of the 2002 seasons. (If one would tighten the criteria further to specify two walks or fewer, Woody would drop off the list.)

Start End G W L GS CG SHO IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Woody Williams 8/31/2001 5/25/2002 10 7 0 10 3 1 68 34 12 9 17 51 5 1.19
Chris Carpenter 4/9/2009 current 10 6 1 10 1 0 66.1 36 12 11 11 49 3 1.49
John Tudor 7/6/1990 9/2/1990 8 5 1 8 1 1 52.1 30 14 11 12 29 4 1.89

Thanks to Tom Orf for the data pull.

First Cards home run trifecta in almost two years


During Friday night’s fourth inning against Kansas City, three St. Louis Cardinals players, outfielders Ryan Ludwick and Rick Ankiel plus infielder Khalil Greene collected home runs.

While it was the 28th time this occurred for the club in the last 55 years, it is only the second time since the 2006 World Championship season and first time since July, 2007.

What may have been most encouraging was that Albert Pujols was not part of the trifecta. He had been involved in each of the last three three-home run innings collected by the Cardinals.

Ludwick’s Friday grand slam to lead off the run was the first as part of a single-inning three home run performance by the club since Mark McGwire in 1999.

Date Opp Inn BI BI BI
6/19/2009 @KC T3 Ludwick 4 Ankiel 1 K.Greene 1
7/15/2007 @PHI T7 Pujols 1 Encarnacion 1 Kennedy 1
10/1/2006 MIL B9 Duncan 1 Pujols 1 Spiezio 1
8/18/2006 @CHC T7 Pujols 2 Rolen 1 Belliard 2
7/24/2005 CHC B1 Nunez 1 Edmonds 1 Mabry 1
4/9/2004 @ARZ T3 Lankford 1 Rolen 2 Sanders 1
7/3/2003 SFG B2 Renteria 3 Pujols 3 Rolen 1
6/25/2003 CIN B1 Hart 1 Edmonds 1 Rolen 1
9/20/2002 HOU B6 Marrero 1 Edmonds 1 Rolen 1
9/19/2002 @COL T8 Marrero 1 Edmonds 1 Pujols 1
7/2/2002 SDP B2 Polanco 2 Edmonds 1 Pujols 1
4/13/2000 @COL T1 Polanco 1 Tatis 1 Edmonds 1
4/6/2000 CHC B3 Tatis 3 Drew 1 Matheny 1
9/20/1999 @CHC T7 McGwire 1 Howard 2 Drew 1
9/17/1999 HOU B4 McGwire 4 Howard 1 Tatis 1
4/23/1999 @LAD T3 Tatis 4 Marrero 1 Tatis 4
6/3/1997 COL B5 DeShields 1 Gant 3 Mabry 3
5/14/1997 @PHI T9 Franklin 1 Gaetti 1 Clayton 2
7/12/1996 @CHC T5 Lankford 1 Gant 1 Gaetti 2
10/1/1990 @MON T3 Bry.Smith 2 Gilkey 1 Thompson 1
4/11/1986 MON B3 McGee 2 Clark 1 Landrum 1
8/22/1980 @ATL T4 Hernandez 2 Simmons 1 Reitz 3
7/6/1979 @ATL T4 Reitz 1 Tyson 1 Templeton 1
7/21/1966 ATL B5 C.Smith 1 Flood 3 Cepeda 1
7/18/1964 NYM B8 Boyer 4 White 1 McCarver 1
6/27/1962 @CHC T6 Sawataski 1 Javier 2 Flood 1
6/26/1959 @CIN T8 Cunningham 1 Boyer 2 Musial 2
7/21/1956 BRO B8 Sauer 1 H.Smith 1 Musial 2

As always, thanks to Tom Orf for the data pull.

Rasmus among youngest Cards with four hits in a game


On Friday night, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Colby Rasmus collected four hits at age 22, 312 days. That was not close to the record as it tied him with Joe Cunningham (1954) as the 15th youngest Cardinal since 1954 to do so.

Curt Flood holds the record for youngest in at least the last 55 years at age 20, 156 days, set in 1958.

