Lost 5-4 to the Cardinals today. Rodrigo Lopez was shaky for two innings (4 R, 3 ER) but settled down and went five, with the final three scoreless.
The good news is we shelled Jason Isringhausen in the fifth inning: 6 H, 4 R (all earned) to tie the game. John Parrish gave up the lead in the top of the sixth and took the loss.
Luis Matos was 3-for-5 and Chris Gomez doubled in his only at-bat, which would be better news if Enrique Wilson hadn't gone 1-for-3 with an RBI. I hate to root against people, but I'd just much rather see Gomez than Yankee Name Value Enrique Wilson as our utility infielder, and all reports right now are that Mazzilli is leaning toward Wilson. Wilson has earned it based on his spring, I guess, but he's a terrible hitter over his career. A career line of .246/.288/.352 should be enough to overlook his couple of nice weeks in spring training. Gomez is no peach but even his numbers just dwarf Wilson's. Gomez is also a much better fielder.
I may be fighting for a lost cause on this one with the Yankee connection between Lee and Enrique, but I'd like to think the guy who's done more in his career would get the spot instead of the guy who played pinochle with the skipper or whatever back in New York. Too bad Stynes can't play short, and also that he's not half as good as I wish he was.
I remember early last season when Todd Van Poppel was starting a game for the Reds, I said something about how interesting a career Van Poppel had. Van Poppel retired recently, in case you missed that one. And I said that despite being a huge failure of a future ace, and overall a pretty awful big league pitcher except that one season with the Cubs where he was fantastic in middle relief, that "it could have been worse", with a pointer to Bill Pulsipher's B-R.com page.
Well, Pulsipher bailed out fellow Generation K'er Isringhausen's mess with a save today. Funny old world, isn't it? The Cardinals also pitched Cal Eldred and Bob File, who you might remember had a nice rookie season in '01 with the Jays before injuries derailed him until last season. That's some group the Cardinals have assembled.