Category Archives: St. Louis Cardinals

Cardinals offense year-to-year: Part two

Comparing the year-to-year change in the St. Louis Cardinals offensive results from 2009 to 2010 to the National League as a whole.

Mark McGwire (Getty Images)In yesterday’s post, I compared the output of the 2009 and 2010 St. Louis Cardinals offense, noting that in terms of absolute numbers, four areas were up, four others were down and two others were flat year-to-year.

Several readers have suggested a view that contrasts the Cardinals with the league would offer a better comparison as it would take into account the shift across baseball to better pitching and poorer hitting in 2010.

That seemed a reasonable effort. What follows is a comparison of the percentage change in major offensive stats over the past two seasons between the Cardinals and the National League in its entirety. For consistency, I used the same ten statistical categories as in the initial article.

Cards AVG Chg SLG Chg OBP Chg
2010 0.263 0.0% 0.402 -3.1% 0.332 0.0%
2009 0.263 0.415 0.332
NL AVG Chg SLG Chg OBP Chg
2010 0.255 -1.5% 0.399 -2.4% 0.324 -2.1%
2009 0.259 0.409 0.331
Advantage Cards NL Cards

Starting with rate stats, the Cardinals flat batting average and on-base percentage is positive when considering the declines across the league. However, the Cardinals drop in slugging percentage was greater than experienced by the NL as a whole.

Cards TB Chg 2B Chg HR Chg
2010 2227 -1.8% 285 -3.1% 150 -6.3%
2009 2268 294 160
NL TB Chg 2B Chg HR Chg
2010 35101 -2.3% 4470 -3.0% 2404 -3.1%
2009 35915 4606 2482
Advantage Cards NL NL

While the Cardinals declined in all three categories in the above table, so did the NL. Only in total bases was St. Louis’ decline smaller than the league. The Cardinals doubles rate showed a slightly greater drop while their fall off in home runs was double the league’s rate of decline.

Cards R Chg BB-IBB Chg SO Chg GIDP Chg
2010 736 0.8% 463 1.8% 1027 -1.3% 124 -2.4%
2009 730 455 1041 127
NL R Chg BB-IBB Chg SO Chg GIDP Chg
2010 11211 -2.4% 7652 -6.2% 19092 4.4% 1917 -3.1%
2009 11481 8156 18282 1979
Advantage Cards Cards Cards NL

In the final group of stats, the Cards bucked the trend by scoring slightly more and taking more non-intentional walks while the league declined in each. St. Louis hitters struck out less while the NL whiffed more. Both groups cut their ground into double plays, but the league improved at a greater rate.

The bottom line tally is that the Cardinals performed better year-to-year than the National League in six of the ten selected offensive measurements and poorer than the NL as a whole in the other four.

Specifically, the Cardinals excelled in batting average, on-base percentage, runs, non-intentional walks, strikeouts and total bases.

The Cardinals lagged behind the league in slugging, ground into double plays, doubles and home runs.

This sample would seem to tip the scales toward overall improvement by the club as compared to the drop in offensive performance across the National League year to year.

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The need for expanded instant replay made obvious

A rash of managerial ejections highlights poor umpiring decisions helping to decide MLB playoff games.

Phil Cuzzi and Tony La Russa - 10/16/05 (AP photo)Until this week, the 16th and last time a manager was ejected during the playoffs was back on October 16, 2005 when Tony La Russa was run by umpire Phil Cuzzi.

From my game report that evening:

In the seventh inning of the NLCS Game 4 at Houston, La Russa barked from the dugout about a walk issued by Jason Marquis. Crew chief Tim McClelland had to step between the manager and Cuzzi multiple times during the several-minute dispute. During the next inning, centerfielder Jim Edmonds was also run by Cuzzi after complaining over a strike call. The Cardinals lost that pivotal contest by a 2-1 score.

At the time, the umpires were criticized for being short-fused and more importantly, the post-season umpiring selection process came under attack. The cronyism system that keeps the best umpires down and allows the bad ones to remain in their jobs year after year remains a problem to this day.

The 2010 Division Series has already seen three managerial ejections, all on close plays in which replays indicated the skippers had good cases to argue.

Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon was run from Game 2 of the AL Division Series on Thursday for arguing a checked swing by Texas’ Michael Young. Maddon was tossed by home plate umpire Jim Wolf after Young hit a three-run home run to give the Rangers a 5-0 lead in a game they would win 6-0.

Later that same day, Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire was ejected by ump Hunter Wendelstedt in Game 2 of his ALDS for arguing balls and strikes. The two have had multiple skirmishes in the past.

Twins starter Carl Pavano appeared to have struck out the Yankees’ Lance Berkman, but Wendelstedt called the pitch a ball. Berkman doubled on the next pitch to put New York ahead 3-2 in a game they would go on to win by a 5-2 score. Like the Rays, the Twins were put into an 0-2 hole in their series.

On Friday night, Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox was sent to an early shower in the second inning of Friday night’s Game 2 of the NLDS, eventually won on a Rick Ankiel home run in extra innings. Cox argued that Giants shortstop Juan Uribe‘s throw on Alex Gonzalez‘ grounder pulled Aubrey Huff’s foot off the first base bag on a play that had been called safe. Replays again suggested another missed call.

The same umpire, Paul Emmel, had been involved in what appeared to be a blown call at second base the night before that helped set up the only run of the game in the Giants’ 1-0 Game 1 win. The soon-to-be retiring Cox has a history of ejections, but he had a point here.

Something must be done because again the umpires are making themselves factors in the playoffs instead of remaining a seamless part of it.

Is do-nothing commissioner Bud Selig watching these games? If so, will this finally help push him into engaging the unions in discussions about expanded use of instant replay?

Probably not.

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2010 Cardinals possible losers vs. NL Central

With nine games to go vs. NL Central this season, the St. Louis Cardinals are on track to post a rare losing divisional record.

Brendan Ryan (AP/David J. Phillip)1998 brought a realignment in baseball as the Milwaukee Brewers moved from the American League Central to the National League Central. At that time, the current six-team NLC configuration was born.

It was Tony La Russa’s third season as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. Over the 13 years since, the Cards are currently in the midst of what may be their fourth losing season against the other five teams in the division, along with 2008, 2006 and 1999.

What makes 2010 unique is that it is the only year since the Brewers entered the division that the Cardinals lost their season series against what had generally been their three strongest contenders in the past – Milwaukee, Chicago and Houston.

That won’t change the rest of the way as the Cardinals have just three games remaining against the Cubs. Even if St. Louis wins all three, Chicago is assured of taking the season series.

The Cards’ other six NL Central games remaining are against the Pirates, three away and three at home. As long as St. Louis takes at least two of the six contests, they will maintain a winning 2010 mark over Pittsburgh.

If the Cardinals can take at least five on the nine ahead vs. Chicago and Pittsburgh, they can avoid that fourth losing season in 13 against the rest of the division.

The likely NL Central champions from Cincinnati, who will be making their first playoff appearance since 1995, will finish with a 12-6 deficit to the Cardinals.

St. Louis Cardinals, record against NL Central teams, 1998-current

NLC ChC Mil Hou Pit Cin
W L Yr W L W L W L W L W L
34 35 2010 4 8 +3 7 8 5 10 6 3 +6 12 6
46 34 2009 10 6 9 9 9 6 10 5 8 8
36 41 2008 6 9 5 10 8 7 7 10 10 5
43 37 2007 5 11 8 7 9 7 12 6 9 6
39 42 2006 8 11 9 7 7 9 9 6 6 9
51 29 2005 6 10 11 5 11 5 12 4 11 5
54 36 2004 11 8 9 8 8 10 12 5 14 5
46 38 2003 9 8 13 3 7 11 10 7 7 9
57 33 2002 12 6 10 7 13 6 11 6 11 8
49 35 2001 8 9 10 7 7 9 14 3 10 7
37 25 2000 10 3 7 5 6 6 8 4 6 7
27 34 1999 5 7 6 7 7 5 5 7 4 8
30 26 1998 7 4 8 3 7 5 5 6 3 8

Thanks to researcher Tom Orf for providing the table above.

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Join The Cardinal Nation community top prospect list voting

Annual fan-driven process to select the top prospects in the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system is now underway and open to all!

Shelby Miller (Names Around Town Photography)In each of the last five years, the members of TheCardinalNation.com forum community have named their top 50 prospects in the St. Louis Cardinals system. 2011 is no exception.

Voting is allowed for one spot at a time, starting with number one. Each person is allowed one vote for each place on the list. Discussion and debate is encouraged and votes can be changed by convincing arguments.

The 2011 process is just getting underway, with the balloting for the top prospect now open. Please join in the voting as it continues on The Cardinal Nation message board over the upcoming weeks. A new player will be selected roughly every 48 hours until the entire top 50 is complete.

Other sites have adopted this concept in recent years, but The Cardinal Nation remains the definitive place for Cardinals minor league news with a most knowledgeable community of readers and posters. If you want to learn more about Cardinals prospects, make sure you follow the discussion that coincides with each vote.

In addition to being part of the permanent site record, the community results receive one third weighting in The Cardinal Nation’s annual top prospect list to be unveiled starting in December.

That consolidated list is featured in the annual FOX Sports Fantasy Guide/Scout.com Prospect Guide magazine sold on newsstands nationwide each spring and provided free to all annual subscribers to TheCardinalNation.com.

If you are interested in Cardinals farmhands, join in the top prospect voting today!

Link to The Cardinal Nation message board 2011 top prospect voting thread
Link to 2010 Cardinals top prospect selections

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Cardinals reach new level of scoring futility

Brendan Ryan (AP/David J. Phillip)At the worst possible time, the St. Louis Cardinals are in the midst of their lowest run-scoring ten-game stretch of the 2010 season.

As many fans know too well, the St. Louis Cardinals have been enduring a period of scoring futility that has put their playoff hopes in serious jeopardy.

Over their last ten games, the club has won just three, hardly the kind of push that would be expected to take them over the top. During that time, the Cardinals have been outscored 49-27. St. Louis plated 30 percent of the total, eight of the 27, in a single game, Monday’s series-opening win in Milwaukee.

The paltry sum of 27 runs represents the Cardinals’ lowest-scoring ten-game stretch during any point this season – at least to date.

With the assistance of researcher Tom Orf, we find that this is the 30th time in Tony La Russa’s 15 years as Cardinals manager that the team has scored 27 or fewer runs over a ten-game period. It is the first time this season after five different occurrences during 2009.

What is unique about 2010 is that this is the latest point in the season for such a low-scoring stretch during La Russa’s entire Cardinals tenure.

None of the 29 earlier offensive shortfalls occurred in any part during the month of September as does the current streak.

In the following table, a ten-game period that overlapped two months is accounted as a half in each.

Cardinals ten-game periods of 27 or fewer runs by month, 1996-current

Month #
September 0.5
August 8.5
July 6.5
June 3
May 7
April 4.5
Total 30

While this is the worst run-scoring period this season, it pales in comparison to the ten games from April 27 through May 8, 2007 during which the Cardinals plated just 19 runs. That is their worst showing under La Russa.

Cardinals ten-game periods of 27 or fewer runs by runs scored, 1996-current

Runs Times
19 1
20 0
21 1
22 4
23 1
24 3
25 6
26 4
27 10
Total 30

Looking at the yearly distribution, we see that the Cardinals only had one such streak during the four-year period of 2003-06 and just five over the nine years of 1998-2006.

Cardinals ten-game periods of 27 or fewer runs by year, 1996-current

Year #
2010 1
2009 5
2008 0
2007 7
2006 0
2005 0
2004 1
2003 0
2002 2
2001 0
2000 1
1999 0
1998 1
1997 11
1996 1
Total 30

Here are the details of all 30.

Cardinals ten-game periods of 27 or fewer runs, 1996-current

Start End Game 1 # Game 10 # W – L Runs scored Runs against
8/28/2010 9/7/2010 127 – 136 3 – 7 27 49
5/12/2009 5/22/2009 33 – 42 5 – 5 27 32
6/24/2009 7/3/2009 73 – 82 4 – 6 27 49
5/16/2009 5/25/2009 36 – 45 5 – 5 26 23
6/23/2009 7/2/2009 72 – 81 4 – 6 23 45
6/22/2009 7/1/2009 71 – 80 3 – 7 22 49
5/2/2007 5/13/2007 26 – 35 5 – 5 26 36
4/28/2007 5/9/2007 23 – 32 4 – 6 25 53
4/24/2007 5/5/2007 19 – 28 3 – 7 25 68
4/25/2007 5/6/2007 20 – 29 4 – 6 25 59
4/30/2007 5/11/2007 24 – 33 4 – 6 24 52
4/26/2007 5/7/2007 21 – 30 3 – 7 22 60
4/27/2007 5/8/2007 22 – 31 3 – 7 19 56
4/22/2004 5/2/2004 16 – 25 5 – 5 27 32
7/31/2002 8/10/2002 104 – 113 2 – 8 25 54
7/30/2002 8/9/2002 103 – 112 2 – 8 25 50
5/31/2000 6/10/2000 52 – 61 3 – 7 27 45
6/23/1998 7/3/1998 75 – 84 2 – 8 27 58
7/27/1997 8/5/1997 103 – 112 3 – 7 27 43
6/30/1997 7/12/1997 80 – 89 5 – 5 27 35
8/3/1997 8/13/1997 110 – 119 2 – 8 27 45
4/16/1997 4/27/1997 13 – 22 4 – 6 26 30
7/26/1997 8/4/1997 102 – 111 4 – 6 26 39
8/2/1997 8/12/1997 109 – 118 3 – 7 25 41
7/28/1997 8/6/1997 104 – 113 2 – 8 24 43
7/30/1997 8/8/1997 106 – 115 2 – 8 24 41
7/29/1997 8/7/1997 105 – 114 1 – 9 22 45
7/31/1997 8/9/1997 107 – 116 2 – 8 22 37
8/1/1997 8/10/1997 108 – 117 2 – 8 21 43
8/18/1996 8/28/1996 124 – 133 3 – 7 27 46

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Cardinals low run-scoring streak continues

The St. Louis Cardinals have scored two or fewer runs in four consecutive games – again.

Tony La Russa (AP photo)Tony La Russa managed his first game with the St. Louis Cardinals on April 1, 1996. In the almost 15 years that followed, his clubs had only 11 prior stretches as bleak as the active one in terms of scoring.

Currently, the Cardinals have scored two or fewer runs in four consecutive games. That hadn’t happened in over two years, since July 2008.

Seven of La Russa’s teams’ 12 four-or-more game offensive futility streaks occurred during his first three seasons with the organization, 1996-98.

Another two-run or less outing on Friday by the 2010 Cardinals would tie La Russa’s teams’ longest streak at five games, set in 1996 and tied twice the next year.

On the other end of the spectrum, during the heyday of the MV3 and after, the Cardinals went almost five years (August 2002 until May 2007) without four consecutive low-scoring games as this week.

