carpenter santos
1-1, 2.37 1-2, 7.07
today's early start caught me off guard; for some reason i thought they were playing tonight. so here's a quick n dirty game thread. if you haven't had a chance yet to read memphis pitching coach dyar miller's thoughts about anthony reyes, they're directly below.
tony had praise for josh hancock last night, calling his mop-up relief effort "outstanding." the performance might have bought hancock another couple weeks to preserve a niche for himself in the bullpen. he opened the season as one of tlr's two primary setup guys, but one bad pitch to the cubs' michael barrett on april 8 got him banished to the deepest corner of the doghouse. since that day hancock has only appeared four times, never in a close game. he was called in on april 9, after the cards had fallen behind 7-4 in the bottom of the 8th vs chicago; on april 12 to pitch the 9th of a lopsided 8-3 win; to get the final out on april 15 with st louis leading by 6; and then last night, after the cards had fallen behind 7-1. his hold on his roster spot would appear tenuous at best.
a win today and the cards will have taken four of their first five series. edmonds is in the lineup; so is j-rod, playing right field, with encarnacion in left. spiezio is playing 3b and batting second. here's the whole thing:
eck'n ss
spiezio 3b
pujols 1b
edmonds cf
encarnacion lf
j-rod rf
molina c
miles 2b
carpenter p