A New Approach: Real-Time

[OOTPRealTime]

We think we’ve been frustrated this Spring Training...but the Brewers are 2-11. I can tell you with certainty that nobody likes losing 11 of 13 games no matter if the games count or not. It wears on you. We will try to right our ship and add to their misery today.

LINEUPS
CARDINALS (5-8)
1. Leury Garcia, SS
2. Jon Jay, CF
3. Yadier Molina, C
4. Allen Craig, 1B
5. Oscar Taveras, RF
6. David Freese, 3B
7. Matt Holliday, LF
8. Kolten Wong, 2B
9. Juan Lagares, DH

SP: RHP Adam Wainwright

MM: Going back to a potential Opening Day lineup. I really hope they get the message without me having to scream and yell at them. It’s just not my style. Lagares is going to start getting a real look here.

BREWERS (2-11)
1. Khris Davis, LF
2. Norichika Aoki, RF
3. Aramis Ramirez, 3B
4. Hunter Morris, 1B
5. Jonathan Lucroy, C
6. David Murphy, CF
7. Martin Maldonado, DH
8. Jeff Bianchi, SS
9. Scooter Gennett, 2B

SP: RHP Trevor Cahill

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1st Inning
Garcia led off with an infield hit. He just plain has wheels. Followed by a great AB from Jay who worked the count full and then drove a base hit to center field. There, it was kicked by David Murphy (who is playing out of position) and Garcia cruised to third. 2nd and 3rd nobody out for Molina. He gounded out weakly to the pitcher - here we go again...Craig came through with a 2-RBI base hit! Great to see that and you can even see him exhale a bit at first base and give a half smile. That bumps his average to .204 with 5 RBI now. After a Taveras ground out, Freese came up with a 2-out RBI base hit scoring Craig. Another very good thing to see. Holliday grounded out. We jump all over Cahill for three in the first. ///// Wain-o sets them down 1-2-3.
STL 3, MIL 0

2nd Inning
After Wong flew out, Lagares singled. Garcia bunted him over to second and was out by a hair at first base - flashing that speed again. Jay then came through (again) with an RBI base-hit to make it 4-0. That’s Jay’s 10th RBI this spring to go with his .519 batting average. Molina struck out to end the inning. ///// Morris singled and then Wainwright got both Lucroy and Murphy to fly out harmlessly. Then, Maldonado grounded out.
STL 4, MIL 0

3rd Inning
Craig - Taveras - Freese went 1-2-3. ///// Wain-o gave up a solo shot to 8th hitter Jeff Bianchi. He bounced back to strike out Gennett but then Khris Davis singled and he walked Aoki. Now, all of the sudden, he is laboring and has a show down with Aramis Ramirez - a certified Cardinal-killer. Wain-o didn’t do himself any favors by starting with a wild-pitch to move the runners up to 2nd and 3rd. Next pitch was right there and A-Ram belted a base-hit to make it 4-3. He then struck out Morris and then got a ground out to get out of the inning. Disappointing.
STL 4, MIL 3

4th Inning
All of the sudden, we have a game. Holliday walked to lead it off and then Wong bunted him over and beat it out for a base-hit. He and Garcia have a chance to bunt for a hit in those situations and both do it so well. Lagares grounded into a FC - Holliday to 3rd. Wong erased. Leury Garcia came up with runners at the corners. Garcia had a great AB - seeing plenty of pitches and working the count full - fouling off four pitches before finally succoming with a strikeout. On the last pitch, Lagares stole 2nd. 2nd and 3rd for Jay. He flew out and the threat was over. ///// Wainwright gets two quick outs before Bianchi (who apparently has his number) singled. Gennett flied out to end the 4th.
STL 4, MIL 3

5th Inning
Molina struck out and now he has joined the list of veterans who is struggling this Spring. He falls under the Mendoza line and has 2 K’s today. Craig followed Molina with a launched homer, his first of the Spring and it seemed he took out his pent up frustration on that baseball. 5-3. Taveras and Freese both struck out to end the inning. ///// Wainwright came out for the 5th at 59 pitches. Khris Davis smacked a solo homer to start their half of the 5th to bring it back to a one-run game. Aoki then doubled. Wain-o not right.

@JoseSantos Wainwright follows suit as #Cardinals starters continue to to struggle. Has allowed 4 runs on 8 hits and Aoki just doubled. Cards clinging to a 5-4 lead.

A-Ram had a productive ground out getting Aoki to 3rd with one out and Hunter Morris coming up. Wainwright popped him up to 3rd and then battled with Lucroy to get a fly out to end it.
STL 5, MIL 4

6th Inning
Holliday singled and Wong bunted him to second base to start the 6th. Lagares flew out and then Garcia struck out for the 2nd time today. ///// Wainwright back out for probably his last inning. He got Murphy - Maldonado - Bianchi 1-2-3.
STL 5, MIL 4

7th Inning
Jay-Molina-Craig went 1-2-3. ///// Wain-o was done at 81 pitches. Not his best for sure, though he battled to get through six full innings. His final line: 6 IP, 7 hits, 4 ER (2 HR), 3 K’s 81 pitches, 55 strikes. Rzepczynski in. He got Gennett and then the pinch hitter Carlos Gomez. And struck out pinch hitter Cole Garner looking.
STL 5, MIL 4

8th Inning
Backups in. A couple of 2-out base hits from Adams and Descalso were stranded. ///// Rafael Dolis enters to face PH Ryan Braun. He hit the ball on a line but right at Craig in left. Choate comes in to face the lefty Morris. Matheny getting into regular season mode with these pitching changes. He learned it from La Russa. It drives people nuts - but it (usually) is effective. Choate K’ed him on 3 pitches. Now to Boggs to face Lucroy. He got a pop out.
STL 5, MIL 4

9th Inning
We went 1-2-3. So much for some insurance. ///// Rosenthal in for the save situation. Ground out of Murphy to start it. First pitch swinging by Maldonado and a fly out. 2 outs for Jean Segura who singles. It’s never easy, is it? Segura can run and with Cruz behind the plate, you better believe he’ll be trying to get into scoring position. Gennett grounded out to end it. A solid win.

@JenOhgosh #STLCards hold on as bullpen shines in 5-4 win to end losing streak. WP-Wainwright SV-Rosenthal. They hope to see a lot of that in ‘14

Final Score: St. Louis Cardinals 5, Milwaukee Brewers 4
WP - Adam Wainwright (1-2)
LP - Trevor Cahill (0-3)
SV - Trevor Rosenthal (2)
Holds - Rzepczynski (2), R. Dolis (1), Choate (2), Boggs (1)
HR - STL: A. Craig (1); MIL: K. Davis (1), J. Bianchi (3)

---------------------------

A couple of intriguing things in this one. First, it’s great to see Craig break out. He had a 2-RBI single and a BOMB to left-center field. It was also good to see us get some bunts down and generate some offense. The bullpen was great following a sub-standard start from Wainwright. The negatives are Molina’s struggles (0-for-4, 2 K, .189) and 12 strikeouts as a team. We’ll need to cut down on those as we go along. Still, have to remember - it’s Spring Training. Regardless, it was good to see them come out after one of the worst outings I’ve seen and play a solid team game.

@JohnHayman Source: #Reds add veteran presence Omar Infante on one-year deal. Can backup at SS (Hamilton) and 2B (Phillips). Could be in OF mix also.

[OOTPRealTime]

It’s Lance Lynn decision day for the Cardinals in Florida. His last outing was so poor that he was pulled before getting through one inning. He knows he is vying for a spot in the starting rotation and has looked flat and disinterested in his first two starts. We’ll see how he responds in this start against the Diamondbacks today.

LINEUPS

CARDINALS (6-8)
1. Leury Garcia, SS
2. Jon Jay, CF
3. Yadier Molina, C
4. Allen Craig, 1B
5. Nelson Cruz, RF
6. Matt Holliday, LF
7. David Freese, 3B
8. Matt Carpenter, DH
9. Kolten Wong, 2B

SP: RHP Lance Lynn

MM: Really rooting for Lance today. He’ll need to bounce back against the D-Backs and show us something. Other than that, we’re going with a potential Opening Day look, obviously, minus the DH. The competitions still include SS (Garcia/Kozma), 3B (Freese/Carpenter), 2B (Wong/Descalso) and RF (Cruz/Taveras).

DIAMONDBACKS (6-8)
1. Adam Eaton, CF
2. Martin Prado, 2B
3. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
4. Jason Kubel, DH
5. Taylor Green, 3B
6. Jose Morales, C
7. A.J. Pollock, LF
8. Alfredo Marte, RF
9. Didi Gregorius, SS

SP: RHP Ian Kennedy

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My notes from this one:
+Lynn got around a lead-off bunt base-hit by Eaton.
+2 GIDP’s by Lynn in first two innings
-Freese picked off 1B to end 2nd and thrown out trying to stretch a 1B into a 2B to end 4th
-Lynn was cruising before a solo HR by Prado
-B4: Molina lead off 2B - then Craig base-hit. Chance for Nelson Cruz - GIDP - then Holliday 2-run HR (1st of Spring) to make it 2-1 STL
-Lynn got into trouble in T5 - allowed tying run to score but got Goldschmidt in a spot to possibly give up the lead. 2-2
+Matt Carpenter HR in B5 to make it 3-2 - first of Spring.
-L. Garcia caught stealing
+Lynn’s line: 5.1 IP, 7 hits, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K - just enough to stay in the hunt?
-Cleto gave up 2-run HR to Parra to make it 4-3 ARZ in T7.
+Molina 2-out RBI base-hit (2nd RBI) makes it 4-4 in B7.
-Carlos Martinez gives up the lead with solo HR to Kubel in T8. 5-4 ARZ
+Suga Shane Robinson a lead-off 3B to start B8.
-Freese can’t get him in - ground out.
-Taveras can’t get him in - pop out.
-Descalso can’t get him in - ground out. Bad.
+Carlos bounce back from HR to pitch 2 innings.
+Lagares 1-out single in B9 to keep hope alive.
+Jose Molina then singles (off Putz) to set up 1st and 2nd, 1 out.
+MATT ADAMS (again) comes through with a big double to tie it up. Jose Molina to 3rd.
-Suga couldn’t get the job done with bases loaded - FC at home.
+FREESE wins it with a base hit!

