Did you see the "fan interference"?
Well, anyway, Ludwick got a home run out of it, and the Cardinals ran away with this one thanks to a slew of homers and some mighty fine pitching from both Wellemeyer and our bullpen. I won't anger the baseball gods by making a disparaging comment about the Padres (how does this team release Jim Edmonds?), mostly because we see Greg Maddux tonight and he scares me.
One thing the Cardinals can count on this season... Todd Wellemeyer every five days. Even in his ONE loss this season, he pitched well. (And it sure doesn't hurt that he has the highest run support of any of our starters.) Can you believe this guy? Betcha the Royals are kicking themselves.
One more thing I want to mention--the LOB stats. The Cards have stranded 415 runners so far this season. That's an average of 8.83 runners per game. They've stranded an average of 8.55 runners per loss, 9.04 runners per win, 8.81 runners per home game, and 8.85 runners per away game. The fewest they've left on base is 5, and the most is 16 (and they done that twice). The incredible thing is, the averages are pretty even no matter what the circumstances. It almost seems like it doesn't matter how many they strand, the games all come down to pitching. Could it be true?
Here's something I was very proud to read, especially since it's something St Louis fans have known about Albert all along. It's from Tim Brown:
Albert Pujols hit two home runs Monday night and beat the Padres almost by himself. One of the most decorated players in the game. And on his home runs, [Padres GM Kevin] Towers pointed out, Pujols raced around the basepaths.
"Baseball player," Towers said. "That’s a friggin' baseball player right there. No cockiness. No 'Look at me.' Play the game right."
