Joel Pineiro gave seven singles in the first two innings and the Marlins struck for four runs as they go on to beat the Cardinals 5-2 Wednesday afternoon at Busch Stadium.
Pineiro made it 5.1 innings and after those first two innings allowed just three hits the rest of the way. In this battle of 14 game winners, Florida’s Josh Johnson got out of a potential rally in the first inning after Skip Schumaker and Albert Pujols singled but were left stranded.
Johnson held the Cardinals down until Yadier Molina doubled and scored on a RBI single from Julio Lugo. Johnson gave up nine hits. In the bottom of the ninth, down 5-1, the Cardinals did their best to make a run. With one out, they loaded the bases after Jason LaRue walked and Mark DeRosa hit a ground rule double. Former Royal Leo Nunez then replaced Brian Sanchez and hit Ryan Ludwick to load the bases. Then Nunez plunked Pujols to make the score 5-2, but Matt Holliday grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the game.
After starting September 7-2, the Cardinals came home on this current road trip and have gone 1-5. The magic number remains at 10 with Chicago playing Milwaukee Wednesday night.
Slow start from Pineiro costs Cardinals
Rams sign two former Packers
The St. Louis Rams have signed WR Ruvell Martin and LB Paris Lenon the team for Martin and Lenon, the Rams waived LB Quinton Culberson and T Eric Young.
Martin, 6-4, 220 pounds, spent the past three seasons (2006-08) with the Green Bay Packers before being waived on September 5. Martin played in 41 games with nine starts for the Packers and totaled 52 receptions for 749 yards and six touchdowns. Martin also played in two postseason games for the Packers in 2007. Prior to joining the Packers, Martin spent time with the San Diego Chargers and in NFL Europe.
Lenon, 6-2, 235 pounds, is in his eighth NFL season. Lenon spent the past three seasons (2006-08) with the Detroit Lions before signing with the New England Patriots in the offseason. Lenon, who also played four seasons (2002-05) with the Green Bay Packers, has career totals of 523 tackles (331 solo), 5.0 sacks, two interceptions and 58 special teams tackles. He has played in 112 career games with 64 starts and has also send action in four postseason contests. Lenon entered the NFL as an undrafted rookie free agent with Carolina in 2000, but did not make the team. He also spent time in the XFL, NFL Europe and as a member of the Packers practice squad.
Votes not there, Senate does little during veto session
The annual veto session in the General Assembly saw an attempt, in the House, to override one of Governor Jay Nixon’s vetoes. But there was no such attempt in the Senate, which decided to accept the Governor’s decisions following the regular session of the Legislature.
Senate Majority Leader Kevin Engler (R-Farmington) didn’t think any Senate bills could muster the votes needed for an override, so the chamber didn’t even bother to try.
"We had a lot of bills that the Governor vetoed and I don’t think any of them rose to the level that we thought we could get enough votes to override a veto," said Engler in an interview with the Missourinet. "So, there’s no reason to sit here (the Senate) and just get comments and talk about things that weren’t going to happen so we adjourned."
That doesn’t mean Engler wouldn’t have liked a chance to override a House bill.
"I thought the bill on the oversight for the stimulus money was one bill that probably needed to go into effect," said Engler.
But failure of the House to come up with the votes needed to override meant the veto effort was dead.
"They acted on it but didn’t have enough votes – the two-thirds necessary – so it didn’t even get sent over here."
Engler understands Governor Nixon and the Legislature must make some tough choices where the budget is concerned. He doesn’t expect that situation to improve much during the 2010 legislative session.
House fails to override any of Gov. Nixon’s vetoes
House members muster a majority, but not the majority needed to override Governor Nixon’s veto of a bill seeking additional accountability measures over federal economic stimulus money and state budget withholdings.
The House voted 86 to 71 to override the veto of HB 544 , but that fell well short of the two-thirds majority, or 109 votes, needed to override a governor’s veto.
Rep. Jason Smith, a Republican from Salem and sponsor of the bill, moved to override the veto during the Veto Session held on Wednesday. Smith argued that the additional financial accountability measures were needed. The bill would have expanded the Missouri Accountability Portal to require the governor’s office to give a daily account of the budget appropriations being withheld. It also would have created the Joint Committee on Recovery, Accountability and Transparency to oversee the spending of federal economic stimulus money. Missouri is receiving $4 billion from the $787 billion dollar economic stimulus package approved by Congress earlier this year.
The governor stated in his veto message that the provisions of HB 544 were included in other bills, a contention Smith disputed during House floor debate. It was a contention, though, that Democrats latched onto. Even Democrats who voted for the measure during the regular session voted against the override, protecting their fellow Democrat, Governor Nixon, of the embarrassment of a veto override.
Democrats also noted one other objection of the governor’s: a provision added by the Senate. That provision would have given each state lawmaker a key to the Capitol Dome. The governor had stated that Capitol Police worried that the provision would have hampered security efforts.
House members made objections to other vetoes, but the members who moved to override those vetoes withdrew their motions after having their say. Governor Nixon signed 139 bills approved by the state legislature this year. He vetoed 23. He also used the power of the line-item veto to make cuts in 11 budget bills.
Download/listen Rep. Jason Smith moves to override veto of HB544 (3:15 MP3)
House committee on autism hears testimony
Lawmakers have heard testimony from both sides of the autism issue. The House Interim Committee on autism heard testimony from insurance lobbyists who oppose legislation that would mandate insurance coverage for treatment. Responding to Unumb’s testimony is Representative Dwight Scharnhorst of Manchester, chairman of the committee. He says something has to be done, and he’s heard his peers put a negative spin on the initiative to get legislation pushed through. The committee will meet two more times before using the testimony heard to craft autism legislation for the 2010 session. Lobbyists for insurance have been speaking out against legislation that would mandate coverage. Governor Nixon is pressing the General Assembly to join 15 other states in mandating insurance companies pay for treatment for people with autism. A bill failed to pass last session. 
Legislators also heard from those who have children with autism, such as Lorri Unumb of South Carolina, who says Applied Behavior Analysis, while it’s not a cure, makes all the difference.
Jessica Machetta reports [Download/listen MP3]
