Rockies Want a Replay
The St. Louis Cardinals didn’t have a particularly impressive offensive showing on Tuesday, but it was a relative outburst for their struggling lineup.
Coming off their highest-scoring output in 10 games, the Cardinals hope to build on that performance as they close out their three-game series against the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday.
Oddsmakers have made St. Louis -130 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for todays game, the over/under has been set at 8.5 total runs (Matchup). Our public betting information shows that 72% of bets for this game have been placed on St. Louis -130 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
St. Louis (13-18) had been outscored 55-15 in losing seven of its previous nine games before a 4-1 win over Colorado on Tuesday. The Cardinals hadn’t scored more than three runs in any game since a 7-5 victory over Cincinnati on April 26.
"It just shows you what we’re capable of doing," manager Tony La Russa told the Cardinals’ official Web site. "We’re scrapping right now."
The Cardinals had been held scoreless with four hits through six innings, but scored all their runs in a seventh-inning rally. It was the fourth time in five games they have scored all of their runs in a single inning, going 3-1 in those contests.
"Looking at the numbers, it’s kind of unbelievable," said David Eckstein. "It’s one of those things that you can’t explain."
The Cardinals hope their late rally is a sign of things to come for an offense that ranks last in the majors with 96 runs. Their struggles have been more evident at Busch Stadium, where St. Louis has been outscored 84-48 in losing 11 of its 17 home games.
Adam Wainwright (2-2, 5.60 ERA) gets the start for St. Louis, which is 4-2 in the right-hander’s six starts.
Wainwright bounced back from consecutive tough outings with a solid performance against Houston on Friday. He held the Astros to two runs and seven hits in six innings and got his first win since his first start of the year – also against Houston.
Wainwright is 1-0 lifetime against the Rockies, pitching 4 1-3 shutout innings in four relief appearances.
While the Rockies (14-19) failed to win consecutive games for just the fourth time this season, manager Clint Hurdle took time before Tuesday’s game to call the league as an advocate of using instant replay in some form.
"It’s a very difficult call and my point of contention is it either is or is not a home run," said Hurdle, who feels his team had two homers unjustly taken away in the past week. "I don’t think that’s an area where the umpires’ discretion should be involved."
There was no doubt about Matt Holliday’s homer in the third inning on Tuesday, his sixth of the year. Holliday, who leads the majors with 52 hits, went 3-for-4 and is 14-for-29 (.483) with five homers lifetime at Busch Stadium.
Jason Hirsh (2-2, 3.82) will take the mound for the Rockies. On Friday, the 25-year-old right-hander gave up four runs and five hits while walking five in six innings against Cincinnati before Colorado went on to win 6-5 in 11 innings.
Hirsh was reached for four runs in 4 2-3 innings in his one career start against St. Louis.
by: Michael Cash – thespread.com – Email Us
More MLB Baseball coverage from theSpread.com
– MLB news wire
– Current MLB Injuries
– 2007 MLB standings
– 2007 MLB schedule
– 2007 MLB Umpire sheet
– 2007 MLB stats
– MLB scoreboard
– Expert MLB picks
– Accuscore predictions
– Comments and discussion
– Signup for theSpread.com daily newsletter
– MLB home
