Cardinals-Pirates: Cards Win Second Game of Series

Resilience is the mark of a good team, and the St. Louis Cardinals proved that they could put the rough loss the day before behind them—they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-3.

Kyle Lohse gave the Cardinals a strong outing with seven innings of five-hit, two ER baseball. I really like the pickup of Dennys Reyes, who had a perfect eighth inning for the Cards.

However, it was the bats that really came alive.

Perhaps the headline of the night was the long-awaited major league debut of Colby Rasmus: He did not disappoint. Rasmus went 2-for-4 with two runs and a walk. He has a very nice looking swing, and it is a pleasure to see that kind of speed on the team (along with Joe Thurston).

I would hate to be the pitcher worrying about Rasmus on base while having to pitch to Albert Pujols.

On the post-game radio broadcast, Colby talked about keeping it simple, saying he is “just trying to do what I do, and play the game.”

For those wondering, he did get the ball from his first base hit. I was listening to the radio broadcast, but Joel Pineiro tossed a fake ball into the crowd after being given Colby’s ball. The radio announcers didn’t mention it, so I was fooled at first.

The power was there for the Cards, with Pujols, Chris Duncan, and Yadier Molina all hitting home runs.

Skip Schumaker was the only starter without a hit. Skip did have a throwing error, but also turned in a fine double play and made other solid plays. As long as he hits, I think the Schumaker experiment just might work out.

Jason Motte was not available to pitch today after throwing 29 pitches last night, but let’s hope the Cardinals have a save opportunity for him tomorrow. He needs to get back on the horse, so to speak.