Blake Hawksworth Feeling More Comfortable (Game Notes 8-2-09)

Slowly but surely, Blake Hawksworth is starting to figure out what it takes to be a Major League pitcher.
Cardinals Official Site

Bud Norris was sitting as his locker with his headphones on while fiddling with his cell phone Saturday when approached by a reporter. Norris obliged an interview request and said he was just messing around, and he certainly didn't show of any signs of nerves on the eve of his first Major League start.
Astros Official Site

Cardinals Beat Astros 3-1: Chris Carpenter Complete Game & Doubles; Matt Holliday 3 Hits & 2 Solo HRs; Julio Lugo 1 RBI; Yadier Molina Doubles

Individual Highlights:
Julio Lugo 1-for-3 with one RBI, one sac fly, one strikeout, and assisted in one double play.
Mark DeRosa 1-for-4 with one strikeout.
Matt Holliday 3-for-4 with two home runs, two RBIs, two runs, and one strikeout.
Yadier Molina 3-for-4 with one double, one stolen base, one strikeout, and threw out one runner.
Chris Carpenter Started, Win (10-3), nine innings, eight hits, one earned run, one home run, and five strikeouts. 1-for-3 with one double, one run, and two strikeouts at the plate. (p-s:110-77)(g/f:16-5)

Rough Outing:
Rest Of The Team

Boxscore
Cardinals Official Site Post Game
AP/STL Today Post Game
STL Today Post Game

Graph Of The Day: NL Central Rivals

One of the cool things that Baseball Prospectus offers is a day to day history of each teams playoff odds. While their odds are clearly inferior to mine :), this is a very cool feature.

Beyond The Boxscore

Why Matt Holliday Should Bat Second

The Cardinals were rightfully pleased to add new cleanup hitter Matt Holliday to their roster in their quest to reach the playoffs and the World Series here in 2009. Holliday provides a significant upgrade in left field and has helped to spark St. Louis’ offense ever since his arrival. I do have one concern, however. Holliday does not belong hitting behind Albert Pujols in the clean up spot.

The Cardinal Nation Blog

Cardinals Minor League Player Of The Month: July 2009

The Cardinal Nation

New Team, New Town

The day that I was traded, we were in New York after coming in from the West Coast. So I got up pretty late because it was still pretty early on the West Coast. I got a text from my agent that said that it was getting close, that I was close to being traded to the Cardinals and he would let me know. He was about to get on a plane.

Matt Holliday Blog

Saturday Tidbits: Brendan Ryan, Khalil Greene, Mitchell Boggs, Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday

Brendan Ryan said today that his sore left ankle has made a great deal of improvement. He hopes to play tomorrow, but that looks very unlikely. Tuesday in New York is definitely not out of the question, though.
Obviously, You're Not A Golfer

Khalil Greene: Off Second Rehab Stint
Mitch Boggs: Return To Sender

Matt Holliday Extends Streak With Two Homers

It didn’t take long tonight for new Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday to extend his hitting streak. Holliday, who entered the game against the Houston Astros at Busch Stadium riding an eight-game streak, homered to right field as the leadoff man in the second inning. And then he hit another homer in the eighth as the Cardinals moved ahead of the Astros, 3-1.

Cardinal Beat

Matt Holliday Is Protection Plus

How damaging was it for teams to allow resident Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols to reach base ahead of new left fielder Matt Holliday in Holliday’s first eight games here?

Cardinal Beat

Call For Submissions

I will be running a new Inbox (the artist formerly known as the Mailbag) next week. And this time, for real.

Obviously, You're Not A Golfer

The Cardinal Nation July 2009 Pitcher Of The Month: Scott Schneider

Batavia Muckdogs right-handed pitcher Scott Schneider is our Scout.com Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Month for July. He also was named the Cardinals organization Pitcher of the Month.

The Cardinal Nation

Fast-Healing Brendan Ryan Shooting For Sunday; Tony LaRussa Is Not

Shortstop Brendan Ryan, whose left ankle is much improved after he fouled a ball off it on Thursday, said today he was hoping to play in Sunday’s series finale between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Houston Astros at Busch Stadium. But manager Tony La Russa said he wanted to wait until after Monday’s off-day to make a determination although he thought a Tuesday return in New York might be reasonable. Earlier, La Russa thought that Ryan would be out until at least next weekend.