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Lance Lynn may just have done enough to stay in the rotation mix. He battled today - looked very much more interested and had good stuff. Sure, there were a few blemishes, but overall, he did enough. At least in my mind. I’ll need to confirm that with Mike. Overall, it was a good win. We came back from a few deficits. Leury Garcia had two more hits and I’m thinking Mike should be ready to name the winner in that SS “battle”. Good to see Holliday and Matt Carpenter go deep for the first time this Spring. Yadi had 2 hits (now hitting .220). Freese had 3 hits - including the game winner despite some base-running gaffes. Carlos Martinez gave up a bomb to start - but came back to pitch 2 innings, 2 hits, 0 BB, 2 K.

The media will want some answers from Mike when it comes to the rotation today.

[OOTPRealTime]

We are getting down to crunch time here in Spring Training. The guys are starting to chomp at the bit to play games that actually count. We still have quite a few decisions to make before that time. Today, we'll take on the Atlanta Braves, a favorite in the National League this year. They are 13-2 this Spring. We will see Mike Minor, one of their very good starting arms. We'll throw Jaime Garcia, who is battling for a spot on in the rotation and really on the roster. Lance Lynn will be on the team, it's just a matter of what it role will be. If Jamie is the odd man out - he will likely be traded. As I write that, I may want to start getting a gauge of interest in him now that some injuries have struck around the league and see what we could flip him for, IF (big if) we decide to part ways. He has had two uninspiring outings thus far. He started with a 2.1 IP, 4 H, 3 K, 0 BB against the Mets and followed that with a 4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 K, 0 BB against the Giants. The positive thing is the zero walks. We'll see how he does against the hard hitting Braves today.

LINEUPS

CARDINALS (7-8)
1. Juan Lagares, RF
2. Kolten Wong, 2B
3. Matt Holliday, LF
4. Matt Adams, 1B
5. David Freese, DH
6. Justin Christian, CF
7. Matt Carpenter, 3B
8. Jose Molina, C
9. Pete Kozma, SS

SP: LHP Jaime Garcia

MM: Giving Yadi a break here. Also, want to get another good long look at Juan Lagares, who has impressed enough in camp to warrant a serious look as an OF bench player. Freese needs to continue to get AB's as he is close to breaking out at the plate but Matt Carpenter needs the work at third base. Pete Kozma has one chance to really show us something - but it's pretty much over in terms of the race for the shortstop job with Leury Garcia. We just won't announce that yet.

BRAVES (13-2)
1. Evan Gattis, C
2. Chris Johnson, 3B
3. Justin Upton, LF
4. Freddie Freeman, 1B
5. Ramiro Pena, SS
6. Brandon Moss, RF
7. Juan Francisco, DH
8. Tyler Pastornicky, SS
9. Jose Constanza, CF

SP: LHP Mike Minor

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1st Inning
Lagares drew a lead off walk. Wong flew out. Holliday flew out. Adams flew out. ///// Ground out, fly out, strikeout went the Braves in the first against Garcia.
STL 0, ATL 0

2nd Inning
1-2-3 for the offense again. Minor looks in control. ///// Freeman singled and then Garcia struck out Pena and Moss and got Francisco to ground into a FC to end the inning. Garcia matching Minor early.
STL 0, ATL 0

3rd Inning
Jose Molina and Kozma each struck out (looked bad) against Minor and then Lagares reached base for the 2nd time with a 2-out base hit. He is then cut down by Gattis trying to steal second to end the inning. ///// Three fly outs for the Braves.
STL 0, ATL 0

4th Inning
Wong led off with a single before Holliday flew out (again). Matty Adams then roped a base-hit to make it 1st and 2nd with one out for Freese. Minor did not mess around and filled up the zone with three straight pitches to get a fly out. He then painted the corner to K Christian to end the threat. ///// Garcia got one quick out before walking Justin Upton on four pitches in front of Freddie Freeman (1st walk of ST). He got Freeman to fly out, but then let down his guard against Pena who doubled. They held Upton at 3rd. Then it was Moss who Garcia K'ed to end it.
STL 0, ATL 0

5th Inning
PITCHING CHANGE (ATL): Eric O'Flaherty replaces Mike Minor. 1-2-3 for O'Flaherty here. ///// Pastornicky got a 1-out single but Garcia worked his way out of it. At 82 pitches - he is done. A great outing for Jaime: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.
STL 0, ATL 0

6th Inning
Lagares reached for the 3rd time - this time by way of a Freeman error. Wong successfully bunted him into scoring position. They intentionally walked Holliday to get to Adams. PITCHING CHANGE (ATL): Christian Martinez replaces Eric O'Flaherty. Adams grounded out w/ Lagares and Holliday moving up to 2nd and 3rd in a big spot for Freese. And...he comes through! 2-RBI base hit score both runners and we take the lead. Justin Christian then singled and Martinez launched a wild pitch to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs and Matt Carpenter at the dish. He popped out to end the inning. ///// PITCHING CHANGE (STL): Fernando Salas replaces Jaime Garcia. Good inning here for Salas other than a walk to Freeman. No damage.
STL 2, ATL 0

7th Inning
Nothing happening for the offense here. ///// With two lefties due up: PITCHING CHANGE (STL): Marc Rzepczynski replaces Fernando Salas. Three ground outs for Zep.
STL 2, ATL 0

8th Inning
After a Wong K, that was it for Martinez. PITCHING CHANGE (ATL): Cory Gearrin replaces Christian Martinez. Base hit for Holliday and then Mike pinch ran with Leury Garcia who promptly stole his 8th base of Spring. A wild pitch got him over to third but Adams struck out looking and then Freese flew out. ///// Garcia stays in the game and goes to SS. O. Taveras enters to play LF. PITCHING CHANGE (STL): Jhan Marinez replaces Marc Rzepczynski. Spring phenom Marinez enters for the 8th. He K's Constanza before Gattis hits one on the screws right at Garcia before K'ing Uggla. ANOTHER picture perfect inning from Marinez.
STL 2, ATL 0

9th Inning
PITCHING CHANGE (ATL): Anthony Varvaro replaces Cory Gearrin. Varvaro sits us down 1-2-3. ///// PITCHING CHANGE (STL): Trevor Rosenthal replaces Jhan Marinez. Our closer strikes out Jason Heyward, gets Brian McCann (PH) to fly out and Andrelton Simmons (PH) to ground out weakly to end it.

FINAL SCORE: St. Louis Cardinals 2, Atlanta Braves 0

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Solid game. Good win. Great pitching. No injuries. Victory.
Seriously though, Jaime really showed us something there. He has displayed great control all Spring and he battled through some tight spots to pitch five scoreless. Then to see Salas, Zep, Marinez and Rosenthal finish the job was great. Just three hits allowed all day. We only managed six hits against hte Braves, but we made them count as Freese got the game-winning hit. A lot to like in this one.

[OOTPRealTime]

Taking on the Marlins today. We play them a lot in Spring. Shelby on the hill today...

LINEUPS

CARDINALS
1. Leury Garcia, SS
2. Jon Jay, CF
3. Yadier Molina, C
4. Matt Adams, 1B
5. Allen Craig, RF
6. Oscar Taveras, LF
7. David Freese, 3B
8. Matt Carpenter, DH
9. Kolten Wong, 2B

SP: RHP Shelby Miller

MM: I wanted to get a look at how this lineup would look with Allen Craig in right field (not ideal). Oscar really needs to show us something if he wants to come north to Cincinnati. Granted, Cruz hasn't done much either - but he's at least done it before on some level.

MARLINS
1. Hiroyuki Nakajima, 3B
2. Donovan Solano, 2B
3. Giancarlo Stanton, RF
4. Rob Brantly, C
5. Justin Ruggiano, LF
6. Kyle Skipworth, DH
7. Chris Coghlan, CF
8. Chris Valaika, 1B
9. Adeiny Hechavarria, SS

SP: RHP Nathan Eovaldi

------------

My notes from this one:

-Shelby not sharp after getting two quick outs in the first, he allowed four straight base-hits to fall behind 2-0. 26 pitches in first inning.
+Settled down in the 2nd, allowing a one-out single but stranded him.
-Base hit from Oscar, erased on Freese GIDP (which he does far to much of)
-Leury Garcia couldn't get a runner over on a bunt and then tried to make up for it by stealing second but was caught (B3).
+Molina double followed by Matty Adams RBI base hit to make it 2-1 Fish. Adams' 10th RBI
-Adams went to second on the throw home but Craig & Taveras each K'ed
+Shelby settles in nicely, K's Stanton with 2 outs to get through five IP - has 6 K's - likely done
-Joe Kelly hit around a bit in the 7th - lead extended to 3-1
+Dolis pitched around a lead off 2B with 2 K's and a harmless flyout (T9)
-Went 1-2-3 in B9 to end it.

Final Score: Miami Marlins 3, St. Louis Cardinals 1

A rather uninspiring effort today. Shelby looked decent, and good at times, after the first inning. Kelly had one bad inning. Dolis looked good again. We managed just four hits and the starters stayed in all game long. Nobody seems to want to pull away in the Freese/Carpenter battle, though Matt did have one of the four hits today and is hitting .286 to Freese's .227 this Spring. Garcia-Jay combo up top went 0-for-8 and is finally starting to calm down a bit (expected).

We have another cut down today and this one is a bit more difficult.

Mike finally made it up to my office after the game to discuss. We really want to have a good idea of what the rotation / bullpen look like going into these last five tune-up games before a few days off and then the Opener in Cincy. Our remaining schedule looks like this:

Thursday, March 20th - @ New York Mets
Friday, March 21st - vs. Washington Nationals
Saturday, March 22nd - off day
Sunday, March 23rd - @ Cincinnati Reds
Monday, March 24th - vs. San Diego Padres
Tuesday, March 25th - off day
Wednesday, March 26th - @ Los Angeles Dodgers (final game)
Thursday, March 27th - last team practice / tune up
Friday, March 28th - close up shop - announce Opening Day 25-man roster
Saturday, March 29th - Travel to Cincinnati
Sunday, March 30th - Practice/B.P. at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati
Monday, March 31st - OPENING DAY!

So, with this cut we discussed a few things. Starting with the rotation. He is leaning towards this:

1. Wacha
2. Wainwright
3. Miller
4. Lynn
5. Garcia

That would mean Kelly and Ogando are in the bullpen to start.

