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Cardinals 5, Rockies 4
2005-05-31 11:54
by Mark T.R. Donohue

Well, I committed a cardinal sin last night (ha ha, little joke there) -- I went to bed before the game was over. Between the rain delay, the long road trip the day before, and waking up at 4 in the morning to drive my father to the airport, I just wasn't up for another loss. I saw Pujols' homer, and I thought "Well, there goes that one."

For those who didn't see any of the game, it was a weird one. Jamey Wright was effective. Desi Relaford reached third on a three-base error and scored on an overthrow by catcher Yadier Molina. The Cardinals picked up an unearned run right back on an error by Relaford. Then Colorado retook the lead on a Jason Marquis wild pitch in the 6th, and padded it on an infield hit that could have been called an error on shortstop David Eckstein. I felt fairly confident throughout that whichever team managed to first score a run with a solid hit would win it, and indeed Albert Pujols hit one where no Rockies defender could bobble it in the 7th, scoring Eckstein and Roger Cedeño.

The long and short of it is the Rockies are not going to win many games at Coors when they get only one extra-base hit (a double by suddenly potent J.D. Closser in the third). Brad Hawpe had a 2 for 4 day, and Todd Helton at least walked twice (remember, Closser started walking in bunches right before he started hitting a bit), but this offense has not yet shaken the rust of the brutal road trip off of its back. 1 for 5, Clint Barmes? You can do better!

I have nothing to say bad about Jay Witasick, who gave up Pujols' shot. Albert hit a very good pitch, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. Great hitters will hit good pitches sometimes. Matt Anderson sure didn't do much in his Rockies debut, though. As for Jamey Wright, well, even a blind chicken finds a kernel of corn every now and then. Onward!

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