UCB Game Blog: 2nd Inning

Thanks for the great start, Mike from Stan Musial's Stance.

After a perfect first, Lohse looks to carry over his sharp April to May. Lohse has been one of the most pleasant surprises about this season--and this season has been full of em. The outfield is playing out nicely. The rotation is sharp. And Pujols looks strong. Lohse was a great pickup, who, I must say, I had my doubts about. However, Dave Donuts has pulled another pitcher from his hat.

Lohse quickly pulls ahead of Fukudome only to give up a leadoff single. Leadoff batters reaching base was a big problem for the Cards last year. This year it seems to have been kept to a minimum.

The pitcher's best friend smiles upon Lohse as DeRosa grounds into the DP. Speaking of which, I just found a store that sells Dr. Pepper here in Ireland. Now if I could just rustle up some IBC Rootbeer I'll be good to go...oh yeah...the blog.

With the bases cleared Lohse gets Soto to ground out to shortstop. Another strong inning for Kyle. I'm really likin' him more and more with each start.

Bottom of the 2nd:
Luds strikes out on four pitches. 1st pitch swinging again. I love Luds. IMHO he should be more regular in the outfield, however...Luds gets behind a bit too often. I'd like to see him laying off some more in order to be more effective in front of Pujols. Since the lineup has been changed again it's a bit different. Nevertheless, does anyone think that Luds could be good enough protection from Pujols? I don't know if he is the long term answer. As I have said several times before: Protection for Pujols should be the number one acquisition priority. Number two? Bullpen issues. Who would you be comfortable with? Izzy? Not anymore. Reyes? Still not what was expected. Springer? Hardly. Fraklin, Villone, Flores, and McC? Better but still not where we wanna be. Number three? Doing something with Izturis. His glove aside, he's got to go. Reyes for Greene (SD) sounds promising. Once Carp gets back the bullpen will be strengthened.

Surprise, surprise. Glaus flied out again. Think he's been scouted? Seriously, they know how to pitch him every time. I'm really gettin' fed up with folks talkin' about how many RBI's he's getting. Seriously, I could get RBI's when Pujols et.al. are ALWAYS gettin' on a head of me.

Ankiel is in a different spot in the lineup. I think these changes are NOT good for the team. I'd like to see more of a rhythm get setup. Skip should be leading off. Luds with his sick OPS should be second. Pujols third. Ankiel cleanup. Glaus 5th--IF he starts slugging. Kennedy and Molina 6 and 7. Pitcher 8th and Ryan (not Izturis) as the additional leadoff. Ankiel grounds out.

A rather lackluster inning for the Cardinals here. Bummer--I hoped I would have more to talk about. Well, here's hopin' that the Redbirds come to life with the bats later on.

Thanks for stoppin' by. Feel free to stop by in the future as we rant, rave, and review more Cards action. I'll now pass the baton over to Mike at Mike on the Cards. Enjoy the progressive blog and go Cards!

-CJ