1 20.156 Curt Flood 6/23/1958 STL @PIT
2 21.037 Luis Melendez 9/17/1970 STL @CHC
3 21.076 Ken Reitz 1972-09-08(1) STL @NYM
4 21.130 Garry Templeton 8/1/1977 STL @ATL
5 21.178 Garry Templeton 9/18/1977 STL PHI
6 21.205 Curt Flood 8/11/1959 STL SFG
7 21.220 Lindy McDaniel 1957-07-21(2) STL @PIT
8 22.003 Ken Reitz 6/27/1973 STL @PIT
9 22.005 Ted Simmons 8/14/1971 STL @PIT
10 22.026 Ted Simmons 9/4/1971 STL CHC
11 22.126 Garry Templeton 7/28/1978 STL @SDP
12 22.154 Garry Templeton 8/25/1978 STL @ATL
13 22.231 Albert Pujols 9/4/2002 STL CIN
14 22.307 Ken Reitz 4/27/1974 STL CIN
15 22.312 Colby Rasmus 6/19/2009 STL @KCR
15 22.312 Joe Cunningham 1954-07-05(1) STL MLN
17 22.316 Yadier Molina 5/25/2005 STL PIT
18 22.337 Julio Gotay 5/12/1962 STL LAD
19 22.347 David Bell 8/27/1995 STL @COL
20 22.351 Joe Cunningham 8/13/1954 STL @CIN

As always, thanks to Tom Orf for the data pull.

K. Greene, Kinney up, Walters and Stavinoha down

From the Cardinals:

The St. Louis Cardinals reinstated Khalil Greene (pictured) from a rehabilitation assignment and activated the infielder from the 15-day disabled list today.  In addition, the club has also recalled RHP Josh Kinney from Triple-A Memphis.  To make room on the roster the team optioned outfielder Nick Stavinoha and RHP P.J. Walters to Triple-A.

Greene has been on the disabled list since May 29 and has missed 19 games.  He played in four games at Memphis during his rehab and went 6-for-15 (.400) with two doubles.  Josh Kinney began the season with St. Louis and was optioned to Triple-A on April 17.  He has made 21 appearances for Memphis and was 1-1 with a 3.12 ERA in 26.0 IP, collecting 30 strikeouts.

Pujols: one-man home run band


By Tom Orf

Chris Duncan’s home run Tuesday night broke a streak as Albert Pujols had hit the last five St. Louis Cardinals home runs. There have only been three other streaks of five or more since 1954. (Pujols-2006-five, McGwire-1998-six, Allen-1970-six)

During the 55-year period, there have been 19 streaks of four or more. Pujols has the most with four, with three coming in 2006.

The shortest it took any player to get to four was two games by Lou Brock. After starting out 0-for-2 on 4-15-67, he singled to lead off the fifth of Don Sutton and singled in a run later in the inning as the Cardinals batted around, scoring six runs. He then hit a solo homer in the seventh and a three-run-homer in the eighth. The next day against Mike Cuellar, Brock led off the bottom of the first with a home run, singled in a run in the second and hit another solo shot in the bottom of the fourth.

The longest was Rex Hudler in 1990 going from August 25th to September 5th (12 days).

Cardinals Home Run Streak by One Player (1954-2009)

