Ryan Turner's St Louis Cardinals fan blog

The Cardinals managed to right the shift mid-way through their brief homestand. After allowing The Phillies to score 16 runs against them in just two games, they shut the Pirates down, limiting them to just four runs. The bullpen was responsible for 6.2 innings of work over those two contests, but didn’t allow any runs. They picked up a win in Mitchell Boggs’ start, which was earned by Kyle McClellan and also recorded two saves, both by default closer Ryan Franklin. The bullpen was a liability earlier in the season, but now that it’s managed to take shape around Franklin, it’s becoming a real asset for the club in the late innings.

The Cardinals lineup is still producing on a consistent basis as well. Even in the two-game sweep that they suffered to the defending champs, they managed to produce nine runs. It just wasn’t enough to overcome Philadelphia’s potent offense. If the team can start to get better starts out of Adam Wainwright and eventually get Chris Carpenter back to replace Boggs, who has been good, but just can’t go deep enough into games, they should have no problem remaining atop the NL Central.

Continue reading "Cards notes before their road trip"

The answer is “Yes.” The question was one posed by my friend Tyler after the Blues had clinched a playoff spot. If the Blues were swept out of the first round, would the fact that playoff hockey had returned to St. Louis be worth the Blues missing out on the top picks in this year’s draft like John Tavares and Victory Hedman? I told him to ask me again after the series was over, as I didn’t think we would get swept.

Now that the series is over and the Blues did get swept, I know that the answer is yes, it was definitely worth it. It didn’t feel like the Blues get swept. They were in every game of the series. They were just a goal down going to the third period in both road contests and tied at two going to the third in both home games. The atmosphere at the Scottrade Center was the most electric it has been since before the lockout.

Continue reading "Reflections on the Blues' season and a peak at the Cards"

The Cardinals are off to a great start at 6-3. They had run off five consecutive wins and had a great chance on Tuesday night to make it six in a row, but they squandered a three-run lead, a two-run lead, and a great chance to retake the lead in the top of the ninth. The Cards had the bases loaded with just one out with two runs in, but Tony La Russa opted to pinch hit with Brendan Ryan instead of Ryan Ludwick. Ryan went on to fan at three pitches, only one of which was in the strike zone. Ankiel batted next and looked just as bad striking out. Ludwick never batted and St. Louis went on to lose 7-6 in 10 innings. La Russa's micro-managing has driven me crazy for years, but it's starting to be too much. If it was the sixth inning, I could see saving Ludwick for a critical situation later in the game. But this was the ninth. If Ludwick bats and even just manages a sac fly, the Cards would've taken the lead and been just three outs away from victory. If you have a huge weapon on the bench, you use it at the critical time, right? Well, La Russa doesn't seem to think that's the way to play it. He's always trying to save guys for situations that don't happen because he doesn't get there. He did the same thing in the 2007 All-Star game with the bases juiced and Albert Pujols on the bench. He chose to go with a first timer instead, who went on to make the final out of the game.

Continue reading "NHL playoff preview and Cards rant"

The Blues win over Detroit on Thursday would've been inspiring no matter how it happened. But the fact that David Backes scored four goals (or five depending on who you believe, since Backes wouldn't claim it) was amazing. Every time the Red Wings got close, Backes would respond. If St. Louis meets up with Detroit in the first round, this game could be enough to give them a real confidence boost after being dominated by the Wings during most of this season. Getting a point in Dallas on Saturday will help the Blues' chances as well, but they're back to needing some help. They are right with the Ducks and Predators when it comes to points, but they are still behind in the wins column, which serves as the first tie-breaker. Hopefully the Red Wings will remain in contention for the Presidents Trophy long enough that they won't be resting players when they host Nashville on Thursday.

Continue reading "MLB Season Preview and Blues Notes"

I just a few notes on the Blues before previewing the baseball season a bit. First, their effort last night in Chicago was pathetic. If the game had gone exactly the same way, but was played in mid-December, I'd let it slide. But with six games left (now five) and the club is right in the playoff hunt in April for the first time since before the lockout, that's all that this team had? A 3-0 loss? I'm aware that Jeff Woywitka scored with two seconds left, but that's a shutout everywhere but on the stat sheet. The goal didn't change the way the team should look at that game and it certainly didn't change the standings. It should have been 6-0 or 7-0 with the way that the Blues played. That's what they deserved.

Chicago was coming off a 4-1 loss in Montreal the night before. They had to fly all the way home to the Windy City whereas the Blues were coming off two days of rest and wouldn't have enough time on the flight to listen to all of Blood Sex Sugar Magik (fairly long album, but still just a single album). The Blues should have ran the Blackhawks into the ground in the first period. Chicago is playing for seeding and home ice in the first round, but the Blues are playing just to get in. They should be a much more desperate team. They also should have the confidence with a 4-0-1 record (and the 1 came off of a horrible disallowed goal call) against Chicago for the season to come out hard. When a team knows they own another team, playing against them is just easier. In college, my club never lost to Mizzou in ultimate frisbee while I was in school. We had some close games from time to time. But we always came through, partially because we expected to win those games. Unlike the Blues however, we got after it against Mizzou. We'd lay out on defense to force turnovers and chase down discs that were 50-50. Chicago won nearly every 50-50 puck last night, so it's not a big surprise that they won in dominating fashion. 