Then, he sees that looking like this:

Rosenthal - closer
Boggs - setup #1
Rzepczynski - setup #2
Marinez - middle relief
Ogando - middle relief
Choate - lefty specialist
Kelly - long relief / spot starter

That would mean Rafael Dolis, Carlos Martinez, Maikel Cleto and Fernando Salas are on the outside looking in. The closest is Dolis - so we'll keep him around. He will call in both Carlos and Maikel and let them know their headed to Memphis. That leaves Salas and Dolis still around to try to steal a spot or fill in for an injury.

We settled on sending both Shane Robinson and Justin Christian to Memphis as well. These are more difficult cuts - both have MLB experience, but we really like Juan Lagares and want to give him that chance at this level. The fact that he plays all three OF positions well certainly has a hand in in it.

We work with the PR director to get the press release out.

@dgold #stlcards cuts today include P's Carlos Martinez, M. Cleto. OF's Shane Robinson & Justin Christian sent packing also. #chopday

[MizzouRah]

Amazing.... I'm following, GO CARDS!

[OOTPRealTime]

We are taking on the 5-11 New York Mets in Port St. Lucie today. It's the last chance for Alexi Ogando to show us he deserves to be in the rotation. After today's game, each starting pitcher will have had three starts with an increase in each outing in number of pitches. We will evaluate after this game and most likely name our starting rotation. Then, we'll get tune-up starts for both Wacha and Wainwright (the only two locks) and then the next two in line will get the final two starts. Possibly, the fifth starter will get some work in that last game as well as a final tune-up.

LINEUPS

CARDINALS (8-9)
1. Leury Garcia, SS
2. Jon Jay, CF
3. Allen Craig, 1B
4. Matt Adams, DH
5. Yadier Molina, C
6. David Freese, 3B
7. Oscar Taveras, RF
8. Juan Lagares, LF
9. Daniel Descalso, 2B

SP: RHP Alexi Ogando

MM: We are giving Daniel Descalso another shot here. He's fallen way behind Kolten in the second base race. Kolten is looking like an everyday player at second base. The fact that Daniel doesn't play shortstop very well could hurt him and force us to take Pete Kozma over him for a bench spot. That is, unless he can show us he has that much of a better stick than Peter. We believe he does, but it's a tough decision at this point.

METS (5-11)
1. Ike Davis, 1B
2. Ruben Tejada, SS
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Chris Parmelee, RF
5. Lucas Duda, DH
6. A.J. Jimenez, C
7. Collin Cowgill, CF
8. Jordany Valdespin, 2B
9. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, LF

SP: LHP Jon Niese

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1st Inning
Three fly outs for Garcia-Jay-Craig to start it against Niese. ///// Infield hit by Ike Davis who appears to be a leadoff man now? Eventually, Parmelee drove him in with a 2-out RBI base hit. 1-0 Mets. Ogando doesn't appear sharp.
NYM 1, STL 0

2nd Inning
1-2-3 again by the sticks. ///// No damage after hitting Jordany Valdespin with a pitch to lead off the inning.
NYM 1, STL 0

3rd Inning
2-out infield hit by Descalso and then a line drive base hit by Garcia puts two on for Jay who struck out looking. ///// Lead off base hit by Tejada and then two quick outs before a base hit by Duda. Ogando was able to get out of it with a FC ground out.
NYM 1, STL 0

4th Inning
Craig struck out looking and now is back down to the .200 level with one HR and 6 RBI this Spring hitting primarily in the middle third of the lineup. Cause for worry? Adams and Molina grounded out. ///// Cowgill led off with a triple and then Valdespin hit a sacrifice fly to left field. Lagares made a nice throw home to nail Cowgill but Lagares was in pain after the throw and after our trainer Chris Conroy checked him out, he brought him out of the game. Not good, our first injury scare.

@dgold Juan Lagares comes up holding back after gunning out Cowgill at home on sac fly attempt. Coming out of game. #developing

SUBSTITUTION: Matt Holliday enters for Juan Lagares in LF. Ogando got a fly out to get out of the inning.
NYM 1, STL 0

5th Inning
PITCHING CHANGE (NYM): RHP Jeurys Familia replaces LHP Jon Niese. Freese-Taveras-Holliday went 1-2-3. ///// Ogando was at 70 pitches entering the inning. He got a fly out and then allowed a single to Tejada. At 77 now, Mike let him work to one more batter. He got David Wright to fly out on the first pitch, so that bought him one more. He walked Parmelee and that was it. PITCHING CHANGE (STL): LHP Randy Choate replaces RHP Alexi Ogando. Mike went to Choate with the lefty Duda due up wiht 2 on and 2 out. He lost him on a 3-2 pitch to a free pass. Mike let him face A.J. Jimenez to try to redeem himself and he got a ground out to do just that.
NYM 1, STL 0

6th Inning
Descalso got a base hit to lead off the 6th - will that wake us up? Garcia tried to bunt for a hit and it worked as a sacrifice. Jay then hit a liner to center that Cowgill snagged for the second out. Then, Allen Craig absolutely CRUSHED a pitch to dead center field - a two-run shot to give us the lead. That's a big morale booster. PITCHING CHANGE (NYM): RHP Greg Burke replaces RHP Jeurys Familia. Adams grounded out to end the inning. ///// PITCHING CHANGE (STL): RHP Fernando Salas enters, replacing LHP Randy Choate. Mike goes to Salas as he battles for a roster spot. Cowgill and Valdespin both singled to start the inning on Salas. Nieuwenhuis grounded out, moving them over to 2nd and 3rd. Salas then got a big strike out of pinch hitter Justin Turner and faced another pinch hitter, Daniel Murphy. He got him to fly out. Great job by Salas to get out of the jam.
STL 2, NYM 1

7th Inning
We went 1-2-3. ///// PITCHING CHANGE (STL): RHP Rafael Dolis replaces RHP Fernando Salas. We go to another "on the fence" pitcher in Dolis, trying to make this team. SUBSTITUTIONS: Pete Kozma replaces Leury Garcia at SS; Matt Carpenter replaces Allen Craig at 1B; Jose Molina replaces Yadier Molina at C. Dolis got the first two with relative ease then walked speedster Alonzo Harris. Harris stole second on Dolis/Jose Molina. He dug down and struck out A.J. Jimenez to end the inning. Both Dolis and Salas do their jobs with a little sweat.
STL 2, NYM 1

8th Inning
Descalso got his second hit of the game before a Kozma strikeout (now hitting .069 in Spring). Jay then hit a Texas League single popped between the right fielder and first base. Matt Carpenter struck out to end the threat. ///// PITCHING CHANGE (STL): RHP Mitchell Boggs replaces RHP Rafael Dolis. Boggsie enters as the 8th inning guy. He gave up a 1-out double to pinch hitter Reese Havens. He then got their starting catcher (Travis d'Arnaud) to ground out while pinch hitting and Justin Turner to fly out. Boggs becomes the third straight pitcher to allow a runner into scoring position but get out of it unscathed.
STL 2, NYM 1

9th Inning
We went 1-2-3. ///// PITCHING CHANGE (STL): RHP Trevor Rosenthal replaces RHP Mitchell Boggs. Our closer enters. Ground out. Strike out. Strike out. Lights out. That's the way it should be!

Final Score: St. Louis Cardinals 2, New York Mets 1

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The pitching staff excelled in this one - allowing just one run in the first inning (charged to Ogando). Alexi did well despite a rough start. He finished getting through 4.2 IP, 6 hits, one earned run, two walks and one strikeout. He could've been sharper. Right now, I'm leaning towards seeing him the bullpen and that could be a problem. That's exactly why he wanted out of Texas. Then again, this is Mike's call and he may still have a bad taste in his mouth about Lynn and could start the season with Ogando in the rotation. We'll have that conversation later on. We had our first injury scare with Lagares coming up lame after cutting down Collin Cowgill at home plate (a big play in the game). We'll get an update on his status from the training staff. Good to see Allen Craig unload on one.

....

OK, we had that conversation about the rotation and it went the way I thought it would. Ogando just hasn't quite developed that third pitch (changeup) to where it should be as a starter. Lynn just edged him out for now. We really like Ogando in the bullpen and he could be a long guy as well. I asked Mike if he was ready for a possible unhappy player in the clubhouse and he said he would "handle it". So, he called Alexi in to let him know. Then he called in each of the starters to let them know their roles have been determined. He let Joe Kelly know (even though it was just about a foregone conclusion) that he would also start in the bullpen. The conversation was the longest with Lance Lynn. He really took the time to let him know that he is on thin ice. Shelby Miller seemed relieved and excited to officially be a part of the rotation. Mike and I also decided that the veteran Wainwright deserves to get the nod on Opening Day. Wacha will start game two in Cincinnati. It will then go Shelby, Jaime, Lance.

Mike met with the media following the meetings and made the announcement.
Twitter was a buzz.

@dgold #Cardinals announce rotation. Lynn in. Ogando to bullpen. Wainwright to start opener, followed by Wacha, Miller, Garcia, Lynn.

@zlamick Ogando was pretty vocal about his displeasure in Texas about being in the bullpen. Did enough to earn it. Can Matheny keep him happy? #Cardinals

@KenRosenhaus Lance Lynn wins #stlcards 5th starter spot over Alexi Ogando. While he may not like it - Ogando is better in 'pen.

[OOTPRealTime]

CARDS BULLPEN IMPLODES IN LOSS TO NATS
By: Derek Gold, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The talk this Spring has been the emergence of a bullpen candidate seemingly out of nowhere. Going into play on Friday, Jhan Marinez had pitched eight innings, allowed zero runs and struck out 12 batters, compared to just one free pass. His stuff? Electric. His control? Pinpoint. All of that came unraveled in today's game against the Nationals. Marinez entered in a game that the Cardinals were winning 4-0 entering the eighth inning. He gave up three hits and three earned runs in the inning. The good news? He struck out four and walked none.

Marinez was clearly shaken after the game. He has been in this position before. He had a cup of coffee with the White Sox in 2012. He was expecting to be in the Chicago bullpen in 2013 - and it all came unraveled. This isn't 2013 and the Cardinals have not soured on Marinez.

"He's going to have outings like that. Every pitcher does. We aren't worried about Jhan. He has done a lot this Spring and showed us what he can do," said Manager Mike Matheny. Matheny called Marinez in his office afterwards and reiterated this point to his 25-year old bullpen candidate.

Just to prove the point that this kind of thing happens - even though you don't like to see it - Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal followed Marinez and the results were not good. He gave up four earned runs and sealed the Cardinals fate. That raised Rosenthal's spring ERA to 5.40 and, like Marinez, the team isn't worried about their closer and he is not in jeopardy of losing the job.