Yr# G# Date Batter Tm Opp Pitcher Score Inn Out RBI Play Des
62 1 6/11/2009 Albert Pujols STL @FLA Andrew Miller down 1 – 4 t 6 1 2
63 1 6/12/2009 Albert Pujols STL @CLE David Huff down 0 – 1 t 4 0 1
64 1 6/13/2009 Albert Pujols STL @CLE Tomokazu Ohka tied 0 – 0 t 4 1 1
65 2 6/13/2009 Albert Pujols STL @CLE Tomokazu Ohka tied 1 – 1 t 6 1 1
66 1 6/16/2009 Albert Pujols STL DET Ryan Perry ahead 9 – 1 b 6 0 1
118 2 8/1/2008 Ryan Ludwick STL PHI Cole Hamels ahead 4 – 0 b 5 2 1
119 3 8/1/2008 Ryan Ludwick STL PHI Ryan Madson ahead 5 – 3 b 8 0 1
120 1 8/2/2008 Ryan Ludwick STL PHI Joe Blanton down 0 – 2 b 7 0 1
121 1 8/3/2008 Ryan Ludwick STL PHI Brett Myers ahead 1 – 0 b 4 1 1
147 1 9/3/2006 Albert Pujols STL PIT Ian Snell tied 0 – 0 b 1 2 1
148 2 9/3/2006 Albert Pujols STL PIT Ian Snell ahead 1 – 0 b 3 1 2
149 3 9/3/2006 Albert Pujols STL PIT Ian Snell ahead 3 – 0 b 5 0 2
150 1 9/4/2006 Albert Pujols STL @WSN Ramon Ortiz down 0 – 4 t 9 2 1
151 1 9/5/2006 Albert Pujols STL @WSN Pedro Astacio tied 0 – 0 t 1 2 1
41 2 5/13/2006 Albert Pujols STL ARI Claudio Vargas ahead 4 – 1 b 2 1 1
42 1 5/19/2006 Albert Pujols STL @KCR Mark Redman down 0 – 5 t 4 0 2
43 1 5/20/2006 Albert Pujols STL @KCR Ambiorix Burgos ahead 1 – 0 t 8 0 3
44 1 5/21/2006 Albert Pujols STL @KCR Scott Elarton tied 0 – 0 t 4 2 1
15 3 4/16/2006 Albert Pujols STL CIN Rick White ahead 5 – 4 b 7 2 1
16 4 4/16/2006 Albert Pujols STL CIN Dave Weathers down 6 – 7 b 9 0 2 *ENDED GAME
17 1 4/17/2006 Albert Pujols STL @PIT Paul Maholm tied 0 – 0 t 1 1 2
18 1 4/18/2006 Albert Pujols STL @PIT Oliver Perez down 1 – 8 t 4 0 1
67 2 5/23/1998 Mark McGwire STL SFG Rich Rodriguez ahead 7 – 4 b 4 1 1
68 3 5/23/1998 Mark McGwire STL SFG John Johnstone tied 8 – 8 b 5 1 3
69 1 5/24/1998 Mark McGwire STL SFG Robb Nen down 4 – 6 b12 2 2
70 1 5/25/1998 Mark McGwire STL COL John Thomson down 0 – 3 b 1 2 1
71 1 5/29/1998 Mark McGwire STL @SDP Dan Miceli ahead 6 – 0 t 9 1 2
72 1 5/30/1998 Mark McGwire STL @SDP Andy Ashby tied 0 – 0 t 1 2 1
45 1 6/4/1997 Ray Lankford STL @PIT Jason Schmidt tied 0 – 0 t 1 1 2
46 1 6/5/1997 Ray Lankford STL @PIT Ricardo Rincon down 2 – 9 t 9 0 1
47 1 6/6/1997 Ray Lankford STL @LAD Chan Ho Park tied 0 – 0 t 1 2 1
48 2 6/6/1997 Ray Lankford STL @LAD Chan Ho Park ahead 1 – 0 t 4 1 1
86 1 9/1/1995 Ray Lankford STL COL Curt Leskanic down 3 – 4 b 8 0 1
87 1 9/2/1995 Ray Lankford STL COL Roger Bailey down 0 – 6 b 9 0 1
88 1 9/4/1995 Ray Lankford STL @ATL John Smoltz down 1 – 4 t 4 0 1
89 1 9/8/1995 Ray Lankford STL SDP Joey Hamilton ahead 3 – 1 b 5 0 1
54 3 8/25/1990 Rex Hudler STL @HOU Jim Deshaies down 2 – 6 t 8 1 1
55 1 8/30/1990 Rex Hudler STL @ATL Tom Glavine tied 0 – 0 t 2 1 1
56 1 9/1/1990 Rex Hudler STL @ATL Kent Mercker down 2 – 4 t 9 0 1
57 1 9/5/1990 Rex Hudler STL MON Chris Nabholz down 1 – 4 b 4 2 1
4 1 4/21/1990 Pedro Guerrero STL PHI Terry Mulholland down 1 – 5 b 3 0 4
5 1 4/23/1990 Pedro Guerrero STL PIT Bob Walk down 1 – 2 b 3 2 2
6 1 4/26/1990 Pedro Guerrero STL @LAD Tim Belcher ahead 3 – 0 t 7 1 3
7 2 4/26/1990 Pedro Guerrero STL @LAD Tim Crews ahead 6 – 1 t 9 2 1
35 1 6/27/1988 Tom Brunansky STL MON Jeff Parrett down 2 – 3 b13 2 1
36 1 7/2/1988 Tom Brunansky STL @SDP Dennis Rasmussen ahead 2 – 0 t 3 1 3
37 1 7/3/1988 Tom Brunansky STL @SDP Lance McCullers down 3 – 4 t 9 2 2
38 1 7/5/1988 Tom Brunansky STL @LAD Orel Hershiser down 0 – 3 t 4 2 1
39 1 6/16/1987 Jack Clark STL PIT Dave Johnson ahead 8 – 1 b 6 2 3
40 1 6/18/1987 Jack Clark STL PIT Bob Kipper down 1 – 3 b 4 0 2
41 2 6/18/1987 Jack Clark STL PIT Don Robinson tied 6 – 6 b10 0 2 *ENDED GAME
42 1 6/24/1987 Jack Clark STL PHI Don Carman down 1 – 2 b 6 1 1
12 1 4/22/1987 Jack Clark STL CHC Rick Sutcliffe ahead 1 – 0 b 4 1 1
13 2 4/22/1987 Jack Clark STL CHC Ed Lynch down 3 – 5 b 8 1 1
14 1 4/26/1987 Jack Clark STL @NYM Ron Darling ahead 3 – 0 t 5 0 1
15 1 4/29/1987 Jack Clark STL SDP Andy Hawkins ahead 3 – 2 b 6 1 1
61 1 7/11/1970 Dick Allen STL PIT Bob Veale down 3 – 6 b 3 2 2
62 2 7/11/1970 Dick Allen STL PIT Bruce Dal Canton down 5 – 6 b 6 0 1
63 1 7/17/1970 Dick Allen STL ATL George Stone tied 0 – 0 b 1 1 3
64 1 7/22/1970 Dick Allen STL HOU Larry Dierker down 1 – 3 b 3 1 3
24 2 5/10/1970 Dick Allen STL @ATL George Stone down 2 – 5 t 9 0 1
25 1 5/11/1970 Dick Allen STL PHI Jim Bunning tied 0 – 0 b 9 0 3 *ENDED GAME
26 1 5/12/1970 Dick Allen STL PHI Lowell Palmer down 4 – 5 b 5 0 2
27 1 5/14/1970 Dick Allen STL PIT Dock Ellis down 2 – 5 b 6 0 1
28 1 5/19/1970 Dick Allen STL @HOU Scipio Spinks ahead 3 – 1 t 4 2 3
29 1 5/21/1970 Dick Allen STL @PHI Woodie Fryman down 0 – 3 t 9 2 2
3 1 4/15/1967 Lou Brock STL LAD Joe Moeller ahead 7 – 3 b 7 1 1
4 2 4/15/1967 Lou Brock STL LAD Bruce Brubaker ahead 10 – 4 b 8 1 3
5 1 4/16/1967 Lou Brock STL HOU Mike Cuellar tied 0 – 0 b 1 0 1
6 2 4/16/1967 Lou Brock STL HOU Mike Cuellar ahead 5 – 3 b 4 0 1
33 3 5/25/1957 Stan Musial STL @CIN Hersh Freeman ahead 8 – 3 t 8 1 2
34 1 5/26/1957 Stan Musial STL @CIN Hal Jeffcoat ahead 1 – 0 t 3 2 1
35 2 5/26/1957 Stan Musial STL @CIN Hal Jeffcoat down 2 – 6 t 8 1 4
36 1 5/27/1957 Stan Musial STL CHC Bob Rush ahead 3 – 1 b 5 2 2
85 1 7/8/1955 Stan Musial STL CHC Paul Minner down 1 2 b 4 1
86 1 7/9/1955 Stan Musial STL CHC Warren Hacker down 0 1 b 6 4
87 1 7/10/1955 Stan Musial STL CHC Howie Pollet tied 0 – 0 b 1 2 1
88 1 7/14/1955 Stan Musial STL @BRO Johnny Podres tied 0 – 0 t 4 0 1
48 1 6/3/1954 Stan Musial STL NYG Sal Maglie ahead 4 – 2 b 2 2 2
49 1 6/4/1954 Stan Musial STL PHI Robin Roberts ahead 1 – 0 b 3 2 3
50 2 6/4/1954 Stan Musial STL PHI Jim Konstanty ahead 4 – 2 b 8 1 1
51 1 6/5/1954 Stan Musial STL PHI Murry Dickson down 2 – 9 b 8 2 2

