Braden Looper pitched a gem giving up only 3 hits and NO walks on 98 pitches in Wednesday night’s game at the Great American Ballpark.  His performance was definitely something Cardinal fans needed after seeing our star, Albert Pujols, headed to the DL for at least three weeks.  This was Looper’s first shutout in his 44 career starts.  His start last night has definitely shown baseball fans that he has officially made the transition as a true middle of the rotation starter after spending the his first nine seasons in the bullpen as a reliever.  His ERA dropped from 4.86 to 4.34, improving his record to 8-5, being the first Cardinal this year to reach the 8 win mark.

Our offense was also superb, scoring 10 runs on 10 hits and drawing 8 walks.  It’s nice to see our LOB numbers finally coming down after it seemed like we were leaving 10+ men on base every game for the first two months of the season.  Our lineup has gotten especially good at drawing walks this year. Kudos to Hal McRae.  The Cardinals lead the majors with 392 walks, and are 26th in the majors in strikeouts!  Hal McRae does a great job of getting hitters to see the zone.

Rick Ankiel(10), Ryan Ludwick(16) and Jason LaRue(1) all hit dingers, this being the second game in a row for both Ankiel and Ludwick.  Ankiel’s three-run shot in the first lifted the weight off of Looper’s shoulders allowing him to get into the groove for the rest of the game.

Obviously the performance of the game was Looper.  After seeing three of our starters and Albert hit the DL, a game like this is just what the team needed.  If our interim starters and offense continue to perform we should be in great shape while Wainwright and Pujols recover from their injuries.

The cardinals improved their record to 40-27, 13 games over .500 and just 2.5 games behind the Cubs.  We keep winning games but the Cubbies just seem to be unbeatable lately.  This many games into the season last year, the Cardinals were 30-37.

Joel Piniero makes his first start since coming off the DL Thursday night to pitch against Bronson Arroyo.  Hopefully we can head home fresh off a sweep of the Reds. Remember to vote your Cardinals into the All-Star Game!!!!!!

Cardinals Blog

Tuesday night at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati ended with a Redbird win, however, what was on most fans minds was the image of of our superstar, Albert Pujols, being carried off the field.  Despite rumors of elbow trouble at the start of the season, Pujols was quietly having the best start to a season in his incredible career.  Now that season will be stalled by a strain in his left calf suffered while running out a grounder to first in the seventh inning of last night’s game.

To be honest, from the look on his face when he fell to the ground, I thought it was a tear.  After aggravating his left calf muscle last week against the Nationals, I think we are all lucky that this time it is only a strain and not a tear.  A tear would mean months, maybe the rest of the season, with Albert landed on the disabled list.  A strain means that he can probably recover and rejoin the lineup in a couple of weeks.

At the beginning of the season, Prince Albert stood alone as the one glimmer of consistency that we could count on.  No one could have predicted how well our starting pitching has done thus far, and thanks to our rotation and Ryan Ludwick’s breakout season, we find ourselves tied for the fourth best record in baseball.

Albert’s absence means that Ludwick, Troy Glaus, and Rick Ankiel are going to have to start picking up the offensive slack.  Glaus has started to play better in the warm weather, having hit five home runs in eight games just recently.  Ankiel will likely hit just as he has for the rest of the season with lots of strikeouts and moments of power.  Ludwick has been absolutely incredible for our team, and if he can continue to produce like he has been, there is no reason why anyone else should see the three spot while Pujols is on the DL.  Our post-Izzy bullpen has shown that they are ready to regain our trust on the mound, and with Yadier Molina and Skip Schumaker having stellar offensive seasons, I don’t see any reason to panic with Albert out of the lineup for a few weeks.

The likely call-up to replace Pujols on the roster will unfortunetaly be Chris Duncan.  After struggling during the start of the season, Duncan was sent down to Triple-A in order to find his swing, which apparently he still has not found.  Since being sent down, Duncan is hitting .190 with no home runs.  I wish that our farm team had someone that was ready to step up instead of Duncan, but Chris seems to be our only option.

