Former Royal Carlos Beltran reached base five times with two doubles, a single and two walks. Angel Pagan and Daniel Murphy hit two-run doubles and the National League’s leading hitter was back in the Mets’ lineup as the Cardinals dropped their series opener 4-2 at Citi Field in New York.
Reds hold down the Cardinals
July 17, 2011 By
Zack Cozart hit his first major league homer on Sunday, and the Cincinnati Reds used two wild pitches by Jaime Garcia to rally for a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Garcia (9-4), was 5-0 in his career against the defending NL Central teams. Ryan Hanigan singled home the tiebreaking run an inning later, and Cozart homered in the eighth.
Homer Bailey (4-4) gave up three hits, including Lance Berkman’s 25th homer, in 7 1/3 innings.
Cardinals sign pitcher Garcia to extension
July 14, 2011 By
The St. Louis Cardinals and left handed pitcher Jaime Garcia finalized a four-year contract extension on Wednesday, with a pair of club options that could run the agreement through the 2017 season. Multiple reports say the total guaranteed value of the contract is at $27.5 million.
Garcia was one of those diamond in the rough type of picks. He was taken in the 22nd round and missed a year with arm injuries, yet has proven to be a very reliable #2 starter in the absence of Adam Wainwright.
Last season Garcia was a surprise finishing third in NL Rookie of the Year voting. This year he is 9-3 with a 3.22 ERA and is dominating at home with a 6-1 record and an ERA under two.
Crow a no-show, Berkman and Molina get hits
July 13, 2011 By
Despite the American League being without the services of pitchers Justin Verlander or Felix Hernandez, Rangers manager Ron Washington elected to not use Royals rookie setup guy Aaron Crow. Instead nine other pitchers were used including Oakland starter Gio Gonzalez for the eighth. Crow said he was either battling strep or a sinus infection anyway, so perhaps it was better he did not pitch.
Holliday should not have been in HR Derby
July 12, 2011 By
Despite the fact that Lance Berkman leads the National League in home runs, he was sitting in front of the dugout watching teammates Yadier Molina pitch to Matt Holliday in a disappointing showing in Monday night’s Home Run Derby which quite frankly I found boring.
