The Cardinals scored early and often to back a complete game pitching performance by Ed Pevos enroute to an 8-4 victory at Clawson Park.
After Pevos escaped a bases loaded jam in the first inning the Cardinals used 3 straight two-out hits to jump out to a 2-0 1st inning lead. Darrin Clark doubled to the gap in right center with 2 outs and Mike Stolnack followed with a hard grounder that took a wicked bounce off the Orioles third baseman for an infield single. Stan Shedlowsky scored both runners with a double to the left centerfield gap. After Pevos set the Orioles down 1-2-3 the Cardinals got back to work, scoring 2 more in the second on a bases loaded fielder's choice by Pevos and a wiild pitch to make it 4-0 after two innings.
The Orioles answered with 2 runs in the third on 3 hits and 2 walks, but Pevos limited the damage with a bases loaded strikeout to hold the 4-2 lead. The Cardinals bats answered back with 3 runs in the bottom of the third, aided by an infield popup that wasn't handled for an error, 2 walks an RBI single by newly acquired free agent Carlos Portocarrero and an RBI groundout by Jerry Carlisle to make the score 7-2 after 3 innings. After pitching a scoreless 4th inning, Pevos ran into some trouble in the 5th, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits with a walk and an infield error to cut the lead to 7-4. But the Cardinals once again answered back when Portocarrero singled with one out, then took second on a perfectly executed delayed steal. He came around to score on a single by Kevin Tardivi to make it 8-4.
Pevos worked around a leadoff error in the 6th, retiring the next 3 batters, then quickly closed out the game with a 1-2-3 7th inning for the win.
The Cardinals will be back in action on Thursday night at Hazel Park against the Dodgers.
Cards Fall Behind Early; Rally to Beat Dodgers, 6-3
Congratulations were in order for Ryan Noward, who just became a father again to his 3rd baby girl. So taking the hill against the Dodgers' offense probably seemed like an even taller order, especially in the first inning when the Dodgers came out swinging and scored 3 runs on 4 hits before an out was recorded. Some of it may be attributable to the lack of Noward's usual pre-game ritual of warming up in his bare feet. He obviously needs the smell of his own brand to get it going. At any rate, the early outburst was quickly locked down with two strikeouts and a ground out to end the inning. The Cardinal bats then went to work chipping away at the lead. Ed Pevos hit a one-out double to left center and scored on Darrin Clark's 2-out double to make the score 3-1 after one.
After both teams went scoreless in the second inning, the Cardinals tied the score in the 3rd. Gary Fritts led off with a single, Pevos drew a walk. Both runners stole a base, with Fritts scoring from 3rd on an overthrow and Pevos scoring on a single by Noward to even the score. Both teams were scoreless in the 4th and the Cards took the lead in the 5th, again led by a Fritts single and a Pevos walk. Fritts scored on a wild pitch and Darrin Clark completed the formula with yet another double to make it a 5-3 lead. Noward worked around a 2-out double in the 6th and finished his outing with 2 strikeouts, 7 overall with nothing but zeros after the rough first inning. The Cards picked up an insurance run in the 6th as Carlos Portocarrero led off with a walk, stole second and went to 3rd on a wild pitch. Kevin Tardivi plated the run with a single to right field to make it a 6-3 lead. Pevos came in to pitch the 7th, working around a 2-out error and closed it out for the win.
The win put the Cardinals at 2-0 to start the season, heading into a 10-day break before taking on the Dodgers again June 19th at Hazel Park. Apparently it's a delayed home and home series.
Cards Blow Early Lead, Rally late to Upend Dodgers
It wasn't the most impressive display of hitting that produced a 6-run rally in the 7th inning, but it sure was effective as the Cardinals overcame a 2-run deficit after blowing an early 4-run lead to beat the Dodgers, 10-6 at Hazel Park. The first 8 Cards reached base via walks, a Texas League single, a couple of Dodgers errors and some well placed flares, sparking late the comeback.
The Cardinals jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning when Stan Shedlowsky was hit by a pitch. Mike Stolnack and Ryan Noward followed with consecutive walks and Carlos Portocarrero got the first of his 3 hits on the night with a 2-run double down the left field line. Kevin Tardivi followed with an RBI groundout to score the 3rd run.
