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7:15 p.m. TBA vs. RHP Mike Clevinger (6-2, 3.00) FOX Sports Midwest/KMOX
Update: The Cardinals will be starting John Gant (1-2, 4.39).
Tough spot for Gant, but he has looked good in spurts this year. He usually falters as he gets to that last inning or two.
I’m sure this is a new starter for the Cards. Hopefully the scouts have done their homework and the lineup can score some runs early to settle things down.
Big mismatch in this one, but you never know. The smart money is on the Tribe, but maybe we can overcome some large odds and sneak away with a “W”.
Hope Matheny sits Pham again and lets Fowler start.Since Fowler is pretty much untradeable Cards need him to see if he can help somewhat and Pham has struck out 5 times in a row, 7 of his last 9 ABs and 12 of his last 24 ABs.
Pham was a late scratch Sunday only because he was sick. As rough as Pham has been lately, I still like him against the RHP more than Bader.
FWIW, on both of Fowler’s doubles Sunday, he went the other way. Perhaps he is shortening his stroke to make better contact. Maybe he can string a few of these games in a row.
I hope Pham starts and gets back on track, his best is better than FOwler at his best. If we are trying to get someone going i’d prefer Pham over Fowler.
If we and every team sat every guy who K’s a bunch over a 9 AB stretch a lot of guys would sit quite often
I think MM would be better suited making his decision off of more than a guys last 9 ABs
I am not so sure Fowler looks particularly great over his last 9 (or more)
First of all a big thank you to the reds for their sweep over the Cubs. Now for tonight’s game against Cleveland. It wont be easy as Cleveland has been playing well of late winning 8 of10. Therefore will need to bring the mo we captured at the end of our last series and feed off the energy of the crowd to gain this victory. Of course getting key outs and timely hitting will help too, ☺. I feel the adjustments we make our 2nd and 3rd time ab will be key. Also the adjustments Gant makes during Cleveland’s. 2nd and 3rd time. Although I don’t see MM giving Cleveland a chance to face Gant a 3rd time. Look for Gant to go 4, maybe 5 depending on the score at the time… then bring in Gombers for 2 or 3 closing it out with Holland (depending), Hicks, and Norris.
Go Cardinals!
Here’s a question for you old time Cardinal fans of the last 30+ years. In yesterday’s. game, we had 1st and 3rd with one out. .. Bader, who is fast, on first. Yet MM didn’t give the go sign until a batter later on a 1-2 pitch to Carp. Here’s my question given that same scenario 30 years ago with Coleman on first, How long do you think it would’ve taken before Whitey gave Coleman the green light?
CLE is tough enough to deal with without having a comfortable starter
the pen has been shaping up lately maybe this is the type of game they decide to prove to everyone that they arent as bad as everyone thinks they are
similar to 2011…i say go Gant for 4 if you can (1 time through no matter what…have the hook for the 2nd time through if need be but hopefully 4inn)…followed by Holland and Tui for 2, with Gomber ready depending on the lefties, Gomber for 1 to 1+, Hicks 1 to 1+, Norris1
I like using Gomber pseudo situationally to start an inning if possible so i prefer a righty or lower leverage reliever or two before he comes in so we can dictate the handedness he faces a bit better
Offense had a nice day yesterday and i think a happy flight home…maybe they can roll with that… they will need it against a strikeout artist like Clevinger
Dont get to watch CLE that much so it will be a treat regardless
Go Cards!
as for Coleman….i think he had green light before he got on 1st…i think he truly had free reign to make that call because of his unique speed…i think it came down to whether Coleman felt it was the right time or not…and i dont think Whitey woudl have cared if he got caught…you have to trust a base stealer like that or they will lose their edge… if in the back of their mind is that they “shouldn’t” go then they are already toast…Henderson and Brock had that…they KNEW they could steal any bag whenever they wanted and they were coached to believe that…and loved for it
Bader is fast but he isnt Coleman, or Brock, or Henderson, or Hamilton or any of the other generational speed and SB talents
Lou Brock was also among the leaders in caught stealing every year.Plus he also struck out a lot .Yet he hit one of the longest Homers at the Polo Grounds versus the Mets while playing for the Cubbies.Getting Brock from the Cubbies has to be one of the great steals in Cardinal history.Along with McGwire for next to nothing.
Pound the zone! Some a little wide….some a little tight….some a titch high….and some a titch low….but pound the heck out of it! That’s the mentality that Gant has to have going on vs the Tribe this evening. If he tries to finesse these guys, he’s going to get rocked. And none of this “Gant can’t ” jazz….the man can take these guys down. Does anyone know what our interleague record is vs Cleveland? Can’t be too good as I have such few fond memories of our games with them.
This game is all about adjustments and which lineup adjust to the others starters the best. This is why I feel Gant wont be in their past 5 or 70-75 pitches. MM will look to change it up to keep Indians hitters guessing.
About 15 minutes til first pitch. I got my Cardinals red on…about to pop open a beer protected by my Cardinal coosie ready to root on my Cardinals to Victory…
Gant can… Gant will…
Go Cardinals.
Pugs, our interleague record against the Indians is 8-15. The Cards have only been worse against the Tigers (11-21), Yankees (3-9) and ironically, the Rangers (2-7).
Here’s a fun fact for a rain delay…since 2000, the Cards have a winning record against every NL opponent except the SF Giants (56-59). They have losing records against 5 interleague foes… the aforementioned quartet plus the Minnesota Twins.
Oh, looks like this one started while I was distracted. I can’t get the broadcast tonight here in Western PA, thanks to blackout restrictions.
Looks like Gant got through the first. Oddly, he either threw all strikes or all balls to every hitter.
Marp is really swinging the bat well since that atrocious start. He was running a 165 wRC+ since May 12 coming into tonight. Now if only we could get Pham, Ozuna, and one of Fowler or Wong going and get Dejong back…this offense could go somewhere.
Did Garcia bunt? That seems a bit desperate. Turns out that the Ozuna single may have scored Marp if he had been on second base besides in the dugout.
Yep, the crazy bunt costs the Cards a run. I guess they figure you get one run for Gant, then you’re in great shape…right. For goodness sakes, he was already in scoring position. We have enough trouble scoring when we don’t give away an out.
Marp is really swinging the bat well since that atrocious start. He was running a 165 wRC+ since May 12 coming into tonight. Now if only we could get Pham, Ozuna, and one of Fowler or Wong going and get Dejong back…this offense could go somewhere.
That’s been the issue. We get a couple guys going and either guys cool or haven’t had it all season.
More and more the bunt did seem stupid. Clevenger looks like meat like Chacin. Just throws a little harder and is in the zone a bit.
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