On Monday night, I arrived home from Laura's house around 12 a.m. Knowing the Cubs had taken a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth, I decided to check the scoreboard first thing when I got to my computer. I discovered that the Cubs had managed to allow four runs in the bottom of the ninth for a 4-1 loss to San Diego. Maniacal laughter ensued. Chicago is now six games back and the gap doesn't look to get closer anytime soon. In the Cubs defense, I suppose the Padres were due for a win, having just been swept over the weekend by the Cardinals. San Diego had lost four straight overall, dropping the finale of a series in Milwaukee last Thursday. The Padres seem to be the Cards' best friend right now. They took two of three from the Brewers, got swept by St. Louis, and picked up a come from behind win against the Cubs to open Chicago's road trip. Hopefully the trend will continue over the rest of the week with the Cubbies in town for two more before the Cards visit "A Whale's Vagina" for four games over the weekend.
The Cardinals showed why they're a championship caliber team in Monday night's game. Their staff ace, Chris Carpenter, got off to a bad start, but limited the damage to just one run in the first inning. It was partially due to great defense as Ryan Ludwick fired into third base after hauling in a sacrifice fly to get the final out of the inning. Carp then mowed down the Dodgers long enough for the offense to get going a bit when Albert Pujols tied the game with a leadoff homer in the fourth inning.
A quick side-note on Pujols: he now has 39 homers on the year, which is two more than he hit during last year's MVP season. He also has 105 RBI which is just 11 shy of his total from a year ago. He's leading the National League in homers, tied with Prince Fielder for the lead in RBI, and is third in the NL in average at .325. The Marlins' Hanley Ramirez is leading Pujols by quite a bit in that department, batting .357 after Sunday's game, but if he cools off and Pujols, who currently has a 12-game hitting streak, remains hot, he still could catch Ramirez for a shot at the triple crown. The guy is just nuts. Hopefully they'll lock him up this offseason.
Rick Ankiel homer.jpg The Dodgers managed to get back on top in the fifth inning, but Rick Ankiel's mammoth two-run shot in the seventh gave Carpenter all of the run support that he would need. Carp turned in eight innings while allowing just two runs on five hits and one walk, which was an intentional pass in the first to Manny Ramirez. He also fanned eight, none of which was bigger than the last which ended the eighth inning while stranding the speedy Juan Pierre at second base representing the tying run. Carp may not have been at his sharpest, but he gutted out a strong enough effort and the combo of Trevor Miller and Ryan Franklin slammed the door on the Dodgers' three, four, and five hitters in the ninth to seal up win number 13 for the 2005 Cy Young winner. With a 13-3 record, a 2.27 ERA, and 105 strikeouts compared to just 20 walks in 138.2 innings, he should at least be considered for this year's award as well.
Also, more kudos to the Cardinals' front office for making sure they signed first-round draft pick Shelby Miller while also managing to meet in the middle between the suggested slot value of $2 million and Miller's demand of $4 million. The Nationals also managed to get the first overall selection, Steven Strasburg, under contract just before Monday's 12 am (EST) deadline. They had to pay him a record for a draft choice of $15.1 million, but he could prove to be worth it. The Nationals have a decent lineup, but they have next to zero pitching and this guy is flat-out nasty on the mound. Here's a video from the no-hitter he threw against Air Force on May 8th of this year.
Photo by Matt Sayles of the AP.
Video posted by goaztecscom.