Cardinal Beat

The Life Of A Springfield Cardinal

A lot goes on at Hammons Field before and after fans trickle into the stands for the game. The life of a minor leaguer is harder than it looks.

Springfield News-Leader

Welcome To August!

Hard to believe, but here we are. We've played over 100 games and nearly four months. The River Bandits have traveled all over the Midwest. We've seen wins and losses, 14-inning games and rain-shortened seven-inning affairs, blowouts, suspended games, and a host of other twists and turns that inevitably pop up over the course of a full season. That's why you've gotta love this game.

Bandits Banter

Khalil Greene Active, But Not In Lineup

As expected, righthander Mitchell Boggs, who started Friday night’s 4-3 win for the St. Louis Cardinals over Houston, was optioned to Class AAA Memphis today and infielder Khalil Greene was activated from the 15-day disabled list. But, though Greene is four for 11 against Houston lefthander Wandy Rodriguez, who will start tonight against the Cardinals, Greene will not be in the starting lineup.

Cardinal Beat

Games Of The Day 8-1-09

Houston flirted with NL Central division hopes as they swept St. Louis two weeks ago. They’ve lost six of eight since then, including one to the Cardinals Friday night. They’ll try to get back on the winning track with a tough opponent as Wandy Rodriguez battles Chris Carpenter. Rodriguez should get pitcher of the month kudos with a 4-0 record and an 0.75 ERA in July. He allowed just three runs, all three scoring on two home runs. Opponents were 0 for 20 with runners in scoring position. Part of Carpenter’s effectiveness is holding lefties to a lower batting average and slugging percentage than righties. He does walk them a bit more, however.

Baseball Musings

Matt Adams: Suffered Chest Pains

The Cardinal Nation

Big Boggs Man

In many respects, last night’s game was an important one for Mitch Boggs and the Cardinals. Though we’re only going to need a fifth starter 5 or 6 times the rest of the season, the team needs to feel comfortable that they can run someone out there and that that pitcher can keep them in the game while he’s in there. We don’t need our 5th starter to be as good as Carp or Wainwright but we do need him to get 5-6 innings and be able to give the team a chance to win the game. Boggs did that last night despite being somewhat wild. Even Tony had nice things to say about Boggs after the game:

Viva El Birdos

Matt Holliday Hitting & Getting On Base At A Record Pace

Hitting cleanup behind superstar Albert Pujols, new St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday is clearly loving it. In every one of his eight games in the uniform to date, Holliday has at least one hit, 17 in total.

The Cardinal Nation Blog

Cardinals Minor League Notebook 8-1-09

Pitching carried the day on Friday as the standouts include P.J. Walters, Oneli Perez, Brian Broderick and Arquimedes Nieto. The system finished 7-2.
The Cardinal Nation

Tri Cities Sports Post Game

Mike Folli: Learning From The Best

During a quick stop at Triple-A Memphis in May, Springfield Cardinals infielder Mike Folli got a taste of seeing former big leaguers at work every day.

Springfield News-Leader

Nicaragua In The World Baseball Tournament 8-1-09

The pre-national baseball suffered a significant low yesterday after it was known out of Ronald Garth by problems in his left hand, which forced him to undergo an operation in the coming days, although when, depends on the economic support that offer the leaders of Grenada. (Translated)

El Nuevo Diario
Google Translate

Puerto Rican Baseball Federation 8-1-09

The Patrol of San Sebastian were placed yesterday, Friday, at the gates of the Carnival of Champions tournament at the top of the Baseball Federation of Puerto Rico to overcome the Cardinals 5-0 in Lajas. (Translated)

Primera Hora
Google Translate

Colombian Summer League 8-1-09

The Caymans and monomers Bolivariano Olympic play today at the Thomas Arrieta in the 15-day Summer League Cunit, tournament baseball in the highest category of the Atlantic. (Translated)

