St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina's lack of luck and lack of success at the plate continued to the very final out of Thursday's 4-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. Molina, caught in the spiral of a 3-for-45 (.067), had three hard hit balls -- all of them caught -- and one groundball that changed the course of the game.
In his final at-bat, Molina drilled a shot that Corey Hart tracked down in the right-field corner for the final out of the game.
Earlier in the game, Molina had scalded two line drives that took sliding catches to snare. In the seventh, as the lackluster Cardinals' lineup made its biggest noise of the evening, Molina grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Three diffrent Brewers had homers, including two off Blake Hawksworth. All four of Milwaukee's runs came on homers.
FIELDER ADDS ON, AT SALAS' EXPENSE
Rookie Fernando Salas' scoreless streak to start his major-league career ended abruptly at seven innings in the eighth inning Thursday against the Brewers. Slugger Prince Fielder, who won the Home Run Derby at this ballpark during last summer's All-Star festivities, mashed a solo shot off the rookie.
Salas had thrown 6 1/3 scoreless in five appearances with the Cardinals this season before Thursday. He retired the first two batters he faced in the eighth inning and then hung a pitch to Fielder.
All four of the Brewers' runs in their 4-1 lead have come via homer.
Pujols came up as the tying run in the bottom of the eighth inning with two teammates on base. Loe, as he did the inning before, kept the Cardinals from chewing further into the Brewers' lead. Loe got Pujols to hit a soft liner to third baseman Casey McGehee to end the inning.
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PUJOLS IS FIRST TO HIT 19th
But the near-rally falters after his solo shot
Albert Pujols became the first National League hitter to swat his 19th home run of the season when he ripped a pitch from Milwaukee starter Randy Wolf to dead center. Pujols' solo shot cut the Brewers lead down to 3-1.
But the rally it nearly inspired fell flat.
After Pujols' homer led off the seventh inning, Matt Holliday followed with a walk and raced to third on Nick Stavinoha's single to right field. Wolf struck out Colby Rasmus for the first out of the inning and then yielded the mound to reliever Kameron Loe.
Loe needed one pitch to defuse the inning.
He got Yadier Molina, now in a 3-for-44 skid, to bounce into an inning-ending double play.
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HAWKSWORTH THROWS STURDY SIX, Ks SEVEN
Through six innings of work, Cardinals reliever-turned-starter Blake Hawksworth has solidified his bid to staying as the team's stand-in for the missing starters through the All-Star break.
He just hasn't found a way, yet, to win.
Two homers against Hawksworth has the Cardinals trailing 3-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning. Hawksworth has given way to the bullpen with lefty Dennys Reyes taking over to start the seventh inning.
The righty needed 89 pitches to get through 18 outs, and he allowed the three runs on six hits. But he also struck out seven and walked only one.
Milwaukee starter Randy Wolf has been better. He has 16 outs on 65 pitches from Cardinals lineup that apparently still cannot shake its Barry Enright hangover.
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MOLINA CONTINUES HARD (HIT) LUCK
Yadier Molina entered the game in a 3-for-41 spiral that usurped his final weeks of June. He's dropped to 0-and-2 in this game because of two sliding catches in the outfield. Molina has hit two line drives to the outfield but cannot crack his funk as Jim Edmonds made a diving catch in shallow center to rob Molina of a hit in the second inning and Cory Hart followed with a sliding catch on a drive to shallow right field in the bottom of the fifth.
KOTTARAS' HR PUTS BREW CREW UP, 3-0
A second homer, this one by George Kottaras, extends the lead Wolf and the Brewers have to work with this evening. The bottom part of the Brewers order pushed the lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning. Alcides Escobar, the rookie shortstop, led off the inning with a single. Kottaras, the second-year catcher, then ripped the first pitch he saw from Hawksworth for a two-run homer.
Wolf has retired all but one batter than he's faced tonight. The Cardinals have yet to get a runner to second base, and their only baserunner tonight was Colby Rasmus after his second-inning single.
Kottaras' homer was his sixth of the season.
It mommentarily halted his average from slinking ever closer to .200.
In the fifth inning, Cory Hart smoked a double off the left-field wall that extended his hitting streak to 16 games.
Adam Ottavino is warming in the Cardinals' bullpen ...
GET TO KNOW RANDY WOLF
Some quick thoughts about Milwaukee Brewers starter Randy Wolf as he breezes through his third inning of work. Three up. Three unceremoniously down.