Ed Pevos (2-0) cruised through the first 3 innings, retiring 9 of the first 10 batters he faced and the Cards added a run in the 4th when Potocarrero singled with 2 outs, stole second, advanced to 3rd on a throwing error, then scored on a wild pickoff throw to make it 4-0. Pevos ran into trouble in the 4th inning. Well, he actually created his own trouble by walking the leadoff hitter, bobbling a sure double play ball then throwing high to first base, supposedly pulling Jerry Carlisle off the bag. If you ask Jerry there was no ----ing way he pulled his foot, but the initial out call was overturned and everyone was safe. If that wasn't charitable enough, the next batter bunted right back to Pevos who had a sure force out on the lead runner at 3rd, but bobbled the ball to load the bases. It was time to pay as the next batter singled in two runs to make it 4-2. Two batters later a long double scored two more but a 3rd run was cut down at the plate on a perfect relay throw by Portocarerro to keep the score tied at 4-4. Ironically, none of the runs were earned.
The Dodgers took the lead in the 5th with 2 hits, aided by 2 infield errors to make it 5-4, then added an insurance run in the 6th to make it 6-4, which set up the 7th inning.
One thing that can be said of the Cards' rally is although it lacked significant exit velocity, the at bats were tenacious. After Stolnack worked a walk to lead off the inning, Noward hit a well placed pop fly in short center field for a Texas leaguer. Portocarrerro stroked a 2-strike single to left to load the bases and Tardivi flared a single just out of the reach of the left fielder to score a run, closing it to 6-5. Pevos battled back from 0-2 and hit a grounder toward 3rd that was misplayed and the score was tied at 6-6. Carlisle then hit a grounder that went off the second baseman's glove for an error and the Cards took the lead, 7-6. Shane Pfannes singled to make it 8-6 and Glenn Triest worked a bases loaded walk to make it 9-6. Tim Sullivan hit a single to make it 10-6, but Pfannes was thrown out at the plate trying to score on the same play.
Pevos closed out the game with a 1-2-3 7th inning for his second win of the young season and the Cards went to 3-0. Next up is the Blue Jays on Wednesday night at Clawson
Cardinals Ride 10-run 1st Inning Enroute to Win Over Jays
After three hard fought wins to start the season, the Cardinals worked quickly to ensure the outcome against the Blue Jays, sending 15 batters to the plate in the top of the first inning, scoring 10 runs and cruising to a 13-1 victory at Clawson.
With one out, Ed Pevos singled, stole second and scored on Mike Stolnak's single. Darrin Clark and Ryan Noward then followed with singles and Stan Shedlowsky, running for Stolnack scored on Kevin Tardivi's fielder's choice to make it 2-0. The inning could have ended on the next play when Tom Borkowski hit a hard line drive to left field that should have been caught. Instead two runs scored to make it 4-0 and the Cards made it hurt as the next seven batters reached base. A walk to Joe Zimmerman, an RBI single by Ed Collins, a walk to Glenn Triest, a 2-run single by Shane Pfannes, an RBI single by Shedlowsky and a 2-run single by Pevos capped the barrage for a 10-0 lead.
Ryan Noward (2-0) took the bump, well, at Clawson it's really a flat pile of sand on top of a carpet. Noward scattered 5 hits over 4 innings, striking out 6 and turned it over to Shedlowsky for the final 3 innings, carrying a shutout until a misplay occurred with two outs in the 7th, Shed whiffed 5 batters in his 3-inning "save" and added a run scoring double in the 5th to give himself some breathing room.
Ed Collins had a night at the plate, going 3-3 with a walk to maintain his 1.000 batting average in 35's. Shed, Stolnack and Noward had two hits apiece for the Cards. The real highlight of the night was the walkup music by disc jockey Mitch Shedlowsky. There has yet to be an announcement about the highly anticipated annual Book Day. Joel Welsh could not be reached for comment at the time of this publication.
Next game for the Cards is Saturday at 10am vs the Old English D's at Cranbrook.