Going back to 1920, the longest consecutive game stretch was 11 games in May 1978. In an interesting bit of symmetry, the current streak is the 91st occurrence in the last 91 years for the Cardinals.

Thanks to researcher Tom Orf, here are the dozen during the La Russa years.

Cardinals streaks of four or more games, scoring two or fewer runs per game: 1996 – current

Strk Start End G W L AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SO BB SB CS BA Opp
8/29/2010 9/1/2010* 4 0 4 125 4 21 4 0 2 4 25 8 0 0 0.168 WSN,HOU
7/6/2008 7/10/2008 4 1 3 127 6 26 5 0 3 6 29 13 2 0 0.205 CHC,PHI
4/28/2007 5/2/2007 4 0 4 132 4 29 2 0 2 4 16 6 1 0 0.220 CHC,MIL
8/3/2002 8/7/2002 4 0 4 125 4 21 2 1 0 2 15 8 0 1 0.168 ATL,MON
5/29/2001 6/1/2001 4 0 4 115 4 20 3 0 2 4 22 5 2 0 0.174 MIL,CIN
5/5/1998 5/8/1998 4 0 4 122 5 17 2 0 3 5 28 11 1 0 0.139 PIT,NYM
7/31/1997 8/4/1997 5 1 4 165 7 34 8 3 0 7 44 9 1 1 0.206 PHI,NYM
4/16/1997 4/20/1997 5 2 3 162 7 32 8 2 1 5 41 15 3 1 0.198 FLA,SDP
4/4/1997 4/8/1997 4 1 3 143 8 30 7 1 2 8 34 12 5 1 0.210 HOU,MON
9/10/1996 9/13/1996 4 2 2 120 6 26 2 1 1 6 23 11 3 1 0.217 SFG,LAD
7/23/1996 7/26/1996 4 0 4 120 6 13 4 0 1 4 41 10 4 0 0.108 ATL,MON
4/18/1996 4/22/1996 5 2 3 154 6 29 4 0 1 6 44 12 1 3 0.188 PIT,PHI,MON

* current

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Cardinals home-road splits telling

The St. Louis Cardinals are a dramatically different team at Busch Stadium vs. on the road.

Busch Stadium IIIBy Ian Walton

Following a poor 1-2 showing in Pittsburgh and a split with the Nationals halfway through their four game series, much has been made of the Cardinals’ inability to capitalize upon weaker opponents while the Cincinnati Reds slowly increase their divisional lead.  With the remainder of the Washington set and a three game series in Houston due up next, I wonder how much of their struggles have been due to a simple case of homesickness?

While only the Florida Marlins have a better record away from their home park than in it this season at the time of this writing, most playoff contending teams don’t have such pronounced trouble as the Cardinals on the road.  While enjoying a 41-23 (.641) record at Busch Stadium this season, the Cardinals are only 28-34 (.452) in their travels.  In fact, the following table shows that the Cardinals performed nearly equal at home and away as recently as the past couple of years.

St. Louis Cardinals Records Year by Year

Year Home Wins Home Losses Home Win Pct Away Wins Away Losses Away Win Pct Home Win Pct – Away Win Pct
2010 41 23 0.641 28 34 0.452 0.189
2009 46 35 0.568 45 36 0.556 0.012
2008 46 35 0.568 40 41 0.494 0.074
2007 43 38 0.531 35 46 0.432 0.099
2006 49 31 0.613 34 47 0.420 0.193

In 2010, the Cardinals have performed significantly worse on the road in most statistical categories.  While batting, their home .778 OPS drops to .723 on the road.  In particular, they seem to become much wilder at the plate.  At home, their BB/K ratio is a solid 0.69, but away it drops to 0.40!  Are they in a hurry to get back to their planes or hotels?  Are the opposing crowds rattling them?  What would cause them to completely lose sense of their plate discipline on the road?

The following table shows a number of home road/away OPS splits for various Cardinal players of note.  For better or worse, two of the players who were most skewed toward strong performances at Busch, Ryan Ludwick and David Freese, are no longer with the team.  Unfortunately, two of the three members of the Cardinals’ middle infield platoon, Brendan Ryan and Felipe Lopez, have also struggled mightily on the road.  The third, Skip Schumaker, is actually performing .100 points better away from St. Louis.  Colby Rasmus’ recent injury woes are untimely to fall during this recent trip, as his .991 away OPS by far leads the team (Pujols is second with .955).

Selected Cardinals Batters Home/Road OPS

Player Home OPS Away OPS Home OPS – Away OPS
Ryan Ludwick 0.926 0.734 0.192
David Freese 0.957 0.580 0.377
Felipe Lopez 0.751 0.605 0.146
Brendan Ryan 0.686 0.472 0.214
Skip Schumaker 0.621 0.721 -0.100
Colby Rasmus 0.736 0.991 -0.255
Team 0.778 0.723 0.055

Perhaps more striking than the differences between home and road performance at the plate are those on the mound.  As the following table shows, the Cardinals’ team ERA jumps from 2.92 at home to 3.96 on the road.  Notably, two of the team’s top three starting pitchers, their setup man, and their closer have performed dramatically better at home than on the road this season.

Selected Cardinals Pitchers Home/Road ERAs

Player Home ERA Away ERA Home ERA – Away ERA
Adam Wainwright 1.42 2.94 -1.52
Jaime Garcia 1.55 3.15 -1.60
Kyle McClellan 0.30 4.25 -3.95
Ryan Franklin 2.30 5.04 -2.74

In summation, many of the Cardinals are struggling to perform on the road this season, though for reasons that I don’t particularly understand.  The offense swings away like they have somewhere better to be and many of the team’s key pitchers simply lose their magic.  What I do know is that the Cardinals need to regain some focus on the road if they hope to reach the playoffs or beyond this season.

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Cardinals days off don’t seem to help

The 2010 Cardinals seem to play worse after having a day off than they did just prior.

AP photo/Winslow TownsonMuch concern has been expressed by St. Louis Cardinals fans about the meat grinder of a schedule that awaits the club over the final weeks of the regular season. If the Florida Marlins August 8 rainout reschedule lands on September 20 as expected, the Cardinals will play 44 games in their final 45 days.

Thursday the 19th is the Cardinals second off day this week and fourth open date in the last two weeks – five if the rainout is counted.

Conventional wisdom says a team welcomes the time away and the rested club plays better afterward. The opposite view is that rhythms and routines are interrupted and days off can be disruptive.

Wondering which is the case for the 2010 Cardinals, I undertook a very unscientific study. I simply looked at the team’s record in the series or partial series just prior to each of their first 15 days off and compared it to their results in the series immediately after.

2010 Cardinals, series record after days off compared to before

Days off Better after Same after Worse after
15 3 4 8

In just one-fifth of the time did the Cardinals win more games immediately after a day off compared to how they were playing just prior. In four cases, they played at same rate before and after. That leaves over half, eight of the 15 times, in which the Cardinals actually played worse just after taking a day off than they had been prior.

In terms of individual games, the Cards are six games over .500 just ahead of a day off and six games under after a rest.

Here are the specifics.

Before day off After day off
Day off Wins Losses Wins Losses Better/Worse
6-Apr 1 0 1 1 Worse
13-Apr 1 0 1 1 Worse
22-Apr 2 1 1 2 Worse
10-May 2 1 0 3 Worse
24-May 2 1 1 2 Worse
3-Jun 2 1 2 1 Same
10-Jun 0 3 1 2 Better
17-Jun 2 1 2 1 Same
21-Jun 2 1 2 1 Same
5-Jul 2 2 0 3 Worse
12-14-Jul 2 1 4 0 Better
26-Jul 1 2 1 2 Same
5-Aug 1 2 1 1 Better
12-Aug 3 0 1 2 Worse
16-Aug 1 2 0 2 Worse
24 18 18 24

I don’t know if this is simply coincidence, but if it really mattered, the long stretch of consecutive days ahead just might turn out to be a good thing.

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Cardinals extend winning streak to seven

Since Tony La Russa became St. Louis Cardinals manager in 1996, his clubs have had only seven longer winning streaks.

(AP/Tom Gannam)With their 7-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Busch Stadium on Tuesday night, the St. Louis Cardinals extended their current winning streak to seven games, the longest active stretch among all MLB clubs.

It is not only St. Louis’ best run this season – it would have been their longest during the previous three years, too. One has to go back to their World Series-winning season of 2006, July 7-16 to be specific, to find an example of the Cards taking seven straight games. Ironically, the 2006 Cardinals vanquished Houston and Los Angeles during their run, the same clubs defeated in the first five games of the current streak.

Because someone will surely ask, in the Tony La Russa years (starting in 1996), the Cardinals have enjoyed just seven winning streaks of eight or more consecutive games. The club’s best under Tony was 11 straight in August 2001.

St. Louis Cardinals winning streaks, 1996-present

First Last G Opponents
8/9/2001 8/19/2001 11 MON,NYM,CIN,PHI
5/7/2001 5/17/2001 10 PIT,CHC
8/27/2004 9/5/2004 9 PIT,SDP,LAD
9/8/2001 9/22/2001 9 LAD,MIL,PIT
7/2/2004 7/10/2004 8 SEA,CIN,CHC
9/3/2002 9/11/2002 8 CIN,CHC,MIL
8/30/1996 9/7/1996 8 COL,HOU,SDP
7/11/2010 7/20/2010* 7 HOU,LAD,PHI
7/7/2006 7/16/2006 7 HOU,LAD
8/4/2004 8/11/2004 7 MON,NYM,FLA
4/27/2003 5/4/2003 7 FLA,NYM,MON
9/11/2000 9/17/2000 7 PIT,CHC

* current

Thanks to researcher Tom Orf for providing the above table.

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Craig celebrates 26th birthday in style

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Allen Craig had a three-RBI game on Sunday as the Dodgers were swept out of town.

Allen Craig (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)Instead of waiting for another chance in St. Louis, rookie Cardinals outfielder Allen Craig helped make it happen by continuing to play hard after being sent down to Triple-A Memphis after an unproductive introductory period as a major leaguer.

His productivity is most evident by his 65 Pacific Coast League RBI in 67 games, good enough to be named by The Cardinal Nation as the Player of the Month across the organization for June.

Given another opportunity with the Cardinals on July 15 means Craig’s major league career is still only 11 games old. Coming into his start at first base on Sunday in place of resting Albert Pujols, some focused on his 2-for-22 (.091) beginning, expecting the worst from the right-handed hitter.

Fortunately, Craig had other ideas, enjoying a big afternoon on his 26th birthday.

Batting in Pujols’ customary third spot, Craig was on base three times, going 2-for-4 with a double and a walk. Further, he plated three of the Cardinals’ five runs in their comeback win over the Dodgers. Craig walked in the sixth, doubled in two runs and scored in the eighth and his single with two out in the ninth plated Yadier Molina with the tying run.

On Thursday, Craig had collected his first two career RBI in game one of the four-game sweep over the visiting Dodgers. Sunday’s three-RBIs in game four served as an impressive bookend.

With a pair of multi-RBI games in the first 11 games of his Cardinals career, Craig put his name on a list that now has just 30 names on it since 1920. As one might expect, Pujols is at the top with four such games, but in Craig, Cardinals fans may have much about which to be hopeful.

St. Louis Cardinals, two or more multi-RBI games in first 11 career games, 1920-present

Player Year G RBI
Albert Pujols 2001 4 10
Fred Whitfield 1962 4 10
Don Gutteridge 1936 3 9
George Puccinelli 1930 3 7
Jim Bottomley 1922 3 7
Wally Moon 1954 3 6
Joe Cunningham 1954 2 9
Hal Smith 1956 2 6
Enos Slaughter 1938 2 6
Heinie Schuble 1927 2 6
Allen Craig 2010 2 5
Adam Kennedy 1999 2 5
Rod Booker 1987 2 5
George Watkins 1930 2 5
John Gall 2005 2 4
Keith McDonald 2000 2 4
J.D. Drew 1998 2 4
Eli Marrero 1997 2 4
John Morris 1986 2 4
Vince Coleman 1985 2 4
Tom Nieto 1984 2 4
Ken Reitz 1972 2 4
Julian Javier 1960 2 4
Ken Boyer 1955 2 4
Stan Musial 1941 2 4
Harry Walker 1940 2 4
Bruce Ogrodowski 1936 2 4
Bill Lewis 1933 2 4
Chick Hafey 1924 2 4
Les Bell 1923 2 4

Thanks to Tom Orf for the data table above.

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Several Rays adopt Cardinals old-school stirrups

Several of the Tampa Bay Rays are modeling hose in the Brendan Ryan, old-school St. Louis Cardinals look.

Sean Rodriguez (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)After a St. Louis Cardinals loss the other night, I switched channels to MLB Network to catch up on action across the majors. It turned out their broadcast of the Tampa Bay Rays game was in its final innings.

Catcher Kelly Shoppach was at the plate for the Rays. He was going old school with high socks and stirrups that looked very familiar. The broadcasters told the story that the Rays equipment manager was asked by some of the players and manager Joe Maddon, a long-time Cardinals fan, to come up with Cardinals-like hose – in their blue colors, of course.

The Tampa Bay player in the photo is infielder Sean Rodriguez, who happens to be the son of Quad Cities manager Johnny Rodriguez.

As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

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Cardinals first half rankings

Looking at how the 2010 St. Louis Cardinals stack up against their peers over time.

Compared to their peers since 1952, 2010 St. Louis Cardinals players have placed on seven of 18 individual “top ten” lists through the first half, 81 games. Not surprisingly, Albert Pujols appears three times and Adam Wainwright twice.

They include five positive marks:

24 doubles – Matt Holliday – tied for ninth
56 walks – Pujols – tied for ninth
21 intentional walks – Pujols – second
11 wins – Wainwright – tied for tenth
114 strikeouts – Wainwright – tenth

Two are not positive:

81 strikeouts – Colby Rasmus – fifth
15 ground into double plays – Pujols – second

First-half lists in which no one in 2010 placed in the top ten since 1952: hits, triples, home runs, RBI, extra-base hits, times on base, hit by pitches, sac flies, sacrifices, innings pitched and saves.

Thanks to researcher Tom Orf, the detailed tables follow.

