Two good: Late homers lift Cardinals
ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals began re-assembling their championship puzzle in mid-August, when Yadier Molina and then Larry Walker returned from the disabled list. Another piece will be added in the coming days, when Reggie Sanders gets back in action.
On Monday, however, they saw a key piece, a piece that has been there all along, fit in the way it's supposed to. Ray King (4-2) pitched out of a difficult situation and was credited with the win as the Cards beat the Cubs, 6-4, at Busch Stadium. It was the first win, save or hold for King since Aug. 10, a stretch of 10 appearances.
After escaping a one-out, two-on situation with the score 2-2 in the eighth, King sat back and let his offense take over. David Eckstein drew a leadoff walk and Abraham Nunez beat out an infield single, bringing up Albert Pujols. The slugger did what he does, mauling his 36th home run to give the Cardinals a 5-2 lead. Jim Edmonds' solo shot made it 6-2, and though Jason Isringhausen allowed the Cubs to get close, St. Louis held on.
And while there was plenty to look at in an entertaining game, nothing that happened on Monday had more importance to the Cards' World Series dreams than King's showing.
"Ray may have recently suffered a little loss of confidence, and confidence comes by succeeding," said pitching coach Dave Duncan. "He went out there and had a real significant outing today, and that's another step towards that confidence being built back up.
"I'm sure by the time the playoffs get here, Ray King will be fine. Because we're going to give him as many opportunities as we can to pitch in those situations, and he's good enough to get the job done."
King took a small step forward with a solid outing in a blowout win over Florida last week, then a step back when he brought home the tying run with a hit batter against Houston on Friday. But on Monday afternoon, King did exactly what he'll be called on to do in the postseason.
A hit batter, a sacrifice and an intentional walk put two men on with one out in the eighth inning of a tie game, and manager Tony La Russa summoned King to face left-hander Jeromy Burnitz. King induced a groundout from Burnitz, then issued a semi-intentional walk to righty-swinging Nomar Garciaparra. Left-hander Todd Walker softly lined the first pitch he saw from King to center field, ending the inning.
In the bottom of the inning, the St. Louis offense got to Roberto Novoa (3-5), making King the winning pitcher.
"I come in and get a ground ball, get a popup, get us back in the dugout and the big guys come through," said King. "It's the way it should be. We battled and got the hits when we needed them."
A crisply played pitchers' duel, scoreless in the mid-fifth, turned into an ugly game in the middle innings. Nunez's single handcuffed rookie shortstop Ronny Cedeno and gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the fifth, and a wild pitch made it 2-0. Half an inning later, the Cards returned the favor, as a walk, a Nunez error and a wild pitch set up Burnitz's two-run, game-tying single.
Starter Jeff Suppan didn't allow an earned run in six innings, but took no decision thanks to the two unearned tallies in the top of the sixth. Al Reyes pitched a perfect seventh. Brad Thompson got into trouble in the eighth, but King got out of it.
"To get the call and get in and get results, that feels good, especially this time of year," said King. "We're looking at three or four weeks and hopefully we're going into the postseason. You can build momentum and build confidence in yourself."
As for Pujols, the Cardinals had confidence in him all along. When he eradicated the 2-2 offering from Novoa, a sellout crowd of nearly 50,000 broke out into chants of "M-V-P!" Pujols said he's not thinking about the award, but he's clearly established himself as one of two or three favorites.
"It will be great if I win," he said. "If I don't, who cares? I just want to get my team back to the World Series."
That will be easier if Edmonds picks up his production, as he seems to be doing lately. After a big series over the weekend in Houston, he followed it up with his 25th home run. A potent Edmonds means fewer attempts to pitch around Pujols.
"I know he's kind of disappointed with the season that he's having, but still, the guy is struggling and he's got 25 home runs and 78 RBIs," said Pujols. "I've had Jimmy hitting behind me for the last five years, and I know that he's going to click on and drive me in.
"There's no need for me to put pressure on myself or try to chase a ball out of the strike zone. If I take the walk, I know he's going to drive me in like he has the last couple of weeks. Believe me, he's getting hot, so watch out."
