You can say that last night's game was one of the most entertaining games we've seen in a while. I know firsthand, as I was sitting in the right-center field bleachers in the midst of what was the most fun group I've sat by in a while. People were laughing, heckling (in good sport) Matt Kemp, catching home run balls, yelling at ushers, and cheering for no good reason other than, "Hey, we're at the game!" Section 501, Row 4 - I'm going to go ahead and give a recommendation for some of the best seats I've sat in at the new Busch. The left-center bleachers didn't seem to be having nearly as fun. Jealous, probably.
Sure Joel Pineiro gave up plenty of hits, but he was pitching-to-contact the heck out of the Dodgers last night, who hit 14 groundouts against Joel and 16 total for the game. VEB muses that this start might've saved Joel's spot in the rotation, and I have to concur. Not only did Pineiro show us that he can still get ground balls, but he also went 7 innings on only 78 pitches. He probably should've stayed in for the 8th inning with a short leash, but 7 innings was more than enough to save some of the bullpen for the day game today. Pineiro now sports a nifty 1.66 GB/FB ratio, 0.24 points higher than last year, and his BB/9 is lower than it's ever been (2.03). For all the troubles he's had this season, he definitely has some things going for him as well. If he can continue to get groundouts and limit the walks issued, he's going to have more performances like last night's. Despite giving up 8 hits, 5 of which were for extra bases, Dave Duncan had to be pleased with his starter's outing.
As pleased as Dunc was with Pineiro, everyone's even more pleased with Chris Perez, who recorded his first save of the season last night. The mixed signals coming out of the Cardinals clubhouse are confusing, though: on one hand, Tony La Russa was visibly delighted with his new closer's performance; on the other hand, there are reports that Adam Wainwright will be rehabbing as a reliever again, presumptively to become the closer... again. My first question: why does he need to rehab as a reliever to actually be a reliever? Couldn't he make a few rehab starts and then be declared a reliever if deemed necessary? The transition from starter to reliever can't be too hard, as we've seen a number of guys do it this season - Kyle McClellan, Brad Thompson, Mitch Boggs, etc. Rehabbing as a starter gives you two options instead of just one. My guess is because they want him to jump back to the big leagues after 4-5 appearances, a faster track than starting games. I'd be willing to wait for a Chris Carpenter-esque rehab assignment, but I guess that's just me.
Second question: what if Chris Perez excels in his new role? What does that tell him, if he strings together a couple of saves only to be bumped out by Wainwright? Aside from the fact that I'd rather have Wainwright in the rotation, I'd like to see Chris Perez get a legitimate shot at the closer's role this year. Any experience gained now is going to do wonders for next year and beyond, and it's not like Perez doesn't have the talent to exceed in the closer's role now. Baffling.
Is anyone planning on going to the All-Star game next July? The new logo looks pretty sweet, but I'm still worried about the construction around the stadium that could put a serious damper on things. I'm predicting that Daryl Jones will make the Futures Game. I gotta be there to see that.
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