Cardinals-Pirates: Cards Get Up Big, Bullpen Loses It All

The St. Louis Cardinals bullpen ruined an excellent offensive effort, giving up nine runs in the final four innings in a 12-11 loss. The Cardinals were stellar at the plate, pounding out 22 hits to the Pirates' 13.

I have a lot of issues with the way tonight's game was handled. Manager Tony La Russa made some questionable moves, especially after putting in the flyball specialist Chris Perez to attempt to close the game.

With a man on first base, Perez let up the walk-off longball to Jason Michaels in the 10th inning to send the Cardinals back into a sour state.

Don't get me wrong, La Russa is one of the greatest managers not only in the game today, but of all-time. However, his bullpen decisions are often questionable.

Why would La Russa take out Russ Springer? I have no idea. He pitched 0.2 innings of hitless ball, but was taken out in favor of Ryan Franklin.

Franklin then went on to give up three hits including a two-run jack. Then there was Jason Isringhausen, whose equity had been on the rise until tonight's meltdown. His 5.97 ERA makes Cardinal Nation want to hurl.

I am beyond frustration tonight. The Cardinals tried to win the game in Cubs fashion, as the Cubbies won 8-7 today after leading 7-0 heading into the eighth inning. The Cards, too, took the lead in extras, off the bat of third baseman Troy Glaus.

After the life had been sucked out of the Cardinals in the last few innings, I thought it would be a perfect re-creation of the Cubs-Giants game. But the bottom half of the inning meant Michaels' dinger off Perez, and the game was over.

To put this game into perspective, the Cardinals had two players with four hits, two with three, and two more with two hits apiece. With that kind of offensive firepower, tonight would have seemed to be a cakewalk for the Redbirds.

Instead, FSN Midwest viewers had the unfortunate circumstance of watching a rugged bullpen get tossed around like a freakin' six-year-old on Mr. Freeze.

The Cardinals claimed 37 total bases, had 22 hits, and lost. I am at a loss for words, so this article is deemed complete.