Baseball Yakker

Yesterday, the St. Louis Cardinals finally won a game against the Atlanta Braves this spring, after losing 3 straight to them. Anthony Reyes started the game for the Cardinals against the injured Mike Hampton for the Braves.

Both pitchers excelled in their starts. Through the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings, both pitchers kept the opposing teams scoreless heading into the 5th inning.

In the 5th inning, the Braves scored the first run of the game when Brent Lillibridge drove in Martin Prado after Mike Hampton’s sacrifice hit, all off Ron Villone, who had come in to pitch for the Cardinals, giving the Braves the lead with a score of 1-0.

But that score didn’t last long, as the Cardinals came back with 2 runs in the bottom of the 5th off Hampton when Joe Mather doubled in Ryan Ludwick, to tie the game up at 1.

Russ Springer came in to pitch for the Cardinals in the 6th inning, pitching the inning perfect and keeping the Braves scoreless.

The Cardinals broke the tie with the Braves in the bottom of the 6th when Rick Ankiel doubled in Chris Duncan and D’Angelo Jimenez, to put the Cardinals on top with a score of 1-3.

Randy Flores took over the Cardinals pitching duty in the 7th inning. He struggled a little bit as he allowed two hits a run, shortening the Cardinals lead to 1.

But the Cardinals quickly changed that score once again in the bottom of the inning. With 2 outs, Aaron Miles drove in Brian Barton, who got on base due to a walk, giving the Cardinals a 2 run lead with a score of 4-2.

Cliff Politte came in to pitch for the Cardinals in the 8th inning, and for one of the first times this spring, he did not allow a run, lowering his ERA to 12.46.

After Jorge Campillo kept the Cardinals from scoring in the bottom of the 8th, Kyle McClellan came in to close the game out for the Cardinals and after a batter reached base due to Chris Duncan’s error at first base, he completed the inning successfully without the Braves scoring, giving the Cardinals a 4-2 win.

Anthony Reyes started the game for the Cardinals and had a very good outing as he didn’t allow a run through 4 innings on 3 hits and a walk. Ron Villone, the lefty, came in relief of Reyes in the 5th inning and allowed a run on 3 hits. Russ Springer pitched a perfect inning in the 6th inning. Randy Flores, another lefty, allowed a single run on 2 hits in the 7th. Cliff Politte completed one of his first scoreless innings of the spring in the 8th as he pitched a perfect inning. Kyle McClellan closed the game for the Cardinals as he pitched a hitless inning in the 9th. Spring gets the win and McClellan gets the save.

At the plate, the Cardinals were outhit by the Braves, 8-7. Rick Ankiel went 1 for 2 with a double and 2 RBIs. He now is 6-15 in his last 4 games. Aaron Miles went 2 for 2 with a RBI. Troy Glaus went 1 for 1 with a walk. Joe Mather went 1 for 2 with a double and a RBI.

On the field, the Cardinals had a bit of a bad fielding day. Caesar Izturis made his major league leading 6th error during the game. Brendan Ryan made his 3 error of the spring and Chris Duncan made his first error of the spring.

Today, the Cardinals have an off day. But tomorrow, they will once again take on the Baltimore Orioles. Brad Thompson will make his first start of the spring as he pitches against Mike Albers for the Orioles. The first pitch is set for 12:05 CT.

Categories: Spring Training
Tags: Features