St. Louis falls big to red-hot Braves

07/19/2006
ST. LOUIS -- After a rough patch in late June, Jason Marquis had pitched brilliantly in July. Facing his former team on Tuesday night, Marquis reverted back to his previous form. And it wasn't pretty.
The right-hander was pummeled for 12 earned runs in five-plus innings, paving the way for a loss, 14-5, to the Braves at Busch Stadium. Marquis trailed by eight runs after four but was brought out for more punishment in the fifth and sixth before finally giving way to Tyler Johnson.
"It's his game to hold them down and give us a chance to win," manager Tony La Russa said. "He has a responsibility to pitch deeper into the game. After that, I don't know what the problem is, other than you get so far behind and it gets embarrassing."
After allowing 20 earned runs and seven homers in his final two June starts, Marquis had rebounded to post a trio of solid outings, allowing just eight earned runs in 21 2/3 innings -- prompting his manager to say the right-hander had top-of-rotation stuff.
He didn't display it Tuesday, dropping to 0-2 with a 14.40 ERA in three career starts against the team that picked him in the 1996 draft. This start, though, was one of the worst of his career.
"I didn't make pitches like I should," Marquis said. "I ran into a hot team and I just wasn't very good tonight. I didn't do my job, and that's what it comes down to."
This outing was similar to the right-hander's June 21 start vs. the White Sox. Marquis, starting after the staff had been pounded for 20 runs the previous night, needed to eat innings and keep his team in the game.
Instead, he allowed the most runs a Cardinals starter had given up since 1996, permitting 13 earned runs and 14 hits in five innings. Tuesday night yielded more of the same. After Atlanta bulldozed Jeff Weaver and the bullpen for 15 runs on Monday, Marquis needed to throw well and work deep into the contest. It didn't happen.
"I just stick with my game plan and try to execute to the best of my ability and make pitches and obviously, it didn't turn out that way," the right-hander said.
Marquis allowed runs in every inning he pitched, including eight through the first four and 10 after five.
"Giving up so many runs early [is the biggest concern]," La Russa said. "It wasn't a matter of pitches. He could have thrown more. We just can't burn our pitching staff and have nothing for the rest of the year."
The poor outing yielded the Cardinals' second straight loss and dropped their overall record to 52-40. The defeat didn't hurt the 'Birds in the standings. Coupled with the Reds' loss to the Mets, the Redbirds still remain 3 1/2 games ahead of Cincinnati in the NL Central.
Atlanta entered the night with 51 second-half runs, 20 more than the Majors' next team. Marquis (11-7) only continued the onslaught, allowing 14 hits and three homers. The three gopher balls upped his National League high to 24.
"I didn't make good pitches, or I would make quality pitches and they found holes," Marquis said. "They capitalized on mistakes, and they capitalized on good pitches also."
The double-digit output marked the fifth straight game Atlanta had tallied at least 10 runs, the first team since the 1930 New York Yankees to accomplish the feat.
Marquis coaxed outs from the first two batters in the top of the first before the floodgates opened. Chipper Jones singled and Andruw Jones deposited a Marquis offering into the left-field bullpen for a 2-0 lead.
The Braves tallied three more in the second, one in the third and two apiece in the fourth and fifth.
Chipper Jones led off the sixth with a homer off Marquis. Andruw Jones singled, finally bringing La Russa to the mound for pitching change. Things didn't improve, as Johnson quickly permitted a two-run homer to Brian McCann, raising the score to 13-1.
The 'Birds still thought they had a chance.
"This is the big leagues," Chris Duncan said. "We are a first-place club. No matter how much you are down, you have to keep fighting and keep going. So we have to keep battling and try and make something happen."
The Redbirds mounted a sixth-inning comeback, scoring four times off Tim Hudson and reliever Oscar Villareal and cutting the deficit to 13-5.
Still, they couldn't get any closer. On Wednesday, they will turn to ace Chris Carpenter to stop the bleeding and steady a rotation that has been scorched for 18 earned runs in its last two starts. Carpenter tossed a two-hit shutout in his last start.
"He has been lights out," Duncan said. "It's going to be a big game."

Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/

Notes: Blustery night at Busch

07/20/2006
ST. LOUIS -- A powerful storm with 84 mph winds and blowing rain forced a two-hour, 12-minute rain delay before Wednesday's night game between the Braves and the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
Only a few minutes before the scheduled 7:10 p.m. CT start time, the skies darkened and heavy winds started at the new ballpark. The grounds crew immediately brought out the tarp and heavy rains started to fall a few minutes later.
"It was terrible," fan Jen Klimer said.
Tornado warnings were issued in three counties in the metropolitan St. Louis area and more than 300,000 homes lost electricity. According to several sources, 30 people suffered injuries at the ballpark and five were taken to the hospital.
The storm also wreaked havoc throughout the new park, shredding parts of the field tarp and destroying the plastic sheeting in the press box. The FOX studio was tipped over and demolished.
Fans also had to avoid debris while taking cover.
"I was standing behind one of the field posts, and one of the trash cans came flying across and a beer cart fell down," Jenn VanderBol said.
The players weren't immune to the damage. Several players, including starter Chris Carpenter, called their families before the game. Carpenter's family and Jim Edmonds' family were among those who lost power.
"That was as bad as a storm as I've seen," Carpenter said.
The dugout was flooded with ankle-high water. Inside the clubhouse, several places, includes the family area for players' children, incurred water damage. Things could have gotten worse, but Cardinals personnel contained the flooding.
"We have a terrific staff," La Russa said.
Several players, including Chris Duncan, came out to survey the damage during the delay. After the rain stopped, the umpires, grounds crew and several Cardinals front-office members, including general manager Walt Jocketty, met at home plate.
After the meeting, the grounds crew cleared the field and spent about 15 minutes fixing the drenched home-plate area, easily the worst part of the field.
"You have to give a high-five to [umpire crew chief] Joe West," La Russa said. "He knew exactly what needed to be done. He told the grounds crew exactly how they needed to prepare the plate for the game. "
If the game wasn't played Wednesday, both teams would play Thursday afternoon at 1:10 p.m., at which time the predicted heat index was expected to be above 100 degrees.
"West was aware of tomorrow's weather," La Russa said. "Give Joe West credit."
The game resumed at 9:22 p.m. CT.
Luna sees start: Hector Luna got a start against Braves right-hander Jason Shiell on Wednesday night. Luna, who sees the majority of his playing time against left-handers, played second base and batted eighth.
Aaron Miles, the other half of the Cardinals' second-base platoon, is the usual second baseman against a right-handed starter.
"I just wanted to play [Luna]," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "I just look at the [starter] and sometimes it's close and other times it's not so close."
La Russa didn't indicate if Wednesday's start could yield more at-bats for Luna against right-handed pitchers.
"I think the more [Luna's] at-bats looks like Albert [Pujols'], Scott [Rolen's] and David [Eckstein's], the more playing time he will get," La Russa. "He does well, but he needs to be more consistent."
Luna bests Miles in nearly offensive category, batting .302/356/429 (average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage), while Miles is hitting 260/324/333. Miles actually slightly bests Luna in overall production against left-handers, while Luna -- albeit in fewer at-bats -- carries better offensive numbers against right-handers.
"Every chance you get, make an impression," La Russa said. "Both are doing pretty well."
Throughout his career, La Russa generally favors the veteran over the younger player. Miles has more than 1,100 career at-bats, twice as many as Luna.
"It's just experience," La Russa. "Young players don't figure it out as quickly. Except for Albert, he was the exception."
La Russa discusses Marquis: On Tuesday night, Jason Marquis suffered through one of the worst starts by a Cardinal pitcher in La Russa's tenure.
Marquis allowed 12 runs in five-plus innings, the second time this season he has permitted at least 12 runs in a start. On June 21, the right-hander was scorched for 13 runs in five innings by the White Sox. La Russa said he didn't want Marquis to suffer the same fate twice, but had no other choice.
"You just take one game at a time, and if a guy is struggling, you would like to get him out of there," La Russa said. "No doubt, if a guy was getting beat up, then you hope to do something else. ... There wasn't another option, unless you walk into [Wednesday's] game with nothing."
La Russa still has confidence in the right-hander. Without those two starts, Marquis (11-7, 5.97 ERA), would be 11-5 with a 4.59 ERA.
"He started the first game of the second half, when he struggled he has still gotten the ball," La Russa said.
Mulder, Bennett, Bigbie updates: Mark Mulder continues to rehab from his inflammation in his left shoulder. The tall southpaw hasn't pitched since June 20. He threw a bullpen session Wednesday afternoon.
"He did some mechanics Wednesday," head athletic trainer Barry Weinberg said. "He will have a day off Thursday and throw again on Friday."
Weinberg said Gary Bennett, recovering from a strained oblique muscle, didn't have any pain after catching all nine innings Tuesday.
Larry Bigbie, recovering from an umbilical hernia, continued his rehab. After spending several days at Class-A Quad Cities, the outfielder moved up to Double-A Springfield. He went 0-for-4 as the S-Cards' DH Tuesday night.
Greene wins award: Tyler Greene was named the Midwest League Player of the Week after hitting five homers and 11 RBIs from July 10-16. Recently demoted from Class A Palm Beach, Greene has found new life with the Swing, hitting eight homers and driving in 20 runs after 14 games.
Baby 'Birds: Triple-A Memphis took a tough loss, 10-9 to Round Rock, after rallying from down 9-4 to tie the game. Brian Martin had three hits and drove in two runs, while Alan Benes pitched four innings of shutout relief. Travis Smith was drilled for nine runs on 10 hits in two innings. ... Double-A Springfield was pounded by Wichita, 11-1. Shaun Boyd and Juan Richardson had two hits each. ... Jaime Garcia gave up five runs on eight hits, striking out three against four walks over six innings, as Class A Palm Beach lost, 7-2, to Tampa. ... Class A Quad Cities lost, 7-2, in 12 innings. Adam Daniels (5-8) fanned a career-high 11 batters, the highest total from a Quad Cities pitcher this year. ... Short-season State College captured a victory, 3-1, over Lowell. Gary Daley, Jr. earned the victory after tossing 5 2/3 innings of shutout ball. ... Rookie league Johnson City won, 11-9, over Kingsport. Christian Lopez delivered the most damage, contributing three hits, two runs scored and a RBI.
Player of the day: Cody Haerther. One of the top prospects in the Cardinals organization, the S-Cards outfielder has struggled this season, batting just .255. He enjoyed one of the best games of his pro career Tuesday night, going 4-for-5 with two homers and six RBIs.

Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/

Edmonds powers Cards in finale

07/20/2006
ST. LOUIS -- As one of the biggest storms in recent memory raced through St. Louis, Chris Carpenter stood in the bowels of Busch Stadium, calling his family.
"I was trying to call my wife, but couldn't get through," he said. "Finally, I talked to a friend who said our house lost power and my wife and my kids went to a hotel for the night. They are OK."
Crisis averted, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner waited out a two-hour, 12-minute rain delay before tossing another gem, pitching seven strong innings as the Cardinals defeated the Braves, 8-3, on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium. The victory kept the Redbirds 3 1/2 games ahead of the Reds in the NL Central.
"It was tough, because he had a long delay, but he definitely stepped up," Braden Looper said. "You don't want to say it, but it is almost like he is supposed to do it. He is your guy, and he is definitely one of the best starting pitchers I have ever been around. He got a big win for us today."
Coming off a two-hit shutout on Friday and a NL Player of the Week Award on Monday, Carpenter improved to 9-4 overall and lowered his season ERA to 2.83. At home, he has been nearly unhittable, compiling a 4-2 record and a NL-best 1.43 ERA at the new Busch Stadium.
At first, though, it never seemed Carpenter would get a chance to pitch. The powerful storm had threatened to cancel the game. More than 300,000 homes were without power, 30 people were injured at the stadium and the field tarp was torn. In the dugout, players walked through water that came up to their ankles.
"I can't remember a storm like that in St. Louis," manager Tony La Russa said.
Carpenter was three pitches away from completing his warmup when umpires suspended the game. More than two hours later, he was finally on the mound for the start of the contest.
"This has never happened to me before," he said. "Go out and get loose, and then go sit back down and then do it again without pitching in the game, so I didn't know what to expect. The second time out, I went out there and threw about a third of the pitches that I usually throw, and I felt good and was ready to go."
The Braves nicked Carpenter for a first-inning run on an Andruw Jones single, but the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner dominated after that, retiring 15 of the next 17 hitters he faced.
"We were going against Mr. Cy Young tonight and he looked like Cy Young to me," Braves manager Bobby Cox said.
Making his 10th start at home, Carpenter stopped a Braves team that had scored in double figures in five straight games, matching a record set by the 1930 New York Yankees of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
"He didn't throw many pitches down the middle and didn't give him too much to hit," La Russa said of his ace.
Carpenter, who has worked at least seven innings in seven of his past eight starts, also helped steady a taxed bullpen that had worked 14 innings in the past three games and a starting rotation that was scorched for 18 earned runs in its last two starts.
"You are just prepared to go out there and pitch," Carpenter said. "I felt like I had really good stuff and I could just go out there and pitch. I threw more of a changeup that I had been working on, and it worked out. All I can control is my job."
The right-hander said his stuff was just as good as his last start -- the two-hit masterpiece against the Dodgers. La Russa, though, pulled him after seven innings and an economical 77 pitches. Carpenter never threw more than 15 pitches in a single inning and twice kept his pitch count in single digits for an inning.
"I felt like I could I have gone all nine," Carpenter said.
Meanwhile, the offense provided plenty for the Redbirds' ace, scoring all eight runs in the first five innings. Jim Edmonds provided most of the damage with a three-run shot in the third inning off Braves starter Jason Shiell. The blast marked the third straight game Edmonds has gone out of the park. After a slow start, the center fielder is starting to regain his power stroke, slugging .778 in July.
"I am getting about one good swing a game," he said. "Hopefully I can put a few more of those like that together."
The Cardinals strung a few more baserunners together in the fifth, sending 10 hitters to the plate and scoring four runs.
That was all their ace needed, allowing just a Brian McCann solo homer in the seventh before giving way to four relievers.

Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/

Duncan filling two holes for Cards

07/20/2006
ST. LOUIS -- Two of the major questions surrounding the Cardinals in Spring Training dealt with left field and the No. 2 spot in the batting order.
In July, the Redbirds may have found a solution for both problems in Chris Duncan. The 25-year-old son of longtime pitching coach Dave Duncan is hitting for average and power and giving the Cardinals a sense of normalcy at those two positions.
"It's been impressive," manager Tony La Russa said. "There are a lot of people who are high on him in the organization, and I am one of them."
After 93 games, La Russa has started 11 different players in the No. 2 hole, and 10 players have manned left field. Recently, though, Duncan has filled both, giving the Cardinals more pop. His play could change the team's approach as the non-waiver trade deadline approaches.
A power-hitting left-handed bat, Duncan had a cup of coffee with the big-league club at the end of last season. He began this season at Triple-A Memphis before seeing limited action in the Majors during late May and early June.
But since July 3, Duncan has been a vital cog for the first-place Redbirds. And it looks like he won't be going back to the Minors anytime soon.
"What Chris is doing is trying to take advantage of every opportunity he gets," Dave Duncan said. "He knows how the game his played up here. If he does well, he gets more opportunities. He is trying to do all of the things that he can do to get ready for when the opportunity is there for him. He knows he just has to take good, solid at-bats."
Duncan, playing mostly against right-handers, has capitalized on the opportunity, batting .312 with a .349 on-base percentage. He has four homers and 12 RBI in 77 at-bats.
Duncan's average and on-base percentage are welcome additions to the club, but it's his power that makes an impact. La Russa often likes to start a power guy in the No. 2 spot over a bat control player.
"You are seeing more and more clubs adopt that approach and bat guys [No.2] who can drive the ball a little bit and do some things versus a bat control guy," Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty said. "I think you may see more of that in the future, too."
Duncan also provided a much-needed jolt to a left-field position and No. 2 spot that ranked near the bottom of the NL in nearly every offensive category. With David Eckstein getting on base in front of him and Albert Pujols waiting on deck, Duncan has seen a steady diet of fastballs. And he has taken advantage.
"I am just seeing the ball well and getting some good pitches to hit," Duncan said. "The pitches are the same, but they are closer to the strike zone because they can't afford to walk me with Albert on deck. I have the luxury of being a little more aggressive."
Mainly a first pitch swinger -- he is 10-for-16 when the count is 0-0 or 0-1 -- Duncan has scorched opposing pitching when hitting second, batting .370 in 27 at-bats.
His overall production is forcing team management to rethink a trade for an established outfielder. Duncan's .894 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) comes cheap and provides similar numbers to other possible trade options, including the Phillies' David Dellucci (.933 OPS) and Bobby Abreu (893 OPS) and the Nationals' Alfonso Soriano (.926 OPS).
"If we make a deal where we can get an established guy, we will," Jocketty said. "If we don't, we are very comfortable with where we are at. That is part of the reason we brought him back up, we wanted to see what he could do."

Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/