Wolf was signed to a three-year with the Brewers to help stabilize one of the league's worst rotation in 2009. He's done worse then expected, but not nearly as worse as the rest of the rotation. The Brewers starting staff continues to struggle. Wolf brought a 4.92 ERA into tonight's start, and in June had three starts where he allowed five or more runs. (In one game, four of the five runs were earned.)
Two Cardinals have average better than .300 against Wolf, and this somewhat explains the lineup tonight:
Brendan Ryan ... 6-for-10 (.600)
Albert Pujols 7-for-22 (.318), 1 HR
Wolf is the third Pepperdine alum that the Cardinals will have faced this week. Dan Haren and Barry Enright, both starters for Arizona who faced the Cardinals earlier in this home stand, are also out of the Pepperdine program.
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MCGEHEE PUTS BREWERS AHEAD, 1-0
Casey McGehee, that third baseman who the Chicago Cubs couldn't find a spot for, clubbed his 13th home run of the season to lead off the second inning and put Milwaukee ahead, 1-0. McGehee's clout came on an 0-2 pitch from Blake Hawksworth.
In Kansas City last week, Hawksworth blistered the radar gun with pitches that routinely clocked at 96 mph and 97mph. When Hawksworth has fallen into trouble in his career -- especially as a starter in the minors -- was when he became changeup happy.
The homer came on an 84-mph changeup.
LUDWICK LOOKS LIKE PINCH-HITTER?
La Russa was intrigued enough after watching Ryan Ludwick take his complete rounds of batting practice this afternoon to wonder if the injured outfielder could be a pinch-hit candidate as early as this evening.
Before the Cardinals pre-game workout, La Russa said that Ludwick could be available sometime this weekend to pinch hit. He said at the latest the outfielder, who has been sidelined by a calf strain, would be back and full operational by Tuesday in Colorado.
That was before Ludwick peppered the wall with line drives during BP. At one point, Ludwick launched a shot several rows deep into Big Mac Land.
Asked afterward if that changed his view of Ludwick's availability any, La Russa said he was off to go ask the trainer if Ludwick could be, at best, available to pinch hit as soon as tonight. When David Freese was bothered by his ankle injury, La Russa used him to pinch hit a few times with strict orders not to run at full speed or break from the box. He was there to swing the bat and that's that.
La Russa said if Ludwick could hit like he did during batting practice without difficulty then he could swing the bat in the game if the right situation presented itself and Ludwick was under orders not to do anything more than jog.
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CARPENTER SET FOR SAT, ETC.
Starter Chris Carpenter will start Saturday, manager La Russa confirmed before the start of tonight's game. Carpenter had been a question pending how his arm felt today -- coming off his normally scheduled bullpen Wednesday. Carpenter took a line drive off his right forearm and the Cardinals were wary of any swelling or soreness that could need an extra day or two to heal. Carpenter said his bullpen went "fine" and La Russa gave him the nod for Saturday evening's start against Milwaukee.
Other notes from before the game:
-- La Russa heartily endorsed Albert Pujols' decision not to participate in the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game in a few weeks.
-- Brad Penny threw off a mound. It's not clear when he'll advance from the bullpen sessions to a more aggressive/intensive outing, one that could include facing batters or mimicking innings.
RYAN STARTS AT LEADOFF
Despite his seasonlong struggles at the plate, shortstop Brendan Ryan gets a command performance at leadoff with a lefthanded starter throwing for the Milwaukee Brewers tonight at Busch Stadium.
Ryan, who has gotten his average up to and around .200 in recent weeks, is likely to get an extended run at shortstop with third baseman David Freese on the disabled list. Manager Tony La Russa said recently that switch-hitter Felipe Lopez is the team's best option at third -- and he is also their primary backup shortstop. While Aaron Miles has played the position before for the Cardinals -- most notably as a replacement for an injured David Eckstein several seasons ago -- the preference is to limit Miles appearance at shortstop and use him more at second base, when possible.
Ryan being atop the order does not mean that the lineup is devoid of lefthanded hitters. See for yourself:
CARDINALS
1. Ryan, SS
2. Lopez, 3B
3. Pujols, 1B
4. Holliday, LF
5. Stavinoha, RF
6. Rasmus, CF
7. Molina, C
8. Hawksworth, P
9. Schumaker, 2B
And for the visiting Brewers:
1. Weeks, 2B
2. Hart, RF
3. Fielder, 1B
4. Braun, LF
5. McGehee, 3B
6. Edmonds, CF
7. Escobar, SS
8. Kottaras, C
9. Wolf, P
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