St. Louis Cardinals players, first 81 games, season, 1952-2010

Hits Doubles Triples
Player Year H Player Year 2B Player Year 3B
Red Schoendienst 1954 119 Gino Cimoli 1959 32 Willie McGee 1985 10
Albert Pujols 2003 117 Albert Pujols 2003 29 Garry Templeton 1979 10
Joe Torre 1971 115 Ted Simmons 1978 28 Mike Tyson 1976 9
Garry Templeton 1980 114 Stan Musial 1957 27 Vince Coleman 1988 9
Red Schoendienst 1953 113 Lou Brock 1968 26 Tim McCarver 1966 9
Wally Moon 1954 112 Edgar Renteria 2003 26 Tony Scott 1979 9
Lou Brock 1972 112 Felix Jose 1991 25 Lou Brock 1972 8
Stan Musial 1957 110 Scott Rolen 2006 25 Red Schoendienst 1954 8
Lou Brock 1971 109 Matt Holliday 2010 24 Don Blasingame 1958 8
Willie McGee 1988 109 Stan Musial 1953 24 Delino DeShields 1997 8
Bill White 1963 109 Pedro Guerrero 1989 24 Bill White 1960 8
Albert Pujols 2004 24
Scott Rolen 2003 24
Home Runs RBI Extra Base Hits
Player Year HR Player Year RBI Player Year XBH 2B 3B HR
Mark McGwire 1998 37 Mark McGwire 1998 87 Albert Pujols 2003 52 29 0 23
Albert Pujols 2009 30 Stan Musial 1954 82 Jim Edmonds 2003 49 23 1 25
Mark McGwire 2000 30 Jack Clark 1987 82 Stan Musial 1957 49 27 1 21
Albert Pujols 2006 28 Scott Rolen 2004 78 Albert Pujols 2009 49 19 0 30
Stan Musial 1954 26 Albert Pujols 2009 77 Mark McGwire 1998 49 12 0 37
Mark McGwire 1999 26 Albert Pujols 2006 73 Stan Musial 1954 47 16 5 26
Jack Clark 1987 25 Albert Pujols 2003 72 Albert Pujols 2004 45 24 0 21
Jim Edmonds 2003 25 Ray Jablonski 1954 71 Jack Clark 1987 44 18 1 25
Dick Allen 1970 23 Stan Musial 1956 69 Gino Cimoli 1959 42 32 3 7
Albert Pujols 2003 23 Dick Allen 1970 69 Albert Pujols 2002 41 23 0 18
Stan Musial 1957 69
Walks Strikeouts Times On Base
Player Year BB Player Year SO Player Year TOB
Mark McGwire 1998 79 Jim Edmonds 2000 91 Mark McGwire 1998 165
Mark McGwire 2000 72 Ron Gant 1997 91 Jack Clark 1987 160
Mark McGwire 1999 71 Ray Lankford 2001 89 Albert Pujols 2009 158
Jack Clark 1987 70 Jack Clark 1987 83 Jim Edmonds 2000 156
Albert Pujols 2009 64 Colby Rasmus 2010 81 Albert Pujols 2005 156
Stan Musial 1952 58 Dick Allen 1970 79 Dick Groat 1963 154
Enos Slaughter 1953 58 Ray Lankford 1994 79 Albert Pujols 2003 154
Jim Edmonds 2000 57 Jim Edmonds 2004 77 Stan Musial 1958 153
Albert Pujols 2010 56 Steve Bilko 1953 76 Albert Pujols 2007 153
Albert Pujols 2008 55 Lou Brock 1968 76 Bill White 1963 152
HBP Intentional Walks Sacrifice Flies
Player Year HBP Player Year IBB Player Year SF
Fernando Vina 2000 14 Albert Pujols 2009 28 Pedro Guerrero 1990 8
Fernando Vina 2001 13 Albert Pujols 2010 21 Bob Horner 1988 8
Fernando Tatis 1999 11 Stan Musial 1958 20 Jim Edmonds 2001 7
David Eckstein 2006 10 Albert Pujols 2008 19 Tom Herr 1985 7
Fernando Vina 2002 9 Mark McGwire 1998 14 Ray Jablonski 1954 7
Joe Cunningham 1961 9 Orlando Cepeda 1967 14 Keith Hernandez 1982 7
Bernard Gilkey 1994 9 Pedro Guerrero 1990 13 Terry Pendleton 1987 6
Solly Hemus 1952 9 Albert Pujols 2006 13 Jose Cardenal 1971 6
Fernando Vina 2003 8 Tim McCarver 1967 11 Pedro Guerrero 1989 6
Solly Hemus 1953 8 Stan Musial 1957 11 George Hendrick 1983 6
Larry Walker 2005 8 Mark McGwire 2000 11 George Hendrick 1982 6
Albert Pujols 2005 7 Jose Oquendo 1991 11 Ray Lankford 1996 6
Albert Pujols 2002 7 Albert Pujols 2007 11 Stan Musial 1956 6
Tino Martinez 2003 7 Dick Allen 1970 11 Albert Pujols 2001 6
Brian Jordan 1995 7 Ted Simmons 1977 11 Scott Rolen 2007 6
David Eckstein 2005 7 Ted Simmons 1979 11 Red Schoendienst 1954 6
Reggie Smith 1975 6
Reggie Smith 1974 6
Todd Zeile 1992 6
Todd Zeile 1994 6
Sacrifices GI Double Play
Player Year SH Player Year GDP
Ted Sizemore 1975 12 Ted Simmons 1973 18
Danny Cox 1986 10 Albert Pujols 2010 15
John Tudor 1986 10 Albert Pujols 2001 14
Placido Polanco 2001 9 Ken Boyer 1956 14
Ozzie Smith 1994 9 Joe Torre 1970 14
Reggie Cleveland 1972 8 Del Ennis 1958 13
Jose DeLeon 1988 8 Edgar Renteria 2002 13
Jose Oquendo 1988 8 Joe Torre 1972 13
Tom Herr 1983 8 John Mabry 1996 12
Eli Marrero 1999 12
Edgar Renteria 1999 12
Ken Boyer 1964 12
Julian Javier 1970 12
Stan Musial 1956 12
Ken Reitz 1977 12
Red Schoendienst 1952 12
Innings Pitched Wins Strikeouts
Player Year IP Player Year W Player Year SO
Bob Gibson 1966 163 Joaquin Andujar 1985 15 Bob Gibson 1970 149
Larry Jackson 1960 157 Joaquin Andujar 1984 13 Bob Gibson 1966 146
Harvey Haddix 1954 146 Harvey Haddix 1954 13 Bob Gibson 1969 140
Joaquin Andujar 1985 144 Lynn McGlothen 1974 12 Bob Gibson 1965 139
Gerry Staley 1952 143 Gerry Staley 1953 12 Alan Benes 1997 126
Joaquin Andujar 1982 142 Kent Bottenfield 1999 12 Chris Carpenter 2005 121
Joaquin Andujar 1984 142 Chris Carpenter 2005 12 Todd Stottlemyre 1998 120
John Tudor 1986 141 Bob Gibson 1970 12 Bob Gibson 1967 118
Larry Jackson 1959 138 Gerry Staley 1952 12 Steve Carlton 1970 116
Rick Wise 1972 138 Steve Carlton 1971 11 Adam Wainwright 2010 114
Adam Wainwright 2010 11
Reggie Cleveland 1972 11
Darryl Kile 2000 11
Bob Gibson 1966 11
Saves
Player Year SV
Lee Smith 1993 29
Jason Isringhausen 2006 24
Lee Smith 1991 23
Jason Isringhausen 2005 22
Tom Henke 1995 22
Bruce Sutter 1981 21
Bruce Sutter 1984 20
Ryan Franklin 2009 19
Lee Smith 1992 19
Dennis Eckersley 1997 18
Bruce Sutter 1982 18
Todd Worrell 1987 18
Jason Isringhausen 2004 18
Jason Isringhausen 2002 18

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Cardinals staff continues home run stinginess

St. Louis Cardinals pitchers are not giving up as many home runs as in most recent seasons.

Jaime Garcia (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)One big reason the St. Louis Cardinals have continued to hang in the National League Central Division race is the performance of the pitching staff. Led by starters Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright and Jaime Garcia, the team ERA ranks second in Major League Baseball at 3.21.

A major factor in that impressive ERA has been keeping the ball in the park. Through the first 80 games of the season, the 2010 Cardinals pitchers have yielded just 65 opposing long balls.

Since Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan joined the team in 1996, this is the second-lowest total through 80 games. Only the 1997 staff, anchored by Matt Morris, Todd Stottlemyre and the Benes brothers yielded fewer, with 51.

Folks talk about the MV3 of the 2004 team, but the pitchers came up big, also. Starting with game 81 through the remainder of the season, that 2004 staff was stingiest in terms of home runs allowed, with just 30 in 82 games.

One might wonder if the success this season is building upon 2009. In the final 82 games, last season’s bunch was right behind the 2004 club with just 31. From start to finish, last year’s staff was best, with just 99 in 162 games.

Home runs allowed, Cardinals staff, 1996-2010

G1-80 G81-162 Season
2010 65
2009 68 31 99
2008 73 55 128
2007 80 50 130
2006 95 52 147
2005 70 49 119
2004 89 30 119
2003 106 47 153
2002 72 47 119
2001 105 44 149
2000 109 35 144
1999 80 53 133
1998 76 46 122
1997 51 54 105
1996 91 46 137

Here is the breakdown of who yielded the 65 to date this season. Perhaps most impressive is Jaime Garcia’s four home runs allowed in 94 1/3 innings.

Most concerning is Chris Carpenter’s 13 yielded. It is the club’s worst full-half showing since 2006, when Jason Marquis gave up 19 and Mark Mulder 18. Matt Morris’ 24 homers allowed through 80 games in 2004 is the worst since 1996.

Home runs allowed, Cardinals pitchers, 2010 through game 80

HR Games 1-80
13 Chris Carpenter
9 Adam Wainwright
7 Blake Hawksworth
4 Jaime Garcia, Kyle McClellan, Brad Penny,
Jason Motte, P.J. Walters, Adam Ottavino
3 Jeff Suppan
2 Kyle Lohse, Trever Miller, Mitchell Boggs
1 Fernando Salas, Dennys Reyes, Ryan Franklin
0 Felipe Lopez, Joe Mather

Thanks to researcher Tom Orf for offering the data tables shown above.

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2010 Cardinals are the opposite of streaking

This year’s version of the St. Louis Cardinals has an unusually low quantity of both winning and losing streaks.

Jim McIsaac/Getty ImagesMost St. Louis Cardinals fans would agree that the 2010 club has yet to reach its potential. Missing 2/5 of their rotation as well as featuring an inconsistent offense seems to have come together to limit the team from breaking off a long stretch of playing good old winning baseball.

The data, provided upon request by researcher Tom Orf, supports the feeling. So far, this year’s team has only three stretches of three or more consecutive victories and just one winning streak of more than three games, five. They are listed below as “2010 YTD,” or year to date.

Though we are currently only 45 percent of the way through the season, fractional streaks are impossible. Therefore, the current pace would put the Cardinals at six winning streaks at the end of the campaign, denoted below as “2010 Proj,” projected.

If 2010 would conclude in that manner, it would be the season with the fewest number of winning streaks of three or more games in the Tony La Russa era, which began in 1996.

The common thread among the three prior years with the least winning streaks, 1997 with seven and 1999 and 2003 with eight, is that the Cardinals failed to make the playoffs each season.

Winning streaks of three or more games, St. Louis Cardinals, 1996-present

Winning 11G 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 Tot
2010 Proj 2 4 6
2010 YTD 1 2 3
2009 5 2 5 12
2008 1 2 2 5 10
2007 2 2 6 10
2006 1 1 4 7 13
2005 1 3 3 5 12
2004 1 1 1 2 4 1 6 16
2003 1 1 2 4 8
2002 1 1 5 4 3 14
2001 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 10
2000 1 2 1 3 8 15
1999 2 6 8
1998 1 2 3 4 10
1997 2 1 4 7
1996 1 2 4 4 11

The 2001 team had a La Russa-best 11-game winning streak as well as the second-longest run at ten games.

Looking at the corresponding losing streak data leads to similar, but not identical conclusions. Current pace would lead to six losing streaks of three or more games, a relatively low number.

In fact, the 100-win campaigns of 2004 and 2005 are the only La Russa-era years in which the Cardinals had fewer than six losing streaks.

Losing streaks of three or more games, St. Louis Cardinals, 1996-present

Losing 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 Tot
2010 Proj 2 4 6
2010 YTD 1 2 3
2009 1 8 9
2008 1 1 1 5 8
2007 1 3 1 4 9
2006 2 1 1 5 9
2005 3 3
2004 1 4 5
2003 1 4 7 12
2002 1 1 2 2 6
2001 1 3 4 8
2000 1 6 7
1999 1 1 1 9 12
1998 1 4 8 13
1997 1 1 2 5 2 11
1996 1 1 8 10

The 2007 team had La Russa’s worst losing skid, at nine consecutive games.

Putting the data together, we can see there was only one season in the last decade, 2003, in which the Cardinals had more losing streaks than winning streaks. That team stayed home in October.

Not surprisingly, in every one of La Russa’s eight playoff seasons, the team had more winning runs than losing stretches. Still, having more winning streaks than losing streaks wasn’t enough in 2007 and 2008, when the differential between the two was less than three streaks.

Further, every one of those eight playoff clubs had at least ten winning streaks of three games or more. The 2010 Cardinals are on a pace to finish with six.

Without a change in trajectory, you can draw your own conclusions how this year’s story may end.

Winning and losing streaks compared to playoff teams, Cardinals, 1996-present

# WS #LS Playoffs
2010 Proj 6 6 ?
2010 YTD 3 3
2009 12 9 Yes
2008 10 8
2007 10 9
2006 13 9 Yes
2005 12 3 Yes
2004 16 5 Yes
2003 8 12
2002 14 6 Yes
2001 10 8 Yes
2000 15 7 Yes
1999 8 12
1998 10 13
1997 7 11
1996 11 10 Yes

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Cardinals organization roster matrix: 2010 short season

NOTE: This version of the roster matrix is no longer current. It reflects the 2010 season-ending organization and should be considered a historical reference document. For the active roster matrix covering the 2010-11 off-season, click here.

With the final opening day among the St. Louis Cardinals’ ten clubs on Tuesday, June 22, as the Johnson City Cardinals of the Appalachian League take the field, it is once again time for a refresh of the St. Louis Cardinals system roster matrix. This version will reflect all changes made through the end of the season. I plan to refresh the entire matrix at that time as we head into another off-season.

matrix-grid-crop-200If you are new to the site and aren’t sure what the Cardinals organization roster matrix is all about, here is quick summary:

At the time of this posting, the St. Louis Cardinals have 321 players under contract from top to bottom. The matrix places each one at his current assigned level in the system as well as by position. It is kept updated daily as transactions occur.

Nowhere else will you find this current and comprehensive single-page view of the entire Cardinals organization.

Don’t be concerned about the order of the players’ names within a team. They don’t signify anything other than often a rough approximation of alphabetical order. Roster rotation order and tandem assignments are noted when applicable.

The players on the 40-man roster are called out in bold. The round each signed 2010-drafted player was selected is listed following his name.