The poor bullpen performance would not overshadow the Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright's final tune up before tossing against the Reds on Opening Day in Cincinnati. He pitched four innings, allowed three hits, struck out six, walked none and didn't allow a runner past first base. Matt Carpenter hit his second spring homer and drove in two runs as he battles for regular playing time. No decision or announcement has been made regarding the battle for third base between David Freese (.220) and Carpenter (.303). After the game, despite a recent slump, Matheny did confirm that Leury Garcia will be the Cardinals everyday shortstop and will bat all over the lineup.

The Cardinals drop to 9-10 on the Spring and have just four more Spring Training games over the next week, leading up to Opening Day in Cincinnati on March 31st.

[OOTPRealTime]

It was certainly tough to see two of the guys we will be counting on this year in Marinez and Rosenthal struggle the way that they did. Again, though, it is Spring Training and we aren't worried about either one. Even in the struggle that was Marinez, he still managed to avoid any free passes and now has a 16:1 K:BB ratio. That was/is the main concern for him is that control. He's going to be just fine and while he doesn't know it yet, he is going to make this team. That means somebody else won't. Most likely that player will be Fernando Salas. Though, Salas is a solid player. Also, the writing on the wall is there for Daniel Descalso and he has made it clear, though his agent, that he'd like to be traded. I'm not sure I can find much value for him, but I told them I would see if any teams had interest.


@KenRosenhaus Scary moment (to say the least) as Clayton Kershaw leaves his Spring outing with elbow soreness. MRI is negative. Will rest. Likely misses Opening Day start. #Dodgers

UPDATE ON LAGARES
Our first injury scare came when outfielder Juan Lagares came up lame after throwing out Collin Cowgill at home plate on a tag up attempt. He is listed as day-to-day and will likely be with us when we head north to Cincy.


@JohnHayman Edward Mujica signs with #Phillies. 1-year deal worth just over $4.5 Million

@MLBDepthCharts Mujica fits in middle relief for the #Phillies. Likely knocks Michael Stutes back to AAA.

@MattLurchMLB RT @FPTigers #Tigers announce that Victor Martinez has suffered a set back and will miss 4-5 more weeks. Ouch.

[OOTPRealTime]

It's been a crazy week. Just getting caught up!

Things have been moving quickly as we prepare to head north for the real games to start. We have officially broke camp, finished exhibition games and are cleaning up house. Some of the players - those that have residences in St. Louis - are flying there to get a day at home and sleep in their own beds before meeting the rest of us in Cincinnati tomorrow night. We'll have a full day there before Opening Day on Monday. Here is a recap of the rest of camp...

Tuesday, March 25th -- vs. Cincinnati
We won 4-2 and got some extra innings in. Yadi had 3 hits and Matt Carpenter went 3-for-3 with most everybody else struggling with the bats. This was Wacha's final tune-up and he was sharp. Pitched four innings, allowed four hits, one unearned run, walked two and struck out four. Ogando pitched out of the 'pen for the first time and he surrendered a homer to Jay Bruce. Joe Kelly walked three in 1 1/3 inning but got out of it. Rosenthal, Boggs and Dolis all looked really good in this one. Dolis ended up getting the win and pitched 2.2 innings with one hit, one walk and four K's. He's done enough to make the team, but still may not. That's a good problem to have.

@BG_RedSox Jacoby Ellsbury will miss around 5 weeks as he is experiencing headaches following the concussion he suffered in yesterday's game.

@BobOs The #Orioles have signed Chris Capuano to bolster the rotation. He's been working out on his own. Get's 1-year, $2.2 Million.

@MLBDepthCharts Updated the #Orioles projected rotation with signing of Chris Capuano.
Preview:
1. Dylan Bundy
2. Chris Capuano
3. Miguel Gonzalez
4. Jake Arrieta
5. Wei-Yin Chen

Wednesday, March 26th -- vs. San Diego Padres
Broke out the bats in this one. Yadi is rounding into form with another 3-hit game. Leury Garcia got on base (though he hasn't hit much recently) and stole his 9th base. Juan Lagares launched his first homer of the Spring. He has made the team as our 4th outfielder. Shelby let his guard down a bit and allowed 8 hits and 5 earned runs in this one. Didn't want to see that. Fernando Salas is not going quietly in that race for the final bullpen spot. We pitched 1.2 innings, and K'ed 4 of 5. Zep got the win eventually. One game left.

Thursday, March 27th -- vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Put mostly the backups in for this one. Didn't want that last game injury bug to strike. Jaime looked strong in his final tune-up: 4.0 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 4 K's. Rosenthal ended up taking the loss as we tried to get him one more appearance. He struggled this Spring but he has life on his pitches and we aren't worried about him. Kolten Wong hit his first Spring homer in his last AB. That was good to see. The best thing to see was that there were no injuries.

That's it! Time to make the final roster decisions and head to Cincinnati.

After sitting down with Mike, we really struggled with the bullpen situation. Rosenthal is the closer. Boggs, Rzepczynski, Ogando and Kelly were locks. We'd really like to keep Choate as a left specialist. That leaves Salas, Dolis and Jhan Marinez for the final spot. Here is a look at their spring lines:

Jhan Marinez: 8 G, 1-0, 11 IP, 4 hits, 3 ER, 1 BB, 17 K, 2.45 ERA, .108 OPP BA, 0.45 WHIP
Rafael Dolis: 7 G, 1-0, 10 IP, 6 hits, 0 ER, 6 BB, 13 K, 0.00 ERA, .158 OPP BA, 1.13 WHIP
Fernando Salas: 7 G, 0-0, 11.2 IP, 12 hits, 2 ER, 3 BB, 15 K, 1.54 ERA, .261 OPP BA, 1,29 WHIP

Clearly, they all did enough to make the team. The advantage Salas has is that he's done it before for us. Dolis has done it at the MLB level before. Marinez had not, but he looked so dynamic this Spring. It wasn't an easy one but we ended up settling on Marinez.

The tough decisions didn't end there. We had to send Descalso down too. He's another veteran who has performed at the big league level and now he finds himself in Triple-A. Obviously, that was not met with fondness for him and his reps. But, that's the business. He wants a trade and we'll see what the landscape looks like for him.

We still had to cut two more bats. Tony Cruz was sent down leaving us the Molina brothers as our two catchers. Then it was decision time for the outfield. Juan Lagares gives us so much flexibility as he plays all three outfield positions and Oscar Taveras is our top prospect. Oscar hit just .186 with 14 K's in 59 AB's. He looked a bit uncomfortable at times. Many expected him to be on the roster regardless, but with Lagares coming in and impressing, we decided to get Oscar a little more seasoning in Memphis. That was met with some trepidation from the fan base - but it is the right move.

@dgold #Cardinals announce final 25-man roster. Oscar Taveras not on it. Lagares wins 4th OF spot. J. Marinez gets final bullpen spot. (1/2)

CARDINALS SET 25-MAN ROSTER FOR OPENER
by: Derek Gold, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Every club wants to have tough decisions to make when it comes time to break camp. The Cardinals are in this boat and their decisions were very tough. In the end, the 25 players heading north didn't include some big league quality players - but that's what makes these decisions "tough".

"The hardest part is telling the players that will start the season in Memphis that they didn't make the club, especially when they are good enough to make it," said GM Parker Campbell. The Cardinals are sending players to Triple-A Memphis with track records at the Major League level. These players include infielder Daniel Descalso, catcher Tony Cruz and pitchers Fernando Salas and Rafael Dolis.

The team also made the decision to sent prized prospect Oscar Taveras down to Triple-A Memphis to get some more seasoning before playing at the highest level. It was a combination of Taveras' struggles (.186 spring average) and the play of newly acquired Juan Lagares that sealed Oscar's fate. "In the end, we love having the flexibility that Juan gives us. He is a fantastic defensive player and he can come off the bench and give us a chance at the plate as well. Without him, Oscar would be on this team. It's good that (Taveras) has a chance to get some AB's and polish his overall game before making this debut. This is a very important time in his development and forcing him to play at a level that may not be the best for him would be detrimental. Again, we're lucky to be in the position to afford that he can play in the minors," Campbell added.

The Cardinals will open the season with Yadier Molina and his brother, Jose, as the two catchers. Matt Adams and Allen Craig will each play some first base with the occasional appearance in left field for Craig to get them both in the lineup. It may be a challenge early to find AB's for the up-and-coming Adams who enjoyed a great Spring, hitting .321 with two homers and 10 RBI.

Kolten Wong is the Opening Day and everyday second baseman after his spring that saw a .412 average, .492 on-base percentage and seven extra base hits. Wong will make his MLB debut on Monday in Cincinnati after posting a .331 average last year in Memphis. His time is now. He could see time at many different spots in the Cardinals lineup - including leadoff.

His partner up the middle will be Leury Garcia, who will also be making his debut in the big leagues. He rode a hot start to Spring to a .333 batting average with nine stolen bases. He struck out 11 times, compared to just three walks and questions concerning his spot at the top of the lineup remain. "We saw enough progress this Spring from Leury to earn the starting shortstop job. Mike (Matheny) will decide where he hits, but his speed and flexibility is an important part of our makeup," said Campbell. When asked if he was "worried" about such an inexperienced middle infield pairing, his response was simple, "Not in the slightest."

The third base competition between David Freese and Matt Carpenter wasn't won by anybody in particular, and the two will share time there throughout the year. If it were based on Spring stats alone, Carpenter would be the guy. He hit .349 with two homers, 3 RBI and even stole a couple of bases. Carpenter is still learning third base. They are different types of players. Freese offers more power potential, while Carpenter puts the ball in play and can create on the base paths. Also, Freese hits from the right side, while Carpenter hits from the left side. You can expect to see Freese playing primarily when left-handed pitchers are on the hill.

Jon Jay cemented himself as the every day center fielder with another solid Spring Training. After a tumultuous off-season that had rumors of a trade and the Cardinals unwilling to commit to him long-term, he has come out and showed that he belongs. Matt Holliday returns as the every day left fielder. Though, you will see Lagares replacing him for defense late in ball games. Finally, right field was "won" by veteran Nelson Cruz despite a rather pedestrian Spring line of .200, no homers, two doubles and 13 strikeouts. He wins the job because the team knows what he can do as a veteran. Lagares and Craig will spell Cruz throughout the season in the outfield.

