GM says Cards “Can’t Just Keep Giving Games Away Like That.”
DOWNTOWN — Had one groundball turned out differently, had it not slipped through his hands as rapidly and frustratingly as the save did a few moments later, maybe the questions would have been different.
But Tuesday is another blown save for the Cardinals’ bullpen — No. 27, for those keeping score — and means another inquisition for the club’s closer, Jason Isringhausen.
Isringhausen entered his second save opportunity since returning to the role with a three-run lead and the bases empty after Andruw Jones’ solo home run to open the ninth. No need to repeat the play by play here. (Senior baseball writer Joe Strauss has it covered in the game story.) With the bases loaded, James Loney hit a dribbler down the first base line. There was a clear play at first base, but Isringhausen mishandled the ball. A run scored. The bases remained loaded. There was still one out.
That grounder goes differently, and GM John Mozeliak may not be meeting with manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan today to discuss the recurring concerns about how the Cardinals are going to close games.
Isringhausen declined to talk to the media after the 6-4 victory.
Mozeliak did. In a brief, but telling, interview — from which the end quote in Strauss’ game story came — Mozeliak said the team “can’t just keep giving games away like that.”
The transcript of his late-night Q & A with a handful of media:
Q: Mo, what was your take on what you saw in the ninth inning tonight?
Mozeliak: It was disappointing. Obviously to get a game pitched so well up until the ninth and to have the outcome go the way it did, in terms of a home run, hit, walk — it was tough. I think it’s something that Tony, Dunc and I will talk about tomorrow, strategize and see what makes the most sense. You can’t just keep giving games away like that.
We’re not in a situation where we can go out and necessarily find somebody to close. We’re very supportive of Izzy, and we’ve stood by him. but at some point we have to get some results.
Q: Would rookie Chris Perez be considered as an option?
Mozeliak: Everything is an option right now. We have to be open-minded and just try to make the best decision for this club. You look at how (Chris Carpenter) pitched today and how outstanding he was. He gave this team more than a chance to win. And it got down to the ninth and we just couldn’t put it away.
For many reasons, the ninth inning has become a quagmire for the Cardinals this season, not the least of which is the kind of games this team has been prone to play — and there’s every reason to believe will continue to play. Having a runner on base for Ryan Ludwick’s home run Tuesday night is the difference between that win and the Cardinals’ 42nd one-run ball game of the season. That leads the majors, and is already five more than the Cardinals had total last season.
The Cardinals 21 one-run wins are the fourth-most in the majors, second in the National League.
But in a tightly bunched wild card race and an NL Central division stacked with three contenders for playoff berths, the more glaring wins are the ones the Cardinals haven’t cinched of late. The most blown saves in the majors is one thing — because Ryan Franklin got tagged with a blown save Tuesday that was hardly his doing. The more telling stat is the Cardinals have now led 64 of their of their 115 games after the seventh inning.
They have lost 12 of those games.
After a game that was almost No. 13, Mozeliak said another audit is needed.
Q: Are you going to discuss (how to use the current) roster differently, or are you going to look at doing something roster-wise?
Mozeliak: I just want to listen to Tony and Dunc and hear what all of our available options are. Someone brought up Chris Perez. What may be the kind of change in strategy which might be a different formula that might work? We’re not going to be able to go out and necessarily trade for someone to be that closer. Izzy may get that opportunity. That’s for Tony and Dunc to let me know. I’m not ruling that out at all right now.
I think right now people are answering things with more emotion than real thought. It’s just something that regardless of how you look at it’s a frustrating situation when you can think of how we’ve lost a lot of these games late in the game. A lot of them come to mind. It’s unfortunate.
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
A few more thoughts on the Pineiro option:
I know he’s not the classic closer as he doesn’t come in throughing 98 mph nor does he have a trick pitch, but he does work his way through the first inning effectively. I looked up his first innings for every game he pitched this season (what else is there to do in Macomb?), and he has allowed five runs in 18 first innings for this year - an ERA of 2.5 for inning number one. The problem I’ve notice with Pineiro is an inability to finish off a hitter the second and third time through the lineup - the count goes to 2-2, the hitter fouls off a couple of decent pitches, and Pineiro invariably has nothing new to show the hitter to put him away. It’s the same problem Eric Gagne had when he first came to the big leagues and tried to make it as a starter - he just looked clueless trying to put someone away the sedond or third time through the lineup.