Continue reading "Blues Rant After a Laid Egg in Chicago"

Blues

Last night, I got one of those feelings watching the Blues game. Sometimes I get the sinking sensation in my stomach when I know my team is doomed (I got it two batters before this moment in 2005, so it must have been more about Game 6). Other times, I get a tingle when I know something special is going to happen. I got the latter last night. The Blues were extremely lucky to get out of the first period scoreless. They were outshot 10-4 and completely outplayed. They picked it up after that, but they all needed to give Chris Mason a big thank you for keeping them in it until they could get the offense going in the third.

It was still scoreless going into the third. I was listening to the game on the radio on my way over to Laura's. Announcers Chris Kerber and Kelly Chase were just as fed up with the officiating as John Kelly and Bernie Federko had been on the television broadcast. Kerbs and Chaser mentioned two non-calls on penalties against the Kings from the time it took me to get from 141 to Chesterfield Parkway taking highway 40 (about three minutes actual time). Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz typed a Tweet (Twitter status update?) about the poor officiating, so it wasn't just me. The Kings finally gave the refs no choice to call one when the Blues got a fast break and Davis Drewiske crosschecked David Backes. About 30 seconds into the power play, Kerbs mentioned that he told a friend earlier in the day that he thought Patrik Berglund would have a big impact on the result of Tuesday's game. About five seconds later, Berglund got the puck from a shot by David Perron off of the end boards and put it in the open net.

Continue reading "Blues, Cards, and the Sweet 16"

1:11 PM CST: Well, after staying up til 4 am watching videos from the Lonely Island (you know you've done it too), I managed to sleep through the majority of the first halves of the opening games. There are now just seven minutes remaining in my featured game and the 15 seed Cal State Northridge is down by just one to Memphis. They've even led the Tigers by as many as six points. I have Memphis and John Calipari's greasy hair going to the Final Four, but I want this to happen.

1:17 PM CST: The Tigers have started to remember that they're a two seed and CS Northridge's random shots have stopped falling. It's now 70-64 Memphis and they have the ball back. This might just be a first round scare after all. A steal and a layup for Northridge has them back within four and that brings us to a timeout by Northridge. They probably need a breather anyways as Memphis has been running the show for the past four minutes..

Continue reading "NCAA Tourney Running Commentary"

1. On Tuesday night, the Blues didn't waste any time erasing the bad memories from Saturday's game against the Panthers. They got on the board just 59 seconds into the contest on a laser of a wrist shot from David Backes. Later in the first period, David Perron and Brad Winchester would each add another goal, tripling the Blues' total of first period goals from their previous 11 games in just one frame.

The Stars kept coming back, cutting the three-goal deficit to two twice before the Blues finally got it to a 5-2 lead. The third period was scoreless, but the fans already had their free blizzards and the Blues already had their two points since they managed to play smart in the third, not needing to take chances with a three-goal lead.

The Blues are now just three points out of the seven slot in the Western Conference behind the Oilers and they have a game in hand on the Predators who hold the eighth slot, also three points ahead of St. Louis. The club continued to get solid play out of goaltender Chris Mason. The two goals he allowed weren’t great ones, but he still limited the damage and didn’t let anything in until it was already 3-0. The Blues also got more strong play from the “Kid line.” Perron’s finally starting to play with urgency. On what looked to be an innocent play where the Stars were just going to carry the puck out of their zone, Perron dove, whipped his stick around on the ice, and knocked the puck away. T.J. Oshie got control of it outside the Dallas zone, made a great move to get around a Stars defender, and then set up Perron for a shot on a wide open net. Perron put it right in the center of the goal, putting St. Louis up 4-1 midway through the second period. The teams would swap goals one more time, with “Big Walt” (Keith Tkachuk) getting a tally on the power play, tying him for 10th all-time with Joe Sakic for career power play goals.

Continue reading "A little bit of everything, Blues, NCAA, and baseball"

Tonight's game between the Blues and the Red Wings could change a franchise. If St. Louis loses, they'll remain at least three points out of the playoffs and it will likely be more with the high amount of games between Western Conference teams scheduled for tonight. They'll probably deal Keith Tkachuk for draft picks or prospects with his contract expiring at the end of the year. They might even cut a couple of other deals. If they win, they could buy for a postseason run which began early last month. The Blues' have the second best record in the NHL over their last 20 games to only the Devils. New Jersey's well into the playoffs at this point as they're likely to win their division and just got back one of the best goalies of all-time in Martin Brodeur. That team is looking to buy more even after picking up Niclas Havelid, a decent defenseman. That team doesn't need anymore to contend for the cup. The Blues, however, need a lot more to contend for the cup.

Continue reading "The Blues with the Trade Deadline looming"

The Blues

The Blues responded nicely last Thursday with a 2-1 overtime win to follow up an ugly performance in Columbus. They finished up the home-and-home with Nashville on Saturday by losing 1-0 in overtime. It was a great job by Chris Mason to reel in one point, but St. Louis can't afford to leave points out there at this stage, especially at home. Even though the Blues got a point in that game, they still fell a point further behind Nashville since the Predators picked up a pair of points with the win. Tuesday's game against Phoenix was crucial since the Blues' next eight games include four road games in addition to home meetings with the Sharks, Stars, and Red Wings(twice) who are three of the strongest/hottest teams in the league. Points will not be easy to come by over that stretch, so they needed two against the Coyotes. The fact that it came in regulation was a huge boost, as was the gift goal that David Perron collected on a center-ice chip-in. I'd feel bad about that, but the Blues have been killed by fluky goals all year. It's about time went our way.

Continue reading "A look at NCAA basketball and the Blues"