As far as the pitching staff goes, the team announced the rotation last week. In case you missed it: 1.) Adam Wainwright 2.) Michael Wacha 3.) Lance Lynn 4.) Jaime Garcia 5.) Shelby Miller. The tough decisions were on the final bullpen spot. Trevor Rosenthal was inconsistent this Spring but the team is not worried. He'll be the closer. Marc Rzepczynski and Mitchell Boggs will be the primary set-up guys, handling the 7th and 8th innings on most nights. Randy Choate will be employed as the left-handed specialist - a role he has thrived in since last year. Alexi Ogando will be a middle reliever and could develop into more of a set-up role if either Boggs or Rzepczynski stumble. Ogando is one to watch. He was upset with his role (more specifically, not being a starting pitcher) in Texas and after the trade, his hopes were to win a spot. It didn't materialize that way. Matheny is now tasked with keeping him happy. Joe Kelly lost out on a rotation spot as well and he'll pitch in middle relief and will get the spot starter title as well. Ogando is more likely to step into the rotation if/when an injury occurs.

The decision here was for that final bullpen spot. Three pitchers earned a roster spot with their Spring performances, but MLB rules clearly state that you can only bring 25 players with you to Opening Day. That spelled the ticket to Memphis for both Dolis and Salas. Jhan Marinez will pitch in middle relief from the start.

Options are good to have, but difficult to manage. The Cardinals are confident they have made the right choices. We will soon find out.

[OOTPRealTime]

Well, here we are. After a tumultuous off-season and a long Spring camp, we are in Cincinnati for Opening Day 2014! Adam Wainwright gets the ball in the season opener against Johnny Cueto.

LINEUPS

CARDINALS (0-0)
1. Leury Garcia, SS
2. Jon Jay, CF
3. Yadier Molina, C
4. Allen Craig, 1B
5. Matt Holliday, LF
6. Nelson Cruz, RF
7. Kolten Wong, 2B
8. Matt Carpenter, 3B
9. Adam Wainwright, RHP

MM: Matt Carpenter earned an Opening Day start. Not thrilled about him back-to-back with Kolten (both lefties). Garcia will lead off to start the year but that doesn't mean he will be there all the time. Holliday and Cruz will be watched closely in the 5-6 spots - we'll need production. Here we go!

REDS (0-0)
1. Billy Hamilton, SS
2. Omar Infante, 2B
3. Joey Votto, 1B
4. Jay Bruce, RF
5. Devin Mesoraco, C
6. Todd Frazier, 3B
7. Brandon Phillips, 2B
8. Josh Fellhauer, CF
9. Johnny Cueto, RHP

1st Inning
Leury starts things off the right way with an 0-2 base hit. Does he test Mesoraco right away? Why not? Well, he got thrown out. Cueto then struck out Jay and Molina grounded out weakly. ///// We need to keep speedy Billy Hamilton off the bases. Waino gets a popout to start things in 2014. He then struck out Infante looking and then went right after Joey Votto and K'ed him also.
STL 0, CIN 0

2nd Inning
Craig led off his season with a base-hit. 2nd time that we got a lead off hit. Holliday hit the ball on the nose but right at Jay Bruce for the first out. Nelson Cruz then flew out and then Matt Carpenter ran the count full and battled but popped out. Cueto at 29 pitches through two innings. ///// Waino struck out Bruce for his 3rd K of the game. Mesoraco came up and hit a line drive at Jon Jay in center for the 2nd out on the first pitch of the AB. Frazier then struck out. Waino looking strong so far with four punch outs.
STL 0, CIN 0

3rd Inning
Wong struck out swinging to start the 3rd. Waino struck out swinging but a passed ball on Mesoraco allowed him to get to first base. Cueto, clearly rattled by that then sailed the first pitch to Garcia over his head and Adam went to 2nd with one out. First RISP of the game for either team. Garcia flew out on the next pitch for the 2nd out. Chance for Jon Jay but he grounded out to end the inning. ///// Wainwright continued his early dominance with a K of Brandon Phillips. Fellhauer grounded out. He wasted no time in sitting down Cueto.
STL 0, CIN 0

@dgold Wainwright looks strong early on. First time through the #Reds lineup, he records 6 K's. #stlcards

4th Inning
Yadi hit a chopper up the middle and Billy Hamilton got to it but had to eat it - not because of Yadi's blazing speed, but because he was in shallow CF. 3 out of 4 innings, the leadoff man has reached. Let's get him in this time. Craig battles but struck out. Holliday, for the second time his a line drive, but right at Jay Bruce this time for the 2nd out. Cruz struck out swinging. ///// Hamilton had a decent AB, but struck out (7 now). Infante grounded out weakly to Garcia and then Votto struck out (8).
STL 0, CIN 0

5th Inning
Matt Carpenter battled, worked the count full and then hit a base hit past Hamilton to Infante in left, who bobbled the ball and allowed Matt to cruise into 2nd base. Wong then grounded out and couldn't get him to 3rd (ugh). Wainwright then bunted and they threw out Matt at 3rd.

@zlamick Some would question the decision there to bunt with Waino. Thought is to put pressure on the D. Didn't work out.

Garcia then popped out. ///// Bruce grounded out. Wainwright lost Mesoraco for the first base-runner against him today. Frazier then got a base-hit, moving Mesoraco to 2nd and now Wainwright in his first hot water. Phillips went up hacking and grounded into a FC, erasing Frazier and moving Mesoraco to 3rd with 2 outs. Matheny walked Fellhauer the 8th hitter to bring in Cueto and Adam struck him out for the 9th K of the day. He is at 67 pitches now through five innings.
STL 0, CIN 0

6th Inning
Jay goes down swinging to start the 6th. Cueto now at 80 pitches. Yadi grounded out weakly and then Craig got a 2-out base hit - his 2nd hit of the game. Holliday then grounded out to shortstop to end the inning. ///// Wainwright back out to face the top of this tough lineup. Billy Hamilton makes it 100x tougher with a lead off base hit. Because there was nobody out - and with Yadier behind the plate, the Reds decided to bunt him over to 2nd with Votto and Bruce waiting in the wings. Votto went to a full count and Adam got him to ground out to Wong. Hamilton to 3rd for Bruce. Now, Matheny had a quick mound visit and instead of walking him, they would pitch around him. Unfortunately, Bruce got one up and in the middle and drove a base hit to give the Reds the first run of 2014. Waino was not happy. He bounced back to get his 10th K of the day against Mesoraco but the Reds took the lead.
CIN 1, STL 0

7th Inning
With Chapman waiting in the bullpen, the offense needs to get going - quickly. Cruz led off with a couple of really bad swings out of the zone to strikeout. Matt Carpenter then got his 2nd hit of the game, a chopper over Cueto's head. That brought in Wong. He stroked a 2-2 pitch down the right field line and scored Matt Carpenter, tying the game! With one out and Wainwright hitting - there was a bit of a decision to make. Do you give two hitters a chance to drive in Wong and call it a day for Wainwright? If he were at more than 82 pitches maybe. So Wainwright hits for himself. He struck out and it was up to Leury Garcia. Cueto enters the AB at 106 pitches - but still looking strong. Garcia couldn't come through. ///// Waino comes back out and gets Frazier swinging for his 11th strikeout. Then, he fell behind Phillips and he rode a 3-1 pitch right down the middle for the go-ahead solo homer. He got the next two hitters and then we went to the 8th down 2-1.
CIN 2, STL 1

8th Inning
PITCHING CHANGE (CIN): RHP Jonathan Broxton replaces Johnny Cueto. Jay grounded out but Broxton hurt himself on the pitch and the Reds had to go to a new arm. PITCHING CHANGE (CIN): LHP Sean Marshall replaces RHP Jonathan Broxton. He took his warm-up tosses and then Yadier Molina greeted him with a line shot to right center and it just snuck over the Great American Ballpark wall to tie it up! Craig then struck out and Holliday got into one to right field and it left the park! Holliday hits his first in a big spot!

@Cardinals Two homers in the inning (Molina and Holliday) gives the #stlcards their first lead of the day! #OpeningDay

Nelson Cruz (0-4) flew out to end the inning. ///// Decision time. Wainwright is at 95 pitches. They are at the top of the order and Billy Hamilton has one of the Reds 4 hits against him. Matheny left his ace out there. He got Hamilton to ground out. PINCH HITTER: Ryan Ludwick replaces Omar Infante. The Reds looking for somebody with one swing of the bat to tie up this game, and it's the former Cardinal Ludwick. And...he makes them pay. A solo job to tie the game. Wainwright is clearly perturbed when Mike takes the ball from him. PITCHING CHANGE: LHP Marc Rzepczynski replaces RHP Adam Wainwright. With both Votto and Bruce (LHB) coming up, Matheny went to Zep. He got Votto to pop out but then Bruce singled. He fell behind 3-0 to Mesoraco and after getting it to a full count, he walked him. It's Frazier now. He got a big ground out and the game remained tied.
STL 3, CIN 3

9th Inning
PITCHING CHANGE: LHP Aroldis Chapman replaces Sean Marshall. PINCH HITTER (STL): RHB David Freese replaces LHB Matt Carpenter. Freese comes in and gets a big lead off base hit off of Chapman. That allows Wong to bunt him into scoring position and Juan Lagares to pinch hit for Rzepczynski. PINCH HITTER (STL): RHB Juan Lagares replaces LHB Marc Rzepczynski. He struck out looking. Chapman was going max effort now. Another chance for Leury Garcia...and he K'ed also. Threat over. ///// PITCHING CHANGE (STL): RHP Trevor Rosenthal replaces Rzepczynski. Rosenthal mowed them down - struck out the side.

10th Inning
Jay singled, his first hit of the game and instead of bunting him over with our best hitter, Molina struck out. Craig followed suit with a strikeout - Chapman’s 4th. Holliday flew out. ///// Oh boy...Hamilton led off with a base hit off Rosenthal. Then, Ryan Hanigan pinch hit for Chapmans spot and we were definitely thinking sacrifice bunt - but he pulled it back and drove a base hit. Hamilton to 2nd for Joey Votto. No chance of getting out of this one, right? Rosenthal struck out Votto - the 3rd time he’s K’ed today. Choate time for Bruce. [COLOR=”Red”]PITCHING CHANGE (STL): LHP Randy Choate replaces RHP Trevor Rosenthal[/COLOR]. Choate struck him out looking! Mesoraco now. Matheny goes to Boggs. [COLOR=”Red”]PITCHING CHANGE (STL): RHP Mitchell Boggs replaces LHP Randy Choate[/COLOR]. Mesoraco hit it on a line but it held up for Holliday and disaster is averted!
STL 3, CIN 3

11th Inning
[COLOR=”Red”]PITCHING CHANGE (CIN): RHP J.J. Hoover replaces Chapman.[/COLOR] Nelson Cruz struck out for the 3rd time today - and he looked bad in all of them. Freese struck out and then Wong flew out. ///// Boggs stays in and gets Frazier and Phillips before Fellhauer got an infield base hit. Chris Heisey then triples and the Reds win.

