Kyle Lohse pitched beautifully. In fact, the only run that the Mets had last night was unearned. It was scored on a throwing error by Ankiel.
Lohse struck-out four and walked two in seven innings of work. He threw 104 pitches, 67 of them for strikes.
Duncan finally got back into the home run race (he now has five). He dumped one just over the right field wall for two runs.
Miles went 3-5 and extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
Glaus had two doubles and was hit by two pitches.
Let's see... what else?
Oh yeah!
Mark Mulder pitched. Off a mound. In a Major League game.
I gotta tell you, when it became apparent in the bottom of the eighth that Mulder was coming in (he was the only one left warming up in the bullpen), the butterflies set in. Who knew what to expect? Not me. But after all was said and done, it was a good outing and he looked relaxed and in control. Tatis grounded out; Chavez got a bloop single (which probably should have been caught in left); Castro struck out; Easley singled on another bloop; then Reyes flied out to right. End of inning.
Yes, the Cards won.
Yes, Lohse picked up his tenth win of the season.
Yes, the Redbirds played well.
But the big news is how good Mulder looked and how you decide where to put him. I'm glad Duncan is the one getting paid to make that decision. (In the latest Stew, David Brown remarked, "Dave Duncan will have the late Dizzy Dean up and throwing in no time.")
Side note:
As I was watching the post-game show on FSN, there was a text message question from a fan that basically said, "When do the Cards bite the bullet and finally put Miles in the rotation?"
Okaaaaay.
Are you really watching the games? 'Cause I feel like it's pretty obvious to the rest of us that the Cardinals' starting rotation is not where fresh faces are needed. In fact, our rotation is one of the best in baseball.
That brings me back around to the problem with Mulder. If you do decide to put him back in the rotation, whom do you move?
Boggs is the low man on the totem pole, but he's pitching so well it would be a crime to send him back to Memphis, and he did not impress anyone pitching out of the bullpen.
If you go by stats, Piñeiro would be the odd-man out, but he's pitching much better than his 2-4 record would suggest, and the Cardinals have won his last four starts.
Looper is actually struggling more than anyone else right now, but he's also been one of the most dependable starters over the course of the season, and his problems may very well be corrected by his next turn.
Obviously, Lohse isn't going anywhere. He's pitching like a superstar/All-Star.
Wellemeyer was very sharp for his last start (even though he didn't get a decision and the Cards ended up losing the game), so as long as he stays healthy, he'll be in the rotation.
There are only about two weeks until the All-Star Break, so chances are, things will remain staus quo until afterwards. At that point, who knows? We'll eventually have to work Wainwright back into the mix also. I guess it's better to have an excess of choices than not enough.
