INSIDE
PITCH
Right
fielder Carlos Beltran did all he could for the Cardinals Friday night. Enjoying
his third two-homer night in the last couple of weeks, Beltran added a triple
and a double but the Cardinals fizzled away bases-loaded situations in both the
10th and 11th innings before succumbing to the Atlanta Braves, 9-7, in 12
innings.
Beltran's two-homer game -- he drove
in four runs -- was the 33rd of his career. Both were hit right-handed,
including a 454-foot shot into Big Mac Land at Busch Stadium. He has nine homers
left-handed and three right-handed and, with 31 runs batted in, he said he felt
good at the plate from both sides.
"It happens a couple of times during
the season when you feel that way," Beltran said. "I guess right now I'm going
through one.
"Today I had a good day, but it
doesn't mean anything."
Manager Mike Matheny said, "He tried
to throw it all on his shoulders and he almost did it."
Matheny raised some eyebrows when he
had catcher Yadier Molina sacrifice with runners at first and second and nobody
out in the 10th inning. Matheny said he wanted to stay out of the double play
and Molina executed the bunt successfully.
Rookie Matt Carpenter, who earlier had
hit his second home run, was walked intentionally, to Matheny's surprise. But,
with the bases loaded, he still had David Freese, one of his best clutch
batsmen, available as a pinch hitter. Freese, however, grounded into a double
play.
"I like that opportunity with David,"
said Matheny. "(The bunt) is a play that we'll do again tomorrow. It's a good
play.
"When you get an opportunity to get
people over, you do that. It's fundamental baseball. Every once in a while,
we'll make a different play but for the most part in that situation we're going
to bunt."
NOTES,
QUOTES
LHP Jaime Garcia had his
second straight poor start, right from the start. He allowed four runs in the
first inning at Houston last Saturday and two on Friday in the
first inning, plus three more in the second. Like on Saturday, he pitched better
later in the game but manager Mike Matheny said, "It's hard to overcome those
deficits."
C Yadier Molina, coming
off a bruised left wrist he suffered on Tuesday, had two passed balls in the
first inning. It was only the second time in his career he had done that, but
Mike Matheny said Garcia's ball movement had something to do with both.
"Sometimes it goes in the direction it's supposed and sometimes it doesn't,"
said Matheny. "Everything's fine with (Molina's) wrist."
1B Lance Berkman wasn't
activated, still having felt a little sore the day before after testing his
sprained left calf on Wednesday in Arizona.
"He wasn't going to be in
there today anyhow," said manager Mike Matheny of Berkman facing Atlanta LHP
Mike Minor. Berkman has been on the disabled list since April 19 and he jokingly
said he didn't want to take away from the pre-game ceremonies in which former
manager Tony La Russa's No. 10 was retired. "It's all about Tony," joked
Berkman. "I didn't want to upstage him with my return to the game. I'm going to
postpone it for a day or two and let everything calm back
down."
RHP Kyle McClellan
suffered the loss when he gave up a two-run, opposite-field homer by RF Jason Heyward on a 1-0 pitch. "It was off the plate," he said. "You get behind good
hitters and it's going to hurt you. He's a good hitter and he didn't miss that
one."
SS Rafael Furcal
continues to give the Cardinals outstanding performance as a leadoff man. He
extended his hitting streak to 10 games (20-for-43, .465) and maintained an
on-base percentage of .423.
By the
Numbers:
5- Times the Cardinals
have hit back-to-back homers after RF Carlos Beltran and 1B Allen Craig
connected in the fourth inning.
Quote to
Note:
"It's not something
that's going to be that much longer. I've already wasted three weeks of the
season. Now that I've spent all this time on the DL, I want to make sure it's
right before I come back."
- 1B Lance Berkman, on
his strained left calf, which has kept him out since April 19.
MEDICAL
WATCH
RHP Kyle Lohse (tight
left hamstring) left his May 9 start. He will get an extra day of rest before
his next start, May 15.
C Yadier Molina (bruised
left hand) left the May 8 game, and he didn't play May 9. He returned May
11.
1B Lance Berkman
(strained left calf) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 19.
He had difficulty when he attempted running May 3 but felt much better May 6
after running for about 10 minutes in the outfield. He fielded grounders May 9.
He could have been activated May 11 but wasn't ready.
RHP Scott Linebrink
(right shoulder capsulitis) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to
March 30. He felt tightness during an April 30 bullpen session, and he didn't
appear close to a return.
RHP Chris Carpenter (weak
right shoulder) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 26. He
isn't likely to begin a real throwing program until May and probably won't pitch
until at least June.
Link to boxscore: Atlanta 9, St. Louis 7 (12 innings)