Rats’ Stratomatic thread

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  • #179320
    PugsleyAddams
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    Whew! Lamb just missed putting that one into the cheap seats. Since nobody is staking a legitimate claim to closer responsibilities, just maybe Mr. Gallegos will grab the bull by the horns and distinguish himself? I’m all locked & loaded with theater popcorn and some Wild Turkey for tonight’s action, Rat. I get the sneaking suspicion that Musgrove is going to be on his game this evening……….but Waino will be more than equal to the task. Let’s call this one 4-2 Birds, shall we?

    #179322
    Ratsbuddy
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    You were right Pugs. Sort of. Musgrove was on his game. But the Cardinals and Wainwright weren’t. Pirates got three runs in the 1st and single runs in the 2nd and 4th. The Redbirds were their own worst enemy in this one as Goldschmidt, Munoz, and DeJong made errors to aid the Pirate cause. The Cards only tally was DeJong’s 19th dinger of the year in the home half of the 7th.

    Pirates win this one 9-1. Waino takes the loss. On to the Tuesday night game. Agrazal and Wacha toe the rubber. Cards fall to 54-38.

    #179324
    Ratsbuddy
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    Redbirds take the middle game of the three game set by the score of 6-4. Wacha gets the win, Martinez the save. Yairo Munoz got the scoring started in the 1st with his 3rd dinger of the year. Cards were up 2-1 in the 5th when they push three more runs across. But Wacha tired in the 7th, and the struggling Brebbia came on and gave up a triple to Reynolds and a single to Marte and all of a sudden things got interesting.

    It’s a 5-4 game in the last of the 8th and Jose Martinez nails his 3rd pinch-hit dinger of the year to put the Cards on top 6-4. Carlos Martinez got the top of the Pirates order 1-2-3 in the 9th.

    55-38 on the year now. The Wednesday afternoon game will see Chris Archer and Jack Flaherty on the hill. After this it’s a four game weekend series against the Reds at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.

    #179325
    PugsleyAddams
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    Nice seeing Palito ramrod home run #3 in the 1st to set the tone for Cardinal victory. I always thought Yairo had the potential to poke a team 20+ dingers a year. But now he’s a FA out on the open market. Looking forward to this huge 4 game series over at Riverfront this weekend, Rat. But first things first. Jack Flash needs to handcuff this Buc offense tomorrow afternoon to conclude this short 3 game homestand. I’m calling it 7-3 Good Guys, with Palito once again finding a pitch to his liking and depositing it well up onto the center field lawn.

    #179326
    Ratsbuddy
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    Might be a lull in the action the next few days. Tomorrow I make my weekly trip to the amish restaurant, the Gasthof. Then shortly after that it will be time to head to Jasper for the Jasper girls ballgame against Evansville Reitz. Then Friday it’s grocery day, then lunch, then time to scout the Forest Park boys against Jasper. And Saturday it will be time to scout the Evansville Christian at Southridge game. Then Sunday its the NFL playoffs.

    Maybe if I am lucky I will be able to squeeze a game or two in.

    #179327
    PugsleyAddams
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    Geesh……have fun at the girls game, Rat. Hopefully BicycleMike can pickup the slack.

    #179396
    Ratsbuddy
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    Well, I took Pugs recommendation and squeezed a game in. Bad move on my part.

    Wednesday after matinee at Busch, Pirates and Cards. Archer and Flaherty. Flaherty wasn’t at his best while Archer was. Pirates prevailed 4-3. Cards slammed three homeruns – Goldschmidt and then Carlson and Arenado back to back in the 7th.

    Redbirds had a chance in the 9th against Vasquez. Wieters on at 1st, one out, and Edman batting. But he grounds into a game ending 5-4-3 DP to end it.

    Cards sit 55-39 now and head to Cincinnati for a four game weekend series. Hudson and Roark in the Thursday night opener.

