A Holliday Weekend

Friday (6-4 win)

Hero: Matt Holliday.  Three hits, including a home run that put the team on the board early.  That lineup switch--or the warmer weather--seems to be working.

Goat: David Freese. 0-4 with two strikeouts.

Notes: Again, not the sharp Chris Carpenter, but the offense was able to bail him out of his really bad inning.  Also nice to get back into the NL Central lead after this one and Cincinnati losing to Seattle.  How nice was it that the Cards miss Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez and their closest competitor has to face them?

Saturday (4-3 win)

Hero: Adam Wainwright.  Eight innings of one-run ball.  Plus, if I didn't choose him, Holliday probably sweeps the weekend.

Goat: Ryan Franklin.  Apparently didn't have anything, giving up a run (eventually two) and getting nobody out.

Notes: Another home run and multi-hit and RBI game for Holliday.  Good work by Jason Motte to limit the damage in the ninth, almost getting out of it without giving up anything.

Sunday (3-2 loss)

Hero: Matt Holliday.  OK, uncle.  Two home runs gets you back on the list.

Goat: Albert Pujols.  Two strikeouts and a fly out in the biggest situation late in the game.

Notes: Another tolerable outing by Jeff Suppan.  Still not able to go too long, but first time through the lineup he's a rock.  

Like Bernie Miklasz says in today's column, consistency seems to be the hobgoblin of this team.  Holliday gets going, Colby Rasmus and Pujols slow down.  (Though, to be fair, Rasmus did hit two bombs this week, so that's something.)  Freese hit all four of his home runs in, what, a week's time?  Granted he's kept his average up and been hitting some doubles as well, but it goes to the streakiness of this team.

The fact that the Cards are up 1.5 over the Reds with the engine not fully functional tells you about the NL Central but also about how good this pitching staff has been.  Without the emergence of Jaime Garcia, this team is well back, especially after Brad Penny's injury.  Garcia's got to get some credit for team MVP, just because of what he's meant to a team like this.

Day off today, which means a slow day in Cardinal Land.  Matt Holliday did get Player Of The Week, which is nice.  That may be a symbol of this Cardinal team, though.  I mean, when you look at the stats, save for the middle infield nobody just looks bad.  But then you see Holliday's week that pumped these numbers up, Rasmus was POW a couple of weeks back with a strong seven days, and Freese got it back in May.  I could have sworn that Pujols had gotten one this year as well, but I can't find it in a Google search.  Still, that helps highlight the peaks and valleys this team has on a regular basis.

Looking forward to the Toronto series, should be a good pitching matchup.  We'll look at tomorrow's game, well, tomorrow, but I want to mention that Ian Hunter from The Blue Jay Hunter will be joining us on UCB Radio Hour on Wednesday, so if you have any questions about the Jays, let me know or give us a call!