We finally have real life baseball that counts. With a 5-2 record the first week of play, the Cards are looking like a quality club. Granted, they played two teams that will race to the cellar this year, but subpar teams are a good set of training wheels at the beginning of a season.
Game 1 vs. Pit., L 6-4: Opening Day was a cold, dreary affair. It got colder after the ninth inning. The Cardinals went into the ninth with a 4-2 lead. New, rookie closer Jason Motte was noticeably amped to enter the game. He was sure to bring his renowned fastball, but forgot the location in Jupiter, Fla. He found that 95 mph fastballs left over the fat of the plate make for disastrous results. It was a disappointing start to the season.
Game 2 vs. Pit., W 9-3: The 40 Million Dollar Man Kyle Lohse pitched admirably, going seven innings and allowing two earned runs. It was Run the Bases Day in the Cardinals dugout and every starting position player reached base. Yadier "Deceptive Speed" Molina tripled somehow. A time warp wormhole may have been involved. Chris Duncan, Molina, and His Lordship Pujols each went daisy in the nine-run rout. This game also marked the big league debut of Colby Rasmus and the second base debut of Skip Schumaker.
Game 3 vs. Pit., L 7-4: Colonel Wellemeyer still needed to knock off the rust and the Pirates lineup obliged to the tune of 12 hits in five innings. Despite not pitching well, the Cards weren't really out of it by the time the Colonel left. It took a home run by Nate McClouth off Babyface Thompson to really put the game out of reach.
Game 4 vs. Pit., W 2-1: My favorite game of the week marked Chris Carpenter's return to the mound. The man was in '05 form and dragged a no hitter into the 7th inning. A couple fielding and throwing errors trials by His Lordship prematurely made the game 1-0 during Carpenter's no-hit run but DS Molina and Brian "not Barton" Barden contributed an RBI a piece to make sure the one-hit fame ended properly.
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