Final Score: Cincinnati Reds 4, St. Louis Cardinals 3
WP - J.J. Hoover (1-0)
LP - Mitchell Boggs (0-1)
HR - STL: Y. Molina (1), Holliday (1); CIN: Phillips (1), Ludwick (1)

Tough way to lose there. A lot to like and a lot to dislike. That’s baseball.

[OOTPRealTime]

We had plenty of time to think about that tough Opening Day loss with a day off in between the first and second games. I realize why MLB does it - to have a rain out day when the weather is typically still suspect (especially in Northern cities), but it’s kind of a buzz kill. Anyway, we got through it and the team has been here before. We have 161 more games to make up for it. In game two, we throw out Michael Wacha against their Mike Leake.

@dgold No Holliday or Cruz in Matheny’s 2nd lineup of ‘14: Garcia-Jay-Molina-Craig(LF)-Adams(1B)-Freese-Wong-Lagares-Wacha. Facing RH M. Leake

@Reds #Reds lineup 4/2: 1. B. Hamilton-SS 2. O. Infante-LF 3. Votto-1B 4. Bruce-RF 5. Mesoraco-C 6. T. Frazier-3B 7. Phillips-2B 8. Fellhauer-CF // Mike Leake-SP

CARDINALS BOUNCE BACK IN GAME TWO
by: Jen Ohgosh / cardinals.com

There were a few storylines that surrounded the Cardinals during Spring Training, not the least of which being the teams apparent lack of power, magnified by the loss of Carlos Beltran to the Mariners in the off-season. While Carlos didn’t do the team any favors by blasting three homers on Tuesday in just his second game for the M’s, the Cardinals are holding their own after recording just nine homers in Spring games, the team already has four already in two games when the games count. Cincinnati’s home of Great American Ballpark may aide these numbers a bit, but none of the four were as big as David Freese’s eight inning blast off of Sam LeCure to give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead, one they wouldn’t relinquish.

Michael Wacha looked sharp at times, and lost at times. He finished with a line of 6 ⅓ innings pitched, seven hits, two earned runs, two walks and four strikeouts. Marc Rzepczynski got win in relief after getting two outs on five pitches in that key seventh inning.

“If we play every game against the Reds like this, I won’t have any hair left,” said a joking Manager Mike Matheny after the game.

The Reds got the scoring started in the bottom of the third when Votto drew a walk and Jay Bruce followed with an RBI triple over Jon Jay’s head in center field. Wacha regained his composure and didn’t let the Reds get Bruce in from third by retiring the next two on weak pop outs. That was considered a key by the Cardinals skipper, “Michael could have let things get out of hand there. But, he didn’t and that went a long way for us. Who knows how this goes if they grab a 2-0 lead or even more?”

After Reds starter Mike Leake got two quick outs in the top of the fourth and appeared to be cruising, Cardinals clean up man Allen Craig deposited the first pitch fastball from Leake into the left field stands to tie it up at one. The next three batters - Matt Adams (single), David Freese (single) and Kolten Wong (walk) all reached base, but Juan Lagares stranded them with a fly out to center field. Lagares, making his Cardinals debut in the starting lineup was a surprise to many. Matt Holliday struggled this Spring but hit a homer in the season opener. Matheny told reporters that this is an attempt to keep Matt fresh. He hadn’t had much success against Leake in the past and he really wanted to get Matt Adams in the lineup as well.

It wasn’t until the top of the sixth when Adams and Freese both singled to start the inning, but only managed to get one run in on a Lagares RBI ground out. This gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead which stood until the bottom of the seventh when Zack Cozart doubled off Wacha to start the inning. Billy Hamilton couldn’t move him over with a ground out and then Infante marked the end of Wacha’s day with a base hit. It was a rope to Lagares in left and the Reds did their homework on Lagares’ arm and held Cozart with just one out. With the feared lefties coming up (Joey Votto and Jay Bruce), Matheny went to Marc Rzepczynski. He got Votto to ground out but it was placed perfectly, allowing Cozart to score the tying run. “Zep” then struck out Bruce with Infante in scoring position to end the threat.

Enter David Freese. He hit a high flyball to left field that just snuck over the wall to give the Cardinals the 3-2 lead. Wong followed with a double but was stranded in a failed attempt to get some insurance.

With a 3-2 lead heading into the 8th inning, Matheny had a decision to make and in true Matheny-La Russa form, he went back to the guy who gave up the goods in the Opener, Mitchell Boggs to rebuild his confidence. Boggs got a quick ground out and fly out before Brandon Phillips doubled, putting the pressure on. He beared down and got Josh Fellhauer to ground out to Wong at second base. That put it in the hands of the Cardinals capable closer, Trevor Rosenthal, who got Cozart-Hamilton-Infante in order to even the series and the season record at 1-1.

--------------

These first two have been close, but glad to see we were able to get this one in W column.

[OOTPRealTime]

Good to get that first win last night and now we look to take the series against the defending National League Champion, Reds. We’ll have Lance Lynn on the mound, taking on Mat Latos. Mike is going with a new approach to his lineup today.

LINEUPS

CARDINALS (1-1)
1. Kolten Wong, 2B
2. Jon Jay, CF
3. Yadier Molina, C
4. Allen Craig, RF
5. Matt Holliday, LF
6. Matt Adams, 1B
7. David Freese, 3B
8. Leury Garcia, SS
9. Lance Lynn, RHP

[COLOR=”Red”]MM: I’m not in love with having back-to-back lefties at the top of the order, but Garcia hasn’t looked comfortable after getting a base-hit to start the season. I still really like Jay as our No. 2 hitter. Molina-Craig-Holliday-Adams will provide the punch and then Freese and Garcia can get things started again.

REDS (1-1)
1. Billy Hamilton, SS
2. Omar Infante, 2B
3. Joey Votto, 1B
4. Jay Bruce, RF
5. Devin Mesoraco, C
6. Todd Frazier, 3B
7. Brandon Phillips, 2B
8. Josh Fellhauer, CF
9. Mat Latos, RHP

*Same lineup in all three games of the series for Dusty Baker and the Reds.

….
….
….
….
….

@dgold Kolten Wong gets nod at lead off and responds with double to start game for #stlcards.
@dgold Wong scores on Allen Craig RBI base-hit to give #stlcards 1-0 lead.
@jenohgosh Latos gets out of trouble in first allowing just one run. After a half inning, #stlcards 1, #Reds 0
…..
@zlamick Big start for Lance Lynn. They are all big, but he has a lot to prove. Trouble in 1st inning, but holds them to one run
....
@dgold For 2nd straight inning, #stlcards start inning with a 2B off Latos - this time Freese. But hes stranded. 1-1 game.
….
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@JoseSantos Uh-oh. Votto struck out first two times up for #Reds and now he is exiting the game with what appears to be a back injury. #staytuned
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@jenohgosh Wow! Lynner with a RBI base hit to help himself. Scores Matt Adams. 2-1 @Cardinals. Fellow pitchers loving it.
@dgold Wong follows Lynn’s RBI hit with one of his own. Lynn looks lost on base paths and thrown out at 3B to end the threat. 3-1 good guys.
…..
…..
@zlamick Lynn gets 11-in-a-row before Hamilton gets his 2nd infield hit of the game.
@Reds Speedster Billy Hamilton steals his first (of many) base of the season against Yadier Molina. #RedsMovin
@jenohgosh Lynn bears down and gets Infante with Hamilton looming at 2B after hit and SB. Lynn through 5 IP, @Cardinals lead 3-1
….
….
@zlamick Lynn really has answered the call today. Gets 7 more in a row before walk to Infante ends his day at 107 pitches.
@Cardinals Official line on Lynn: 7.1 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K. 107 pitches; 72 strikes.
@dgold Spring sensation Jhan Marinez makes his @Cardinals debut in big spot. Gets Cozart on a weak ground ball to end threat. Rosenthal warming.
….
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@Cardinals That’s a winner! #stlcards beat #Reds 3-1. WP-Lynn (1-0) SV-Rosenthal (2)

-----------
Great win today. We'll have a happy flight to Pittsburgh. Good to see some production at the top of the order with Wong. Jay struggled through that series, but we believe he'll be just fine. Lance Lynn really had a great outing and that was great to see. Matheny did a nice job getting Marinez in a high leverage situation early on and just needed to get one out - that will build confidence. Off to Pittsburgh with a 2-1 record.

[OOTPRealTime]

We arrived in Pittsburgh around 7:00 PM last night and checked into the hotel and had a little time to enjoy the evening before starting our 3-game series there. Here is a look at the probable pitching match-ups for the series:

Game 1 (4-4): LHP Jaime Garcia (0-0) vs. RHP Justin Masterson (0-0)
Game 2 (4-5): RHP Shelby Miller (0-0) vs. RHP Gerrit Cole (0-0)
Game 3 (4-6): Adam Wainwright (0-0, 3.68) vs. Francisco Liriano (1-0, 0.00)

We got some good news on Jason Motte in that he is cleared for full pitching activities. That's good news, but the problem is, we need to get him work against live hitters before throwing him out there. So, he'll begin a rehab assignment at AAA-Memphis when they open their season next Thursday , the 10th. That didn't sit well with him, as he is an ultra competitive guy. Right now, we have him in Jupiter throwing some to batters in extended Spring Training - but it's not the same. Patience is a virtue as they say. Similarly, Chris Carpenter will join the Memphis rotation to get a couple of starts to see how he looks before a decision is made on his role. We still view it as a long shot, but it's one that is worth it.

@dgold Told that closer Trevor Rosenthal, who picked up saves in two straight games, is unavailable tonight in Pittsburgh.