Last night was a great game to watch as we saw Mitchell Boggs make his first start as a Cardinal. Boggs had a great start pitching 5 innings with only two runs on four hits.  The runs came from Joey Votto’s fourth inning two-run homer.  With Wellemeyer, Piniero, and Wainwright all on the DL, it is good to see we can rely on our rookies while they recover.  Our bullpen also shined as they only gave up one hit and one walk in 4 innings of work, highlighted by a three strikeout ninth inning by Russ Springer.

Ludwick (15), Ankiel(9), Pujols(16) all hit longballs.  It’s good see our power break out like this, but it is also nice that the teams knows that we can win without it.  We have accumulated a lot of wins this season by simply executing small ball and smart baserunning.  Brendan Ryan also had a great night as he went 2-3 with three runs scored and two stolen bases.

The Performance of the game goes to Ludwick.  Ryan went 4-5 with 4 RBI’s, two doubles, and a home run.  He is the first cardinal of the season to reach the 50-RBI mark.  He has been absolutely incredible for the Cardinals this year, basically doing everything we expected out of Glaus plus hitting for average.  He is now slugging .667 with a .388 OBP raising his OPS to 1.055, which is good for fifth best in the Majors behind Lance Berkman, Chipper Jones, Albert Pujols and Milton Bradley.   The Cardinals are now 39-27 and 2.5 games behind the cubbies.

We are 3-1 so far on this road trip, and hopefully we can take at least one more game in this series to go back home 4-2 or even 5-1.  As hot as the Cubs have been, the Cardinals have no let them gain much ground.

Remember to vote your Cardinals into the All-star game.  Ludwick really deserves a spot on the roster.  Right now Pujols is third in first-baseman voting behind Derrek Lee!?!?!, thats ridiculous, get your votes in so we can see some red at Yankee Stadium in July!

Cardinals Blog

After being rained out on Wednesday night, the St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals will be playing a double header on Thursday.  In the first game of the double header, it was the Cardinals coming out on top with a 4-1 victory.

Troy Glaus had a two run home run and Albert Pujols also hit a solo home run to lead the Cardinals.  Joe Mather had a rbi doulble in the seventh inning after the Pujols solo home run.

Todd Wellemeyer tossed six innings and gave up five hits while picking up the win.  It was a good performance by Wellemeyer who improved to 7-1 on the season.  Chris Perez did give up one run in the eighth inning but Ron Villone, Russ Springer, Randy Flores, and Ryan Franklin all pitched good.  Franklin picked up his seventh save of the season.

The Cardinals will go for the double header sweep this evening so check back after the game for a recap!

Cardinals Blog

The St. Louis Cardinals fell to the Pittsburgh Pirates by the score of 5-4 on Monday night as the Cardinals dropped to 34-25 on the season.  The Cardinals shouldn’t be loosing these kinds of games, but that is exactly what happened as the Pirates pushed across four runs in the seventh inning to get the victory.

Adam Wainwright tossed eight innings and gave up seven hits and five runs.  Wainwright took the loss and is now 5-3.  The big mistake by Wainwright was in the seventh inning when Jason Michaels hit a grand slam.  Jason Bay then went onto add another run off of Wainwright in the eighth inning.

Ryan Ludwick and Albert Pujols were the only two at the plate to do anything for the Cardinals.  Both Ludwick and Pujols finished the game with two rbi.  They need some other players to step up and help out however.

The Cardinals can’t lose these games as the Cubs are really playing good baseball right now.

Cardinals Blog

The St. Louis Cardinals picked up a big win on Thursday night as they held on and defeated the Houston Astros by the score of 3-2.  It was a close game all game long and the Astros made things interesting with a Lance Berkman home run in the ninth inning but they still fell short by one run.

Kyle Lohse finally picked up his fifth win of the season in the game.  Lohse tossed six innings while allowing five hits and one run.  The one run he gave up was a solo home run to Carlos Lee in the seventh inning.  After Lohse was pulled from the game, Kyle McClellan, Ron Villone, Chris Perez, and Ryan Franklin all pitched in relief.  Franklin gave up the solo home run to Berkman but then was able to close out the game and get the save.

Chris Duncan had a two run single in the first inning that scored Albert Pujols and Ryan Ludwick.  Pujols also had a solo home run in the sixth inning that gave the Cardinals their third run in the game.

Cardinals Blog

The St. Louis Cardinals and Albert Pujols had no problems beating up on the San Diego Padres Monday night.  Pujols connected on two home runs to lead the Cardinals as they smashed the Padres by the score of 8-2.

