as of this writing the cardinals are losing 6-4 to the orioles, bottom 5th. marquis started and held them scoreless for two innings; i don't know whether he was still out there for the third, when the o's posted 4. braden looper was set to follow marquis and appears to have yielded a couple of runs. brian daubach and chris duncan have whacked homers.
i don't think it's meaningless that la russa used brad voyles to close out the cards' 6-3 win yesterday. of course, it's not that meaningful either -- voyles isn't on the 40-man and is a long shot to make the team -- but his appearance in that role make me wonder whether the brass were just trying him on for size in late-inning situations. he retired the side in order and has now strung together 3.2 shutout innings in his two spring training appearances. keep an eye on how and when tony/dave use this guy; couple more solid outings and he might pitch his way onto the bubble for an at-large berth in the bullpen .
nice to see wainwright pitch well too. of a sudden the management is talking him up; also not insignificant, imho. i still think they'd prefer to open the season with ponson as the #5, but i think any role for wainwright (even last man in the 'pen) is better than a trip back to memphis. they gotta find out sooner, not later, whether or not this guy can help them in 2007 and beyond.
baseball prospectus' new minor-league expert, kevin goldstein, was asked during a recent chat session whether cory haerther's improved power numbers in 2005 represented a real improvement in ability. his reply:
cards tacked one on in the top of the 6th, now trail 6-5, still batting.
elsewhere on SB Nation, Halos Heaven has it from inside sources that the marlins aren't kidding around about trading miguel cabrera:
mlbtraderumors thinks the reds may trade wily mo pena before the season begins . . . .
through 6 full innings, it's still 6-5 orioles. now stop thinking about spring training and get back to work.
Update [2006-3-6 17:8:45 by lboros]: orioles win, 12-8; here's the box score. marquis and looper got roughed up; junior spivey (the only varsity player in the lineup) went 0-4 and is hitless this spring. travis hanson started for the third consecutive day; john gall also got a start (his 4th of the spring) and went 1 for 4.