@Cardinals Lineup 4/4: Wong2B-LagaresCF-YMolinaC-Craig1B-HollidayLF-CruzRF-Carpenter3B-KozmaSS / Jaime Garcia makes '14 debut

@Pirates Lineup for first game w/ @Cardinals: A. Hanson, J. Tabata, A. McCutchen, S. Marte, P. Alvarez, R. Martin, E. Nunez, G. Sanchez. Justin Masterson makes first start of '14

QUICK PREVIEW - MLB.com
Justin Masterson takes the mound for the Pirates (2-1) for the first time in 2014 after a disappointing '13 campaign, split between the Indians and Pirates. After going 4-13 with a 5.74 ERA in Cleveland, he was cast away to the National League and the Pirates were the buyers. He made five September starts for the Bucs that ended in a 1-2 record with a 4.41 ERA, surrendering five homers in those starts. He'll look to bounce back against the Central division rival Cardinals (2-1) and another highly scrutinized starting pitcher in Jaime Garcia. Garcia's ERA ballooned to over 4.00 for the first time in his career a year ago (4.20) and it was attributed to his inability to keep the ball on the ground - something that became his M.O. in his first three big league seasons. He allowed 32 homers in 31 starts. He'll take on a Pirates lineup that managed just one long ball in their three-game opening series with the Cubs. That was a solo shot by leadoff man, shortstop Alen Hanson. Both Starling Marte (1-for-13) and Pedro Alvarez (2-for-13) were held in check and look to break out against the Cardinals rotation. The Cardinals 3-4 hitters, Yadier Molina and Allen Craig each recorded five hits in their season opening series in Cincinnati, a series they won two games to one. Game time is set for 6:15 PM CT.

[OOTPRealTime]

1st Inning
Wong flies out weakly to center fielder Andrew McCutchen
Lagares hits a 1-1 pitch the other way between 1B and 2B for a base hit. 2nd hit of the year for Lagares.
Hit-and-run on with a 2-1 pitch to Molina and he grounds to short. No play at 2nd so Lagares winds up in scoring position. Molina out 6-3.
Masterson strikes out Alen Hanson to end the inning.
---------
Good AB from Hanson as he sees 7 pitches and ends it with a base-hit to right field.
Tabata bunts and is successful on the sacrifice, moving Hanson to 2B with 1 out.
McCutchen swings at a 2-0 pitch and grounds out to Wong up the middle on a very close play at first. 2 out. Hanson to third.
Marte makes Garcia pay with a homer to center field, making it 2-0 Pirates.
Alvarez hits a ground ball up the middle, nice play by Kozma to get him 6-3.

[u]2nd Inning[/b]
Holliday grounds out to Alvarez at 3B.
Cruz strikes out. Now 0-for-6 with 4 K's to start his season.
Carpenter hits a line shot but Hanson makes a nice play to rob him of a hit. 1-2-3
-----------------
E. Nunez strikes out three pitches.
T. Sanchez walks on four pitches.
G. Sanchez walks to put runners at 1st and 2nd with one out.
Masterson grounds into a 5-4-3 DP to end the inning.

3rd Inning
Kozma strikes out in his first AB of the season.
Masterson walks his counterpart Garcia.
Wong tried to bunt for a hit and instead bunted it right back to Masterson, who made a good play and turned to 2nd to get Garcia there.
Wong steals 2nd base on the first pitch to Lagares.
Lagares comes up with his second base-hit of the game, scoring Wong to cut the lead to 2-1 Pirates.
Masterson let one fly to the backstop and Lagares moves up to 2nd with Yadi at the plate.
Molina hit a 10-hopper to Nunez at shortstop and he booted it. Lagares to 3rd.
Craig grounds out to end the inning.
------------------
Hanson singles up the middle for his second hit of the game.
Tabata singles to center with Hanson running. 1st and 3rd, nobody out.
McCutchen keeps it rolling with a base-hit to center, scoring Hanson to make it 3-1 Bucs.
Garcia strikes out Marte for the first out.
Alvarez gets a base hit to left field, Tabata held at 3rd. Bases loaded and one out for E. Nunez.
MOUNT VISIT
Nunez breaks it open with a 2-RBI double. 5-1 Pirates
PITCHING CHANGE: Joe Kelly replaces Jaime Garcia
T. Sanchez grounds out to Matt Carpenter at 3B for 2nd out.
Intential walk of Gaby Sanchez to get to Masterson.
Kelly strikes out Masterson to limit the damage.

4th Inning
Holliday rips one down the line for a leadoff, stand-up double.
Holliday moves to 3rd on Masterson's 2nd wild pitch.
Cruz is hit by a pitch and goes to first base.
Carpenter hits a weak ground ball to Hanson's left. He makes a nice play to get Cruz at 2nd but they can't turn it and Carpenter gets his first RBI of the season and cuts the Pirates lead to 5-2.
Pedro Alvarez makes a nice bare-handed play to get Kozma for the 2nd out. Carpenter to 3rd.
Kelly strikes out to limit the damage.
---------------
Hanson beats out a slow bouncer past the mound for his 3rd hit.
Hanson steals 2nd base.
Wild pitch moves Hanson to 3rd.
Tabata grounds out, scoring Hanson to make it 6-2 Pirates.
McCutchen hits a high pop fly in no man's land and it drops. He hustles for a double.
Marte strikes out.
Alvarez walks on four pitches - not intentionally.
Nunez hits a shot up the middle, Kozma makes a nice play to keep in on the infield. Bases loaded, 2 outs.
T. Sanchez grounds out to end inning.

5th Inning
Wong grounds out to Alvarez.
Lagares strikes out.
Molina grounds out to Alvarez.
---------------
G. Sanchez grounds out to Kozma.
Masterson strikes out. Kelly's 3rd K.
Hanson hit by pitch. Not intentional, and had nothing to do with his 3-for-3 day, but the Pirates don't like it one bit.
Tabata grounds into a 6-4 FC to end the inning.

6th Inning
Craig grounds out to Nunez (SS).
Holliday struck out.
Cruz grounds out to Nunez.
--------------
McCutchen grounds out to Kozma.
Marte strikes out for 3rd time in game.
Alvarez doubles off the center field wall.
Nunez grounds out to 3B.

7th Inning
M. Carpenter leads off with a double. Masterson at 86 pitches.
Kozma strikes out.
Matt Adams pinch hits for Joe Kelly
Adams gives it a ride to deep right center field but it's caught just before the track.
Wong hits one on the screws right at McCutchen to end the inning. No damage.
--------------
Alexi Ogando enters as the new pitcher, making his Cardinals debut
T. Sanchez lines out to Lagares in center field.
G. Sanchez strikes out.
Alex Presley pinch hits for Justin Masterson
Presley pops out.

8th Inning
Frank De Los Santos enters as the new Pirates pitcher
Lagares strikes out.
Molina grounds out weakly to the pitcher. He's 0-for-4.
Craig strikes out. He's 0-for-4.
--------------
Hanson strikes out. First time he's been retired today.
Tabata strikes out.
McCutchen gets his 3rd hit of the game, a line drive just over Kozma's reach.
Marte struck out for the 4th time. Ogando's 4th K.

9th Inning
Jason Grilli enters as the new Pirates pitcher
Holliday mashes his 2nd double of the game.
Cruz strikes out (again). Now he's 0-for-8 with 5 K's.
Carpenter grounds out.
Kozma strikes out to end it.

Final Score: Pittsburgh Pirates 6, St. Louis Cardinals 2

A disappointing outing today. Jaime was not good. He didn't appear ready. Kozma and Cruz looked completely overmatched all day long. If we were to draw a positive from this game, it was that Joe Kelly and Alexi Ogando came in after Garcia and pitched very well. Lagares had two hits (but 2 K's) and Holliday had two very hard hit doubles down each base line. As a team, though, we struck out 11 times - Kozma had 3 of them. I'm starting to wonder if he's even good enough to be our backup at the position. Tough loss, but tomorrow is a new day!

[OOTPRealTime]

LINEUPS

CARDINALS (2-2)
1. Kolten Wong, 2B
2. Jon Jay, CF
3. Yadier Molina, C
4. Allen Craig, RF
5. Matt Holliday, LF
6. Matt Adams, 1B
7. David Freese, 3B
8. Leury Garcia, SS
9. Shelby Miller, RHP

MM: Going with Kolten/Jon at the top again. David (Freese) has earned another start with a good start with the bat. Hoping Leury can figure some things out in the 8-hole, seeing more fastballs. We'll see.

PIRATES (3-1)
1. Eduardo Nunez, SS
2. Alex Presley, LF
3. Andrew McCutchen, CF
4. Starling Marte, RF
5. Pedro Alvarez, 3B
6. Neil Walker, 2B
7. Russell Martin, C
8. Garrett Jones, 1B
9. Gerrit Cole, RHP

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CARDS LOSE SECOND STRAIGHT IN PITTSBURGH
By: Derek Gold, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny would rather talk about the positives after a tough loss in Pittsburgh for the second straight day. The negatives? He'll deal with those internally. It doesn't take a person in his position to identify those areas of improvement needed. So, we'll take a look at them following a 4-2 loss in Pittsburgh, dropping the Cardinals to 2-3 on the season.

First, the struggles continue at the top of the order, even though Kolten Wong (leadoff) and Jon Jay (second) each recorded a hit in today's game. Wong, who has emerged at the leadoff man by default after slow start from Leury Garcia in that role, struck out three times. Jay is hitting just .118 (2-for-17) to start the season. The team hoped that Garcia (3-for-17) would emerge as the top-of-the-order hitter - but both are inexperienced and making their big league debuts. That's a lot to put on young players.

Second, David Freese, despite a hot start with the bat, hitting .500 through 14 at-bats, made two errors in the field and another on the base paths. After hitting a double in the 2nd inning, following Matt Adams game-tying home run, he tried to stretch the hit into a three-base hit only to be cut down by Starling Marte. Who knows how the game would have turned out with him standing on second base with one out early in this game?

Third, let's focus on the difference between the outfield defense between the Cardinals and Pirates. With Alex Presley getting the start in left field, the Pirates had three gold-glove quality outfielders. And it showed. With the Cardinals leading 2-1 in the top of the 6th inning, Matt Adams hit a shot to the gap in right-center field. Starling Marte made a great sprawling catch to rob Adams of his third hit and almost certainly two more RBI and a Cardinals 4-1 lead. Who knows how the game turns out with that ball getting down. Later in the game, Alex Presley made a similar catch on a Freese-batted ball destined for the left-center gap to lead off the 8th inning. In comparison, the Cardinals trot out Matt Holliday (below average), Jon Jay (average) and Allen Craig (below average) in their outfield. And it showed.