Pujols wasn’t the only Cardinals hitter to go deep however.  Ryan Ludwick had a two run home run and Cesar Izturis had a solo home run.  Ludwick led the Cardinals with three rbi in the game.  Pujols finished the game with two rbi.  Yadier Molina, Todd Wellemeyer, and Izturis all had one rbi in the game.

Welleymeyer pitched six innings to pick up his fifth win of the season.  Welleymeyer allowed six hits and two runs as he improved his record to 5-1.  Randy Flores and Ron Villone pitched scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth innings before Russ Springer came in and pitched a scoreless ninth inning.

The Cardinals won and it was a good thing because the Cubs also won.  The Cardinals remain two games back in the division.  Cardinals Blog

Todd Wellemeyer threw a great game last night as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1.  Wellemeyer threw seven innings of two hit and one run baseball to improve his record to 4-1 on the season.

After Wellemeyer exited the game, Randy Flores and Russ Springer pitched the eithth inning before Jason Isringhausen finished the Pirates off in the ninth inning.

Five different Cardinals hitters all recorded one rbi in the game so it was a very balanced night at the plate for the Cardinals.  Albert Pujols, Ryan Ludwick, Troy Glaus, Yadier Molina, and Cesar Izturis all had one rbi in the game.

Cardinals Homeplate is currently seeking a Cardinals fan that would like to write game recaps for the games.  Recaps can be done right after the game is over or the next morning.  If you are interested be us the contact us link at the top of the site to email us.  Cardinals Blog

The St. Louis Cardinals lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-4 last night as the Pirates score four runs in the tenth inning to secure the win.  Now, that is a terrible way to lose a ballgame after coming to tie the game up in the eighth inning after being down.

Ron Villone took the loss for the Cardinals and is now 1-1 on the season.  Villone gave up all four runs in the tenth inning. One came on a rbi single and then three runs came in on a bases loaded double.

Kyle Lohse received a no decision in the game as he tossed seven inning and allowed five hits and four runs.  Russ Springer and Ryan Franklin pitched two innings of scoreless relief after Lohse exited the game.

All four of the Cardinals runs came with two swings of the bat.  Troy Glaus connected on a three run home run in the sixth inning, and then Albert Pujols hit a solo shot in the eighth inning.   Not much offense other then those two swings for the the Cardinals.

Good thing for the Cardinals is that the Chicago Cubs also lost on Tuesday.  The Cardinals remain one game behind the Cubs in the division.  Cardinals Blog

It was an exciting end to the Cardinals and Rockies game on Monday night as Albert Pujols showed that he can run the bases as he scored from second base on a RBI groundout to second base.  Pujols scored when Rockies second basemen Jonathan Herrera lofted a ball to Todd Helton and Pujols then go by the tag at home plate to score the go ahead run.

Adam Kennedy, Rick Ankiel, Ryan Ludwick, and Pujols all had one RBI each in the game.  Starting pitcher Joel Pineiro led the Cardinals with two RBI as he doubled in two runs in the fourth inning.

Speaking of Pineiro, what a dissapointing performance on the mound.  He only lasted three innings after giving up eight hits and four runs.  Brad Hawpe took him deep in the second inning as well.  Ron Villone and Mike Parisi pitche two innings each in relief of Piniero and both did a great job without letting any runs cross the plate.  Randy Flores pitched the eighth inning and gave up a run in the inning even though he picked up the win in the game.  Jason Isringhausen closed the door in the ninth inning to pick up his eleventh save of the season.

The Cardinals are playing good baseball, lets see if they can continue it on Tuesay when they play the Rockies again.

Cardinals Blog

The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2 on Tuesday night to avoid a embarassing three game sweep.  It was good to see the Cardinals come back and salvage one against the Pirates.

Joel Pineiro pitched seven innings to pick up the win.  Pineiro allowed four hits and only one run in his seven innings of action.  Pineiro is now 1-2 on the season.  Russ Springer allowed one earned run before Jason Isringhausen picked up his eighth save of the season.

Brian Barton had two RBI’s on a single in the fifth inning to lead the Cardinals at the plate.  Skip Schumaker, Albert Pujols, and Brendan Ryan all had one RBI each.

Cardinals Blog