marquis buehrle
9-4, 4.55 7-4, 3.13
hey --- it's 0-0 again! dja ever think you'd see the day . . . ?
tonight's pitching pairing is typical of what the cardinals can expect come october whenever carpenter's not pitching -- our #4ish guy (marquis, mulder, supps, take your pick) vs an opponent's #2ish guy. as we learned in game 7 of the 2004 nlcs, you can win a matchup like this . . . but it's still not the matchup you want to pin your hopes on.
in this evening's case, perhaps buehrle -- the lifelong cardinal fan -- will cut his favorite team some slack. he must have been as broken up over last night's result as all of us; i'm fairly certain, in fact, that he has been posting here at VEB on and off all day, bemoaning the cardinals' lack of trade leverage and the lineup's sagging power numbers and la dunca's overindulgence of played-out veteran arms. so maybe he'll groove a few pitches for our fellows tonight.
mark mulder didn't groove anything for derrick goold after the game. he threw a no-hitter at the p-d beat guy --- didn't give up a single answer to derrick's battery of pertinent questions. credit goold for taking some very healthy swings; there's no faulting his effort. but mulder was simply untouchable last night, in this particular regard. . . . . in that very robust blog post, goold also writes: "Anthony Reyes is on his way to Chicago to make more than a start; he can make an impression, make a spot for him[self] in the rotation." and this: "[Brad] Thompson will get the chance to pitch through his pitch troubles, but as taxed as the bullpen has been could be used as a mutually beneficial chip in a transaction shuffle with Triple-A Memphis." welcome back, brian falkenborg; and perhaps hello, josh kinney.
Update [2006-6-21 18:53:27 by lboros]: per matt leach, it's official: reyes to start tomorrow vs frederick garcia. 2d item: pujols expected to return to the lineup next week at home vs cleveland.