Stock, Kelly, Jackson come to terms


On Wednesday, the St. Louis Cardinals announced that they have agreed to terms with three of their top five selections from last week’s MLB Draft.  Catcher Robert Stock (second round), right-handed pitcher Joseph Kelly (third round) and shortstop Ryan Jackson (fifth round) each agreed to contracts.

Stock was a two-way player with the USC Trojans as he also was a member of the pitching staff.  Stock batted .226 with six home runs and 30 RBI this past season.  He walked 23 times and struck out 24 in 137 at-bats.  Stock batted .263 with 14 home runs and 74 RBI in his three-year Trojan career. He made national headlines after he bypassed his senior year in high school to join the Trojans as a 17-year-old freshman in 2007.  Stock was named 2005 Baseball America Youth Player of the Year.  Stock will begin his pro career at short-season Johnson City as a catcher.

Kelly, from the University of California-Riverside, was named Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year as a freshman in 2007.  This season, he was 1-1 with a 5.65 ERA in 23 games out of the bullpen.  Kelly’s father, Joseph Sr., played football at Vanderbilt and for the San Diego Chargers.

Playing for perennial powerhouse Miami, Ryan Jackson was regarded as one of college baseball’s top defenders in his three-year career at UM.  After hitting .236 as a freshman in 2007, Jackson earned All-America honors as a sophomore after his average jumped 124 points to .360. The Miami Springs, Fla. native led the 2008 `Canes with 19 doubles, and tallied 38 in his career. This past season, Jackson hit .263 with four homers, 38 runs scored and a .362 on-base percentage.  In his three collegiate seasons, Jackson hit .293 with eight homers, 103 RBI, 115 runs scored and 19 stolen bases. He is expected to open with Batavia.

This make the official signing count 35 of 50 of the organization’s 2009 draftees.