World Series: Carpenter, Criag, Motte Give Cardinals Game One, 3-2, Win Over Rangers

Players of the Day for Wednesday, October 19, 2011


Cardinals 3 Rangers 2

Carpenter:
Game One Winner

St. Louis pressed their home field advantage with a 3-2 game one victory over the Texas Rangers with Cardinal starter Chris Carpenter getting the win and the managerial talents of Tony LaRussa on display for all the world to see.

Carpenter kept the Rangers off the scoreboard until the fifth inning when Mike Napoli blasted a two-run homer down the right field line to tie the game at two-all. The Cardinals had taken a 2-0 lead in the third inning, when Texas starter C.J. Wilson clipped leadoff batter Albert Pujols on the left ankle with an arrant fastball, Matt Holliday doubled down the right field line and Lance Berkman brought them both home with a solid single to right.

Craig's pinch-hit
single won the game.

With Carpenter watching from the bench, St. Louis scratched out the game winner in the bottom of the sixth. David Freese, hero and MVP of the NLCS, continued his hot hitting with a one out double and took third on a wild pitch. After Yadier Molina fanned for the second out and Nick Punto walked to put runners on first and third, LaRussa made the first of many managerial masterstrokes by lifting Carpenter for pinch-hitter Allen Craig. Ranger manager, Ron Washington countered by bringing in Alexi Ogando in relief of Willson, but Craig won the battle, sending a high liner down the right field line which eluded the glove of Nelson Cruz. Freese scored easily on the play and Punto took third, but the Cardinals could not further capitalize, though Rafael Furcal made a bid with a long fly ball to deep center that ended the inning.

Carpenter finished with six innings pitched, allowing two runs on five hits and a walk, striking out four. Fernando Salas came to the mound in the seventh and was the only Cardinal reliever to surrender either a hit or a walk, as he got one out in the frame before yielding a single to Cruz and a walk to Napoli. Mike Rzepczynski relieved Salas, promptly striking out a pair of Ranger pinch-hitters to end the threat.

Motte: a perfect
ninth for the save.

With that, the Cardinal bullpen went into high gear. Octabio Dotel got two outs in the eighth and ageless Arthur Rhodes got the third out, inducing a harless fly ball from slugger Josh Hamilton.

Jason Motte completed the victory with a flawless ninth inning, getting through the heart of the Rangers' order with ground outs by Michael Young and Adrian Beltre, and a fly ball to left off the bat of Nelson Cruz to earn the save and end the game.

The appearance was the ninth of the playoffs for Motte, who notched his fifth post-season save. In nine full innings of work during the playoffs, Motte has been tougher than nails, allowing just one hit and no walks, striking out seven. The last hit off Motte was in game four of the divisional series with the Phillies. He has been perfect ever since.

Though shaky during the regular season, when he blew four of 13 save opportunities, Motte turned it around in September as the Cardinals erased a 10 1/2 game lead by Atlanta in the wild card standings to clinch their playoff spot on the final day of the regular season. Motte had eight saves and two wins in September as the Cardinals won 18 and lost eight.

Game two is Thursday night in St. Louis at 8:05 pm EDT. The Cardinals will send Jaime Garcia to the mound to face Rangers' starter Colby Lewis. Garcia was 13-7 with a 3.56 ERA during the regular season and has two losses and a no decision in three 2011 post-season starts. Lewis was 14-10 during the regular season with a 4.40 ERA. In two playoff starts this season he's 1-1, with a 3.86 ERA.

AL, NL Wild Card Races Tied with One Game Left

Players of the Day for Tuesday, September 27, 2011

American League

Undeniably, the wild card has been good for baseball, but for the Red Sox this season, it's been less fun than most pennant races.

Boston, which led the AL wild card standings by as many as nine games at the start of September, remained in a tie with Tampa Bay after both teams won Tuesday night. The Red Sox barely hung on in the late innings to shave Baltimore, 8-7, while the Rays made a triple play that turned their team around and may have saved the season.

Lavarnway: 4 RBI

Third string catcher, Ryan Lavarnway, who spent most of his season in AAA at Pawtucket, delivered a pair of home runs for the desperate Red Sox, the first a three-run shot in the 4th inning that put the Sox up 5-1, and a solo jack in the 8th that turned out to provided the margin of victory. The Orioles dinged the beleaguered Boston relief corps for two runs in the 8th and another in the bottom of the ninth, leaving the tying run on second base as Jonathan Papelbon retired Adam Jones on a ground out to third to end the game.

