Astros 9, Cardinals 4: Did You See that Bullpen Meltdown?
By
Zeldink
Posted at 10:25 pm
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astros (46-59) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 2 |
| Cardinals (59-47) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 1 |
Brand new St. Louis Cardinals starter Jake Westbrook opened the series against the Houston Astros tonight and pitched good enough for the win. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, but fortunately for the Reds, the relievers didn’t get the memo.
Westbrook was good, allowing just 2 runs over 6 innings. He allowed 4 hits, but struck out 7. Once the game was turned over to the bullpen, the win Westbrook was in line for was stolen away.
Jason Motte pitched a scoreless 7th, but was taken out after he couldn’t get a batter out in the 8th. The 2 batters he did face both reached and later scored. Coming in to add gasoline to the fire were Mike MacDougal (1 run, 1 inning), Trever Miller (3 runs, 1/3 inning), and Blake Hawksworth (1 run, 2/3 inning).
Every Cardinals pitcher allowed runs, but only one of them pitched more innings than runs allowed. It was an ugly night for the bullpen, and the implosion knocked them out of first place, thanks to a Reds win. Cincinnati is now 1/2 game ahead, and at 13 games over .500, has the best record they’ve had since 1999.
Speaking of meltdowns, did you see what happened to the Cubs in their home game against the Brewers tonight? It was scoreless after three innings, 5-1 Brewers after the fourth, and 10-1 after the fifth. The Brewers went on to rack up 26 hits, tying the Cubs’ franchise record set in 1957 – ironically enough, also against Milwaukee…that is, the Milwaukee Braves, now based in Atlanta. The final score: Brewers 18, Cubs 1. I guess the baseball gods must’ve felt that the Cubs losing 17-2 to the Rockies on Friday night wasn’t bad enough.
The Cubs, who the Reds will play this coming weekend provided that Lou Piniella doesn’t rip a page from Jim Jones’ playbook and pass out glasses of cyanide-laced grape Flavor Aid in the clubhouse before then, have now lost six straight games during which they’ve been outscored 62-17. I feel sorry for Lou, who I liked when he was managing the Reds, but Lou – and Dusty Baker as well – should’ve known better than to anger the baseball gods by pulling a harebrained stunt like agreeing to manage the Cubs.
The Cubs have sure had their fair share of good managers be destroyed by that cursed franchise. I remember wanting the Reds to get Piniella again when he decided to go to the Cubs. Somehow, I think he’d have had some more success and a longer career in Cincinnati than he ended up having in Chicago.