I Told You So Tony...Play Skip EVERY day!

Game # 64 Sat. June 7, 2008 Cardinals 8 Astros 4 A good day for me is defined by a Cardinals win and a Cubs loss. Well not only was today a good day, but I got the pleasure of seeing Carlos Zambrano get schooled by the Dodgers, then lose his temper as usual. I love it... Now, on to the Cardinals. Friday the Cardinals were shut down by Houston. But who can blame them? They had been rained out on Wednesday, played two games on Thursday, then their flight to Houston was so late that the team didn't check into their hotel until after 3 AM Friday morning. So today, Tony decided to let the team skip batting practice to give them all the rest he could. And how did they respond? Well, we evened the series with Houston by defeating them 8-4. The Cardinals' offense exploded for 7 runs in the second inning, started by a Troy Glaus homer and highlighted by a Ryan Ludwick longball. It seemed like it was going to be a laid back remainder of the game, but that was not the case. Adam Wainwright's middle finger on his right hand lost feeling and he called time out to remove himself from the game. Can we say SCARY? If we lose Adam, we could be in serious trouble. Anyway, we finished up the win, setting up the rubber game tomorrow. Here is my analysis of the game: Performance of the Game: Skip Schumaker What Went Right: 1. Skip Schumaker - He was 3 for 5 with a single, a double, a triple, and 2 RBI's. He improved his average to .306 and once again proved my point, that he belongs in the lead-off slot EVERY night. 2. Troy Glaus - He kept telling everyone that he hated playing in cold weather and that when the weather heated up so would he. And so far, he has been DEAD on. He has been nothing short of AWESOME this month. On May 30th Troy had just 2 home runs to show for the first two months of the season. And since last Saturday, he has gone yard 5 times in 8 days. Skip Schumaker said that Troy is the type of guy that can carry a team for a month and I think he is 100% correct. Troy is such a breath of fresh air with his positive attitude and he just goes about his business in such a professional way. 3. Adam Wainwright - Despite the scare with his finger, he got the win and improved to 6-3 on the season. He gave up 2 runs over 5 innings. He also had 2 hits at the plate, improving his average to .225. Tomorrow he is flying back to St. Louis to get his finger checked on. There isn't any swelling and he can bend it, but when he tries to push off on a curveball, it just doesn't cooperate. I will be keeping him in my prayers because we need him as our ace. 4. Ryan Ludwick - He was 2 for 4 with a double and a LONG 3 run home run. He is now hitting .310 on the year. 5. Chris Perez - When is Tony La Russa going to wake up and give him the closer's gig. This guy is 100% stud. No fear on mound and has more confidence than any rookie I have seen in a long time. What Went Wrong: 1. Barton over Mather - Why would you start Barton AGAIN? Play Joey Bombs over Barton. Mather's defense is much better and we know his offense is better. I don't mind the occasional start for Barton, but this is rediculous. We just need Ankiel back. 2. Kyle McClellan - He has been really solid this year, but he struggled Saturday. He wasn't hitting his spots in my opinion and the Astros made him pay. He will be fine though. 3. The Umpires - Once again, they are terrible. They blew a call in our favor and they blew one against us too. I guess it balanced out in the end. The win puts us at 37-27 on the year and back to 10 games over .500. We are now only 2 1/2 games behind our enemy the cubs. I can't stand being behind those guys, anyone but them. So let's win tomorrow and see if we can reclaim the division.