Full team rosters and player profiles at The Cardinal Nation

Remember that to get detailed profile information on every single one of these 321 Cardinals players, simply check out their free player profiles freshly updated for 2010 now at The Cardinal Nation / Scout.com. You can see bios, photos, videos, articles, news items, links to current season and career stats and much more – everything you need to know about a player in one place.

Click on the following links to be taken to one of the ten team pages at The Cardinal Nation:

Full-season clubs
St. Louis Cardinals
Memphis Redbirds
Springfield Cardinals
Palm Beach Cardinals
Quad Cities River Bandits

Short-season clubs
Batavia Muckdogs
Johnson City Cardinals
Gulf Coast League Cardinals
Dominican Summer League Cardinals
Venezuelan Summer League Cardinals

Once there, just click on a player’s name to be taken to his individual profile page. For example, here is Adam Ottavino’s profile.

Looking ahead and back

Now that you’ve found this page once, remember one of three ways to get back here. Bookmark the 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 past 2009 rosters and 2010 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, July 2009-February 2010, Spring camp 2010, Opening season 2010, First half 2010

Transactions

6/22: New matrix. Total 321.

6/24: RHP Trey Hearne off Mem DL to PB. RHP Pete Parise to Mem DL. RHP Eduardo Sanchez from Spr to Mem. LHP Tyler Norrick from PB to Spr. RHP Matt Frevert to PB DL. RHP Miguel Tapia off QC DL to PB. IF Luis Mateo off QC DL.

6/25: OF D’Marcus Ingram off QC DL. RHP Adam Ottavino from Mem to StL. RP Fernando Salas from StL to Mem. OF Mark Shorey off Mem DL. RHP David Kopp from Mem to Spr.

6/26: RHP David Kopp from Spr to Mem. LHR Rich Hill released from Mem. LHP Angelo Echeverria off VSL DL. New total 320.

6/28: OF D’Marcus Ingram from QC to PB. RHP Mike Blazek from PB to QC. RHP Mark Diapoules from Spr to PB. OF Rich Racobaldo onto PB DL. SS Kevin G0nzalez signed, assigned to VSL. New total 321.

6/29: 3B David Freese onto StL DL. RP Fernando Salas from Mem to StL. 2B Jason Stidham to QC DL. LHP Dean Kiekhefer from JC to QC. RHP Charllan Jimenez from GCL to JC. RHP Juan Bautista signed to DSL. New total 322.

6/30: OF Steven Ramos from JC to GCL. OF Oscar Taveras from GCL to JC. 2B Daniel Descalso to Mem DL.

7/1: OF Tyler Henley to Spr DL. IF/OF Andrew Brown off Spr DL. RHP Mark Diapoules to PB DL. RHP Cory Rauschenberger signed and sent to PB. New total 323.

7/2: RP Fernando Salas from StL to Mem. SS Tyler Greene from Mem to StL. IF Mike Folli from Spr to Mem. RP Josh Kinney outrighted off 40-man. LHP Renyel Pinto signed, assigned to Mem. New total 324.

7/3: OF Ryan Ludwick to StL DL. OF Jon Jay from Mem to StL. OF Aaron Luna from Spr to Mem. IF Jermaine Curtis and OF Tommy Pham from PB to Spr. C Luis De La Cruz from Bat to PB. 3B Nkio Vasquez from QC to PB. IF Alan Ahmady from Bat to QC. C Roberto Espinoza off QC DL to Bat. 2B Colin Walsh from JC to Bat. OF Corderius Dodd (17th round) signed, assigned to GCL. New total 325.

7/4: C Robert Stock onto QC DL. C Roberto Espinoza returned to QC from Bat.

7/6: RHP Dyllon Nuernberg (23rd round) signed; assigned to GCL. New total 326.

7/7: OF Michael Swinson onto QC DL. OF Ross Smith from Bat to QC. RHP Adam Ottavino to StL DL. LHP Evan MacLane from Mem to StL. RHP Mike MacDougal signed, added to Mem. New total 327.

7/8: RHP Trey Hearne from PB to Spr. LHP John Gast (6th round) signed and assigned to Bat. New total 328.

7/10: RHP Matt Frevert off PB DL.

7/11: RHP Andrew Moye (50th round) did not sign. New total 327.

7/14: C Robert Stock off QC DL. C Roberto Espinoza from QC to Bat.

7/15: OF Nick Stavinoha onto StL DL. OF ALlen Craig from Mem to StL. 1B Mark Hamilton off Mem DL. RP Andrew Brown onto Mem DL. OF Adron Chambers from Spr to Mem. OF Chris Swauger from PB to Spr.

7/16: OF Rich Racobaldo off PB DL. IF Manuel Marquez (DSL) released. New total 326.

7/18: LHP Evan MacLane from StL to Mem. RHP Fernando Salas from Mem to StL. LHP Daniel Bibona (8th round) signed, sent to QC. New total 327.

7/19: RHP David Kopp from Mem to Spr. LHP Ryan Kulik from Spr to Mem.

7/20: RHP Bryan Martinez from DSL to GCL. OFs Tyler Bighames (GSL) and Devin Shepherd (PB) released. New total 325.

7/21: IF Ryan Jackson, OF Ryde Rodriguez from QC to PB. IF Ted Obregon from PB to QC. IF Oliver Marmol released from PB. OF Rainel Rosario from Bat to QC. New total 324.

7/22: P Gary Daley released from Spr. P Arquimedes Nieto from PB to Spr. LHP Kevin Siegrist from Bat to JC. RHP Deryk Hooker from QC to PB. New total 323.

7/23: RHP P.J. Walters from Mem to StL. OF Allen Craig from StL to Mem. RHP Shaun Garceau (Spr) and OF Joey Hage (JC) released. New total 321.

7/24: RHP P.J. Walters from StL to Mem. OF Ryan Ludwick off StL DL OF Mark Shorey released (Mem). New total 320.

7/25: C Roberto Espinoza from Bat to QC. LHP Anthony Ferrara to Bat 60-day DL. LHP Tyler Lyons (9th) signed, assigned to Bat. New total 321.

7/26: RHP Casey Mulligan off Spr DL to PB. 1B Xavier Scruggs from PB to Spr. 1B Curt Smith to Spr DL. Mem OF Adron Chambers to Temp Inactive List. OF Amaury Cazana to Mem.

7/27: LHS Evan MacLane onto Mem DL. 2B Daniel Descalso off Mem DL.

7/28: RHR Mike MacDougal from Mem to StL (added to 40-man). RHR Fernando Salas from StL to Mem. OF Aaron Luna from Mem to Spr. OF Adron Chambers off Mem TI list.

7/29: IF Jermaine Curtis from Spr to PB. C Ivan Castro to QC DL.

7/30: RHP Seth Blair (rd 1s) signs and sent to Bat. New total 322.

7/31: RHP Jake Westbrook (StL) and LHP Nick Greenwood (QC) acquired. OF Ryan Ludwick (StL) traded. RHP Brad Penny moved to 60-day DL. RHP Miguel Tapia to PB DL. LHP Daniel Bibona active at QC. RHP Jason Novak onto QC DL. C Ivan Castro off QC DL. C Roberto Espinoza from QC to Bat.

8/1: SS Tyler Greene to StL DL. C Juan Castillo from JC to Bat.

8/2: LHS Nate Robertson signed, assigned to Mem. New total 324.

8/3: IF Mike Folli traded to Tampa Bay. OF Allen Craig Mem to StL. OF Nick Stavinoha StL to Mem. New total 323.

8/4: RP Jason Motte to StL DL. RP Fernando Salas from Mem to StL. IF Alan Ahmady to QC DL. IF Colin Walsh from Bat to QC. LHP Tyler Lyons to Bat 60-day DL. OF Chris Edmondson from JC to Bat. RHR Francisco Samuel from Spr to Mem. RHR Ramon Delgado from PB to Spr. Spr P Kyle Mura released. DSL P Jefferson Segundo off RL. New total 322.

8/5: RP Jesse Simpson from QC to PB. RP Jose Rada from Bat to QC. C Luis De La Cruz from PB to Bat.

8/8: C Tony Cruz to Spr DL. C Charles Cutler from PB to Spr. C Kevin Moscatel from GCL to PB. IF Wilfred Vivas off GCL DL.

8/10: JC RHR Chris Patterson retired. New total 321.

8/11: RHS Jeff Suppan onto StL DL. C Steven Hill onto 40-man, to StL from Spr. C Luis De La Cruz from Bat to PB. C Nick Derba from PB to Spr. Bat Cs Audry Perez and Geoff Klein to the DL. LHP Justin Wright (47th) signs, assigned to Bat. New total 322.

8/13: C Jason LaRue to StL DL. OF Nick Stavinoha from Mem to StL. LHP Dean Kiekhefer to QC DL. RHP Tyrell Jenkins (1s) signs, assigned to JC. New total 323.

8/15: RHP Kyle Lohse off 60-day DL, activated by StL. RHR Fernando Salas from StL to Mem. 3B David Freese from 15- to 60-day DL. RHR LaCurtis Mayes from Bat to QC.

8/16: OF Tommy Pham onto Spr DL. 3B Zack Cox (1st round) signed, assigned to GCL. RHP Jordan Swagerty (2nd round) signed, assigned to Bat. New total 325.

8/17: LHS Evan MacLane off Mem DL. C Steven Hill StL to Mem. C Bryan Anderson Mem to StL. SS Tyler Greene off StL DL to Mem. RHP Adam Ottavino from StL 15-day DL to 60-day DL. Mem 1B Mark Hamilton to TI list. Mem RP Matt Scherer to PB (rehab?). IF Jermaine Curtis from PB to Spr.

8/18: OF C.J. Beatty from QC to PB. OF Ross Smith to QC DL. OF Michael Swinson, IF Alan Ahmady off QC DL. RHP Chris Notti suspended. RHP Chris Corrigan from Bat to QC.

8/19: 3B Pedro Feliz from Houston in return for PB RHR David Carpenter. C Jason LaRue from 15 to 60-day DL. RHR Andrew Brown released from Mem. OF Adron Chambers onto Mem DL. 1B Mark Hamilton off Mem TI. Cs Geoff Klein and Audry Perez off Bat DL. New total 324.

8/20: OF Nick Stavinoha from StL to Mem.

8/21: Mem LHR Renyel Pinto released. New total 323.

8/22: Spr IF Jose Martinez begins rehab at GCL. C Roberto Espinoza from Bat to PB.

8/23: LHR Nate Robertson released. RHR Matt Scherer returned to Mem from PB rehab. New total 322.

8/24: LHR Dennys Reyes to StL DL. RHR Fernando Salas from Mem to StL. RHS Arquimedes Nieto from Spr to PB.

8/25: RHP Scott Gorgen off Spr DL. LHR Tyler Norrick from Spr to Mem.

8/26: OF Adron Chambers off Mem DL. IF Donovan Solano onto Mem DL. C Kevin Moscatel from PB to GCL. LHP George Brown off PB DL. OF Anthony Garcia, 2B Starlin Rodriguez and 3B Roberto De La Cruz from GCL to JC. LHP Anthony Ferrara off Bat DL.

8/27: OF Ross Smith off QC DL to Bat.

8/30: RHR Jason Motte off StL DL. OF Allen Craig from StL to Mem. C Tony Cruz off Spr DL. C Nick Derba onto Spr temp inactive list. OF Steven Ramos from GCL to JC. DSL LHP Delvi Rodriguez and RHP Jean Carlos De La Cruz suspended 50 games for failed drug tests.

8/31: RHP Javier Avendano from GCL to Bat.

9/1: LHR Dennys Reyes, RHS Jeff Suppan off StL DL. OF Nick Stavinoha, C Matt Pagnozzi Mem to StL. C Tony Cruz Spr to Mem. C Nick Derba off Spr TI. OF Ross Smith from Bat to QC. 1B Matt Adams onto QC DL.

9/3: C Charles Cutler to Spr DL. C Luis De La Cruz from PB to Spr. C Geoff Klein from Bat to PB.

9/4: IF Kevin Howard onto Memphis suspended list. IF Donovan Solano off Mem DL.

9/5: RHR LaCurtis Mayes onto QC DL. C Cody Stanley from JC to QC.

9/6: C Geoff Klein from PB to Bat. RHR Adam Reifer from Spr to Mem. OF Adam Melker onto Bat DL (sometime between August 25-31).

9/7: IF Tyler Greene from Mem to StL. Mem IF Kevin Howard released. New total 321.

9/8: RHPs Kevin Thomas and Matt Frevert from PB to Spr. LHP Ryan Kulik onto Spr DL.

9/18: RHP P.J. Walters, 1B Mark Hamilton, OF Allen Craig, OF Joe Mather from Mem to StL. 2B Daniel Descalso from Mem to StL and added to 40-man roster. LHP Evan MacLane designated for assignment (off 40-man roster).

9/21: IF Felipe Lopez released. New total 320.

9/24: C Steven Hill from Mem to StL.

9/28: Name change – DSL P Carlos Matias to Carlos Martinez.

9/29: RHP Adam Ottavino off 60-day DL.

9/30: VSL SS Lainer Bueno suspended for first 30 games of 2011 for PED use.

