Article:Home Runs of May 13, 2008

They Lead, They Trail, They Lead, They Win in Extras
The St. Louis Cardinals got off to a very solid start in the beginning of the season, winning 5 of their first 6 games of the season, as well as going 12-5 by April 18th. However, that is not the case in their last 6 games (May 7-May 12), losing 5 of their last 6. They were going up against a team who was red hot at the time: the Pittsburgh Pirates, who won 6 of their last 7 going into the game. Kyle Lohse was on the mound for St. Louis, who just suffered two consecutive, devastating losses, surrendering 15 earned runs to the Chicago Cubs and Colorado Rockies in only 10 innings. He would go up against Phil Dumatrait, who picked up his fist Major League win in his last start.

Things didn’t get interesting until later on in the game when the two teams actually managed to score runs. Thanks to a couple of defensive plays by Rick Ankiel and Cesar Izturis, Dumatrait actually pitched a perfect 3 innings. However, Pittsburgh was able to come through eventually, as Xavier Nady, who was robbed of a base hit earlier in the game by Ankiel, hit a two-run shot into the right field seats to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead. Fast forwarding to the 6th inning, with Dumatrait still pitching for the Bucs, with runners on first and second with two outs, Troy Glaus belted a ‘’three’’-run shot over the centerfield wall to give the Cards the 3-2 lead. Besides those two home runs, only one extra run was surrendered by each starter. Dumatrait pitched 6 innings, while surrendering only 3 runs (the three-run homer by Glaus) and 4 hits. On the other hand, Kyle Lohse pitched 7 innings, surrendering 4 runs and 5 hits. Overall, both pitchers did very well considering what they have done in their last couple of games.

Both teams moved on to the eighth inning where they relied on their bullpen to finish the game off. After Lohse was finally through after throwing his 108th and final pitch in the 7th inning, it all came down to whether Pirates’ John Grabow could hold the 4-3 lead. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do it, as he surrendered a solo shot to Albert Pujols to tie the game up at 4 apiece.

With the game still tied at 4, in the top of the 9th inning, Ryan Franklin got himself into a whole lot of trouble. After a double, and two walks (the first one being intentional), Chris Gomez was up. The winning run was on third base, and all he needed to do was reach first base safely, and the Pirates would take the lead, once again. However, Franklin was able to get out of a gem, as he got Gomez to pop out to Albert Pujols for the final out of the inning. With the Cardinals batting, in his Major League debut, Marino Salas walked three batters to load the bases. It seemed like this inning would never end, as 51 pitches were thrown in what was supposed to be the final inning. However, Salas was able to prove to manager John Russell that even though he’s a little wild, he can still get the job done, as he got Ryan Ludwick to fly out to right field to send the game into extra innings.



If you thought the 9th inning was something, wait until you read what happens in the 10th. After Freddy Sanchez singled to right field, Nate McLouth proved that he could deliver in any situation. He decided to lay down a bunt to send Sanchez (a fast runner I might add) over to second base, and put the leading run in scoring position. This led to an intentional walk to Jason Bay to make it easier for the Cards to get out of an inning, and try to create a double play. Ronny Paulino had a different plan though, as he singled up the middle to score Sanchez and give the Pirates the lead for the third time in the game. The next batter was Xavier Nady: he walked again to load the bases… again. Adam LaRoche was up next, and he was due. The man who was struggling to make it past the Mendoza Uecker Line finally delivered in the clutch, clearing the bags with a double to score 3 more for the Pirates to give the Pirates a much better chance to win the ballgame. Ron Villone still finished off the inning, and it finally ended on a Doug Mientkiewicz double play. It was not the greatest day for Villone, as he had to throw 30 pitches to make it through one inning, not to mention he allowed 4 runs to double the Pirates amount of runs scored in the game from 4 to 8. Matt Capps was called in to pitch for rookie Marino Salas. He made the inning look easy, as he got Troy Glaus, Rick Ankiel, and Yadier Molina to all line out on 8 pitches. The Pirates took the 8-4 victory in 10 innings, and hope to go .500 for the first time this season since April 15th.

On Another Note:

 * Ronny Paulino, the man who hit the game winning single for the Pirates, was only able to collect 2 hits in his previous 23 at-bats before the game. What a way to redeem himself.


 * Paulino was just a fill-in for Ryan Doumit before hearing that Doumit fractured his left thumb in the first inning of the game. “He’s taken advantage of his opportunities when he’s gotten to play,” manager John Russell of Paulino. “I think as a tribute to him, he’s been working out and even without getting a lot of playing time. He’s been ready. He came up big for us tonight, so that’s nice to see.”


 * Since April 27, the Cardinals are 8-0 when they score 5 or more runs and 0-8 when they score 4 or fewer. “That’s the way the season goes,” said Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa.


 * Albert Pujols has reached base every single game he's played in so far; that's 40 games! How many games can he add on to this streak?





Homer of the Day (May 12, 2008)
And the Homer of the Day for May 12, 2008 goes to...



Click here to find out more about this walkoff blast.

Congratulations to Ramon Vazquez for winning the Homer of the Day!

On Another Matter:
Thanks to everyone who has been voting, especially those who have since the very beginning (you know who you are). Like I said, the more votes we have in these articles, the better. It makes it more interesting, and makes me feel better when I post these articles.

I hope you’re enjoying these articles as much as I like finding more about what has happened over a month ago!