    #179401
    PugsleyAddams
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    Paid - Annual

    Wieters should have been running on the pitch, Rat. If he had, we’d be sitting pretty at 56-38 right now. Two quick things, Rat. How bad did Evansville Kenny Reitz drill Jasper by and you failed to give us the rundown and wrapup on your Gasthof visit. Go Birds!

    #179402
    Ratsbuddy
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    The Evansville Reitz girls pounded the Jasper girls 58-34. And tonight the Evansville Harrison boys nipped the Jasper boys 58-57.

    The Gasthof amish restaurant was uneventful on Thursday Pugs. On my plate was mashed potatoes/gravy, green beans, noodles, dressing, baked carrots, fried chicken, meatloaf, a bowl of chili, some cherry cobbler, some blackberry cobbler, and a bowl of chocolate soft serve ice cream. Yummy!

    And now that I am home from the game later tonight will be a bowl of chili, some Lays potato chips, a couple of Butterfinger bars, and a cigar. All whilst me and Whitey Herdog watch Mannix from the couch.

    #179415
    PugsleyAddams
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    Girls basketball, Mannix, cigars, 2 bowls of chili, 2 butterfingers, cherry cobbler, blackberry cobbler, Lays potato chips, fried chicken, meatloaf, bowl of chocolate ice cream, mashed potatoes, dressing……and Rat didn’t even tell us what he had for breakfast. Talk about a blueprint for happiness though. I think Rat will live to be 100, as his happiness hormones will easily override his inflated daily salt, sugar and fat intake. Mingle in some rousing Strat-O-Matic action and you might make it to 105. Looking forward to the next series, Rat. Go Birds!

    #179418
    Ratsbuddy
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    Cards in Cincinnati for a four game set. And they take the opener in thrilling fashion 3-2 in 10 innings!

    Roark and Hudson. Both pitchers are on their game. Hudson does give up a leadoff homerun to Winker but is nails after that. Arenado’s 22nd dinger of the year in the 4th ties it 1-1. Then in the Redbird 5th, with the bases loaded and one out and Bowman just called on, Arenado hits a little dribbler up the 1stbase line that Casali’s only play is the out at first. That makes it 2-1 St. Louis.

    Puig homers off of Gallegos in the last of the 8th to tie the game 2-2. It goes to the 10th and Michael Lorenzen is on for Cincinnati. Top of the batting order up for the Cards and Edman promptly greets Lorenzen with his 11th homerun of the year to put the Cards on top 3-2. Carlos Martinez gets Suarez, Puig, and Gennett 1-2-3 in the 9th for his 5th save.

    3-2 Cards the final. 56-39 on the year and the Friday night game will see Mikolas and Mahle on the hill. If you will recall, this Friday night game was the game in real life where the Cards scored 10 runs in the 6th inning I believe.

    #179421
    PugsleyAddams
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    Wow, tremendous action, Rat. When Winker sent Hudson’s 1-2 breaking ball high up into the right field rafters to lead things off in the bottom of the 1st, I thought “oh oh it’s just not going to be Hudson’s night tonight”. But fortunately, those fears were quickly put to rest compliments of Huddy’s 7 innings of labor, yielding just one lone tally while whiffing 6 and walking just 1.

    I cannot wait for our 2022 campaign to get rolling, as I greatly miss our Game thread “what’s for din-din” feature. And yes the regular season will commence on time. A few spring training games could possibly be compromised, but the regular season will definitely start on time. No matter what you see or what you hear, fear not, as these two parties are not as ignorant as they may seem. Only a complete an unequivocal imbecile would kill the golden goose that provides for their lavishly enriched lifestyles. Because that will be the end result of any work stoppages effecting regular season play.

    #179458
    Ratsbuddy
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    Cards fall in the 2nd game of the four game set at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati by the score of 6-4.