It was a beautiful day for baseball at Cranbrook on Saturday. Unfortunately for the Cardinals the first inning was uncharacteristically ugly as 4 throwing errors led to 2 runs for the Old English D's. That was all pitcher Keith Ciupak needed as he kept the Cards' offense off balance all day enroute to a 3-0 win.
Ed Pevos (2-1) only gave up 2 hits but the Cards' defense gave up 3 unearned runs while the offense could not cash in on their opportunities, unable to put their hits together. Glenn Triest went 3 for 3, but the Cards left 8 runners on base, falling into a 1st place tie with the D's.
The Cardinals will return to Cranbrook in their next game, but it won't be until July 9th which must be the longest break in the history of the MSBL.
After being shut out in their previous game 15 days ago, it started out as a promising day for the Cardinals' offense, scoring in each of the first 2 innings to take a 2-0 lead over the Orioles, but that was the extent of the output as despite some hard hit balls, the last 16 batters were retired in order enroute to a 5-2 loss at Cranbrook.
Gary Fritts led off, reaching on an error, stealing second and scoring on Mike Stolnack's RBI groundout to make it 1-0. In the 2nd, a 1-out walk to Kevin Tardivi and a stolen base by Matt Jorn set up an RBI single by Clint Berryman to make it 2-0. And that was the last batter to reach safely as the Orioles used 3 different pitchers to retire the lst 16 batters.
Ed Pevos gave up 2 runs in the second inning, 1 run in the 3rd and escaped a couple of jams, keeping the Cardinals in the game. But single runs in the 5th and 6th inning, aided by a wild pitch, a dropped foul popup enabled the O's to tack on 2 insurance runs to close out the scoring.
The Cards will try to get back on track against the Yankees at Hazel Park Thursday night.
It seemed like weeks since the Cardinals even played a game prior to last Sunday. Actually it had been 16 days so the rust clearly showed as the bats took an extended nap against the Orioles. Thursday night was a much different story as the Cards pounded out 28 hits enroute to a 22-1 rout of the Yankees, sending 16 batters to the plate in a 10-run first inning, then scoring in all but one inning thereafter.
Every batter had at least one hit and RBI in the barrage. Clint Berryman had 5 hits, scored 4 runs and drove in 3 to lead the attack. Carlos Portocarrero and Ed Pevos had 4 hits and 2 doubles each. Darrin Clark, Kevin Tardivi and Glenn Triest contributed 3 hits apiece. Clark and Portocarrero had 3 RBI each. Mike Stolnack, Triest, Shane Pfannes and David Fiedor making his MSBL debut drove in 2 runs each.
Pevos pitched 4 innings allowing just 1 hit to pick up the win and Portocarrero pitched 3 scoreless and hitless innings to close it out. The Cardinals (5-2) next take on the Riverdogs on Sunday at Cranbrook.
After a stretch of games in which the offense stranded small armies of runners, the Cardinals finally capitalized on their opportunities with a 10-0 win over the Riverdogs at Bicentennial Park on Tuesday night.
The Cards took advantage of some miscues by the Riverdogs by pounding out 10 hits, scoring in 5 of the 7 innings to pave the way for pitcher Ed Pevos to pick up his 5th win of the season. Pevos cruised, allowing just 4 hits, none after the 3rd inning, striking out 7 enroute to the complete game shutout, and in a display of true sportsmanship, even shook hands after the game.
Jerry Carlisle led the Cardinals with 3 hits and 3 RBI. Stan Shedlowsky hit 2 doubles and scored 3 runs while Gary Fritts stole 3 bases. For once, Darrin Clark didn't have to carry the team's offense as everyone contributed to the much needed win.
The Cardinals will next take on the A's Thursday night at Bicentennial Park.
Sparkling Defense, Four Deuces a Winning Hand for the Cards
The Cardinals used four 2-run innings and some big defensive plays on Monday night against the Old English D's at Bicentennial Park, enroute to an 8-3 victory.
It didn't take long for the Cards to get going, as Clint Berryman led off the top of the 1st with a single and Carlos Portocarrero laid down a perfect bunt to set up the inning. Berryman then alertly stole 3rd between pitches, catching the D's off guard. Portocarrero then stole second and Berryman scored on Darrin Clark's groundout for a 1-0 lead. Mike Stolnack then lined a single to right center to make it 2-0. After Ed Pevos set the D's down in order, the Cardinals went back to work, scoring 2 runs in the second on an RBI single by Ed Collins and a fielder's choice to stake Pevos to a 4-0 lead.