El Heraldo
Google Translate

MLB Clinic Coming To Colombia In September

Between 21 and September 27, five coaches will be in Barranquilla dictating MLB baseball clinics for boys between 14 and 18 years. These instructors, whose names have not been confirmed to belong MLB academies in the Dominican Republic. All chosen to come to Barranquilla more than 20 years of experience working with boys between 16 and 20 years. Surely, the coordinator of the clinic is Mr. Felix Feliz, who was the scouting director for Latin America of the San Diego Padres. (Translated)

Team Renteria
Google Translate

Summer League Baseball Starts Today In The Dominican

The Dominican Republic baseball today opens a new page with this since the birth Saturday of the Dominican Baseball League Summer circuit begins with four teams at a senior level embedded in the provinces, La Vega, Monsignor Nouel, and Duarte Espaillat. (Translated)

Listin Diario
Google Translate

Ex-Cardinals Watch 8-1-09: Kip Wells & Jorge Sosa Called Up; Joe Nelson Sent Down; Scott Rolen Traded; Mark Grudzielanek Moves Up In Rehab

Scott Rolen (Reds):
Scott Rolen is heading closer to home, and that's exactly what the third baseman wanted. On Friday, the Blue Jays accommodated the veteran's request to be traded, sending him to the Reds in exchange for three players.
Blue Jays Official Site

The biggest move was the acquisition of third baseman Scott Rolen in a four-player trade that sent third baseman Edwin Encarnacion and pitchers Josh Roenicke and Zach Stewart to the Blue Jays.
Reds Official Site

Max Scherzer (Diamondbacks):
For right-hander Max Scherzer, the key to success is very simple.

"I need to execute early in the count," Scherzer said. "When I do that, I have success, and when I don't pitch well, it's usually because of that. I'm a completely different pitcher when I am ahead."
Diamondbacks Official Site

Jack Wilson (Mariners):
New Mariners shortstop Jack Wilson has such good bat control that he would fit in nicely batting behind Ichiro Suzuki.
Mariners Official Site

Jorge Sosa (Nationals):
After trading first baseman Nick Johnson and left-hander Joe Beimel on Friday, the Nationals recalled outfielder Elijah Dukes and purchased the contract of right-hander Jorge Sosa.
Nationals Official Site

Joe Nelson (Rays):
The Rays optioned reliever Joe Nelson to Triple-A Durham after Friday's game. There will be an announcement by the club on Saturday about who has replaced him on the Major League roster.
Rays Official Site

J.D. Drew (Red Sox):
Right fielder J.D. Drew is expected to miss his second successive game with a right groin strain.
Red Sox Official Site

Kip Wells (Reds):
The Reds called up RHP Kip Wells to fill in the roster blanks in the bullpen.
Mark My Word

Sidney Ponson (Royals):
Tampa Bay rolled past Kansas City, 8-2, on Friday night, knocking out starter Sidney Ponson in the fifth inning as 26,596 fans watched on Hip-Hop Night at Tropicana Field.
Rays Official Site

Mark Grudzielanek (Twins):
Reassigned from GCL Twins to Double-A New Britain.

Confident Khalil Greene Ready To Return (Game Notes 8-1-09)

Two trips to the disabled list for social anxiety disorder and a .200 batting average weren't exactly what Khalil Greene or the Cardinals had in mind for his 2009 season. But with two months still remaining and a fresh outlook on his situation, Greene seems poised to turn things around.
Cardinals Official Site

Astros fans who haven't seen Sammy Gervacio pitch -- which is probably just about all of them -- are certainly in for a different experience.
Astros Official Site

Rick Ankiel Is Showing Improvement

Somewhere in the middle of a slump that threatened to cool off his summer, Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel settled on a stance that helped him reconnect with the gift for hitting, coach Hal McRae said.

STL Today

Mitch Boggs May Be Sent Back Down To Make Room For Khalil Greene; Nick Stavinoha Optioned; Roy Oswalt Not Starting Sunday For Astros

The Cardinals went back to 13 pitchers, briefly, Friday night when they added righthander Mitchell Boggs, who started against Houston, and optioned outfielder Nick Stavinoha to Class AAA Memphis. But that number is likely to change before tonight's second game of the series.

STL Today