Cards Soar In Foreign Land

You know, when the discussion of launching pad stadiums comes up, I never think of Toronto's Rogers Center.  Wrigley, Coors, even the old Atlanta stadium that started the nickname.  However, if last night is any indication, Rogers Center is right up there with the rest of them.

The Cardinals played the long ball better, smashing four, while Jose Bautista got to 20 with his two blasts.  Of course, Toronto leads the majors in home runs, but I did some quick figuring.  They hit an average of 1.52 per game, but if you just look at their home rate, it's 1.71.  A pretty significant jump.  I know there are more stats out there, including park factors, that would indicate whether it was the park that was the cause, but I'm not able to find them right now.  Maybe we'll talk to Ian about that tonight on UCB Radio Hour.

Another spectacular night for Matt Holliday.  The way he's been hitting against American League teams, you'd have thought he'd have torn it up for Oakland last year.  If he's going to be comparable to the Holliday that the Cardinals saw last year, this offense really should get on track soon.

Nice to see Colby Rasmus pinch hit and break his slump with a home run.  Of course, is anyone really surprised that the Cardinals lost their DH last night and had to pinch-hit with Aaron Miles?  This is Tony La Russa we are talking about.  Being able to juggle a lineup and mess with the fringes of baseball rules is ideal for him.  I could have almost guaranteed that at least one time this week he'd have done that.

Jaime Garcia pitched pretty well also.  The two-run home run by Bautista guaranteed he was going to have his ERA creep up, but you'll take three runs in six innings, especially when there were no walks involved in that.  Garcia might have been able to go seven, since he was only at 89 pitches, but by that time the Cards were up 6-3 and there didn't seem to be any reason to push him.

Tough night for Brendan Ryan, who went 0-4 and wasn't able to get down a sacrifice bunt in the fifth.  Of course, with nobody out and a runner on second, even with the struggles Ryan has had this year, I think I want him up there swinging away.  He's probably just as likely to move the runner with a ground ball and might even get a hit, priming a big inning.  It's really bad when it doesn't work, since Randy Winn (who had doubled to start the inning and had a pretty good game himself) never did come around to score.

Looks like Ryan is going to be a bit on the streaky side this year.  After a big push got his average past the Mendoza line with room to spare, he's regressed to a .133 average this week.  Perhaps it is time for the Cardinal Diamond Diaries ladies to jump start him again with a Ryan post?

A little off the field news, as Shelby Miller and Eduardo Sanchez were named to the Futures Game squad.  It'll be fun to see what these guys do in an All-Star setting, especially against some guys that are in higher classifications in Miller's case.  I'm also keeping an eye on Astros pitcher Jordan Lyles for personal reasons--he tossed my son and I a ball after warming up at a minor league game we attended.

The rotation for the Kansas City series hasn't been completely determined.  Jeff Suppan is going on Friday, but the fifth starter slot comes back up Saturday.  There's only one more off day until the All-Star Break, so it seems most reasonable to go ahead and pull Adam Ottavino back up and plug him back into the rotation.  If La Russa decides to go with one of his patented bullpen games, however, I think you have to take that has a definite vote of no confidence in Ottavino.  Would a package of Ottavino, Allen Craig (who, notably, wasn't called up while the Cards need a DH) and Mark Hamilton net a decent #3-#4 starter?

Cards try to win the series tonight by sending Chris Carpenter to the mound.  Last time he was in Toronto, all he did was throw a one-hitter.  I don't think Carpenter has been to that level on a consistent basis this year, but he has shown that, if everything's going right, he's going to be dominant.  If it isn't, he's still going to be pretty good.  Here's what the current squad of Blue Jays has done against him:

	PA	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	SH	SF	IBB	HBP	GDP
Alex Gonzalez	22	21	3	3	0	0	1	0	4	.143	.182	.286	.468	0	0	0	1	0
Lyle Overbay	10	9	5	3	0	0	2	1	0	.556	.600	.889	1.489	0	0	0	0	0
Jose Bautista	8	7	1	0	0	0	0	1	4	.143	.250	.143	.393	0	0	0	0	0
John Buck	3	3	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.333	.333	.333	.667	0	0	0	0	0
Aaron Hill	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0
Fred Lewis