The St. Louis Cardinals Organization Roster Matrix (as of 09/30/10)

St. Louis (36+3) 40-man (40+3)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
C Carpenter Franklin Molina Pujols Schumaker Ryan Freese (60 DL) Holliday
Lohse McClellan Anderson Hamilton Descalso T Greene Feliz Stavinoha
Westbrook Boggs S Hill
Miles

Rasmus
Wainwright Motte LaRue (60 DL)



Jay
Ja Garcia (L) Ottavino Pagnozzi



Craig
Walters T Miller (L)




Winn
Suppan Salas




Mather
Penny (60 DL) Hawksworth






MacDougal






Reyes (L)





Memphis (18+2)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Lynn 4 Fick T Cruz Gotay Solano Chambers
Kinney Rapoport
Dickson 3 Samuel Cazana
MacLane (L) Parise (DL) Robinson (DL)
O Perez 5 Rundles (L)
Sanchez
Scherer
Norrick (L)
Reifer
Springfield (24+7)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Additon (L) 2 Delgado Derba C Smith (DL) Jo Martinez1(DL GCL) Kozma Curtis Ant. DeJesus
Kopp 3 Eager L DeLaCruz A Brown1 Jo Garcia M Carpenter Swauger
Thomas King Cutler (DL) Scruggs Jones
Kulik (L DL) S Freeman (L DL) Pham (DL)
Frevert Henley (DL)
Hearne Luna
Broderick 4 Gorgen
McGregor 1 Buursma
Palm Beach (22+5)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Schneider 4 Mulligan Espinoza Rivera (DL) R Jackson Bolivar N Vasquez A Castellanos
G Brown (L) Bradford P Vasquez (RL) Sedbrook Beatty
Diapoules (DL) R Rodriguez
Simpson Bogany
Ri Castillo 1 Ingram
Zawacki 2 Pichardo Racobaldo
Bittle (DL)
Hooker 5 M Tapia (DL)
Nieto Rauschenberger
Quad Cities (27+6)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Rondon 2 Novak (DL) Stock Adams (DL) L Mateo Ahmady Lara
Fornataro 1 Calhoun (L) Castro Goodwin R Smith
J Smith Stanley (4th) Stidham (DL) Swinson
Kelly 4 Mayes Obregon R Rosario
S Miller 5 Rada Walsh (13th)
Cardenas (L DL) Terry Parejo
Bibona (L 8th) 3 Blazek Conley (DL)
Kiekhefer (L DL 36)
Notti
Corrigan
Greenwood (L)
Batavia (29+3)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Ju Edwards (L) 1 Butler Klein (15th) J Rodriguez Bergman (33rd) Y Castillo Biserta (24th)
Moss 5 North J Castillo V Sanchez (26th) Valaika (34th) Jo Edwards
Gast (L 6th) 3 Swagerty (2nd) A Perez Edmondson (43rd)
Wright (L 47th) Longmire (5th)
Lawler Melker (44th DL)
A Ferrara (L) Squatrito (DL) O’Neill (31st)
McCully 4 Summers
Russell 2 Kington
Blair (1s) Lyons (L 9th 60DL))
Reid (41st)
Avendano
Johnson City (33+1)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
Copeland (L 32) T1 Benes (35th) Tartamella D Medina S Rodriguez Elkins (37th) Cerreto (40th) A Garcia
H Hernamdez (L) T1 Corpas G Garcia (7th) Teran S Ramos (22nd)
Ang. De Jesus T2 Guzman R Ruiz R DeLaCruz V Hill
Daugherty (L) T2 A Lucas (27th) C Valera Taveras
C Johnson 3 Nazario (L 30th) Rbto Reyes
Jimenez T4 Jenkins (1s) Williams (10th)
Rosenthal Revesz (L 49th)
Nadeau (L 38) T5 Patterson (RL 29th)
Whiting (18th) T5
Siegrist (L) T4
Unassigned (1)
P P C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
M Harris (MIL)
GCL (31)
P 2010 P C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
B Freeman (L 11) Alcala Pimentel W Perez Tuivailala (3rd) Bryant (16th)
A Castillo Aguilar (14th) Moscatel Washington Vargas Martin (20th) H Garcia Fonseca
J Lucas (21st) Montero Vivas Cox (1st) Rivero
B Martinez Mendoza (25th) Babrick
Pasen M DeLaCruz (L)
Santana Brand (42nd) Dodd (17th)
R Martinez (FA)
Uribe (L) Nuernberg (23rd)
Colorado (L)
DSL (32+6)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
A Tapia 2 A DeLaCruz (L) Baez V Ferreira Rblys Reyes Gil (RL) B Hiraldo (RL) Beras
A Gonzalez L Perez J Lopez R Medina Capellan
C Martinez 1 A Toribio Barbuena Celestino
S Lopez 3 Ceballo Agustin Encarnacion
Paulino 5 L Polanco J Pena
D Rodriguez (L RL) Ro Castillo
DeLeon D Diaz
DeLosSantos
E Hiraldo
Estalis
JC DeLaCruz (RL)
L Mata
Concepcion
P Pena (L RL)
Rudecindo (RL)
Segundo
Bautista
VSL (32+2)
SP RP C 1B 2B SS 3B OF
S Garcia 5 Almeida Rivas B Valera Bueno H Martina Acevedo
Bier 1 Canache J Gomez R Garcia Argenal
Montanez 2 Cueto Velazco K Gonzalez Jo Martinez2
Villanueva (L) 4 De Aguas (L DL) Sucre
Ulacio 3 E Ramos Martines
Echeverria (L)
Escudero
Gerdel
Guerra
Oraa (DL) I Brito
J Perez
Jh Polanco
Planchart
Solarte
Villegas

Codes
(DL): injured – on the disabled list
(TI): temporary inactive list
(SL): suspended list
(RL): restricted list
(TO): tryout player not under contract
(L) left-handed pitcher
bold: on the Cardinals’ 40-man roster
(#+#) number of active players on the roster plus number of inactive/not under contract (DL+TI+SL+RL+TO) players

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Cardinals unable to sweep three-game series

The St. Louis Cardinals have failed all six times to sweep three-game series this season, but almost always come close.

Jim McIsaac/Getty ImagesOne by-product of the 2010 St. Louis Cardinals having put together just one winning streak of more than three games is the odd circumstance of them not having a single three-game series sweep* during their first 69 games.

Six times this season, the Cardinals have taken the first two games of a three-game set, only to lose the final contest each time. In a most interesting angle, St. Louis fell exactly one run short in five of those six game threes. (In all other one-run games this season, the Cardinals are 11-9.)

Another oddity is that three of the six series were within a ten-day period in April and the other three have been during June, with none occurring in May. The most recent four occurred at home, including both series in the just-concluded homestand – against the Seattle Mariners mid-week and the Oakland A’s last weekend.

Cardinals going for three-game sweep, 2010

Opponent G1 win Score G2 win Score G3 loss Score
at CIN 4/5/2010 11-6 4/7/2010 6-3 4/8/2010 1-2
at MIL 4/9/2010 5-4 4/10/2010 7-1 4/11/2010 7-8
HOU 4/12/2010 5-0 4/14/2010 2-1 4/15/2010 1-5
MIL 6/4/2010 8-0 6/5/2010 5-4 6/6/2010 3-4
SEA 6/14/2010 9-3 6/15/2010 4-2 6/16/2010 1-2
OAK 6/18/2010 6-4 6/19/2010 4-3 6/20/2010 2-3

Thanks to researcher Tom Orf for the above table.

* As part of their season-long five-game winning streak, the Cardinals did sweep the Atlanta Braves out of town in four straight from April 26-29.

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Cardinals pitcher hitting eighth experiment failing

Both the position players and pitchers were more productive offensively when hitting in their traditional spots in the St. Louis Cardinals batting order.

Chris Carpenter's 2009 grand slam (AP Photo/Al Behrman)Oh, to recapture the glory of 2007.

OK, I readily admit that comment is ridiculous in the context of the big picture of the St. Louis Cardinals as the defending World Series champions finished six games below .500 and missed the playoffs that season.

While the 2007 ship was listing, but not yet sunk, manager Tony La Russa trotted out his lineup twist last employed on a regular basis in 1998, Mark McGwire’s glory days – the pitcher hitting eighth.

PHE is the convenient term to characterize the moves, but in reality, the reason for doing it is not for the pitcher’s benefit, but instead to increase the chances of getting another baserunner on prior to the top of the lineup coming around. This would be the desired result from the position player batting ninth.

Despite the fact that in 1998 both the pitcher and the position players hitting eighth/ninth generally performed better in their traditional lineup spots, the move was one of the few things that worked as planned in 2007.

That season, batting ninth, the position pitchers hit better, got on base more often and had higher overall productivity as measured by OPS than when the position players were on the lineup card in the eighth spot. This allowed La Russa to brag about his “second leadoff hitter.”

Though it is more of a side point, the pitchers also performed better when batting eighth in 2007, further supporting the moves.

Unfortunately, that did not continue in 2009 or here in 2010.

Similarly in this season and last, both the position players and pitchers were delivering better results when in their traditional spots in the order. As the table below indicates, it isn’t even close, whether batting average, on base percentage or OPS.

It is true that in the ninth spot, the position players are producing better than did the pitchers when there, at least, but that isn’t the entire story. Let’s look at on base percentage, as that is what is desired from the ninth-place hitter.

In the ninth spot in 2010, the position player’s OBP is 73 points better than the pitcher (.263 vs .190) . Check. The downside is that the pitcher’s OBP is 145 points worse in the eighth spot compared to when the position players hit eighth (.182 vs .327). The same kind of differential existed last year, too.

So, is adding 73 points of OBP in the number nine spot worth losing 145 points at number eight?

(Note: These four seasons were chosen as they are the only ones in which there is a reasonable sample of both approaches in the same year. Bolded data is the higher of the two.)

Thanks to researcher Tom Orf for the raw data which I summarized here.

PH8 PH9 NonPH8 NonPH9 PH8 PH9 NonPH8 NonPH9 PH8 PH9 NonPH8 NonPH9
BA BA BA BA OBP OBP OBP OBP OPS OPS OPS OPS
2010 0.143 0.150 0.254 0.211 0.182 0.190 0.327 0.263 0.348 0.400 0.713 0.560
2009 0.135 0.163 0.254 0.236 0.155 0.198 0.327 0.292 0.338 0.439 0.730 0.633
2007 0.216 0.185 0.275 0.279 0.248 0.212 0.329 0.335 0.495 0.449 0.686 0.730
1998 0.106 0.192 0.217 0.221 0.153 0.242 0.302 0.286 0.327 0.445 0.656 0.594

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Cardinals pitchers hitting eighth vs. ninth not good for them

A cursory glance at how the St. Louis Cardinals pitchers batting eighth compares to when they bat ninth by season does not leave a positive impression.

Chris Carpenter's 2009 grand slam (AP Photo/Al Behrman)The lesser-noticed of this week’s lineup changes by St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is the return of the pitcher hitting eighth. Having been used extensively in multiple seasons now, it is more familiar than the revolutionary idea of moving Matt Holliday into the number two spot. Holliday had never batted second, even as a pinch hitter, in his first 915 career games – until now.

Prior to Wednesday’s game, La Russa noted a reason to bat the pitcher eighth is to increase the chances that Holliday will come up with runners on base – the ninth and first hitters.

The pitcher himself is surely not the only or even the primary reason for the lineup change, yet the data shows that batting eighth has a marked negative impact on the pitchers’ results. In three of the four years in which there were significant at-bats in both spots, the pitchers performed substantially better when hitting ninth (in bold below).

St. Louis Cardinals, pitcher batting eighth vs. ninth, average and OPS

PH8 PH9 PH8 PH9
BA BA OPS OPS
2010 0.143 0.150 0.348 0.400
2009 0.135 0.163 0.338 0.439
2007 0.216 0.185 0.495 0.449
1998 0.106 0.192 0.327 0.445

Here are the detailed stats during the La Russa era, with pitcher hitting eighth listed first. As always, thanks to researcher Tom Orf for the data.

PH8 G PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP BA OBP SLG OPS
2010 18 47 42 6 1 0 0 0 2 0 11 0 3 0 0 3 0.143 0.182 0.167 0.348
2009 55 137 126 17 3 0 1 5 2 0 47 1 8 0 1 1 0.135 0.155 0.183 0.338
2008 153 379 325 57 10 1 2 30 15 0 139 0 38 1 1 7 0.175 0.211 0.231 0.442
2007 55 116 97 21 0 0 1 7 4 0 52 0 15 0 0 0 0.216 0.248 0.247 0.495
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
1998 78 191 161 17 3 1 2 15 9 0 70 0 21 0 2 4 0.106 0.153 0.174 0.327
1997
1996
PH9 G PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO HBP SH SF ROE GDP BA OBP SLG OPS
2010 47 111 100 15 3 0 1 6 4 0 32 1 6 0 0 0 0.150 0.190 0.210 0.400
2009 101 244 208 34 8 1 2 12 7 0 65 2 27 0 1 1 0.163 0.198 0.240 0.439
2008 2 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
2007 97 201 173 32 6 0 1 13 5 0 57 1 22 0 2 3 0.185 0.212 0.237 0.449
2006 150 364 305 53 9 0 2 23 18 0 98 2 39 0 1 6 0.174 0.225 0.223 0.448
2005 152 393 344 56 12 1 2 22 17 0 94 0 30 2 8 4 0.163 0.201 0.221 0.422
2004 156 381 337 53 11 0 0 18 9 0 108 1 30 4 7 7 0.157 0.179 0.190 0.369
2003 152 382 319 65 11 2 2 27 15 0 108 3 44 1 9 4 0.204 0.246 0.270 0.515
2002 156 365 320 52 9 0 2 15 10 0 115 1 33 1 6 4 0.163 0.190 0.209 0.399
2001 156 370 326 44 12 0 2 22 13 0 135 0 31 0 3 1 0.135 0.168 0.190 0.358
2000 152 398 333 45 2 1 3 17 26 0 122 0 39 0 7 9 0.135 0.198 0.174 0.372
1999 155 360 323 47 10 1 0 15 7 0 124 0 30 0 6 5 0.146 0.164 0.183 0.346
1998 77 195 167 32 2 0 0 4 11 0 58 0 17 0 0 2 0.192 0.242 0.204 0.445
1997 155 359 321 64 12 1 0 23 15 0 106 1 22 0 0 2 0.199 0.237 0.243 0.480
1996 160 399 335 58 13 0 1 27 17 0 140 1 44 2 5 4 0.173 0.214 0.221 0.435

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Cardinals walk off losses on record pace

The 2010 St. Louis Cardinals have already lost five games on walk off home runs, one short of their worst season since at least 1952.

Kyle McClellan walk off, 2009 (AP/Jeff Roberson)Arizona’s Chris Young slammed a two-run home run off Kyle McClellan to end Sunday’s game and a 1-5 road trip for the St. Louis Cardinals. It was the fifth walk off loss already this season for St. Louis and the 124th in the regular season since 1952.

The most the Cardinals have had in any one season during that time was six walk off defeats via home runs in 2003. At the current pace, the 2010 Cardinals would end the regular season with 13, more than any two other seasons in the last 58 years combined.

Here are the yearly totals.

St. Louis Cardinals opponent walk offs by home runs, by season, 1952-current

Regular Post
2010 5
2009 2
2008 5
2007 1
2006 4
2005 2
2004 0 1
2003 6
2002 4
2001 3
2000 0
1999 2
1998 1
1997 3
1996 5
1995 0
1994 3
1993 1
1992 1
1991 3
1990 2
1989 1
1988 0
1987 3
1986 1
1985 1
1984 1
1983 2
1982 4
1981 2
1980 3
1979 3
1978 4
1977 1
1976 2
1975 1
1974 0
1973 3
1972 1
1971 2
1970 1
1969 1
1968 0
1967 1
1966 2
1965 1
1964 2 1
1963 1
1962 5
1961 1
1960 0
1959 2
1958 4
1957 5
1956 1
1955 1
1954 2
1953 3
1952 1

In addition, two post-season games since 1952 ended with a walk off defeat via the long ball.

Date Pitcher Opp Batter Score Inn Out R Play Description
10/10/1964 WS Barney Schultz @NYY Mickey Mantle tied 1-1 b9 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
10/18/2004 LCS Jason Isringhausen @HOU Jeff Kent tied 0-0 b9 1 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Beltran Scores; Berkman Scores

Here is the detail behind the 124 regular season walk offs via home runs, courtesy of researcher Tom Orf.