With Monday's victory, the Cardinals' magic number is down to 11, and they are a season-high 38 games over .500.
Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/
On Monday, however, they saw a key piece, a piece that has been there all along, fit in the way it's supposed to. Ray King (4-2) pitched out of a difficult situation and was credited with the win as the Cards beat the Cubs, 6-4, at Busch Stadium. It was the first win, save or hold for King since Aug. 10, a stretch of 10 appearances.
After escaping a one-out, two-on situation with the score 2-2 in the eighth, King sat back and let his offense take over. David Eckstein drew a leadoff walk and Abraham Nunez beat out an infield single, bringing up Albert Pujols. The slugger did what he does, mauling his 36th home run to give the Cardinals a 5-2 lead. Jim Edmonds' solo shot made it 6-2, and though Jason Isringhausen allowed the Cubs to get close, St. Louis held on.
And while there was plenty to look at in an entertaining game, nothing that happened on Monday had more importance to the Cards' World Series dreams than King's showing.
"Ray may have recently suffered a little loss of confidence, and confidence comes by succeeding," said pitching coach Dave Duncan. "He went out there and had a real significant outing today, and that's another step towards that confidence being built back up.
"I'm sure by the time the playoffs get here, Ray King will be fine. Because we're going to give him as many opportunities as we can to pitch in those situations, and he's good enough to get the job done."
King took a small step forward with a solid outing in a blowout win over Florida last week, then a step back when he brought home the tying run with a hit batter against Houston on Friday. But on Monday afternoon, King did exactly what he'll be called on to do in the postseason.
A hit batter, a sacrifice and an intentional walk put two men on with one out in the eighth inning of a tie game, and manager Tony La Russa summoned King to face left-hander Jeromy Burnitz. King induced a groundout from Burnitz, then issued a semi-intentional walk to righty-swinging Nomar Garciaparra. Left-hander Todd Walker softly lined the first pitch he saw from King to center field, ending the inning.
In the bottom of the inning, the St. Louis offense got to Roberto Novoa (3-5), making King the winning pitcher.
"I come in and get a ground ball, get a popup, get us back in the dugout and the big guys come through," said King. "It's the way it should be. We battled and got the hits when we needed them."
A crisply played pitchers' duel, scoreless in the mid-fifth, turned into an ugly game in the middle innings. Nunez's single handcuffed rookie shortstop Ronny Cedeno and gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the fifth, and a wild pitch made it 2-0. Half an inning later, the Cards returned the favor, as a walk, a Nunez error and a wild pitch set up Burnitz's two-run, game-tying single.
Starter Jeff Suppan didn't allow an earned run in six innings, but took no decision thanks to the two unearned tallies in the top of the sixth. Al Reyes pitched a perfect seventh. Brad Thompson got into trouble in the eighth, but King got out of it.
"To get the call and get in and get results, that feels good, especially this time of year," said King. "We're looking at three or four weeks and hopefully we're going into the postseason. You can build momentum and build confidence in yourself."
As for Pujols, the Cardinals had confidence in him all along. When he eradicated the 2-2 offering from Novoa, a sellout crowd of nearly 50,000 broke out into chants of "M-V-P!" Pujols said he's not thinking about the award, but he's clearly established himself as one of two or three favorites.
"It will be great if I win," he said. "If I don't, who cares? I just want to get my team back to the World Series."
That will be easier if Edmonds picks up his production, as he seems to be doing lately. After a big series over the weekend in Houston, he followed it up with his 25th home run. A potent Edmonds means fewer attempts to pitch around Pujols.
"I know he's kind of disappointed with the season that he's having, but still, the guy is struggling and he's got 25 home runs and 78 RBIs," said Pujols. "I've had Jimmy hitting behind me for the last five years, and I know that he's going to click on and drive me in.
"There's no need for me to put pressure on myself or try to chase a ball out of the strike zone. If I take the walk, I know he's going to drive me in like he has the last couple of weeks. Believe me, he's getting hot, so watch out."
With Monday's victory, the Cardinals' magic number is down to 11, and they are a season-high 38 games over .500.
Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/
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