    Redbirds jump out early with three runs in the 1st on a sac fly by Goldschmidt and a two run homer by O’Neill. It’s a 4-2 St. Louis lead in the Reds half of the 5th when Yasiel Puig slams a three run homer to put Cincinnati in front. That was all for Mikolas. Cardinals can’t muster anymore offense and lose this one 6-4. Had a chance in the top of the 7th when Jose Martinez pinch-hit with two on and one out but he grounded into a 643 twin killing.

    Cards fall to 56-40 now. Wainwright and Castillon up next in the Saturday night game.

    #179463
    Ratsbuddy
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    Fireworks in Cincinnati!

    Saturday night, Wainwright and Castillo. Edman triples leading off and Goldy brings him home with a sac fly. But the Reds plate three runs in their half of the 1st to take a 3-1 lead. Votto homers in the 2nd and it’s quickly a 4-1 Reds lead. After that both starters and bullpens settle down and stifle the hitters. Cards had a chance in the top of the 7th when Goldschmidt came to bat with the bases loaded and two out but struck out against Stephenson.

    Still 4-1 Cincinnati going to the 9th. Raisel Iglesias on for the save. Top of the order for the Cardinals.
    Edman walks
    Carlson strikes out
    Arenado singles
    Goldschmidt singles, now it’s 4-2 Reds. After a trip to the mound by the Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson Jose Martinez steps in. And boom! A three run homer and the Cards take the lead 5-4.

    Martinez in for the save. Casali strikes out. Dietrich walks. Winker flies to center. And Votto grounds to Edman to end it.

    5-4 Cardinals in a thriller. Helsley the win in relief, his 1st win of the year. Martinez notches his 7th save. Iglesias takes the loss for the Reds. 57-40 now and the Sunday afternoon game will see Wacha and Desclafani oppose each other.

    #179466
    PugsleyAddams
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    Bravo Rat! Great title. First baseball had “The Spirit of St.Louis”. Followed by “The Field of Dreams”. Now we have “The Fireworks In Cincinnati”. There just may be a movie in all of this. Cards getting throttled 4-1 heading to the 9th in the Queen City. Edman leads things off with a hotly contested free pass. The 3-2 Julio Iglesias fastball appeared to catch Tommy E. totally off guard as it sailed uncontested right down Broadway. But the home plate ump, C.V. Buckner, called it ball four. Edman was already halfway back to his dugout shaking his head, when the decision was rendered. Not only did the Cincy skipper race out to argue the call, but the entire team, coaching staff and even their ballboy(Jimmy) raced out to give Buckner a piece of their minds. When the dust finally settled 25 minutes later, 7 Reds players, 2 coaches and Jimmy were all ejected. Carlson then proceeded to whiff on an Iglesias hook a good foot wide of the plate. Then Arenado tapped a slow chopper down 3rd that appeared destined to cross the chalk, but then inexplicably stopped on a dime, resulting in an infield hit for the Redbird slugger. Up strolled Goldy who promptly whacked Iglesias’ first offering into center, scoring Edman and sending Arenado over to 3rd. Jose Martinez, who would be coming in as a defensive upgrade at 1st if the Cards were to extend this game, now was summoned to pinch hit for O’Neill. Jose, taking a page directly out of Babe Ruth’s book, stepped up to the dish and immediately raised his bat high over his head and pointed it directly out towards the center field bleachers…..and then froze in that stance….the yells from Buckner to “get in there and bat!”, fell on totally deaf ears. The Cincy faithful issued frenzied yells for Jose to bat, but still no reaction. Finally, Mike Shildt ran out to get his player going and still nothing. The entire ballpark was going crazy as Iglesias threw some warmup pitches and just like that, as if nothing had happened, Jose lowered his bat, gave his batting helmet a slight tug and then settled in to bat. Buckner pointed at Iglesias to resume play and his first pitch was drilled high and deep to…..not to center, but to left field…..back to the wall and long long gone for a 3 run dong to put the Cardinals on top 5-4. As Jose circled the bases, one would think that he’d be jumping for joy, but instead he was disgustingly shaking his head from side to side as if he had just made the final out in Game 7 of the World Series. We’ll have to check with Rat to see if he heard anything during the post game festivities as to why Jose was perturbed.

