The St. Louis Cardinals should just shut the bleep up. Here's why I say that. Remember the Cardinals have a reputation for whining not with the just the Cincinnati Reds but with other teams. Let's talk about today's game. It's the ninth inning at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. The Cardinals have just scored five runs with a guy on second and have one out. The Reds are holding a 9-7 lead. At the plate is the Cardinals best hitter, Albert Pujols and one of the best players in baseball. The Reds have Francisco Cordero, their closer on the mound. Cordero hits Pujols in the wrist. That brings up Matt Holliday, who's a very good hitter. He grounds to Reds shortstop Paul Janish. Double play? No. Pujols takes out Reds second baseman Brandon Phillip causing the throw to go in the dirt. Cordero comes back to strike out Lance Berkman. Game over. At the end of the game Cardinal player Gerald Laird and coach Dave Duncan start yelling at Cordero claiming he intentionally hit Pujols.
It's simply ludicrous to make the argument that Cordero intentionally hit Albert Pujols. The Cardinals were about to make a miraculous comeback. Once Pujols reached first base, he became the tying run. At the plate is the dangerous Matt Holliday who has power. A three run jack and the Reds lose the lead. Come on Laird and Duncan, are you guys daft? It's simply stupid to put the tying run on first. The Reds were fighting to win the game. It would have been insane to hit Pujols. And by the way, the Reds didn't complain when Pujols took out Brandon Phillips with a hard slide.
Then acting manager Joe Pettini added his stupidity to the conversation. He acknowledged that Cordero was trying to come inside and didn't accuse him of doing it intentionally. But then he said you have to have a clue about doing it. What the? When Pujols was hit, it was an 0-2 count. Yes, a lot of times you should go outside on that count. But Cordero was trying to get under Pujols' hands. Jam him. Sometimes you should surprise the batter. Yeah coming inside is dangerous. You could leave one over the plate or hit him. Still, sometimes you have to surprise the batter.
And before I forget. Cardinals starting pitcher Chris Carpenter was upset with the "poor" condition of the mound and the smoke from the fireworks after Reds catcher Ramon Hernandez blasted a home run off of him. Look, Reds starter Travis Wood had to pitch on the same mound. As for the smoke, maybe we can get God to blow it away from you whiny Cards. Just shut up St. Louis Cardinals.
What about the game? Well, there was that hairy ninth with the Reds leading 9-2 and the Cardinals put up five runs. But the Reds held on. They beat up on nemesis Chris Carpenter and swept the Cards who came in with a game and half lead but left with a game and a half deficit. Here's the story with video.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
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