The spinoff from the Cardinals acquiring righthander Jake Westbrook from Cleveland on Saturday is that, since Westbrook will be starting here Monday against Houston, lefthanded rookie Jaime Garcia will be moved back to Tuesday and, for the moment, righthander Blake Hawksworth, 4-7 in 29 games (eight starts), is back in the bullpen.
Garcia (9-4), who worked only 372/3 innings last year as he recovered from elbow surgery from the year before, was given two extra days before his last start and now will have an extra day before his Tuesday outing against Houston.
Westbrook doesn't have to be added to the roster until he shows up here, but with outfielder Ryan Ludwick (sent to San Diego) subtracted, there was an opening for an outfielder. So the Cardinals removed Nick Stavinoha (separated shoulder) from the 15-day disabled list. Stavinoha has been on a rehabilitation option at Class AAA Memphis.
The fate of Saturday's starter, Jeff Suppan, could be tied to a similar start being made for Memphis by righthander Kyle Lohse on Saturday. Lohse, who is rehabbing after forearm surgery in early June, has made one minor-league start and might - or might not - require one more start before he exits the 15-day disabled list and joins the major-league club. Suppan was winless in seven starts for the Cardinals before Saturday, although the veteran righthander often had been victimized by shaky defense.
AFTER MIDNIGHT. . .
A few minutes after midnight Friday - the game had been delayed 2 hours, 20 minutes by rain - Brendan Ryan got his first hit of the year with a runner at third and under two out. Ryan's 10th-inning infield hit with one out scored Ludwick with the final run he would score as a Cardinal in a 1-0 win over Pittsburgh.
When Ryan was informed that he had been 0 for seven in such situations before his game-winning hit, he said, "I wouldn't doubt it. There couldn't have been many."
Ryan, a .201 hitter before that at-bat, said he half expected to get the squeeze sign at 2-0. "But I'm not trying to think too much," he said. "I was wondering if I was going to see a strike. I was watching real close on the signs to make sure I didn't miss anything."
On the pitch he hit, though, Ryan said he wasn't so sure it was a strike as the Pirates seemed to be trying to pitch out again. "I got a little over-aggressive," he said, "but it worked out."
Ryan was happy to get the opportunity to hit when he might have been removed for a pinch-hitter. "I kind of tried to hurry up to the (batter's box) there," said Ryan, laughing. "It was a little less time (for manager Tony La Russa) to decide."
Ryan was hitting .204 before Saturday's game, although he had hit safely in four of his last five games.
"You look up at that batting average and that's not all that intimidating," he said. "I'm just trying to prove that first half was a fluke, that I can play, like I did last year."
BUCS ARE PASSED
The Pittsburgh team that fans saw here Friday night was not quite the same one they saw Saturday.
In three deals the Pirates made Saturday with Arizona, San Francisco and Los Angeles, they moved closer Octavio Dotel (Dodgers), lefthanded reliever Javier Lopez (Giants) and extra men Bobby Crosby and Ryan Church and pitcher D.J. Carrasco (Diamondbacks).
The plum for the Pirates was acquiring Chris Snyder from Arizona to be their starting catcher.
Snyder, hitting .231 with 10 homers at Arizona, will join the Pirates on Monday.