Date Pitcher Opp Batter Score Inn Out R Play Description
6/13/2010 Kyle McClellan @ARI Chris Young tied 5-5 b9 2 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
5/26/2010 Mitchell Boggs @SDP Jerry Hairston tied 1-1 b13 2 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF-CF)
5/4/2010 Blake Hawksworth @PHI Carlos Ruiz tied 1-1 b10 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF-CF)
4/11/2010 Kyle McClellan @MIL Casey McGehee tied 7-7 b9 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF Line)
4/8/2010 Jason Motte @CIN Jonny Gomes tied 1-1 b9 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF)
6/9/2009 Jason Motte @FLA Jeremy Hermida tied 3-3 b9 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep RF)
4/18/2009 Dennys Reyes @CHC Aramis Ramirez tied 5-5 b11 2 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF-CF); Fukudome Scores
8/29/2008 Russ Springer @HOU Lance Berkman tied 2-2 b9 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF)
7/12/2008 Chris Perez @PIT Jason Michaels ahead 11-10 b10 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF-CF); Chavez Scores
6/22/2008 Mike Parisi @BOS Kevin Youkilis tied 3-3 b13 0 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF); Lowell Scores
6/5/2008-2 Ryan Franklin @WSN Elijah Dukes ahead 9-8 b10 0 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep CF); Guzman Scores
4/7/2008 Kyle McClellan @HOU Miguel Tejada tied 3-3 b9 0 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep RF Line); Erstad Scores
6/25/2007 Russ Springer @NYM Shawn Green tied 1-1 b11 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep CF-RF)
9/23/2006 Tyler Johnson @HOU Luke Scott tied 4-4 b9 0 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball); Ensberg Scores; Berkman Scores
9/20/2006 Tyler Johnson @MIL Geoff Jenkins tied 0-0 b9 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Line Drive)
8/22/2006 Jason Isringhausen @NYM Carlos Beltran ahead 7-6 b9 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Line Drive); Lo Duca Scores
8/9/2006 Jason Isringhausen @CIN David Ross ahead 7-6 b9 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball); Denorfia Scores
7/7/2005 Ray King @ARI Luis Gonzalez tied 1-1 b9 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball)
4/30/2005 Jimmy Journell @ATL Raul Mondesi tied 2-2 b9 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to LF-CF)
9/2/2003-1 Jeff Fassero @CHC Sammy Sosa tied 2-2 b15 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball); Ojeda Scores
7/21/2003 Lance Painter @SDP Miguel Ojeda tied 4-4 b10 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball)
5/10/2003 Cal Eldred @CHC Alex Gonzalez tied 2-2 b10 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Line Drive)
5/6/2003 Kiko Calero @CIN Barry Larkin ahead 5-4 b9 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Line Drive); Pena Scores
5/5/2003 Dustin Hermanson @CIN Aaron Boone tied 4-4 b9 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Line Drive)
4/11/2003 Matt Morris @HOU Jeff Kent ahead 2-1 b9 2 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball); Berkman Scores
8/4/2002 Dave Veres @ATL Gary Sheffield tied 1-1 b9 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (LF-CF)
6/9/2002 Mike Timlin @KCR Raul Ibanez tied 2-2 b9 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
5/6/2002 Mike Timlin @CHC Alex Gonzalez tied 5-5 b9 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
4/7/2002 Luther Hackman @HOU Daryle Ward tied 6-6 b12 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
8/20/2001 Andy Benes @CIN Ken Griffey tied 4-4 b11 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Inside-the-park Home Run to CF (Fly Ball)
7/7/2001 Dave Veres @CLE Jim Thome tied 6-6 b10 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
6/14/2001 Gene Stechschulte @KCR Mike Sweeney tied 2-2 b13 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (LF-CF)
7/20/2000 Dave Veres @ARI Tony Womack ahead 2-1 b9 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Frias Scores
9/26/1999 Ricky Bottalico @CIN Pokey Reese ahead 5-4 b12 1 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF-CF); Robinson Scores; LaRue Scores
7/9/1999 Manny Aybar @SFG J.T. Snow tied 4-4 b11 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF-CF)
6/10/1998 Sean Lowe @CHW Robin Ventura tied 8-8 b11 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Line Drive to Deep RF Line); Belle Scores
8/6/1997 Mark Petkovsek @ATL Danny Bautista tied 3-3 b9 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball)
6/16/1997 Alan Benes @MIL Jeromy Burnitz tied 0-0 b9 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball); Burnitz Scores
4/17/1997 Mark Petkovsek @FLA Jeff Conine tied 1-1 b9 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Line Drive to Deep LF Line); Conine Scores
8/24/1996 Todd Stottlemyre @HOU Orlando Miller tied 1-1 b9 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball); Mouton Scores; Miller Scores
8/20/1996 T.J. Mathews @COL Dante Bichette ahead 4-3 b13 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF-CF); Galarraga Scores
6/5/1996 Tony Fossas @SDP Tony Gwynn ahead 4-3 b9 2 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep CF-RF); Gwynn Scores/unER; Finley Scores/unER; Gwynn Scores/unER
5/18/1996 Dennis Eckersley @COL John Vander Wal ahead 8-6 b9 1 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep CF-RF); Bichette Scores; Galarraga Scores
4/23/1996 T.J. Mathews @MON Moises Alou tied 11-11 b9 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF)
8/9/1994 Vicente Palacios @FLA Chuck Carr tied 3-3 b9 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep RF); Abbott Scores
8/1/1994 Rich Rodriguez @MON Marquis Grissom tied 2-2 b10 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Inside-the-park Home Run to CF (Fly Ball)
4/4/1994 Rob Murphy @CIN Kevin Mitchell tied 4-4 b10 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF)
4/30/1993 Rob Murphy @ATL Damon Berryhill tied 2-2 b11 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF)
4/22/1992 Cris Carpenter @NYM Eddie Murray tied 2-2 b9 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep RF); Murray Scores
9/19/1991 Lee Smith @PIT Curt Wilkerson tied 1-1 b9 2 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep RF Line); Bonds Scores; Buechele Scores; Redus Scores; Wilkerson Scores
9/7/1991 Cris Carpenter @SDP Tim Teufel tied 0-0 b10 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Line Drive to Deep LF); Teufel Scores
8/12/1991 Lee Smith @PIT Barry Bonds ahead 3-2 b11 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep CF-RF); Bonilla Scores; Bonds Scores
9/11/1990 Lee Smith @NYM Darryl Strawberr tied 8-8 b9 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Line Drive to Deep RF); Herr Scores
5/18/1990 Ken Dayley @CIN Paul O’Neill tied 0-0 b9 2 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Line Drive to Deep LF)
9/17/1989-1 Matt Kinzer @PHI John Kruk tied 5-5 b12 2 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Line Drive to Deep LF Line); Cook Scores; Herr Scores; Hayes Scores
8/5/1987 Ken Dayley @MON Andres Galarraga tied 1-1 b13 2 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
7/26/1987-1 Todd Worrell @SFG Will Clark tied 3-3 b10 1 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Wasinger Scores; Davis Scores
7/16/1987 Todd Worrell @SDP Benito Santiago tied 8-8 b10 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Line Drive)
9/6/1986 Todd Worrell @HOU Jose Cruz ahead 6-5 b9 2 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Walker Scores
4/9/1985 Neil Allen @NYM Gary Carter tied 5-5 b10 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
4/5/1984 Jeff Lahti @LAD Mike Marshall tied 2-2 b12 1 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Whitfield Scores; Guerrero Scores
7/11/1983 Bruce Sutter @LAD Dusty Baker ahead 6-5 b9 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Landreaux Scores
6/8/1983 Bruce Sutter @PHI Tony Perez tied 4-4 b9 2 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Morgan Scores; Matthews Scores
9/4/1982 Bruce Sutter @SFG Jack Clark ahead 4-2 b9 2 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (LF-CF); Leonard Scores; Morgan Scores
7/10/1982 Bob Forsch @HOU Jose Cruz tied 2-2 b9 0 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Walling Scores
6/7/1982 Bruce Sutter @MON Warren Cromartie tied 2-2 b9 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (CF-RF)
5/14/1982 Doug Bair @ATL Biff Pocoroba tied 1-1 b9 2 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
9/20/1981 Bruce Sutter @NYM Mookie Wilson ahead 6-5 b9 2 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Deep RF); Taveras Scores
9/5/1981 Jim Kaat @LAD Dusty Baker tied 3-3 b11 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Deep LF)
9/29/1980 George Frazier @MON John Tamargo tied 2-2 b9 2 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Carter Scores/unER; Bernazard Scores/unER; Tamargo Scores/unER
8/1/1980 Bob Forsch @LAD Joe Ferguson tied 1-1 b10 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
4/22/1980 Mark Littell @CHC Barry Foote tied 12-12 b9 2 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Randle Scores; Buckner Scores; Martin Scores
9/16/1979-2 George Frazier @MON Dave Cash tied 1-1 b10 2 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Carter Scores/unER; White Scores/unER; Cromartie Scores/unER; Cash Scores/Team unER
6/15/1979 Darold Knowles @SFG Willie McCovey tied 6-6 b13 2 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Herndon Scores; Clark Scores
5/22/1979 Bob Forsch @PHI Greg Luzinski tied 1-1 b9 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Rose Scores
7/25/1978 Bob Forsch @SFG Mike Ivie ahead 2-1 b9 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Herndon Scores
7/1/1978 Mark Littell @MON Del Unser tied 2-2 b9 2 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
6/2/1978 John Denny @HOU Jose Cruz ahead 1-0 b9 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Cabell Scores
5/14/1978-1 Mark Littell @SFG Terry Whitfield tied 4-4 b12 2 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
7/4/1977-2 Rawly Eastwick @PIT Dave Parker tied 3-3 b9 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
8/3/1976-1 Bill Greif @PIT Duffy Dyer tied 1-1 b9 2 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
6/11/1976 Al Hrabosky @CIN Tony Perez ahead 7-5 b9 0 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Griffey Scores; Concepcion Scores
5/19/1975 John Curtis @SDP Johnny Grubb tied 0-0 b10 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
9/3/1973-1 Eddie Fisher @PIT Richie Hebner tied 4-4 b13 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Inside-the-park Home Run to RF
4/22/1973-2 Bob Gibson @PHI Mike Schmidt tied 1-1 b9 2 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
4/8/1973-1 Wayne Granger @PIT Bob Robertson tied 3-3 b10 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
7/22/1972 Tony Cloninger @ATL Dusty Baker tied 7-7 b10 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
8/17/1971 Chuck Taylor @CIN Johnny Bench tied 3-3 b9 2 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; May Scores
4/6/1971 Bob Gibson @CHC Billy Williams tied 1-1 b10 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
9/25/1970 Al Hrabosky @MON Ron Fairly ahead 5-4 b9 2 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Bailey Scores; Fairey Scores
8/6/1969 Steve Carlton @SDP Ed Spiezio tied 2-2 b9 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
7/9/1967 Ron Willis @PHI Tony Gonzalez tied 3-3 b10 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
6/26/1966 Joe Hoerner @HOU Jim Wynn tied 3-3 b11 0 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Lillis Scores; Jackson Scores/unER
6/4/1966-1 Curt Simmons @ATL Felipe Alou tied 1-1 b9 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
5/10/1965 Bob Purkey @PHI John Briggs tied 2-2 b10 2 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Amaro Scores
9/19/1964-1 Bob Gibson @CIN Frank Robinson ahead 5-4 b9 2 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Harper Scores; Pinson Scores
7/9/1964 Curt Simmons @NYM Frank Thomas ahead 3-2 b9 2 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Christopher Scores
6/7/1963 Diomedes Olivo @NYM Duke Snider ahead 2-0 b9 1 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Kanehl Scores; Hunt Scores
9/14/1962 Lindy McDaniel @PHI Johnny Callison tied 1-1 b9 2 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Deep RF)
7/12/1962 Lindy McDaniel @MLN Hank Aaron ahead 6-4 b9 1 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Deep LF); McMillan Scores; Jones Scores; Mathews Scores
7/7/1962-1 Ernie Broglio @NYM Marv Throneberry ahead 4-3 b9 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Christopher Scores
6/18/1962 Bob Gibson @LAD Tommy Davis tied 0-0 b9 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Line Drive)
6/17/1962 Ray Washburn @SFG Tom Haller tied 3-3 b9 0 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Bowman Scores; Pagan Scores
5/20/1961 Larry Jackson @CHC Ed Bouchee tied 0-0 b9 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Deep LF)
6/26/1960-1 Ernie Broglio @PHI Tony Gonzalez tied 2-2 b12 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Deep RF)
9/9/1959 Ernie Broglio @MLN Bobby Avila ahead 3-1 b9 1 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Deep LF); DeMerit Scores; Logan Scores; Crandall Scores
5/30/1959 Lindy McDaniel @LAD Gil Hodges tied 6-6 b9 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF-CF)
7/18/1958-2 Bob Mabe @CIN Frank Robinson tied 1-1 b9 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
5/27/1958 Sam Jones @MLN Joe Adcock ahead 2-1 b9 2 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Logan Scores
4/30/1958 Morrie Martin @CIN Frank Robinson tied 4-4 b10 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
4/23/1958 Phil Clark @SFG Daryl Spencer ahead 7-6 b9 2 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Cepeda Scores/unER; Spencer Scores/unER
9/23/1957 Billy Muffett @MLN Hank Aaron tied 2-2 b11 2 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Deep CF); Logan Scores
9/21/1957 Herm Wehmeier @CIN Roy McMillan ahead 8-7 b10 2 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Hoak Scores
9/2/1957-2 Larry Jackson @CIN Frank Robinson tied 1-1 b10 0 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Thurman Scores
5/4/1957 Lindy McDaniel @BRO Charlie Neal tied 2-2 b9 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (LF-CF); Drysdale Scores
4/24/1957 Willard Schmidt @MLN Del Crandall tied 7-7 b9 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Deep LF)
9/23/1956-1 Tom Poholsky @CIN Ed Bailey tied 2-2 b10 0 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
6/6/1955 Luis Arroyo @BRO Jackie Robinson ahead 4-3 b9 0 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball); Hodges Scores
8/4/1954 Tom Poholsky @BRO Jackie Robinson ahead 7-6 b9 1 2 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run; Gilliam Scores
6/19/1954 Joe Presko @NYG Hoot Evers tied 2-2 b9 1 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to LF Line); Irvin Scores; Gomez Scores
7/24/1953 Harvey Haddix @PHI Granny Hamner tied 1-1 b9 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run
6/6/1953 Stu Miller @BRO Gil Hodges ahead 4-2 b9 0 3 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Line Drive); Robinson Scores; Campanella Scores
4/14/1953 Gerry Staley @MLN Bill Bruton tied 2-2 b10 1 1 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep RF)
6/16/1952 Willard Schmidt @NYG Bobby Thomson ahead 7-4 b9 1 4 *ENDED GAME*:Home Run (Deep LF Line); Thompson Scores; Williams Scores; Lockman Scores

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About Cardinals low-scoring games

The St. Louis Cardinals rank among MLB leaders in low-scoring games on both sides of the ledger.

