JUPITER, Fla. — The Cardinals head north to Port St. Lucie, Fla., to complete a home-and-home series with the absolutely reeling New York Mets, who have continued their September spiral with an 0-2 start to spring. Egads.
But hope takes the mound for the Mets today.
Lefty and two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana makes his debut.
One New York paper dubbed it the start of the Johan Santana Era, writing that “a meaningless game doesn’t get any bigger.” Adam Rubin, the exceptional Mets beat writer for the Daily News, pegged it best with his lede this morning:
JUPITER, Fla. - It’s not quite March, and already Johan Santana is being called upon to be the stopper.
To face the changeup-chucking lefty and biggest offseason acquisition this side of Rusty Hardin, manager Tony La Russa is taking a righthanded-heavy lineup north. Brian Barton and Ryan Ludwick, for example, are in the outfield. There is a notable exception: Chris Duncan. La Russa has said he’d like to see both Duncan and Rick Ankiel get at-bats against lefthanded pitchers this spring — and this season — unless the lefty is of the “wipe-away variety” (i.e., Randy Johnson). The manager did a similar thing last season when he took Duncan across the state to Fort Myers, Fla., and started him at designated hitter against a lefty.
The lefty was Santana.
Duncan went 0-for-4 in the game and Santana — in mid-March form — walked two, allowed two hits, struck out four and matched Kip Wells zero for zero over four innings. The recap of the game focuses on a MVP-Cy Young showdown that became a fizzle.
Albert Pujols gets another crack at Santana today.
The Cardinals (1-0)
- Brian Barton, CF
- Chris Duncan, LF
- Albert Pujols, 1B
- Troy Glaus, 3B
- Juan Gonzalez, DH
- Ryan Ludwick, RF
- Yadier Molina, C
- Aaron Miles, 2B
- Brendan Ryan, SS
Starting pitcher: RHP Adam Wainwright. Others traveling: LHP Ron Flores, LHP Jaime Garcia, LHP Tyler Johnson, RHP Ryan Franklin, RHP Mike Parisi, RHP Tyler Herron and RHP Kyle McClellan.
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