Look, I know Pineiro’s not a great profile for a closer, but show me someone at the major league level who is available who is better at putting hitters away in his first inning of work? He probably couldn’t go everyday, but he might be part of a closer by committee configuration.
Wow! a lot of comments and good talk here….
Well, I had previously advocated Carp for the closers role, but at the moment anyway, I think he needs to remain in the rotation. He looked good last night. It is so critical that he got a couple of good starts under his belt. He just needs to keep building up his arm, and find the strike zone more consistently and maybe Carp become as much of a productionsl boost as a mental one to the Cardinal club.
Could Kyle McClellan become a starter soon? I saw where someone had mention plugging him in for a few fifth starts down the strech here in 2008. That might be difficult to do now, but going into next year maybe he has a shot at starting.
we wouldn’t be giving up games like this if you would of pulled the trigger on a trade for our bullpen. Our minor league players were not that untouchable, your telling me that Anderson and a few others couldn’t of got you one of the closers out there?
what about putting jamie garcia in the rotation, send pinero down to triple a or something like that, and have a looper or wellemeyer fill in the closer role and see what happens. we cant have any of the current pitchers in the bullpen pitch the ninth if we want to win.
Perez needs an offspeed pitch to be effective, mlb players will tee off on his heater after awhile. Wainwright needs to show he can still bring his bread and butter(that sharp curve) before we even think about using him in the closer role, or any other role for that matter, if his curve doesn’t come back like it was pre-injury then he wont work out. Izzy is done sad to say-toppin out at 89 and the cutter just doesn’t cut like it used to, his curveball is way better this year, but command lacks. I feel we are done this year, not making a move before the brewers series, and losing 2 of those games due to blown 9th innings sealed the deal. Its not on TLR or duncan, they do a great job with what they have. ITS ON MO, SHUOLDA MADE A TRADE BEFORE THE BREWERS SERIES-THAT WAS OUR SEASON RIGHT THERE. SHAME ON YOU MO AND FRONT OFFICE-TOO BUSY FISHING DOLLARS OUT OF LAKE DEWITT!!
How many chances is Isringhausen going to get? He obviously cant close and needs to probably just retire. Its the only thing Tony Larussa is doing bad at this year. He his doing an amazing job with this club, but for some reason he just cant see that Isringhausen cant close. Even when he does get a save, he has to make it interesting, like load the bases first and hes just a joke, get rid of him!
Can we PLEASE get rid of Izzy. Every time Tony puts him in I have a panic attack because I know he will give up runs. Can someone please explain why Tony continues to put him in the games. Lets at least pretend he is injured again so he can go on the DL.
The frustrating part of Mo’s comments is when he says that “right now people are answering things with more emotion than real thought”. While people may be upset, it’s not like this problem has just suddenly popped up. The Cardinals have known that the bullpen was a problem for the better part of three months. Ok, so they tried pretty much eveything available in house. After a couple of months of that not working out they should have made some kind of move to obtain help from outside the organization. It really looks like Mo has made some major mistakes in his rookie campaign and today it looks like it might cost them a post season appearance.
One question: Didn’t the bullpen seem to do better when Izzy was on the DL and everyone knew he was not available? Is his presence (especially when not the closer) causing some (unintentional) disruption of the bullpen?
Well maybe Mozeliak should have made a deal on July 31st..how bout that Mr. Mo?
I wonder how Tony’s good friend Bobby Knight would handle our woeful relief bunch–particularly the closer. Why do managers baby pitchers all the time? They are getting paid millions to do a job and they should be expected to perform. If they don’t, the manager should get in their face and let them know about it. I could see Bobby Knight grabbing a pitcher by the neck and getting his attention. This situation is utterly ridiculous!!!!!! It is MO’s job to correct this situation. He MUST take Izzy out of the equation!!!!!!!!!! If we, the fans, can’t get management’s attention any other way, the fans should get up and walk out of the stadium any time Izzy is brought into a game. All of them are paid by the fans–we have to have a VOICE in all of this. I’ve had enough of all of this!!!!! How about you????