Mark Mulder didn’t pitch

I decided that since the Cardinals were off tonight, and Mark Mulder was scheduled to pitch in Memphis, I would tune in to the radio broadcast courtesy of the streaming broadcast of the fine folks that are the voice of the Nashville Sounds, WNSR in Nashville TN.

Lo and behold, I was mildly surprised to see Clayton Mortensen listed in the box score as the starter.

No matter, I thought.  Mulder will get a couple well-timed innings in via a relief role, and have plenty of time to rest his arm prior to a Saturday start versus Kansas City.

Au contraire.  Back stiffness this time, eh?  This team has more excuses than Bill Belichick.  Let him go.  Mulder clearly will never be healthy again, regardless of his ailments or how well his body responds to a beating at the AAA level.

Now that I’ve got that bit of frustration released on the world, and with apologies to the folks at Future Redbirds (I’m not even coming near to stepping on your turf, but since I spent my time listening anyway) here’s what I DID hear via WNSR tonight:

• Derrick Turnbow started for Nashville and pitched one inning.  He did fairly well, but that obviously isn’t representative of his overall time with the Sounds.  The guy clearly can’t find the plate anymore.

• Turnbow was followed by former Cardinals farmhand Chris Narveson, who was tagged for six of Memphis’ runs on the evening.

• Colby Rasmus started off the scoring with a solo home run into center field in the top of the third.  Rasmus also had a double in the seventh, and stole second base after a first inning walk.

• Mortensen was wild, throwing at least two or three wild pitches and generally having Bryan Anderson chasing things all over the place for the better part of the first four or five innings.  Mortensen walked Narveson after an intentional walk to get to him, and was just generally wild early on.

• Mortensen eventually settled in to put up a statistically great start, 7 2/3 innings, 7 hits, 1 run, 0 earned.

• Memphis hitters struck out fifteen times on the evening.  Turnbow struck out the side in his one inning, Narveson had seven K’s in his four innings.

• Josh Phelps had two RBI’s on a double and a single.  He also struck out three times.  No threat to El Hombre any time soon.

• Shane Robinson had what sounded like (I was listening to radio, people) an amazing catch to rob a home run, heading head-on into the wall to make the catch.  Robinson was 0-4 with a run scored in his second game with the Redbirds.

• Jarrett Hoffpauir was the hero on the night, with a big 3-run, 2-out double in the top of the sixth to cap off a five-run inning.  Hoffpauir was also limping around after most of his at-bats after fouling multiple pitches off of his left leg/foot.  Hopefully he will be able to bounce back easily with some ice.  Wouldn’t surprise me to see this kid be the tenth rookie with the big club this season.

There you have it.  I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the game – despite Mulder’s absence – it was a refreshing departure from the usual tense attitude regarding the big league club.  These kids are playing for a paycheck, no doubt, but there is still something innocent about it.

Congrats to the Memphis Redbirds on a well-deserved win.  Hopefully see a bunch of you in St Louis soon.

Writing about the Cardinals and other loosely associated topics since 2008, I've grown tired of the April run-out only to disappoint Cardinal fans everywhere by mid-May. I do not believe in surrendering free outs.

Nick

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