OK, enough piling on the negatives. What were the positives that Matheny would rather discuss? Well, there is Adams. He hit the ball with authority three times today. The first was the aforementioned game-tying home run in response to Andrew McCutchen's first of the year in the first inning against Cardinals starter Shelby Miller. The second was a clean base-hit. The third was the ball that Marte robbed him of in the sixth inning. Even that positive is diminished slightly by a 9th inning at-bat against Pirates closer Jason Grilli as he swing at ball four in the dirt to become one of Grilli's three strikeout victims in the games final inning.

Another positive is the performance of Jhan Marinez, who entered the game after Shelby Miller hit the wall in the 7th inning, allowing two runs to score and the Pirates a 4-2 lead. With runners on the corners and two outs, Marinez entered to retire the dangerous Marte and pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning to keep the game within reach. That reach was only allowed to extend so far with the dynamic end-gamers of the Pirates: Mark Melancon and Grilli. They shut the door and move to 4-1 on the season.

"It was a well pitched game by both young starters (Miller and Cole), but they just came up with the big hits and the big plays in the field," said Matheny. Cole was bailed out by his defense and ended his day with a three-pitch strikeout of Wong to end the seventh inning, tossing his 104th pitch of the game, followed by an emphatic fist pump and praise from the Pirates dugout.

Baseball is a game of momentum. The Cardinals took the lead, 2-1, on an Allen Craig RBI base-hit in the 6th inning before Adams was robbed to end the inning. It didn't take long for the Pirates to tie the game when leadoff, and traditionally light-hitting Eduardo Nunez drove a solo homer over the center field fence to get even. They then took the momentum from the big strikeout of Wong to end the 7th and scored two runs to take the lead in the bottom half on RBI hits from Presley and McCutchen.

Enter Melancon and Grilli and the lights were out.

The Cardinals and Pirates will conclude their series tomorrow from PNC Park at 12:35. A pair of aces will battle as Adam Wainwright will take on Francisco Liriano. Following which, the team will head home for their much anticipated home opener at Busch Stadium.

[ProphetEyes]

Did you give up on this?

[StLee]

[rpriske]

^^^^ this

[OOTPRealTime]

Sorry for the lack of posts. Crazy time. I have absolutely not given up on it and I'll catch up eventually. I set a bit of a precedence with the amount on each post. I may go to more of a every few days update - with real life getting in the way - I couldn't keep up with what I had done before.

Also, I have another OOTP project/idea under way that might excite some people. I'll hopefully be announcing that here soon after some testing with 15. Thanks for staying after me on this...good to know people are interested!

[OOTPRealTime]

Game #6 at Pittsburgh Pirates - Sunday, April 6th
Trying to avoid an early season sweep in Pittsburgh, we'll need to find a way to get a W here. Luckily, we have just the guy to do it on the mound in Wainwright. We'll take on a tough Liriano though on the other side.

LINEUPS

CARDINALS (2-3)
1. Leury Garcia, 2B
2. Matt Carpenter, 1B
3. Yadier Molina, C
4. Allen Craig, RF
5. Matt Holliday, LF
6. David Freese, 3B
7. Juan Lagares, CF
8. Pete Kozma, SS
9. Adam Wainwright, RHP

MM: Going with Garcia at 2B and leading off today. We'll get Kozma in the game. He really needs to show us something soon. Matt Carpenter will hit in the 2-hole, he's earned a shot there. Need to find a way today. With the LHP Liriano on the mound, no reason to get Matt Adams and Kolten Wong in this lineup.

PIRATES (4-1)
1. Russell Martin, C
2. Alex Presley, LF
3. Andrew McCutchen, CF
4. Starling Marte, RF
5. Pedro Alvarez, 3B
6. Neil Walker, 2B
7. Alen Hanson, SS
8. Garrett Jones, 1B
9. Francisco Liriano, LHP

----------------

Big win today. We jumped on Liriano early and Matt Holliday hit a big homer to center field to get a 3-0 lead in the 1st inning. The final score was 6-3 as Wainwright got the W. Matt Carpenter, Yadi, Craig and Holliday each recorded two hits. Holliday had 4 RBI. Nice to even up the record heading home for the first time in 2014.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Game #7 vs. Cincinnati Reds - Monday, April 7th - 2014 HOME OPENER
The atmosphere is electric once again for Opening Day in St. Louis. The new Ballpark Village across the street adds a whole new dimension to the ballpark and skyline and we're excited to be home. We'll need to carry that over to the field and build on a big win in Pittsburgh yesterday. Michael Wacha makes his second start of the season.

Before the game, we activated Jason Motte from the DL and sent Pete Kozma back to AAA-Memphis. We wanted an extra arm in the tired bullpen for now.

@dgold #Cardinals make first roster move of '14: Activate @JMotte30 from DL and option Pete Kozma to AAA-Memphis. Extra arm in bullpen.

LINEUPS

CARDINALS (3-3)
1. Leury Garcia, SS
2. Matt Carpenter, 3B
3. Yadier Molina, C
4. Allen Craig, RF
5. Matt Adams, 1B
6. Matt Holliday, LF
7. Jon Jay, CF
8. Kolten Wong, 2B
9. Michael Wacha, RHP

MM: Going back to a more "normal" lineup for us. We'd like to see somebody grab the bull by the horns and become a viable leadoff man. So far, that hasn't happened. Matt Carpenter makes his second straight appearance in the 2-hole.

REDS (2-4)
1. Billy Hamilton, SS
2. Omar Infante, LF
3. Joey Votto, 1B
4. Jay Bruce, RF
5. Devin Mesoraco, C
6. Todd Frazier, 3B
7. Brandon Phillips, 2B
8. Josh Fellhauer, CF
9. Mike Leake, RHP

----------------

CARDINALS FALL FLAT ON OPENING DAY IN ST. LOUIS
By: Jen Ohgosh, Cardinals.com

The offense didn't make much noise following an Opening Day celebration and ceremony that was anything but quiet. The Cardinals ring in another season with the parade of cars, Budweiser Clydesdales and Cardinals Hall-of-Famers making their annual appearance, much to the delight of Cardinals Nation. However, the team that followed, didn't live up to the hype. The Cardinals managed just five hits off of Reds starter Mike Leake and fell 3-0.

Michael Wacha took the loss as he didn't appear sharp in five innings, allowing seven hits, three earned runs and two walks. He falls to 0-1 on the season.

Jhan Marinez pitched well in relief, giving the Cardinals two innings, allowing one hit and striking out two.

The Reds were powered by a three-run fifth inning and that was all they needed. The Cardinals fall to 3-4 on the year and the Reds climb to that same mark.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Game #8 vs. Cincinnati Reds (3-4) - Tuesday, April 8th, 2014
We need a bounce back from a flat Opening Day. Lance Lynn against Mat Latos.

LINEUPS

CARDINALS (3-4)
1. Kolten Wong, 2B
2. Jon Jay, CF
3. Yadier Molina, C
4. Allen Craig, RF
5. Matt Holliday, LF
6. David Freese, 3B
7. Matt Adams, 1B
8. Leury Garcia, SS
9. Lance Lynn, RHP

MM: Changed it up a bit today giving Kolten a shot at the lead off spot despite his struggles early on. Hoping to get Jon going too (.120). Freeser getting a start today, but we expect Matt Carp to get an AB as he's out top pinch-hit guy when not starting.

REDS (3-4)
1. Billy Hamilton, SS
2. Brandon Phillips, 2B
3. Joey Votto, 1B
4. Jay Bruce, RF
5. Todd Frazier, 3B
6. Xavier Paul, LF
7. Ryan Hanigan, C
8. Josh Fellhauer, CF
9. Mat Latos, RHP

--------------------

Scoring Summary:

Bottom 2nd: Freese RBI base-hit, scoring Craig ... 1-0 Cardinals
Top 3rd: Billy Hamilton singles home Ryan Hanigan / Joey Votto grounds into a FC, scoring Josh Fellhauer ... 2-1 Reds
Top 4th: Ryan Hanigan grounds out to second base, scoring Todd Frazier / Billy Hamilton reaches on a error by LF Matt Holliday, scoring X. Paul and J. Fellhauer ... 5-1 Reds
Bottom 4th: Matt Adams homers to left field, David Freese scores ... 5-3 Reds
Bottom 6th: Allen Craig homers to left field, Yadier Molina scores ... 5-5 tie
Bottom 10th: Matt Carpenter singles, Yadier Molina scores ... 6-5 Cardinals

@Cardinals Come back complete! #stlcards rally from down 5-1 to beat the #Reds! 2-run HR from Matt Adams and Allen Craig lead the way!

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Game #9 vs. Cincinnati Reds (3-5) - April 9th, 2014
Big win last night. Great to see the guys rally from a deficit to get a W. Now, looking to get two series wins against the rival Reds. Jaime Garcia vs. Homer Bailey.

LINEUPS

CARDINALS (4-4)
1. Kolten Wong, 2B
2. Juan Lagares, RF
3. Allen Craig, 1B
4. Matt Holliday, LF
5. David Freese, 3B
6. Jon Jay, CF
7. Leury Garcia, SS
8. Jose Molina, C
9. Jaime Garcia, LHP

MM: Getting another start for Lagares, really hoping to see him show us something. Also, giving Yadier his first break of the season.

REDS (3-5)
1. Billy Hamilton, CF
2. Brandon Phillips, 2B
3. Joey Votto, 1B
4. Jay Bruce, RF
5. Devin Mesoraco, C
6. Todd Frazier, 3B
7. Ryan Ludwick, LF
8. Omar Infante, SS
9. Homer Bailey, RHP

/////////////////////////////

Jaime Garcia shoved the Reds today, going seven innings, allowing just two hits, one walk and five strikeouts. Mitchell Boggs came in for the 8th inning (3rd hold) and Trevor Rosenthal came in for his 4th save of the season. It made up for the lack of offense, as we collected just six hits, one being an 8th inning homer from Allen Craig (his 3rd) to give us some breathing room at 2-0. Leury Garcia drove the earlier run in the 4th inning with a base hit. Good win. We move to 5-4 and the Reds fall to 3-6.

I'll keep working on getting caught up this way ... just don't want to overload in one post.