The D's got one back in the second and might have had more if not for an unusual defensive play. After a lead off double, Berryman laid out for what looked like a sure base hit, getting his glove on it and deflecting the ball right to Stolnack, who nailed the runner at 1st for a 5-6-3 putout. The D's scored 2 in the 3rd, aided by an "allegedly" missed tag by Pevos, who actually tagged the runner on an infield groundout near the 1B line. Pevos nearly escaped unscathed when Berryman snared a line drive, but when he tried to double off the runner at 1st, the ball got by Jerry Carlisle and suddenly the score was 4-3.
But the Cardinals answered back in the 4th, manufacturing 2 runs. Stan Shedlowsky and Pevos walked and Carlisle singled to load the bases. The next two hitters grounded out and popped up so the D's almost escaped. But with 2 outs Berryman worked the count to 3-2 before walking and forcing in a run to make it 5-3. Carlisle then used his intimidating speed to score on a wild pitch to make it 6-3.
The D's were in a position to close the gap in the 5th, but with 2 outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd a little flare headed to the hole between 1st and 2nd was coralled by Portocarrero who ranged far to his left and in one motion, spun around to make a perfect throw to 1B to get the runner by a step to snuff out the rally. It was a truly spectacular play. The Cardinal bats went back to work in the 6th with their 4th 2-run inning on RBI singles by Berryman and Portocarrero to make it 8-3. Pevos worked out of a slight jam in the 6th and set the D's down in order in the 7th, aided by a nice running catch in CF by Shedlowsky, his second nice play of the night.
The Cards moved into 2nd place with the win and will take on the Riverdogs Thursday night at Capitol Park.
Patient Cardinals Beat Yankees for 4th Straight Win
The Cardinals gave new meaning to a balanced attack Monday night against the Yankees at Ford Field, scoring 10 runs on 10 hits with 10 walks enroute to a 10-2 victory over the Yankees.
After the Yanks scored a first inning run off starter and eventual winner Ed Pevos (7-4), the Cardinals went to work by not swinging the bats in the bottom of the first, scoring 2 runs without a base hit. Five of the first seven batters drew walks, forcing in 2 runs, including an RBI walk by Scott Misuraca in his first MSBL AB. He singled later in the game for his first hit. In the second inning the first two batters walked, setting up an RBI single by Gary Fritts and a sac fly by Carlos Portocarrero for a 4-1 lead. In the 3rd, Ryan Noward walked, stole second and scored on Kevin Tardivi's single to make it 5-1. Two more runs scored on an error off the bat of Jerry Carlisle and an RBI single by Glenn Triest for a 7-1 lead after 3 innings.
After a rough 1st inning, Pevos settled down and retired 10 of the last 11 batters he faced, striking out 4, including his last batter to finish another solid outing. The Cardinals tacked on another run in the 4th when Shane Pfannes singled and Pevos doubled to start the inning. Pfannes scored on a sac fly by Fritts to make it 8-1. Noward took the bump and breezed through 2 innings, striking out 4 of the 6 batters he faced. The Cards added two more runs in the 6th on Portocarrero's triple, scoring Pevos and Fritts to make it 10-1. Misuraca then closed out the game, allowing an unearned run and getting his first strikeout.
The Cardinals next take on the Orioles at Hazel Park on Thursday night.
Cardinals Dominate with Bats and Pitching to Whitewash Riverdogs
Everything was clicking for the Cardinals on Monday night at Capitol Park, enroute to a resounding 16-0 win over the Riverdogs. As it goes with baseball, it begins with your starting pitcher and on this night Ryan Noward was virtually unhittable. Only a bad hop single in the 4th inning prevented a no-hitter as Noward struck out 11 'Dogs in a thoroughly dominant performance. It didn't hurt that the Cardinals offense also had a good night, scoring in all but one inning and batting around the order twice with a 5-run inning in the 2nd and an 8-run inning in the 5th.