    #179468
    Ratsbuddy
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    And the Sunday afternoon getaway day doesn’t go to well. Especially for Wacha.

    Wacha and Desclafani on the mound. And Wacha doesn’t make it out of the 1st inning. He allows 7 runs on 7 hits, 2 walks, a leadoff homerun by Winker and then a two out grand slam by Farmer and just like that it’s a 7-0 Reds lead.

    But the Cards didn’t cave and fought back and had it to 8-6 in the 5th. It was 9-6 heading to the 7th and the Cards plated two more to make it 9-8 and runners at the corners and only one out. But DeJong popped out to Votto and then Bader struck out. After a double switch it was Munoz, Edman, and Carlson in the 9th but they went in order.

    10-8 Reds the final. Cards fall to 57-41 and now head to Pittsburgh for a four game set with the Pirates. Need to win 3 out of 4 in this one. Flaherty and Williams in the Monday night opener at PNC Park.

    #179489
    Ratsbuddy
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    I hate to say it, but the Cards lost the first game in Pittsburgh. 4-0 Pirates the final. Trevor Williams throws a complete game shutout. He goes 9 innings, no runs, 5 hits, 2 walks, and 8 strikeouts. Arenado had the day off as he has been struggling some lately. He will be back in the lineup for the Tuesday night game and Goldschmidt will get the night off.

    Flaherty has struggled his last few starts as well. His last four starts he is now 0-1 with three no decisions. He took the loss in this one and his record fell to 10-4. He allowed homeruns to Bell in the 1st and Marte in the 6th.

    Hudson and Archer in the Tuesday night game comiing up.

    #179491
    Ratsbuddy
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    Cards bounce back with a convincing 9-1 thrashing of the Pirates. Archer only lasted three innings in this one. Hudson goes six innings and Helsley and Miller finish it out. DeJong his 20th dinger of the year in this one. Goldschmidt had the night off and Carpenter was 2-3 with his 5th homerun of the year in the 3rd inning.

    58-42 now and the Wednesday night game will see Mikolas and Lyles on the mound.

    #179501
    Ratsbuddy
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    Just had one of those killer games. Thanks in part to a two run homer by Goldschmidt in the 6th and a two run homer by Arenado in the 8th the Cards took a 6-3 lead to the last of the 9th at Pittsburgh. But Carlos Martinez gave up four runs and the Bucs prevailed 7-6 in this one. It was Martinez’ first blown save. Cards fall to 58-43 on the year. The Thursday afternoon game at PNC Park will see Wainwright and Musgrove on the mound.

    A tough one to lose……..

    #179521
    Ratsbuddy
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    I guess Pittsburgh is going to be the nemesis team this year. St. Louis drops the Thursday afternoon matinee by the score of 2-1. Musgrove was one out away from a complete game but walks to O’Neill and DeJong forced the hand of Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. In comes Richard Rodriguez and he promptly walks Wieters to load the bases. Tommy Edman pinch-hits for Bader and he flies out to CF to end it.

    Cards drop to 58-44 on the year and now head home for a tough three game set with the Houston Astros. It will be Urquidy and Wacha in the Friday night opener.

    #179527
    Ratsbuddy
    Participant

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    Lost the opener to Houston by the score of 6-3. DeJong gave us a 3-0 lead in the 4th with his 21st dinger of the year but that was short lived. Brebbia was terrible again, and with the aid of a key error by O’Neill the Astros managed to forge ahead in the 6th and 7th innings.

    Record falls to 58-45 and we have now lost 5 of our last 6. And lucky us, we now get Gerrit Cole in the next game. Flaherty will be on the hill so perhaps there’s a glimmer of a chance.

