Cardinals' bats stifled in Toronto
TORONTO -- Another lefty, another rough offensive game for the Cardinals.
St. Louis lost, 5-2, to the Blue Jays on Wednesday night in the finale of a three-game series. Ted Lilly pitched seven shutout innings for Toronto, becoming the third straight southpaw starter to handcuff the National League's most prolific offense. The Cards failed to score against both David Wells and Randy Johnson last week.
It didn't help that the Cards were playing without four regulars. Scott Rolen remains on the disabled list with a sprained shoulder, and Jim Edmonds was unavailable due to a left rib contusion that kept him out all series.
Starting shortstop and leadoff man David Eckstein got a day off in favor of Abraham Nunez, while Einar Diaz made a rare start at catcher in place of Yadier Molina. Their replacements went a combined 1-for-16 with three double plays.
"I think we had our chances," said Scott Seabol, who played third base in Rolen's stead. "We just were never able to come through with a big hit."
Starter Jason Marquis was far from sharp, but it might not have mattered if he had been. The right-hander allowed 11 baserunners (eight hits, three walks) over five innings, giving up all five runs and not recording a strikeout. Marquis has pitched more than six innings just once in his last six starts, during which time he has 21 walks and 13 strikeouts.
Orlando Hudson's two-run homer in the second put Toronto on top, and Alex Rios made it 3-0 with an RBI single later in the inning. Aaron Hill's two-run double in the fifth capped it. Every Jays run scored with two outs.
"I was just up in the zone," Marquis said. "I fell behind in counts and got in hitters' counts. That's what the hitter wants. Obviously I didn't make pitches and I got knocked out of the game early. It's unfortunate."
Marquis appeared to have regained command through five when he got into trouble again. After a pair of popups to open the fifth, he permitted a double to Shea Hillenbrand and walked Eric Hinske. Hill doubled to right field to score two runs. The ball was touched by a fan and both runners scored.
The Cardinals had few chances against Lilly, but they squandered some of the few opportunities that came their way. John Mabry's leadoff single in the fifth was erased when Diaz grounded into a double play, and Mark Grudzielanek was caught stealing on a pickoff play after a leadoff single in the sixth.
Diaz, who hadn't played in nearly two weeks, made the final out of the inning with a runner on base in the two at-bats in which he didn't double up. Five times the Cardinals got the leadoff runner on base, but none of those baserunners came around to score.
Once Lilly departed, the Cardinals managed to make it interesting. Five straight baserunners against three different relievers cut it to 5-2 in the eighth, bringing up Seabol against Jason Frasor. Seabol hit into a 5-4-3 double play, ending the threat, the inning, and for all practical purposes the Cardinals' chances at a win.
"We had a chance there in the eighth," he said. "Big double-play ball, and that was that. You've got to be selectively aggressive in that situation, and I may have been a little too aggressive."
In their last five games against left-handed starters, the Cardinals have topped two runs just once. They pounded Astros rookie Wandy Rodriguez at Minute Maid Park, but they scuffled against Andy Pettitte in Houston. A team that has feasted on left-handed pitching in recent years seems to be missing Rolen lately, but there's also the fact that the assorted southpaws have thrown the ball well -- Lilly included.
"I think you tip your hat to what Mr. Lilly did out there," Larry Walker said. "His ball was moving pretty good. He threw it where he wanted to. He kept us all off-balance. We had some ugly swings, a lot of guys. You tip your hat. I don't think you say we didn't swing well. We didn't swing well because he pitched good. Simple as that."
The Cardinals have alternated wins and losses over their past eight games and are 9-8 since May 28. They lost two out of three in Toronto, ending a streak of eight straight Interleague series won. St. Louis had won or split seven consecutive series overall.
Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/
St. Louis lost, 5-2, to the Blue Jays on Wednesday night in the finale of a three-game series. Ted Lilly pitched seven shutout innings for Toronto, becoming the third straight southpaw starter to handcuff the National League's most prolific offense. The Cards failed to score against both David Wells and Randy Johnson last week.
It didn't help that the Cards were playing without four regulars. Scott Rolen remains on the disabled list with a sprained shoulder, and Jim Edmonds was unavailable due to a left rib contusion that kept him out all series.
Starting shortstop and leadoff man David Eckstein got a day off in favor of Abraham Nunez, while Einar Diaz made a rare start at catcher in place of Yadier Molina. Their replacements went a combined 1-for-16 with three double plays.
"I think we had our chances," said Scott Seabol, who played third base in Rolen's stead. "We just were never able to come through with a big hit."
Starter Jason Marquis was far from sharp, but it might not have mattered if he had been. The right-hander allowed 11 baserunners (eight hits, three walks) over five innings, giving up all five runs and not recording a strikeout. Marquis has pitched more than six innings just once in his last six starts, during which time he has 21 walks and 13 strikeouts.
Orlando Hudson's two-run homer in the second put Toronto on top, and Alex Rios made it 3-0 with an RBI single later in the inning. Aaron Hill's two-run double in the fifth capped it. Every Jays run scored with two outs.
"I was just up in the zone," Marquis said. "I fell behind in counts and got in hitters' counts. That's what the hitter wants. Obviously I didn't make pitches and I got knocked out of the game early. It's unfortunate."
Marquis appeared to have regained command through five when he got into trouble again. After a pair of popups to open the fifth, he permitted a double to Shea Hillenbrand and walked Eric Hinske. Hill doubled to right field to score two runs. The ball was touched by a fan and both runners scored.
The Cardinals had few chances against Lilly, but they squandered some of the few opportunities that came their way. John Mabry's leadoff single in the fifth was erased when Diaz grounded into a double play, and Mark Grudzielanek was caught stealing on a pickoff play after a leadoff single in the sixth.
Diaz, who hadn't played in nearly two weeks, made the final out of the inning with a runner on base in the two at-bats in which he didn't double up. Five times the Cardinals got the leadoff runner on base, but none of those baserunners came around to score.
Once Lilly departed, the Cardinals managed to make it interesting. Five straight baserunners against three different relievers cut it to 5-2 in the eighth, bringing up Seabol against Jason Frasor. Seabol hit into a 5-4-3 double play, ending the threat, the inning, and for all practical purposes the Cardinals' chances at a win.
"We had a chance there in the eighth," he said. "Big double-play ball, and that was that. You've got to be selectively aggressive in that situation, and I may have been a little too aggressive."
In their last five games against left-handed starters, the Cardinals have topped two runs just once. They pounded Astros rookie Wandy Rodriguez at Minute Maid Park, but they scuffled against Andy Pettitte in Houston. A team that has feasted on left-handed pitching in recent years seems to be missing Rolen lately, but there's also the fact that the assorted southpaws have thrown the ball well -- Lilly included.
"I think you tip your hat to what Mr. Lilly did out there," Larry Walker said. "His ball was moving pretty good. He threw it where he wanted to. He kept us all off-balance. We had some ugly swings, a lot of guys. You tip your hat. I don't think you say we didn't swing well. We didn't swing well because he pitched good. Simple as that."
The Cardinals have alternated wins and losses over their past eight games and are 9-8 since May 28. They lost two out of three in Toronto, ending a streak of eight straight Interleague series won. St. Louis had won or split seven consecutive series overall.
Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/