Felipe Lopez and Ryan Ludwick (AP photo)Through 60 games of the 2010 season, many St. Louis Cardinals would already assume the club has had more than their fair share of games when their offense failed to score enough to win. They would also expect that the team’s pitching staff has had a good number of contests in which they held their opponent at bay.

Researcher Tom Orf pulled the evidence.

Offensively, St. Louis is third in the major leagues in number of games shut out with six. They were held to one run eight more times and lost all those games. The Cardinals are fourth in MLB with the most games having scored one run or fewer at 14.

Expanding the aperture to include games of scoring two runs still keeps the Cardinals in the bottom quarter of baseball. They are tied for seventh with 19 two-or-less run games and actually managed to win two of them.

Including contests when scoring three runs or less, including Wednesday’s 4-3 loss to the Dodgers, the Cardinals drop to the bottom half of MLB. They rank 18th with 24 three-or-fewer run games. Oddly, when scoring exactly three runs, their record is just 1-4.

MLB runs scored, 2010, through June 9

0 RUNS 1 RUN OR LESS 2 RUNS OR LESS 3 RUNS OR LESS
Rk Team G W L Rk Team G W L Rk Team G W L Rk Team G W L
1 PIT 7 0 7 1 BAL 18 0 18 1 HOU 27 2 25 1 PIT 38 8 30
1 LAD 7 0 7 2 HOU 16 0 16 2 BAL 27 1 26 2 BAL 37 2 35
3 STL 6 0 6 3 PHI 15 1 14 3 PIT 25 5 20 3 SDP 33 13 20
3 SFG 6 0 6 4 STL 14 0 14 4 SEA 25 1 24 3 HOU 33 4 29
3 PHI 6 0 6 5 SEA 13 0 13 5 CHC 23 2 21 5 SEA 31 4 27
3 MIL 6 0 6 6 SFG 12 0 12 6 SDP 20 6 14 6 CLE 29 4 25
3 HOU 6 0 6 6 PIT 12 0 12 7 STL 19 2 17 6 OAK 29 3 26
3 ATL 6 0 6 6 LAD 12 4 8 7 SFG 19 2 17 8 PHI 28 7 21
6 OAK 12 1 11 7 PHI 19 4 15 8 CHC 28 3 25
7 CLE 19 0 19 18 STL 24 3 21
7 OAK 19 2 17

Switching over to pitching, the Cardinals are again among MLB’s leaders in most games holding the opponent either off the scoreboard or with few crooked numbers.

St. Louis pitching has tossed five shutouts, tied for seventh in the big leagues. Their no and one-run game total of 12 is ninth-most. When adding two-run contests, Cardinals pitching jumps up to fourth in MLB at 22 and holds that ranking with three-run opponent scoring games are included.

MLB runs allowed, 2010, through June 9

0 RUNS 1 RUN OR LESS 2 RUNS OR LESS 3 RUNS OR LESS
Rk Team G W L Rk Team G W L Rk Team G W L Rk Team G W L
1 SDP 9 9 0 1 SDP 18 17 1 1 SDP 28 25 3 1 ATL 35 27 8
2 OAK 7 7 0 2 SFG 15 12 3 2 SFG 24 18 6 2 TBR 34 30 4
2 NYM 7 7 0 3 NYY 14 14 0 3 TBR 23 21 2 2 MIN 34 28 6
2 COL 7 7 0 3 NYM 14 14 0 4 STL 22 14 8 4 STL 32 23 9
5 SFG 6 6 0 5 TBR 14 14 0 4 TOR 22 20 2 4 SFG 32 22 10
5 PHI 6 6 0 5 OAK 13 13 0 4 NYM 22 19 3 4 SDP 32 28 4
7 STL 5 5 0 5 FLA 13 12 1 7 PHI 21 17 4 4 NYY 32 30 2
7 TOR 5 5 0 5 COL 13 13 0 7 NYY 21 20 1 8 SEA 29 20 9
7 TBR 5 5 0 9 STL 12 10 2 9 COL 20 19 1 8 NYM 29 22 7
7 LAD 5 5 0 9 LAD 12 10 2 9 ATL 20 16 4 8 CHC 29 17 12
7 BOS 5 5 0 9 BOS 12 12 0

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Wainwright’s one-run or less outings ends

On Wednesday night, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright failed in his attempt for a fourth straight one or no run outing of seven innings or more.

Adam Wainwright (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)When Adam Wainwright took the mound for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night, he allowed four earned runs in six innings.  The right-hander was saddled with his fourth loss in 12 decisions as the Cardinals were swept by the Dodgers.

In so doing, Wainwright failed in his attempt for a tie for the second-longest streak of seven innings or more allowing one run or less since Tony La Russa became manager for the 1996 season.

Wainwright’s streak ended at three with the longest in the last 15 years being Chris Carpenter’s seven straight in 2005. The others with four whom Wainwright tried to join are Woody Williams (2001), Matt Morris and Alan Benes (both 1997).

Cardinals pitchers, 7+ Innings & allowing 1 run or less, game streak, since 1996

Strk Start End Games W L GS CG SHO IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Chris Carpenter 6/14/2005 7/22/2005 7 6 0 7 3 3 59.2 28 3 3 9 57 2 0.45
Woody Williams 8/31/2001 9/25/2001 4 4 0 4 3 1 34 12 4 3 7 21 2 0.79
Matt Morris 7/16/1997 7/31/1997 4 2 0 4 0 0 28.2 21 4 3 12 20 0 0.94
Alan Benes 6/16/1997 7/2/1997 4 1 2 4 1 0 31.1 18 9 4 13 35 3 1.15
Adam Wainwright 5/25/2010 6/4/2010 3 2 1 3 1 1 23 13 2 2 4 28 2 0.78
Adam Wainwright 5/16/2009 5/26/2009 3 2 1 3 0 0 23.2 12 3 3 5 23 1 1.14
Jeff Suppan 8/25/2006 9/5/2006 3 2 0 3 0 0 22.1 16 1 1 9 12 1 0.40
Jason Marquis 8/27/2005 9/9/2005 3 3 0 3 2 1 26 15 3 2 1 12 1 0.69
Mark Mulder 8/17/2005 9/2/2005 3 2 0 3 1 1 25 10 3 2 6 15 0 0.72
Mark Mulder 7/8/2005 7/20/2005 3 2 0 3 0 0 22 17 2 2 7 7 1 0.82
Chris Carpenter 8/26/2004 9/6/2004 3 1 1 3 1 0 22 14 5 2 2 21 1 0.82
Matt Morris 7/13/2002 7/23/2002 3 2 0 3 0 0 23 18 2 2 6 21 0 0.78
Matt Morris 4/27/2001 5/7/2001 3 2 0 3 1 1 24 17 2 1 3 20 1 0.38
Darryl Kile 4/18/2001 4/29/2001 3 3 0 3 0 0 22 16 2 2 5 19 2 0.82
Darryl Kile 7/20/2000 7/31/2000 3 2 0 3 1 1 25 19 5 2 3 19 2 0.72

Thanks to researcher Tom Orf for providing the table.

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The Cardinals’ Bud Norris club

The St. Louis Cardinals have been held to no runs by 11 opposing starters in the first 59 games in 2010.

Bud Norris (AP/Pat Sullivan)When the St. Louis Cardinals lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers by a 1-0 score Tuesday night, it not only wasted an excellent start by ace Chris Carpenter, it continued the team’s futility count to 11, where futility is defined by being shut out by the opposing starting pitcher.

The latest to hold St. Louis’ offense scoreless was Dodger Hiroki Kuroda, augmented by Los Angeles’ pen.

The first shutout starter the Cardinals faced this season was Houston Astro Bud Norris. The right-hander carries a 6.80 ERA this season, which includes his gem against St. Louis back on April 15.  He is currently on the disabled list.

In six of these 11 games this season, the Cardinals did not score against the opposing relievers, either. In other words, they were kept off the scoreboard the entire game.

Here is the full list, thanks to researcher Tom Orf. I added the 2010 and career ERAs for reference.

Not every pitcher deserves to be in the Bud Norris Club, but many do. Five of the 11 have 2010 ERAs over 4.80, including their scoreless stints against St. Louis. Seven of them have career ERAs of 4.35 or more.

Opposing Starters Allowing No Runs vs. Cardinals, 2010

Player Date Tm Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO 2010 ERA Career ERA
Huroki Kuroda 6/8/2010 LAD W 1-0 GS-7 7 4 0 0 1 6 3.30 3.65
Carlos Silva 5/29/2010 CHC W 5-0 GS-7 ,W 7 2 0 0 0 11 2.93 4.62
Kevin Correia 5/26/2010 SDP W 2-1 GS-6 6 5 0 0 6 5 5.03 4.42
Jon Garland 5/25/2010 SDP W 1-0 GS-7 ,W 7 6 0 0 2 7 2.68 4.35
Anibal Sanchez 5/19/2010 FLA W 5-1 GS-7 ,W 7 4 0 0 2 8 3.18 3.73
Jeff Karstens 5/8/2010 PIT W 2-0 GS-6 ,W 6 3 0 0 2 4 4.81 5.09
Zach Duke 5/7/2010 PIT L 3-4 GS-7 6 9 3 0 2 7 5.43 4.39
Kyle Kendrick 5/5/2010 PHI W 4-0 GS-7 ,W 7 6 0 0 2 3 4.95 4.71
Barry Zito 4/24/2010 SFG W 2-0 GS-8 ,W 8 3 0 0 3 10 3.15 3.81
Johan Santana 4/17/2010 NYM W 2-1 GS-7 7 4 0 0 1 9 2.76 3.10
Bud Norris 4/15/2010 HOU W 5-1 GS-5 ,W 5 4 1 0 3 9 6.80 5.53
Average 4.09 4.31

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Cardinals unusual balanced attack

Albert Pujols (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)Six St. Louis Cardinals players have 25 RBI or more through 55 games, the most in at least the last half century.

While the St. Louis Cardinals are tied for sixth in run scoring in the National League, their production is unusually spread out across the lineup. While Albert Pujols ranks second in the NL in RBI, five other players have logged at least 25 RBI in the team’s first 55 games.

With six players at 25 or more RBI, the 2010 Cardinals have the most in any season over at least the last 50 years. The other RBI men this season are David Freese, Yadier Molina, Ryan Ludwick, Matt Holliday and Colby Rasmus.

Cardinals with 25 RBI in first 55 games, 1960-2010

2010 Pujols 41 Freese 32 Molina 28 Ludwick 29 Holliday 25 Rasmus 25
2009 Pujols 49 Ludwick 28 Duncan 27
2008 Ludwick 39 Pujols 35 Glaus 32 Ankiel 25
2007 Pujols 31 Rolen 23
2006 Pujols 65 Rolen 30 Edmonds 29
2005 Pujols 44 Edmonds 34 Sanders 28
2004 Rolen 57 Pujols 40 Edmonds 38 Sanders 27
2003 Rolen 45 Pujols 43 Renteria 37 Edmonds 30
2002 Edmonds 36 Pujols 30 Martinez 29 Renteria 27
2001 Pujols 51 Drew 41 Lankford 31 Edmonds 30
2000 McGwire 48 Edmonds 39 Tatis 28 Lankford 26 Paquette 26
1999 Tatis 44 McGwire 42 Davis 27
1998 McGwire 68 Jordan 32 Lankford 29
1997 Lankford 37 Gant 32 Clayton 25
1996 Lankford 38 Gant 26
1995 Jordan 36 Gilkey 34 Lankford 29
1994 Lankford 29 Zeile 29 Jefferies 26
1993 Whiten 31 Jefferies 29
1992 Jose 29
1991 Guerrero 34 Jose 25 Zeile 25
1990 Guerrero 38 Pendleton 31 McGee 27
1989 Guerrero 38 Brunansky 33 Pendleton 25
1988 Brunansky 36 Horner 27
1987 Clark 56 McGee 43 Pendleton 33 O.Smith 30 Herr 27
1986
1985 Herr 51 Clark 47 Pendleton 33 McGee 27
1984 Hendrick 29
1983 Hendrick 46 Porter 30
1982 Hernandez 34 Hendrick 31 L.Smith 31
1981 Hendrick 37 Hernandez 32 Herr 32
1980 Hendrick 46 Simmons 34 Hernandez 32 Reitz 28
1979 Simmons 45 Hernandez 41 Reitz 36 Hendrick 29 Scott 26
1978 Reitz 29 Hernandez 26 Simmons 26
1977 Hernandez 36 Reitz 36 Simmons 34 Scott 28
1976 Simmons 25
1975 Simmons 40 R.Smith 33
1974 R.Smith 51 Simmons 32 Sizemore 25
1973 Cruz 26
1972 Simmons 36 Torre 33
1971 Torre 41 Cardenal 38 Alou 28 Simmons 27 Hague 26
1970 Allen 49 Torre 32 Hague 26
1969 Torre 34 McCarver 25
1968 Cepeda 29 Shannon 27 Flood 26
1967 Brock 40 Cepeda 37 McCarver 31 Shannon 29
1966 Flood 37
1965 Boyer 30 Flood 28 White 27
1964 Boyer 42
1963 Boyer 39 White 38 Musial 32 Groat 29
1962 White 47 Boyer 41 Flood 27 Musial 27 Sawatski 25
1961 Boyer 33 White 27 Musial 25
1960 Boyer 36 White 33 Spencer 27

Thanks to researcher Tom Orf for providing the table.

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Cardinals suddenly scoring runs in bunches

The St. Louis Cardinals have scored at least eight runs on 14 or more hits in three consecutive games.

Albert Pujols celebrating with teammates (AP/Jeff Curry)As relieved St. Louis Cardinals fans probably know, the club’s bats continued their long-awaited awakening when facing Cincinnati Reds pitching on Monday and Tuesday nights at Busch Stadium.

Against the visitors from the Queen City, the Cardinals scored 12 and eight runs on 16 and 14 hits, respectively. The two higher totals, registered in game 1 of the series, are season-to-date bests for St. Louis. They also plated nine runs on 14 hits in Chicago on Sunday.

The big question is whether or not it will continue on Wednesday against Reds rookie Sam LeCure and a Cincinnati bullpen that is ranked 14th of 16 National League teams with an aggregate 4.99 ERA.

Since at least 1952, the Cardinals have had only 11 runs of 14 or more hits in three or more consecutive games, including the current streak. Exactly 31 years ago, on June 2, 1979, the club had their fourth straight such game, the record during this time.