    #179529
    Ratsbuddy
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    Cards go down to defeat again at the hands of the Astros and Gerrit Cole by the score of 9-3. Springer led the game off with a homerun and two batters later Alex Bregman lined one off the leg of Flaherty. Flaherty was removed for precautionary reasons and replaced by Ponce de Leon. Springer homered again, this time in the 3rd and before we knew it we trailed 7-1. PDL and Gant couldn’t keep Houston check and the Redbirds fell for the sixth time in their last seven games.

    Cole went 7 innings, 2 runs, 4 hits, walked 1, and fanned 12. The Sunday afternoon game will see Wade Miley and Dakota Hudson on the hill. After this one we get a much needed day off before the Cubs come to town for a three game set.

    #179533
    PugsleyAddams
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    A tailspin fit for Mario Andretti. Drastic times call for drastic measures, Rat. To shake things up, I would try this infield alignment for game 3 vs Houston. Jose Martinez manning 1st base, Paul Goldschmidt at 2nd, Tommy Edman at short and of course, Arenado holding down the fort over at 3rd. I absolutely love Dakota Hudson to deal a dandy vs Houston in this one. There’s a small handful of games each year where you can bet the ranch and all of the animal inhabitants within it’s cozy confines on it’s outcome…………and not even break a sweat. This is one of those slam dunk games. If you don’t own a ranch, you’d be wise to mortgage the home, sell your cars, empty your bank accounts and any retirement plans you’re situated in and break open any safes and piggy banks that you may possess……and plop it all down on the St. Louis Cardinals to upend Houston’s Astros in this upcoming game. Play ball Rat!

    #179549
    Ratsbuddy
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    I dont know what I am going to do about Carlos Martinez. After just giving up four runs in the last of the 9th at Pittsburgh and taking the loss he just now came into the top of the 9th against Houston with the Cards leading 6-4. A two run single by Tommy Edman in the last of the 8th gave the Redbirds the 6-4 lead.

    So, still leading 6-4 with two outs and two runners on for the Astros, Martinez gives up a single to Alvarez to make it 6-5. Then he allows a two run double to Correa that puts the Astros on top 7-6. Luckily he retires Gurriel and we only trail 7-6 heading to the last of the 9th.

    Roberto Osuna is on for Houston and Arenado greets him with a single. Goldschmidt flies to center for the 1st out. Then singles by Jose Martinez and Paul DeJong load the bases with one out. Bader chops one out in front of the plate and Osuna’s throw home is wide and Chirinos can’t handle it, allowing the tying run to score on the Osuna error. After a conference at the mound Osuna then walks Knizner, forcing in the winning run, and giving the Redbirds a dramatic 8-7 win!

    Cards sit 59-46 now and the Cubs come to town for a three game series. After the much needed off day on Monday it will be Darvish and Mikolas in the Tuesday night opener.

    #179551
    Ratsbuddy
    Participant

    Free

    Cards prevail in the Tuesday night opener against the Cubs by the score of 3-2. Cubs plate two runs in the 2nd to take a 2-0 lead. Redbirds come back with two runs in the 5th with the help of a catchers interference call against Caratini and two out hits by Edman and Carlson.

    With the score still tied 2-2 Bader leads off the home half of the 7th and Bryant boots his grounder for an error. Later in the inning Bader is brought home on a ground rule double by Carlson to give the Cards the 3-2 lead.

    Webb had come on with two outs in the 7th and with two outs in the 8th Gallegos was summoned to the mound to face Baez, who promptly fanned. Not willing to trust Carlos Martinez at this point Gallegos has the 9th and he sits Caratini, Schwarber, and Happ down in order to preserve the win.

    3-2 St. Louis the final. Webb gets the win in relief. Darvish takes the tough luck loss. Gallegos his 4th save on the year. The Wednesday night game will see Hendricks and Wainwright on the mound. Cards sit 60-46 now.

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