Well that was quite the interesting weekend, wasn’t it?
Regardless of how you feel about the Ryan Ludwick / Jake Westbrook trade or how feeble the Pittsburgh Pirates are, three wins were a welcome sight for this Cardinal fan.
Can the Redbirds keep up the offensive explosion that was ignited when the Pirates rolled into St. Louis?
Recent history with Houston says “maybe.” The Cards have won four from the Astros this season (winning two series 2-1), but also dropped five (including a three-game sweep lost at home).
One big reason for the Cards’ struggles with a seemingly lesser Houston club this season has been the inability of the Cardinal hitters to solve Houston’s starting pitching – and they didn’t face Roy Oswalt before his trade either. No, it’s been Bud Norris and Brett Myers that have stymied the Redbird bats – Norris is 2-1 against the Cards this year, while Myers is 2-1 and pitched well enough to win the game he lost.
| Rk | Player | Date | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | Pit | Str | GSc | WPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bud Norris | 2010-05-13 | W 4-1 | GS-8 ,W | 8.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 99 | 65 | 74 | 0.300 |
| 2 | Brett Myers | 2010-07-10 | W 4-1 | GS-8 ,W | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 94 | 61 | 73 | 0.298 |
| 3 | Brett Myers | 2010-04-14 | L 1-2 | GS-7 ,L | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 111 | 68 | 68 | 0.108 |
| 4 | Bud Norris | 2010-04-15 | W 5-1 | GS-5 ,W | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 106 | 67 | 63 | 0.174 |
| 5 | Wandy Rodriguez | 2010-07-11 | L 2-4 | GS-6 ,L | 6.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 95 | 64 | 56 | -0.057 |
| 6 | Brett Myers | 2010-05-11 | W 6-3 | GS-6 ,W | 6.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 103 | 57 | 49 | 0.015 |
| 7 | Bud Norris | 2010-07-09 | L 0-8 | GS-8 ,L | 7.2 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 113 | 72 | 48 | -0.042 |
As you can see, the Cards were able to finally get to Norris in their last series – but history, albeit a short one, is on Bud’s side. Myers’ last start against the Cards was brilliant.
Thrown into this three game series instead of Wandy Rodriguez (each SLN-HOU series so far this season has seen the Cardinals face Norris/Myers/Rodriguez) is newly acquired J.A. Happ. Happ made two starts in each of 2008 and 2009 against the Cardinals as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, with varying success, going 0-1 with the Phillies winning the 2008 start.
What have Cardinal hitters done against these pitchers?
vs. Brett Myers
| PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Ludwick | 15 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | .615 | .667 | 1.308 | 1.974 |
| Jon Jay | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .667 | .667 | .667 | 1.333 |
| Matt Holliday | 20 | 19 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | .368 | .400 | .789 | 1.189 |
| Skip Schumaker | 23 | 21 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | .333 | .391 | .667 | 1.058 |
| Albert Pujols | 40 | 38 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4 | .368 | .400 | .605 | 1.005 |
| Jason LaRue | 8 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .250 | .250 | .625 | .875 |
| Tyler Greene | 6 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .333 | .333 | .500 | .833 |
| Aaron Miles | 13 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .385 | .385 | .385 | .769 |
| Felipe Lopez | 37 | 34 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .294 | .333 | .412 | .745 |
| Adam Wainwright | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 |
| Yadier Molina | 23 | 23 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | .217 | .217 | .348 | .565 |
| Nick Stavinoha | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 | .250 | .250 | .500 |
| Randy Winn | 11 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .182 | .182 | .182 | .364 |
| Colby Rasmus | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .111 | .000 | .111 |
| Mitchell Boggs | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Chris Carpenter | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Brendan Ryan | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Jeff Suppan | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Total | 229 | 217 | 66 | 12 | 1 | 10 | 25 | 8 | 36 | .304 | .335 | .507 | .842 |
Conspicuous name at the top of that list, no? The middle of the lineup has punished Myers, but the inability of those around the big bats to get on base has limited the damage.
vs. Bud Norris
| PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Ludwick | 9 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .444 | .444 | .444 | .889 |
| Tyler Greene | 6 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .333 | .333 | .500 | .833 |
| Yadier Molina | 13 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .364 | .462 | .364 | .825 |
| Matt Holliday | 16 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | .250 | .250 | .500 | .750 |
| Albert Pujols | 16 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .214 | .313 | .357 | .670 |
| Jon Jay | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 |
| Colby Rasmus | 15 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .154 | .267 | .308 | .574 |
| Adam Wainwright | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 | .200 | .200 | .400 |
| Skip Schumaker | 16 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .143 | .250 | .143 | .393 |
| Felipe Lopez | 12 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | .000 | .333 | .000 | .333 |
| Chris Carpenter | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Total | 114 | 101 | 23 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 22 | .228 | .310 | .317 | .627 |
There’s that conspicuous name again. As you can see, though, no one’s really fared that well against Norris.
vs. J.A. Happ
| PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason LaRue | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .667 | .667 | 1.000 | 1.667 |
| Matt Holliday | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .667 | .667 | .667 | 1.333 |
| Skip Schumaker | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .333 | .500 | .667 | 1.167 |
| Albert Pujols | 6 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .400 | .500 | .400 | .900 |
| Felipe Lopez | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 |
| Ryan Ludwick | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 |
| Yadier Molina | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .333 | .333 | .333 | .667 |
| Brendan Ryan | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .250 | .250 | .500 |
| Aaron Miles | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Jeff Suppan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Total | 36 | 34 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 4 | .353 | .389 | .412 | .801 |
Limited experience up and down the lineup versus Happ. Colby Rasmus has yet to face Happ.
What can we expect to see out of the Cardinal hitters versus these Houston pitchers? Hopefully more of the same that came from a shaken-up lineup and clubhouse over the weekend.
For their part, the Cardinals send newcomer Jake Westbrook to the mound. The Houston lineup has, uh, some scouting to do.
HOU hitters vs. Jake Westbrook
| PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Lee | 31 | 30 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | .400 | .419 | .600 | 1.019 |
| Total | 31 | 30 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | .400 | .419 | .600 | 1.019 |
…including:
Has not faced: Jason Bourgeois, Michael Bourn, Jason Castro, Pedro Feliz, Anderson Hernandez, Chris Johnson, Jeff Keppinger,Jason Michaels, Oswaldo Navarro, Hunter Pence, Humberto Quintero, Angel Sanchez and Brett Wallace
Westbrook will have to have his stuff working to get out the Houston batters, but needless to say, no one is really familiar with the other.
Game time tonight is 7:15 CT – go Cards!
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