November 21, 2009
Order Now The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2010 is now in development and will ship in mid November! This year's book will feature articles by THT's staff as well as Bill James, Tom Tango and Craig Wright. If you use this link to purchase the Annual, you will be in the first group to receive it and you'll be supporting THT. 
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Red Dawn: Cardinals Hold Off Padres to Take Game 1by Brian GunnOctober 05, 2005 There wasn’t much to suggest that Jake Peavy was pitching any worse than Chris Carpenter. Carpenter struggled a bit with his location, while Peavy was flashing a plus heater, a nice tailing change and a two-seamer with extra bite. But he didn’t make pitches when he needed them most, and he was gone before the end of the fifth inning—numbers-wise, his worst outing of the year. You’ll hear the phrase “anything can happen” a lot over the next couple of weeks, usually in regard to underdogs nabbing a game or a series from the favorites. While this is undoubtedly true, one thing folks often forget is that “anything can happen” sometimes swings in favor of the bullies as well. That’s what came about for the Cards yesterday—they were the beneficiaries of a couple walks, a few lucky hits, some poor pitch selection by the other team, extremely timely hitting, and—as we found out after the game—a freak injury. The end result was an 8-5 win that was in doubt only at the very end. How’d he do? Well, he certainly succeeded in getting the Pads to pound the ball into the dirt, especially with runners on base, as the Cards' defense turned three double plays behind him. I wasn’t as impressed with his command: three walks, three strikeouts and 91 pitches over six innings, plus only three swinging strikes the whole game (one by the opposing pitcher). Overall I give him a "B" for location and poise but only a "C" for stuff, and I think it remains to be seen whether the “old” Chris Carpenter (the one who went 13-0 with a 1.36 ERA from mid-June to mid-September) is back. After missing his location that last time I wondered if Peavy was suffering from youth, nerves, heat or all three. But now we know that, in fact, Peavy broke at least one of his ribs in the third inning, most likely when he caught his spike on the pitching rubber. I don’t know if you blame Peavy for not being more vocal, or manager Bruce Bochy for not being more aware, but you simply can’t have your ace out there operating at less than 100%. If Peavy departs the game earlier, it’s entirely possible the Pads’ bullpen (no runs and only three hits over the final 3.2 innings) could hold on enough to set the stage for the team’s ninth-inning rally. Needless to say, the loss of Peavy is a giant blow to San Diego—in fact, he figured prominently in every scenario that had the Padres winning. The Padres can win without him (just as the Marlins won it all a couple of years ago without A.J. Burnett), but it’s not likely, and no one likes to see a team compete without its best player. Case in point: the smash by Sanders down the line, which Mark Sweeney let slip past him at first base. It was an eminently fieldable ball, and if Sweeney snares it the whole complexion of the inning changes. Contrast that to St. Louis’ defenders, who consistently seemed to be in the right place at the right time and who made plays when they had to. The man responsible for this rally was Jason Isringhausen, the Cardinals’ closer who has a talent for making games needlessly dramatic. (If he were a movie director he’d be someone like Baz Luhrmann, doing everything he can to goose the narrative.) Izzy came in and got hit hard—so convincingly that an unfamiliar chorus of boos rained down from the Busch Stadium crowd. I haven’t been sold on Isringhausen all year. Even as he picked up saves in bunches, he sported a 1.81 K/BB ratio (very poor for an elite closer), and his fielding-independent ERA was a so-so 3.58. The Padres seemed to be locked into him as soon as he entered the game, but, as usual, Izzy was able to rear back and powder three straight swinging strikes past San Diego’s last hope, catcher Ramon Hernandez. As it turned out, what the Padres didn’t get—a grand slam from the middle of their order—is what the Cardinals did, and that made all the difference. For two years, Brian Gunn ran Redbird Nation, "A St. Louis Cardinals obsession site." If you didn't like this article, e-mail him and let him know. Commenting is not available in this weblog entry. Do you have a general question or comment for one of THT's writers? Send it in to our weekly mailbag We also welcome unsolicited op-ed pieces of approximately 500 words for consideration. We reserve the right to edit for length, clarity and consistency of style. Please include your whole name and location to be considered. If you have a comment about this specific article, please email the writer. Next Article: Sox vs. Sox: Game 1>> <<Previous Article: Playoff Preview: Braves-Astros |