Carlos Portocarerro slashed 3 hits, driving in 4 runs, Scott Misuraca had 3 hits, scoring 3 runs, Clint Berryman was 2-2 with a walk, scoring 3 times and Ed Pevos was 2-2 with a walk and 2 RBI to lead the assault. Noward also backed his pitching with a bases loaded 3-run double.
The win set up a final night in the division to determine the very tight race for the playoff seedings. The Cardinals will take on the Old English D's at Capitol on Wednesday while the Dodgers play the Orioles at Hazel Park to determine the 2nd, 3rd and 4th seeds.
Cards Take Care of Complicated Business Matters in Win Over D's
It's an old cliche that we've often heard in the game of baseball, but there is a lot of truth to how "every little thing matters". In the scope of the 2017 season for the 35+ division it came down to the 3rd tiebreaker of runs allowed for the entire season to settle the seedings for the upcoming playoffs.
When the evening began the Cardinals were set to take on the Old English D's at Capitol Park, while on the other side of town at Hazel Park, the Dodgers were playing the first place Orioles who had clinched several games ago. The Cardinals and Dodgers were as even as it could possibly get, with the same overall record, splitting the season series, 2-2 and allowing the same amount of runs against each other. In the overall runs allowed category it was also close, with the Cardinals having a 4-run advantage, giving up 80 runs versus the Dodgers' 84. Got all that? Well if that wasn't enough to be concerned about, the Old English D's were in 4th place, but just one game behind the Cards and Dodgers. They had also split with the Dodgers, 2-2 but had allowed 2 more runs in their head-to-head games. Still following this? Basically this was like the last weekend of the NFL Season, with all three teams possibly landing on the 2nd, 3rd or 4th seed, depending on what happened Wednesday night as our beloved Commisioner was waiting to put the puzzle together deep into the evening.
Back to what the Cardinals needed to happen....1) Win the game versus the D's. 2) Don't allow 4 more runs than the Dodgers in their game versus the Orioles....on to the business at hand.
Ed Pevos was on the bump for the Cardinals and usually that means a well pitched, entertaining game. It was no different on this night. After a scoreless first inning, the D's drew first blood in the 2nd, scoring a run on 3 "well placed" singles to take a 1-0 lead. The Cards answered back in their half of the 2nd, starting with a leadoff triple by Scott Misuraca, who scored on an RBI groundout by Clint Berryman to tie the score, 1-1. After Kevin Tardivi singled, Stan Shedlowsky reached on a fielder's choice, stole second and came around to score on Jerry Carlisle's RBI single to put the Cards up, 2-1. After Pevos pitched a scoreless 3rd, the Cards went back to work. Gary Fritts led off with a double and advanced to 3rd on Carlos Portocarrero's bullet single to center. Portocarrero stole second and when the D's threw down. Fritts stole home to make it 3-1. With 2 outs, Misuraca laced an RBI single to make it 4-1.
Pevos ran into trouble in the 4th, giving up back-to-back doubles by the D's to cut the lead to 4-2. An infield groundout advanced the runner to 3rd which set up a key play in the game with one out. With the right side of the Cardinals infield in, the runner broke from 3rd, trying to score on a ground ball, but Carlisle snared it and made a quick throw home to nail the runner at the plate in a cloud of dust normally seen in the Sahara Desert. It was a "bang-bang" play as Cards catcher Tardivi got the tag down quickly to keep the score at 4-2, which remained until the Cards came to bat in the 5th.
Pevos led off with a walk and moved to 2nd on a wild pitch. After 2 strikeouts, Tom Borkowski hit an opposite field RBI single to score Pevos and the Cards had a 5-2 lead. Borkowski stole second and Shane Pffanes battled for a key walk. Fritts then lined one to leftcenter, narrowly eluding the D's centerfielder which would have been a great inning ending catch, but instead ended up as a 2-run triple increasing the lead to 7-2. Fritts then scored on Portocarrero's single to make it 8-2. Both teams went scoreless in the 6th.
The D's wouldn't go quietly, scoring a run on a leadoff double and an RBI single, but the Cards turned a double play and Pevos struck out the final batter to seal the win, and with the Dodgers beating the Orioles 9-1, the all important runs allowed category came into play. With that the Cardinals secured the #2 seed. Pevos picked up his 9th win of the season as Fritts, Portocarrero, Misuraca and Tardivi had 2 hits each.
