Cards take 2 of 3 from Reds…Notes from the LLWS

 Brad Thompson took full advantage of his opportunity which arose when Chris Carpenter went back on the disabled list. He took what was last minute start and turned it into three consecutive wins for the Cardinals, the latest coming against the Reds on Friday.  He has been a great 4-5 pitcher in what’s been a patchwork rotation this year. The Cardinals also got a win from Joel Piniero which moved him to 3-0 in the month of August. The usually steady Kyle Lohse was outpitched by Edinson Volquez who is one of the game’s bright young stars. He kept the Cards at bay through 7 shutout innings. This series was out of the ordinary for the Cardinals as they got 5 home runs including 2 from the always dangerous Albert Pujols.

The Cardinals currently sit 2.5 games back of the wildcard leading Brewers. They are hitting well, getting exceptional defense and surprising starting pitching. They are also expecting Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright back in the near future. They both threw bullpen sessions today during the afternoon. Both are expected back for the stretch run, but it may be in a different role than we are used to seeing. As I mentioned last week, It may be the case that both will be available sooner if they are to pitch out of the bullpen. This would allow them to contribute and pitch valuable innings without having to throw an extended number of pitches. This could be the short term answer to the Cardinals’ bullpen woes.

The Cardinals start a big series against the Pirates tonight at 8:15. Todd Wellemeyer gets the ball for St. Louis.

From the LLWS:

The story of the tournament thus far is pitching. We have so far seen a perfect game which is almost unheard of at the tournament. The last perfect game pitched was in 2001 by Danny Almonte of New York City who turned out to be 14 years old, thus not counting. This perfect game was pitched by a young man by the name of Jesus Sauceda of Mexico, who only faced 12 batters due to the mercy rule, but struck all of them out. There have also been two no hitters on the American side; one by Hawaii and one by Louisiana whom only had a 1.65 era on their way to the LLWS.

International Division News: The Mexican team has punched their ticket to the championship round by finishing 3-0 in division C. Curacao and Guam will fight for the chance to finish second in this division later tonight. Japan won division D with a record of 3-0 and Venezuela clinched their spot in the championship round despite a loss to Japan today.

American Division News: The Hawaiian team finished 3-0 to win division B with Tampa taking second place. No one in division A has clinched yet, but Louisiana stands at 2-0, Washington is a 1-1 as is Maryland. Washington should move to 2-1 as they play the weak team from Indiana, and depending on the outcome of the Louisiana/Maryland game tonight, it could go to a tiebreaker.

More later!

BT

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