Cardinals Defeat Brewers 4-2 on 42 Day

A rather unassuming game, which could happen at any point in the season, this one just so happened to be on 4/15/15, aka Tax Day. But more memorably and heartwarmingly human, it is Jackie Robinson Day, a day where all the players honor Jackie Robinson by wearing the number 42 (which just so happens to also be the answer to the meaning of the universe, or something like that). As if that weren't enough, it's Doc Howl's father's birthday too, may he rest in peace.

Not to mention, I got a Roku 3 today (it's on sale at Best Buy, lucked out there, didn't want to spend $100, $85 is a more easy pill to swallow). So my watching experience was much better than it was on my refurbished PS3, or my five year old laptop that seems possessed by demons, even after I wiped the hard drive a couple months ago. But still, it carries on! But I'm not here for me, I'm here for you, and our mutual appreciation of the sport called BASEBALL. I will be at the helm of the Wednesday night shift this year, I am so glad I don't write Fridays now.

This was not the game that Lance Lynn had to start the season. That Lynn seemed like the ace of a rotation. The one today was still pretty effective: 1 run in five innings, 4 K's, 1 BB. I'm not sure if I should call that vintage Lance Lynn, but it kind of reminds me of what he did a little younger. He lead the team in FIP tonight at 1.97.

On the other end of the game that Lance begun, Rosenthal showed what was the shakiest performance for Cardinals pitchers tonight. He gave up the only other run the Brewers would score, didn't strike out anybody, and walked a batter. That's good enough, but he made the rest of the bullpen look like a bunch of assassins in comparison. Not exactly what you want to end the game, but when do we get exactly what we want? Not often!

I guess Trevor got us what we needed though, another Cardinal win after another offday. Yadier Molina finally got to be the star at the plate today, with 3 hits and a run batted in. Holliday was the only Cardinal to take a walk, but he also had the biggest hit knocking in 2 early on. This wasn't the most thrilling game somehow, but it was perfectly acceptable.

My highlight was Siegrist, Beslisle, and Walden looking rather professional out there. This bullpen is a lot better than last year's from an entertainment standpoint. Siegrist has a negative FIP, a nano-level xFIP, and zero ERA. Glad to see he is his old self so far, gotta love early season bullpen stats! And let's not forget Seth Maness! He is also a key component to what seems to be a rather solid bullpen compared to the near disasters of past seasons, before the big patch up trade. Choate did good too.

The Brewers did have 10 hits today though, 4 to the bullpen and 6 off of Lynn. The Cards showed poise in not letting that get to them, but the offense remains a little bland. Only one game with more than 4 runs so far, but I'll take it. The Cardinals are over .500, in second place to the Cubs in this inkling of a season. The Reds have fallen off on their hot start, falling to Chicago 5-0. Peralta, Holliday, and Carpenter all look great at the plate thus far, and Heyward had an exciting throw as well as another hit today. Will be a lot of fun to watch him play every day.

Quotables, Notes and Graphs

"Rosenthal is 35 saves away from making the top 5 in Cardinals history

This isn’t how you get there."

by Bherman on Apr 15, 2015 | 7:55 PM

• Rather narrow strikezone tonight, take a look (kind of inconsistent too). (my html for the image failed, opens in new tab)
  

This WPA graph makes it look like the Cardinals were a lot more in control of this game than they probably were, but I chalk it up to crappy Lynn still being decent and the bullpen being pretty great, aside from Trevor's 9th inning theater of the absurd. It all works out ok though.

Source: FanGraphs

The box score shows a game with not a lot of excitement going through nearly half the game, and the other half wasn't super exciting either. Just another night at the ballpark for the guys, beating a last place team. And I can definitely see them finishing in last place this year. It's just too bad we let them have a win the other day!

Tune in tomorrow for a day game! 12:45pm John Lackey defends his turf vs Fiers. Skip work or whatever.