So at the end of the complex tiebreaker scenario, every little thing all season mattered. The Cards will take on the A's in the first round of the playoffs next Monday, 8:15pm at Hazel Park
Cardinals Take a "Mad Dash" to the Finals with Walkoff Win over Dodgers
Taking a page out of St. Louis Cardinals history, the MSBL 35 Cardinals advanced to the finals for the 35 division after winning 3-2 with a wild finish in the bottom of the 7th to upend the Dodgers after yet another hard fought battle between the two closely matched teams.
Starter Ed Pevos escaped a bases loaded jam in the first with a strikeout to end the threat. But Dodgers broke through in the top of the 3rd scoring a run with 2 outs when a well placed jam shot on the infield between 1st and second led to a throwing error and a 1-0 Dodger lead. Pevos continued his Houdini act, stranding two runners in the 4th, striking out the last two batters to end the threat. Dodger pitcher Eric Vandereyck had retired the first 11 Cardinals in order but Scott Misuraca lined a single with 2 outs in the 4th. Darrin Clark then blasted a triple to deep right center as Misuraca scored to tie the game at 1-1. Pevos worked around a two out walk in the 5th to keep the score tied and a chance for the Cardinals to take the lead. Clint Berryman led off the inning with a single, then took off for second as Ryan Noward executed a perfect hit and run single through the right side hole, narrowly missing Berryman who went to 3rd. Berryman then scored the go ahead run on a double play grounder to short by Kevin Tardivi and the Cards were up, 2-1.
Ryan Noward took the bump in the 6th, setting down the Dodgers in order to hold the lead. Jerry Carlisle led off the 6th with a double. Glenn Triest put down a perfect sacrifice bunt, advancing pinch runner Pevos to 3rd with one out. With the infield in, Carlos Portocarrero lined a bullet but it was right at the Dodger shortstop who nearly doubled Pevos off 3rd. Misuraca grounded out to end the threat.
After getting the first two outs in the 7th and one out away from victory, Noward walked the speedy leadoff man, who promptly stole second. In a carbon copy of the infield flare that led to the Dodgers' first run, this one barely got by Portocarrero who ranged far to his left but couldn't quite corral it and the tying run came around to score. Noward struck out what would be the last batter he would face.
Now we go back to the 7th game of the 1946 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox. With the scored tied in the bottom of the 8th, Enos Slaughter who had singled and was on first base, took off for second. Harry Walker swung and lined a base hit into left center. The Cardinals 3B coach wasn't waving him and wasn't stopping him either, so Slaughter kept running and had just hit 3rd when the Red Sox SS Johnny Pesky (of Pesky Pole fame) caught the relay throw from CF. He should have easily thrown Slaughter out, but as you can see in the video, Pesky couldn't get the ball out of his glove under the pressure of the go ahead run headed home:
That turned out to be the winning run for a Cardinals World Series Championship and in baseball lore became known as Enos Slaughter's "Mad Dash". Well, at that time nobody has seen anything as mad as what Clint Berryman did last night. After the first two Cardinal batters were retired, Berryman walked on 4 pitches. A little fuzzy on the signs Tim Sullivan relayed from 3rd (there was nothing "on"), Berryman took off to steal second. A good throw would have nailed him, but the throw sailed into centerfield. Berryman kept going to 3rd, where he stopped while the ball was still loose in shallow CF. With the ball finally secured and everyone thinking the play was over, Berryman took off running for home. Again, a good throw would have nailed him, but under the pressure of the season on the line, the throw was airmailed over the catcher and Berryman scored the winning run, sending the Cardinals to the finals. That play will go down in Cardinals history as Berryman's Ballsy Bolt. We can call it that because it worked out. Noward vultured the win from Pevos, but it was truly a team win with timely hitting and the usual solid pitching and defense, highlighted by Misuraca's laser throw from left to easily nail a runner trying to stretch a hit into a double.
It's now a best two out of three versus the Orioles, beginning at Hazel Park on Monday night. Get your tickets early.
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