Consecutive games with 14 or more hits, St. Louis Cardinals, 1952-present

Start End Games W L AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI Opp
5/30/1979 6/2/1979 4 4 0 157 36 65 8 3 9 34 NYM,LAD
5/30/2010 6/1/2010 3 2 1 114 29 45 8 0 6 29 CHC,CIN
4/27/2003 4/30/2003 3 3 0 151 33 55 13 4 5 33 FLA,NYM
9/1/1996 9/3/1996 3 3 0 120 35 50 15 2 2 33 COL,HOU
9/19/1992 9/20/1992 3 2 1 128 32 50 10 1 2 32 CHC
8/19/1989 8/22/1989 3 3 0 120 23 44 9 1 4 21 CIN,ATL
9/11/1974 9/13/1974 3 3 0 184 23 48 0 1 2 16 NYM,PHI
9/3/1971 9/5/1971 3 2 1 114 23 48 7 1 5 22 CHC
5/30/1970 6/2/1970 3 1 2 120 24 44 10 2 3 24 LAD,SFG
9/28/1965 9/30/1965 3 3 0 124 36 47 8 1 3 34 SFG,HOU
7/20/1963 7/23/1963 3 3 0 115 22 47 9 3 2 22 HOU,MLN

In terms of run scoring, the three consecutive games scoring eight runs or more is one off the team high since 1952 of four, achieved nine times, most recently in 2007.

Consecutive games with 8 or more runs, St. Louis Cardinals, 1952-present

Start End Games W L R H HR RBI Opp
8/122007 8/16/2007 4 4 0 40 59 7 38 LAD,MIL
6/3/2003 6/6/2003 4 4 0 40 52 3 37 TOR,BAL
9/17/2002 9/20/2002 4 4 0 40 57 14 37 COL,HOU
9/18/2001 9/21/2001 4 4 0 35 44 3 33 MIL,PIT
4/8/2000 4/11/2000 4 4 0 39 53 14 39 MIL,HOU
6/27/1994 7/1/1994 4 4 0 37 51 10 35 NYM,COL
5/5/1980 5/9/1980 4 4 0 46 60 4 46 SFG,LAD
4/16/1962 4/21/1962 4 4 0 44 55 8 39 PHI,NYM,CHC
5/15/1959 5/20/1959 4 4 0 35 50 7 34 PHI,PIT
5/30/2010 6/1/2010 3 2 1 29 45 6 29 CHC,CIN
5/10/2005 5/12/2005 3 2 1 27 46 3 24 LAD
6/17/2003 6/19/2003 3 3 0 29 40 5 27 MIL
8/11/2002 8/13/2002 3 3 0 28 47 4 28 NYM,PIT
6/15/2001 6/17/2001 3 3 0 26 35 6 24 CHW
4/6/2001 4/8/2001 3 3 0 29 42 6 29 ARI
9/11/2000 9/13/2000 3 3 0 28 41 4 27 PIT
7/9/2000 7/14/2000 3 3 0 30 35 9 29 SFG,CHW
9/15/1999 9/18/1999 3 2 1 32 44 8 30 MIL,HOU
9/1/1996 9/3/1996 3 3 0 35 50 2 33 COL,HOU
9/11/1995 9/13/1995 3 3 0 31 39 4 30 SFG
6/29/1993 7/1/1993 3 2 1 33 42 4 30 PHI
5/31/1979 6/2/1979 3 3 0 29 50 7 28 NYM,LAD
8/25/1978 8/27/1978 3 3 0 34 41 5 32 ATL
4/7/1977 4/10/1977 3 3 0 28 38 4 24 PIT
6/11/1973 6/13/1973 3 3 0 31 40 5 28 CIN
9/2/1967 9/4/1967 3 2 1 29 37 4 28 HOU,PIT
4/14/1967 4/16/1967 3 3 0 32 42 5 30 LAD,HOU
9/28/1965 9/30/1965 3 3 0 36 47 3 34 SFG,HOU
8/16/1963 8/19/1963 3 3 0 29 42 4 28 SFG
6/7/1962 6/9/1962 3 3 0 24 45 5 22 CIN,SFG
7/17/1961 7/18/1961 3 3 0 26 46 3 25 CHC
5/9/1959 5/10/1959 3 2 1 28 42 7 26 CHC
8/5/1958 8/7/1958 3 3 0 33 46 2 29 LAD,SFG
9/15/1957 9/17/1957 3 3 0 32 36 4 28 PIT,BRO
6/17/1953 6/19/1953 3 3 0 31 39 4 30 BRO,PIT

Thanks to researcher Tom Orf for providing the data tables shown above.

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Pujols’ career on-base streaks mount

Albert Pujols’ recent streak of reaching base nine times in a row just fell short of his career best.

Albert Pujols (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)When Albert Pujols grounded into a double play in the fifth inning of Monday’s St. Louis Cardinals win over visiting Cincinnati, it ended his then-current run of reaching base at nine consecutive plate appearances. The streak began with the first baseman’s final at-bat on Saturday, continuing through five PA’s on Sunday and his first three on Monday.

Being the curious sort that I am, I asked Tom Orf if that was Pujols’ longest such stretch. He pulled the detailed data for me, by plate appearance by game for all Pujols streaks of six plate appearances or more.

As it turns out, on Monday Pujols fell just one plate appearance short of his personal best of ten, set in 2001 and tied again in 2003. That streak of nine is his longest in over six seasons, since August 2003.

In his nine-plus year career, Pujols has accumulated 29 streaks of reaching base in six or more consecutive plate appearances. As the table below indicates, Pujols accrued just seven of them over his first five seasons but amassed 22 in the four-plus years that followed.

Pujols by year # GT 6 PA OB
2001 1
2002 1
2003 4
2004 1
2005 0
2006 4
2007 4
2008 7
2009 3
2010 4
total 29

As I crawled through the data, I also found it extremely interesting that the only season in which Pujols did not reach base in at least six consecutive plate appearances was also the year in which he was voted his first National League Most Valuable Player Award, 2005.

Despite all the concerns about Pujols’ possible physical ailments currently, it isn’t affecting him getting on base in bunches. With four streaks of six or more plate appearances in the first two months this season, he is on pace for a dozen. That would blow away his career best in one year of seven such runs, set in his second MVP season of 2008.

Pujols # Cons PA OB Month
2001 10 May
2002 6 August
2003 6 April
9 June
10 August
8 September
2004 6 June
2005 0
2006 6 April
7 June
6 July
6 September
2007 8 May
6 May
6 September
7 September
2008 7 April
6 April
7 August
8 August
6 August
7 August
6 September
2009 8 June-July
6 July
8 August
2010 6 April
6 April
6 May
9 May

Looking at Pujols’ history of such streaks by month, a more realistic total in 2010 might be 10 or 11. He typically cools off during the summer months, but pours it on during the final two months of the season.

Pujols by month # GT 6 PA OB
April 6
May 5
June 3.5
July 2.5
August 7
September 5

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Cardinals double triples not all that rare

Multiple three-base hits in one game aren’t that unusual for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Felipe Lopez tripled Friday night (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)Many consider the triple to be the most exciting play in baseball as the ball is often shot into the gap before bouncing away from the scurrying fielders while the hitter sprints around the bags.

So it was on Friday night as the St. Louis Cardinals registered three-base hits in consecutive innings against the visiting Angels and former teammate Joel Pineiro. They were struck by Colby Rasmus and Felipe Lopez (pictured) in the first two frames, plating a total of three runs in what turned out to be a series-opening win.

With just seven triples as a team this season, I would have thought that two triples in any one game would be rare for the Cardinals, let alone in two straight innings. Not so.

On August 31, 2005 at Florida, Hector Luna and Albert Pujols tripled in consecutive innings. As recently as September 26, 2008, not only did the team have two in one inning, they had three triples in the same game. Two were by Adam Kennedy with one from pitcher Braden Looper.

In the Tony La Russa years in St. Louis, since 1996, the team has had 35 two-triple games, including at least one such contest every season – except for 2009.

The Cardinals’ busiest triple day during that time was on April 27, 2003, when the team collected four three-base hits, the only game with that many since La Russa became manager.

St. Louis Cardinals, multiple triples, game, 2006-current

Date Opp Name Inn Out BI Name Inn Out BI Name Inn Out BI Name Inn Out BI
5/21/2010 ANA Colby Rasmus b 1 2 2 Felipe Lopez b 2 2 1
9/26/2008 CIN Adam Kennedy b 6 0 0 Braden Looper b 6 1 1 Adam Kennedy b 8 0 0
9/25/2008 ARI Cesar Izturis b 4 1 1 Adam Kennedy b 7 0 0
9/9/2007 @ARI Miguel Cairo t 3 0 2 Skip Schumaker t 6 2 0
9/16/2006 SFG Aaron Miles b 1 0 0 Aaron Miles b 4 2 0
7/18/2006 ATL John Rodriguez b 6 2 2 Scott Spiezio b 6 2 1
8/31/2005 @FLA Hector Luna t 4 1 0 Albert Pujols t 5 0 1
4/24/2005 HOU Scott Rolen b 1 2 0 Reggie Sanders b 1 2 1
8/31/2004 SDP Scott Rolen b 5 0 1 Reggie Sanders b 7 0 0
7/30/2004 @SFG Tony Womack t 6 1 0 Jim Edmonds t 6 2 2
9/6/2003 CIN Eli Marrero b 1 2 2 Bo Hart b 2 1 1
8/1/2003 @NYM Kerry Robinson t 8 0 1 Scott Rolen t 9 1 1
6/19/2003 @MIL J.D. Drew t 5 1 2 Bo Hart t 5 2 2
6/4/2003 TOR Tino Martinez b 6 0 0 Mike Matheny b 6 0 1
4/27/2003 @FLA J.D. Drew t 1 1 0 Tino Martinez t 4 1 0 Eli Marrero t 9 1 2 Miguel Cairo t17 0 0
4/24/2003 @ATL Miguel Cairo t 6 1 1 Fernando Vina t 7 2 1
7/30/2002 @FLA Albert Pujols t 8 1 0 Scott Rolen t 8 2 1
4/15/2002 @ARI Fernando Vina t 1 0 0 J.D. Drew t 5 0 1
6/4/2001 CIN Placido Polanco b 5 1 1 Fernando Vina b 7 0 1
4/26/2001 MON Fernando Vina b 5 0 0 Albert Pujols b 5 2 0
4/6/2001 @ARI Ray Lankford t 5 1 3 Fernando Vina t 7 1 2
8/28/2000 @FLA Mike Matheny t 5 1 1 Will Clark t 8 1 1
8/23/2000 PIT Fernando Vina b 3 2 0 Ray Lankford b 4 1 1
5/21/2000 @PIT Eli Marrero t 6 0 0 Placido Polanco t 8 0 1
4/8/2000 MIL Fernando Vina b 2 1 1 Fernando Vina b 4 0 0
6/19/1999 NYM Joe McEwing b 1 0 0 Darren Bragg b 3 0 0
5/1/1999 @MON Shawon Dunston t 3 2 2 J.D. Drew t 5 2 0
4/16/1999 @HOU Eric Davis t 4 0 1 Eli Marrero t 4 1 1
4/27/1998 MON Brian Jordan b 6 2 0 Delino DeShields b 7 1 3
8/29/1997 @KCR Gary Gaetti t 2 0 0 Delino DeShields t 8 1 1 Willie McGee t 8 2 3
6/24/1997 CHC Ron Gant b 4 1 2 Delino DeShields b 5 2 1
4/30/1997 FLA Delino DeShields b 5 0 0 Willie McGee b 5 1 2
4/15/1997 @FLA Dmitri Young t 3 2 1 Tom Lampkin t 4 1 1
9/17/1996 CHC Ozzie Smith b 8 1 1 Ray Lankford b 8 1 1
8/8/1996 SFG Gary Gaetti b 4 1 0 Brian Jordan b 8 2 0

Thanks to researcher Tom Orf for the above table.

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Cardinals number six spot not producing

The St. Louis Cardinals aren’t getting many RBI from the sixth spot in their batting order.

Yadier Molina (AP/Tom Gannam)Most St. Louis Cardinals fans are aware the club’s offense has yet to achieve its desired consistency in 2010. While the potential explanations will vary depending on to whom you talk, the bottom line is that the club has scored just 82 runs in 19 games, 12th in the 16-team National League.

The big four in the lineup, Ryan Ludwick at number two followed by Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, then Colby Rasmus at number five, receive a lot of the attention for good reason. Though none has been hitting on all cylinders the entire time, there has been enough production from them to back up the strong pitching and the Cardinals to win 12 of their first 19 games. This is the case despite catalysts Skip Schumaker and Brendan Ryan not getting on base as frequently as expected.

Following the big four hitters has been an offensive black hole – the number six spot.

Until Yadier Molina’s game-winning eighth-inning double Monday night (pictured), the number six hole had produced only three RBI all season, just one ahead of the pitcher’s spot for the least productive in the Cardinals lineup.

2010 Cardinals, RBI by batting order position, through 19 games

Lineup RBI Plays Details (# RBI)
1st 7 2 Lopez HR(4), Schumaker HR(3)
2nd 6 4 Ludwick 3 HR(5) & triple
3rd 18 12 Pujols 7 HR(12)/4 1B(5), gr out
4th 8 5 Holliday 4 HR(6)/1 2B(2)
5th 12 9 Rasmus 6 HR(9)/2 1B(2), Molina 1B
6th 4 4 Ludwick 2 1B(2), Molina 1B(1)/2B(1)
7th 9 4 Molina 2 HR(7)/SF, Freese SF
8th 10 8 Freese 4 1B(4), Stavinoha HR(2), Ryan 2B(1)/3B(1)/BB(1)
9th 3 3 Carpenter gr out, Lohse 1B, Anderson 2B

(Thanks to statistician Tom Orf for the above table.)

Further, note that despite the fact that Ludwick has only started three games in the number six spot, he still has half of the RBIs generated from that place in the Cardinals lineup this season.

The problems are shared by many.

Games started, number six spot, 2010 Cardinals, through 19 games

Player Starts RBI
Yadier Molina 5 2
Felipe Lopez 5 0
David Freese 5 0
Ryan Ludwick 3 2
Colby Rasmus 1 0

Bonus coverage: Pinch-hitters not driving in runs, either

While Nick Stavinoha’s game-winning pinch-hit two-run home run back on April 9 in Milwaukee endeared the outfielder to fans, that has pretty much been it for the club this season. Orf points out that Bryan Anderson’s Monday night double was only the Cardinals’ second pinch hit of the season that actually plated a run.

Overall in 2010, St. Louis pinch-hitters are 6-for-25 (.240).

2010 Cardinals, pinch-hitting, through 19 games

PH Average AB H RBI
Anderson 0.333 3 1 1
Craig 0.000 2 0 0
Jay 0.000 1 0 0
Lopez 0.250 4 1 0
Ludwick 0.000 1 0 0
Mather 0.333 3 1 0
Rasmus 0.000 1 0 0
Stavinoha 0.300 10 3 2
Total 0.240 25 6 3

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