Last night’s game, for the Cardinals fans, not so much on the excitement save a play here and there.
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Heyward, like Lackey playing at Busch Stadium for the first time since leaving to sign with Chicago, was 0 for 4 at the plate, made two nice catches in right field and was booed throughout.
That was a thing of beauty.
“It was a tough pitch to try to get down”. He made the right pitch at the right time, lowering his ERA through two starts to 0.75. ESPN Tuesday denied finding any taunts beyond the usual jeering on its game tapes, but the network did suddenly switch to another game when Mr. Heyward came to bat in the sixth inning.
Matt Holliday homered and the Cardinals scored twice in each of the first two innings against Kyle Hendricks (1-2).
Two singles later, Suzuki joined in, doubling to center field and driving in the Twins’ second run. Matt Holliday led off the inning with a single and went to third on Adams’ double.
Heyward said the height of Molina’s fly helped him get in proper position to make a play.
“Free agent wise, I just felt like Chicago’s going to give me a great opportunity to be with these guys for the majority of my contract”, Heyward said after Monday’s game. “I’ve got to do a better job than that”.
Chicago starting pitchers have lasted at least six innings in each of the first 12 games, the longest streak of that kind for the team since 1910. But Garcia lasted only five innings in his encore performance, allowing two runs (earned) on four hits.
Beyond that, he singled to drive in both Cubs runs (link only, no embed code available).
The St. Louis Cardinals have one run over two games and will be trying to avoid a three-game sweep against the Chicago Cubs. He turned down more money from the Cardinals because he said he was concerned about the aging core of players in St. Louis and that in three years the club would likely look much different.
His victory was the first this season for a Marlins starter and the Marlins first home win of the season. He might have been a bit rusty; it was his first outing in eight days, and he wild-pitched pinch-runner Eric Fryer to second. Pinch-hitter Javier Baez ended up striking out and the next batter, Dexter Fowler, doubled.
ESPN Director of Communications Ben Cafardo said on Twitter that ESPN has been reviewing the matter and hasn’t found any evidence of the alleged slurs directed at Heyward. The 11 strikeouts, one shy of his career high, was his 20th double-digit strikeout game. They are 7-7 right now, but what about the context? They also have a chance to match their best start in 109 seasons Wednesday afternoon. Still – this shouldn’t happen, to either side in a game.
In racing out to an 11-3 start, the Cubs have had no issues generating offense. The teams will complete their first meeting of the year with a day game Wednesday. There are four pennant-winning years in that group. As of September 8, the Cardinals were just a half-game behind the first-place Cubs in the division, with a 77-63 record.
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The Cardinals (7-7) dropped their second consecutive game to the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium, a 2-1 decision before 43,841.
