Splashing To A Win

Did you see it?

I had other things on the schedule last night, so I only saw it online, but Colby Rasmus had the blast of the year yesterday.  When you put one into the river at Pittsburgh, you've done something.  He's only the 18th person to do it in the 8+ seasons PNC Park has been opened.  It gave the Cards an early lead and helped them breathe a little easier, I expect.

As much as I'd like to give Rasmus the Hero nod, though, I think we have to look at Trever Miller.  He comes in with the bases loaded and one out with the Cardinals holding a 3-1 lead and gets the next two guys, including one that was a right-handed batter.  That's a situation that could have easily gotten away from the Cards, but it didn't and that helped the team to the win.

Skip Schumaker had a good night as well, tallying three hits and scoring a run.  Albert Pujols made his one hit count by driving in two insurance runs, which always helps the fans breathe easier.

Joe Thurston has to get the Goat with an 0 for four and leaving two on base.  Still, Goat tags go down easier when the Cardinals get the win.

On the Post-Dispatch site, Bernie Mikalsz takes a look at Khalil Greene and doesn't like what he sees.  Right now, I can't blame him, though there are signs (like his extremely low BABIP) that indicate he could make strides sometime soon.  It'd be nice to see some offense out of him, because defensively, it's been rougher than expected.

Also, the Cardinals seem to be pretty happy with how Schumaker is going at second.  While he's not the glove that Adam Kennedy was or perhaps even Aaron Miles, Skip's done a passable job out there.  He's not routinely botching plays, which is good, even if he's not necessarily getting to balls that past second basemen have.

Before I get into tonight's game against the co-leaders of the NL Central, can I rant for a minute?  Hey, it's my blog, what am I asking you for?

I'll be the first to admit I'm not a huge football fan.  I keep general track of what's going on, mainly to be able to follow conversations.  I watch a little bit here and there during football season, but my wife really doesn't care for it and usually we don't have it on. 

I've never understood the football mentality of rooting for a team that plays once a week and only 16 or so times a year.  You lose the first two games, you start thinking about next year.  How do people do it?  I have problems when there's an off day.  I can't imagine only watching the Cardinals once a week.  And, to me, if you don't have fresh data to discuss, you just get into the cycle of repeating all the same stuff.  I mean, how do you talk about your team from Tuesday-Saturday (if it's a pro team)?  All that's changed is if someone is getting healthy.  Trades are rare in football, you have to have an advanced math degree to compentently talk about the salary cap, I just don't understand the whole viewpoint.

That said, I know it's a popular thing.  I am not convinced there's not a correlation between the decline of our society and the rise of football, but that's neither here nor there.  In my opinion, though, ESPN takes it over the top.

Last night, I'm in the car.  There are Game 7s in hockey going on, there is playoff basketball going on, and of course there are a whole slate of baseball games.  But what's on the radio?  An hour-long football show that they have EVERY NIGHT.  Can you even fathom any other sport having any regular show in their offseason?  I mean, honestly, after the World Series you have to have a microscope to find baseball talk on the airwaves until mid-March.

The TV side isn't any better.  A half-hour of NFL Live every night?  I sometimes have trouble finding Baseball Tonight during the season!  What is there to talk about?  You'd think there's only so many days you can rehash Brett Favre, though apparently I'm wrong on that since they seem to be able to do it constantly.

At least with radio there's XM and a dedicated baseball channel and, for some people, they have MLB Network on their TV.  Honestly, if I had MLB Network, I doubt I'd ever turn on ESPN again, save when they had a ballgame on.

OK, enough of that.  Let's take a look at tonight's game against the Brewers.  Kyle Lohse against the very tough Yovani Gallardo.

Lohse has fairly good numbers against the Brewer hitters.  Craig Counsell has had his number and Ryan Braun is hitting .400 against him, but he's been able to pretty much contain Prince Fielder.  It's possible that the Cardinals will see touted rookie Matt Gamel tonight as Bill Hall has some terrible stats against Lohse.

Gallardo is an ace, as his latest run is proving.  His last three outings, he's posted a 1.80 ERA and is striking out more than one batter an inning.  He's not faced many of the Cardinals, which isn't too surprising given how many rookies are in the lineup, but he's done all right against the ones he has seen.  Pujols has gone deep on him, though, so there is hope.

It's going to be a tough one for this makeshift offense to win tonight, but that's why they play the games.  Stranger things have happened!