Boston got all of its runs via the long ball as Jacoby Ellsbury and Marco Scutaro also homered. The Red Sox staved off defeat on the strength of 3 1/3 solid innings of relief work by Alfredo Aceves, who's been their most reliable reliever. Aceves came on in the 4th in relief of Eric Bedard, who had thrown 84 pitches and given up three runs to the O's. Aceves limited the Orioles to just one run on three hits, the run coming on Jones' 6th inning homer.

With the regular season ending Wednesday, Boston sends Jon Lester (15-9) to the mound on three days rest, knowing that Aceves will be unavailable should he falter. Baltimore will start Alfredo Simon, a hard-throwing right hander who's gone 4-9 in fifteen starts this season. Simon spent part of last season as the Orioles' closer, picking up 17 saves in 21 chances.

In Tampa, the Rays survived a bases-loaded threat in the 6th inning that might have ended their post-season hopes if not for the quick hands of Tampa's infielders. Russell Martin smashed a hot grounder at third baseman Evan Longoria, who touched third and whipped a throw to Ben Zobrist for the force at second. Zobrist gunned the ball to Sean Rodriguez at first, nipping the diving Martin for a triple play. The Yankees had already taken a 3-2 lead in the inning on Nick Swisher's RBI double and loaded the bases when starter Jeremy Hellickson intentionally walked Jorge Posada.

Joyce: 3-run HR

The triple play ignited the crown and the Rays. In the bottom of the 7th, Matt Joyce turned on a Rafael Soriano fastball and deposited it in the right field stands for a three-run homer that completed the scoring in Tampa's 5-3 win, keeping the wild card knotted with one game left to play.

The Rays host the Yankees on Wednesday night, sending David Price to the mound, who will also be working on three day's rest. The Yankees have not named a starter, though manager Joe Girardi has said that he will not use any pitchers on the post-season roster, as the Yankees have already clinched the division with the best record in the league and will face either Detroit or Texas in the opening round.

Should Boston and Tampa Bay remain tied at the end of Wednesday's activities, the Rays would host a one-game playoff Thursday afternoon at Tropicana Field.

National League

Oswalt: 6 scoreless

St Louis has been gunning for the Atlanta Braves the entire month of September, and on Tuesday, they finally caught them. Cardinal bats caught fire in the late innings and routed the Houston Astros, 13-6, after the Phillies dusted off the Braves, 7-1. Roy Oswalt pitched six innings of shutout ball for the Phillies, allowing just three hits and a walk, striking out four.

In Houston, the Cardinals battled back from a five run deficit, scoring five times in the 4th inning, then putting the game away with four runs in the 7th, three in the 8th and one more in the top of the 9th. Nick Punto went 4-for-5 with a solo homer and two RBI and rookie Allen Craig blasted a three-run bomb in the eighth inning to seal the win. Craig was 2-for-3, scored three times and drove in four runs.

Craig: 3-run HR

The Braves have struggled all through the month of September. Atlanta has gone 8-17 in the season's final month, while the Cardinals are 17-8 over the same span.

Punto: 4-for-5

For the final regular season game, the Cardinals will start their ace, Chris Carpenter (10-9) against the Astros' Brett Myers (7-13), Myers has won his last four starts and is 6-5 lifetime against St. Louis with a 4.54 ERA. Career-wise, Carpenter is 7-5, with a 2.79 ERA, but he's 0-3 with a 4.62 ERA in his last five starts at Minute Maid Field and hasn't won there since 2005.

Atlanta will throw Tim Hudson (16-10) in their season finale at home against the Phillies. Hudson has a 7-8 mark lifetime against Philadelphia with a 3.75 ERA. Joe Blanton goes up the bump for the Phillies. Blanton is 1-4 with a 5.47 ERA against the Braves lifetime and is 1-2 in ten starts this season.

The Braves' game begins at 7:10 pm EDT, while the Cardinals and Astros get underway at 8:05. If the Braves and Cardinals are tied after Wednesday, St. Louis would host a one-game playoff Thursday night.