Cardinals lose game, out of first place, but it is really okay.

pre-game

game

This game was the Cardinals' chance to put an exclamation point on what was already a great weekend. With Carlos Martinez on the mound, who has quickly become one of the Cards' most exciting pitchers, they looked primed to do just that. Instead, however, they end the weekend on the fart noise of punctuation, the colon. Grammatically, one can't end a sentence on a colon, but that was exactly what the Cardinals did. The Cardinals take game one of the series in comeback fashion, overcoming an early six-run deficit, then the next day defeat the Brewers in a 10 run curb-stomping, then:

To me, this was just one of those games. Nothing seemed to go right. Line-drives were caught, Brewers groundballs found holes, there were questionable strike three calls, balks, defensive miscues. The Cardinals couldn't even slam the bat today. Just a game full of "meh". If we as baseball fans got upset over every loss, well, we would be miserable human beings.

This whole game is probably best defined as the first inning extrapolated over nine innings. Carlos Martinez was the victim of some bad luck in the bottom of the first (allowing four hits - four singles), poor execution on defense (a poor throw by Matt Adams effectively allowed two runs to score), and some missed location, with some change-ups sitting in the middle of the zone and getting pelted. He also balked, and by balk, I mean moved his pinky finger (balking is like, the weirdest rule ever), which moved a runner from second to third. El Gallo fought back, however, and was able to escape the inning with a strikeout of Khris Davis - the final pitch being up in the zone at 100 mph. Lethal.

This start will probably be a small bump in the road for what looks to be a promising career for El Gallo. He surrendered four runs in four innings with seven hits allowed, three walks, and 5 strikeouts. The bullpen was... not very good. Seth Maness came in of relief of Martinez for the fifth, in what is his 368,175th appearance in the past two weeks. I was listening to Mike Shannon at the time, but I suppose Al mentioned something about sinkerballers pitching better when they are tired. Maness allowed a homerun to Davis. He then came out for the sixth inning and gave up two runs on a double, a sacrifice, then three straight singles. Jason Motte came in to put some water on the fire and... Oh my god, no stop, it is a grease fire what are you doing?! He allowed a hit to bring in another run. Then Nick Greenwood came in for the final six outs, giving up three runs. -.320 WPA for the pitching staff today.

The Kolten Wongs would manufacture a run in the top of the fourth. Wong would strike out, but the ball scooted between Jonathan Lucroy's legs, thus awarding Kolten first base. The Keystone Kahuna promptly stole second on the next pitch without a throw, then advanced to third on a Matt Holliday groundout, then scored on a Matt Adams groundout. Peter Bourjos would score in the ninth after a walk, a long single by Matt Adams, and an error on a George Kottaras hard hit ball up the middle. This rounds out the Cardinals scoring. 
RMI: 1 (Wong by Matt Adams)

So focus on some positives, shall we?

1. Allen Craig hit a line drive into the outfield.
2. Peter Bourjos walked.
3. The Cardinals have made up 4.5 games in two weeks, are one game out of first place and look to be hitting their stride.

post-game

Source: FanGraphs

LIL SCOOTER'S PAIN IN THE ASS OF THE GAME:

Scooter Gennett is just as pesky as his name suggests. He is out of control. This is Scooter on Scooter crime, and it will not be tolerated - Scooter Rizzuto is probably rolling over in his grave as we speak. He went 3-4 with a walk, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored and .251 WPA. Freakin' Scooter.

The All Star Game is Tuesday. Let's see if Adam Wainwright gets the start, or if it goes to the Regina George of baseball right now, Clayton Kershaw. Photoshop that at will.

I have a flat tire and the repair shop closes at 6:00pm, so this is all folks!