For a spring training game, yesterday's matchup with the Boston Red Sox was a darn good pitching matchup. Josh Beckett went for the visitors and allowed nothing over four innings. The good news for Cardinal fans is that Chris Carpenter did the same.
That's three strong starts for Carp, who hasn't allowed an earned run this spring. It's good to see him extending his outings as well. He notes that he'd like to be around 90 pitches by Opening Day, which could get him into the sixth if he's efficient with them. Everyone continues to knock on any wooden surface around, but it sure looks like Carpenter has kept the form that won him the Cy Young in 2005.
Good day for Joe Mather. His first home run of the spring was a two-run walk-off job that brought the win home for St. Louis. Joe Thurston didn't want to be left out of any potential second base derby and showed it, going 3-for-4 with two doubles.
There was some pretty solid pitching all the way around as well. Trever Miller allowed a run in his inning, which is a little disconcerting. You can't have him having too many innings where he allows two hits and a walk when the regular season comes around. More good stuff out of Blake Hawksworth, though, pitching three innings and allowing just one hit, though he allowed a run as well.
Josh Kinney pitched a sparkling ninth, striking out two, and then was rewarded with the win when Mather went yard. I expect this won't be the last ninth inning that he'll see this year. Having options like him, Chris Perez, and Jason Motte will make the late innings a little more livable this year.
Doubleheader day for the Cards as they split the squad, both against Baltimore. Game one this afternoon has Kyle McClellan getting the starting nod with this lineup behind him:
Schumaker 4
Thurston 5
Pujols 3
Freese DH
Jay 7
K Greene 6
Anderson 2
Stavinhoa 9
Rasmus 8
Skip's back at second, but with a split squad game, it'd be really telling if he wasn't. Nice to see Colby back in the lineup as well after his hamstring issue.
Nightcap puts Joel Pineiro on the mound with the following support:
Ryan 6
T Greene 5
Ankiel 8
Ludwick 9
Duncan 3
Mather 7
Barton DH
Pagnozzi 2
Hoffpauir 4
I'm a little surprised Tyler Greene isn't getting some reps at second today, but maybe they want to leave him as utility and see if Hoffpauir has a chance to make the cut.
What's great about the Cardinal system right now is that both lineups look pretty intriguing. Wish I was in Florida to watch them!
To wrap up, let's look at the approval ratings. Dave Duncan did a little better than I thought he might, posting an 84.2 percent rating. That includes my 85 percent, which would have been higher if he'd been a little better about dealing with the whole Anthony Reyes situation. I still think that's something that may come back and bite us.
Today, we'll move to his son. Chris has a reputation for crudeness, as witnessed by the famous World Series trophy picture, and his injuries have led to discussions of nepotism and wondering what people see in him. On the flip side, though, when he's healthy he's a very potent bat and comes cheap as well.
So where on the 0-100 scale do you rank Chris Duncan? Leave your answers in the comments!
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