Bird Land » Blog Archive » DG’s 10@10: Rick Ankiel “plays without fear”

TOWER GROVE — Catcher Jason LaRue, racing from the bullpen to the left-center field wall, was one of the first St. Louis Cardinals to reach Rick Ankiel as he lay on the warning track Monday night. He had a view of the catch, the stumble, the crash and then he was part of the dash of teammates to Ankiel’s side.

“The most significant part of what we all I saw, I think, is that it shows Ank doesn’t play with any fear of running into the wall. He’s going to make the play. He plays without fear. He’s a gamer.”

In the eighth inning, Ankiel made a running catch of Pedro Feliz’s drive to left-center field. After snagging the line drive, Ankiel stumbled as he transferred the ball to his throwing hand and rammed headlong the padded wall. Ankiel was strapped to a backboard and taken to a nearby hospital, where scans of his head, neck and back did not reveal any fractures. His recovery was “positive” as of Tuesday morning, according to an official.

“The only thing I know was that he was conscious when he got there. He was conscious when they took him off the field,” LaRue said. “That’s a huge sign. That was what we needed to see.”

There was a sense of relief in the Cardinals clubhouse late Monday as word reached a few players and the manager that initial exams of Ankiel were positive. Same will certainly be true this afternoon if he arrives at the ballpark as expected.

The lesser things (and far lesser important things) that happened in the game is where the 10@10 starts.

1. For only the second time in his previous 30 starts, Kyle Lohse allowed at least six runs. All six of the runs he allowed to the Phillies in the 6-1 loss came on home runs — and he was the first Cardinals starter of the season to allow multiple home runs in a start. The 4 1/3 innings were the fewest he’d pitch in a start since August 12, 2008, and the start snapped a five-game winning streak for the righthander. It all started with a pitch — one thrown at him, not by him. Lohse was hit on the left elbow by Phillies starter Joe Blanton. As mentioned in today’s game story, Lohse’s fingers remained numb until he reached the mound at the top of the fourth inning. He wasn’t sure how being hit on the non-throwing elbow would have hurt his delivery, “but any time you mess with your pull-through arm it is going to do something to your delivery after that.” There’s that. And there’s placement. He hit Chase Utley with a pitch to load the bases for Ryan Howard, and then he went into the high-risk, high-reward zone with Howard. Lohse tried to wedge a slider down and in to the lefthanded slugger and didn’t get it in enough. Instead the slider stayed over the middle of the plate — until Howard deposited it 428 feet into the right-field seats.

2. Howard hitting in St. Louis is no longer news. Home is where the hits are for the Phillies first baseman. The home run was his seventh at Busch Stadium, and that grand slam gave him 28 RBIs in just 16 games at the ballpark that replaced the one where he grew up watching games. There is no other place in the National League that Howard hits as well as his native St. Louis, and his production at home is rivaled only by … well, another former MVP who delights in his trips back to where he grew up. His name? Albert Pujols. Some homecoming numbers from elite hitters …

3. Howard tied the Philadelphia Phillies franchise record for grand slams with his seventh, already. It was also his second grand slam in eight days. According to Elias Sports Bureau, he is the first Phillies player to hit two grand slams in the first 25 games of a season since 1927.

4. Howard said Monday he will probably have no option but to participate in the Home Run Derby if he’s selected as a All-Star this year. Howard has received an exemption before to participate in the Derby without being an All-Star — and one wonders if the same would happen this year if necessary, because pitting native-son Howard against favorite-son Pujols in the Derby would make for great copy television. So, who would you like to see in this year’s derby …

5. Turns out the way to avoid the Sports Illustrated cover jinx while still appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated is to turn your back to the camera. Or, just be that good. On the other side of the state, something remarkable is happening every five days — Zack Greinke is pitching. The Royals righthander pitched his third complete game and second shutout of the season on Monday night. He was nothing short of brilliant. Greinke allowed six hits and struck out 10 while throwing just 104 pitches. He raised his record to 6-0 and lowered his ERA to 0.40. He’s now won nine consecutive starts. According to Elias, Greinke is the third pitcher since 1913 to start a season 6-0 with an ERA of 0.50 or less. The others were Fernando Valenzuela in 1981 (0.33 ERA) and Walter Johnson in 1913 (0.35 ERA). According to KC Star columnist Joe Posnanski, Greinke is “magic.”

6. To think there was once a time when during press box chatter that a few of us actually advocated the ideal win-win trade as Kansas City sending Greinke to Milwaukee for Prince Fielder. Seemed to make sense at the time — which was the season after Fielder popped 50 as a sophomore slugger. Anyone?

7. One more Howard note. He is the active leader in the Cal Ripken Jr. Stat — consecutive games played. Today is No. 301.

8. FARM REPORT: In his Class AA debut, 2008 draft pick Lance Lynn pitched five shutout innings for Springfield. Taken out of Ole Miss with the Cardinals’ second pick in the draft, Lynn allowed four hits and two walks but also struck out six in a 5-0 shutout. Lynn also doubled and drove in two runs. … Catcher Tony Cruz went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. Andrew Brown went 2-for-4 and scored three of the five runs. … In Triple-A, Jon Jay went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Jarrett Hoffpauir went 4-for-4 with a couple runs scored. Nick Stavinoha went 2-for-4 with three RBIs to give him 19 this season. Blake Hawksworth (3-2) pitched six innings, allowed one run on three hits and he struck out four. … High-A Palm Beach lost 7-6 in the 10th inning. Curt Smith went 2-for-6 and Shane Peterson went 2-for-6 with a home run, and both are hitting .326. Tommy Pham went 1-for-5 with a couple RBIs. Dave Kopp pitched five innings, struck out six and allowed three earned runs on seven hits. Sam Freeman got the loss after allowing a run on two hits. … Low-A Quad Cities got mauled, 12-2, and Charles Cutler had both of the River Bandits hits. He’s hitting .340. The R’Bandits went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. Jonny Bravo, in his Low-A debut, walked six and allowed four runs and struck out three in his one inning of work.

9. The Cardinals have a tricky decision if they want to supplement their bench with an additional bat until Ankiel is cleared to play. There really isn’t an outfielder on the 40-man roster who is hitting. But there is one who impressed the coaching staff enough for their to be discussion about his place in the system. Joe Mather and Nick Stavinoha are the two outfielders in Class AAA who are also on the 40-man roster. Stavinoha, as mentioned above, has 19 RBIs. He has hit .237 with 12 walks and also 12 strikeouts in 76 at-bats. Mather continues to struggle. He’s hitting .143 with 12 strikeouts and no home runs. He has a .212 on-base percentage, but he does offer the bat that has been most successful at the major-league level. The outfielder who is hitting is Shane Robinson, who got repeated cameo appearances in late-March big-league games during spring training. He’s hitting .375 with a .434 on-base percentage and a .479 slugging percentage. The scrappy fourth outfielder type has struck out just five times in 48 at-bats. (Added: He’s on the DL with a cyst on his right calf.) The Cardinals have room on the 40-man roster; they have to decided what and how great their need is.

10. Borrowing from Bryan Burwell and Pat Parris’ radio show on 101.1 FM ESPN/WXOS and following up on the above poll/hometown hitter stats. Who would hit more homers in this derby?

Apologies for the belated 10@10 posting. Was otherwise, you know, occupied. Thanks for the patience. A quick P.S. I did not forget the question posed yesterday about the winning percentages. Just ran out of room. The answer will appear in tomorrow’s 10@10. A hint: The current leader is not the correct answer.