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Guess we are still a bit shaken up from yesterday!
Cardinals out to take another series
04/19/2008 1:13 AM ET
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
ST. LOUIS -- It's been nearly seven months since the Cardinals lost a series, and a little longer since they lost a home series. They'll try to ensure that streak stays intact when they face the Giants in an early afternoon matchup Saturday.
St. Louis has won or split every series thus far in 2008, after finishing 2007 on a five-game winning streak. A win in the series opener Friday night means that one win over the weekend will keep the run intact.
The Cardinals' last series loss was Sept. 24-26 of last year, when they dropped two out of three to Milwaukee. Their last home series loss was Sept. 20-22, when they lost two out of three to the Astros.
It won't be easy to finish off the series win Saturday, though, with Giants youngster Tim Lincecum on the mound. Then again, it's rarely easy to score against the Giants, who have a tough stable of young pitchers.
"You're going to face legitimate starting pitching," manager Tony La Russa said. "That means you've got to pitch good against them to have a chance, and find a way to break through. They're impressive."
The last time these two teams met with these two pitchers, it was a convincing Giants win. Lincecum was dominant, striking out 11 Cardinals in six innings. The Cardinals made him work hard, as Lincecum threw 110 pitches, but still couldn't do much with him.
In the other direction, Joel Pineiro had a rough return to active duty in that same game. Making his 2008 debut, he didn't look sharp and was also betrayed by some shaky defense behind him.
Pitching matchup
STL: RHP Joel Pineiro (0-1, 14.73 ERA)
Well, the results can't be much worse. Pineiro was betrayed by a defensive misplay, ruled a hit, that should have saved him several earned runs in his first start. Even so, he didn't look like somebody fully ready to pitch in regular season games. This will be his second start after missing the season's first two weeks with a lat strain. The hope -- and expectation -- is that he'll be improved the second time around.
SF: RHP Tim Lincecum (2-0, 2.25 ERA)
Lincecum struck out 11 in his most recent outing last Sunday against St. Louis, tying a San Francisco Giants record for the most strikeouts in a six-inning outing. Lincecum matched Fred Breining (1982), Osvaldo Fernandez (1996), Russ Ortiz (2000) and Matt Cain (2006). The Giants are 3-0 when Lincecum goes to the mound, including his four-inning relief appearance April 2 at Los Angeles after the threat of inclement weather -- which came to pass -- prompted manager Bruce Bochy to scratch him from his scheduled start.
Tidbits
Albert Pujols has reached base in all 17 Cardinals games this year. ... The Cardinals have scored eight or more runs four times this year, three of them against the Giants. ... The Cardinals are 9-0 when they score more than four runs. ... Aside from relief pitchers, Pineiro and fellow starter Todd Wellemeyer are the only Cardinals without a base hit yet this year. ... Cardinals leadoff batters have scored 20 runs, most in the Majors.
Tickets
Buy tickets now to catch the game in person.
On the Internet
MLB.TV
Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes
On television
• FSN-HD
On radio
• KTRS 550
Cardinals out to take another series
04/19/2008 1:13 AM ET
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
ST. LOUIS -- It's been nearly seven months since the Cardinals lost a series, and a little longer since they lost a home series. They'll try to ensure that streak stays intact when they face the Giants in an early afternoon matchup Saturday.
St. Louis has won or split every series thus far in 2008, after finishing 2007 on a five-game winning streak. A win in the series opener Friday night means that one win over the weekend will keep the run intact.
The Cardinals' last series loss was Sept. 24-26 of last year, when they dropped two out of three to Milwaukee. Their last home series loss was Sept. 20-22, when they lost two out of three to the Astros.
It won't be easy to finish off the series win Saturday, though, with Giants youngster Tim Lincecum on the mound. Then again, it's rarely easy to score against the Giants, who have a tough stable of young pitchers.
"You're going to face legitimate starting pitching," manager Tony La Russa said. "That means you've got to pitch good against them to have a chance, and find a way to break through. They're impressive."
The last time these two teams met with these two pitchers, it was a convincing Giants win. Lincecum was dominant, striking out 11 Cardinals in six innings. The Cardinals made him work hard, as Lincecum threw 110 pitches, but still couldn't do much with him.
In the other direction, Joel Pineiro had a rough return to active duty in that same game. Making his 2008 debut, he didn't look sharp and was also betrayed by some shaky defense behind him.
Pitching matchup
STL: RHP Joel Pineiro (0-1, 14.73 ERA)
Well, the results can't be much worse. Pineiro was betrayed by a defensive misplay, ruled a hit, that should have saved him several earned runs in his first start. Even so, he didn't look like somebody fully ready to pitch in regular season games. This will be his second start after missing the season's first two weeks with a lat strain. The hope -- and expectation -- is that he'll be improved the second time around.
SF: RHP Tim Lincecum (2-0, 2.25 ERA)
Lincecum struck out 11 in his most recent outing last Sunday against St. Louis, tying a San Francisco Giants record for the most strikeouts in a six-inning outing. Lincecum matched Fred Breining (1982), Osvaldo Fernandez (1996), Russ Ortiz (2000) and Matt Cain (2006). The Giants are 3-0 when Lincecum goes to the mound, including his four-inning relief appearance April 2 at Los Angeles after the threat of inclement weather -- which came to pass -- prompted manager Bruce Bochy to scratch him from his scheduled start.
Tidbits
Albert Pujols has reached base in all 17 Cardinals games this year. ... The Cardinals have scored eight or more runs four times this year, three of them against the Giants. ... The Cardinals are 9-0 when they score more than four runs. ... Aside from relief pitchers, Pineiro and fellow starter Todd Wellemeyer are the only Cardinals without a base hit yet this year. ... Cardinals leadoff batters have scored 20 runs, most in the Majors.
Tickets
Buy tickets now to catch the game in person.
On the Internet
MLB.TV
Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes
On television
• FSN-HD
On radio
• KTRS 550
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