While many students stayed at home with the cold weather and snow, a few dedicated Cardinals fans from Pattonville, including me, flew south to watch their favorite team play in their final week of Spring Training. I attended games on Tuesday Mar. 26 and Wednesday Mar. 27, and the Cardinals luckily won both of these match-ups.
Mar. 26, 2013: Game Recap
Match-Up: St. Louis Cardinals vs. New York Mets, Tradition Field- Port St. Lucie, Fl.
Score: Cardinals 11, Mets 4
Offense: Matt Carpenter put the Cards on the board with a sacrifice fly in the 3rd inning. The bats came alive the next inning, as the Cards scored six runs to take the lead, four via Pete Kozma’s grand slam. Yadier Molina belted a two-run shot in the 6th inning after “overrated” chants from the stands by opposing fans. His defensive replacement later in the game, Rob Johnson, also hit a home run in the ninth to help the Cards finish with 11 runs total.
Pitching: Adam Wainwright gave up two runs in his first three innings of work, but got out of multiple jams and struck out three in six innings for a quality start. Minor leaguers Nick Greenwood, who gave up a two run-shot, and Maikel Cleto pitched the 7th and 8th innings. Lefty Marc Rzepczynski took the mound in the ninth and shut down the Mets to finish the game.
Fan Experience: Although the Cards were the away team in this game, it seemed that about half the crowd consisted of Cardinals fans. Manager Mike Matheny’s original line-up looked like one they would use on Opening Day, until Holliday was scratched with left side tightness. Tradition Field was not the easiest place to obtain autographs, as I got none on Tuesday and only a few players chose to interact with the fans. Despite this, the stadium had a variety of delicious concessions, and most ballpark expenses (parking, tickets, souvenirs) were kept around a reasonable price. The fact that the Cardinals were able to win big on the road against the Mets made the experience more enjoyable.
Mar. 27, 2012: Game Recap
Match-Up: Washington Nationals (Split-Squad Roster #2) vs. St. Louis Cardinals, Roger Dean Stadium- Jupiter, Fl.
Score: Cardinals 10, Nationals 1
Offense: The bats came alive early in this contest, as the Cardinals scored all 10 runs in the first four innings. Allen Craig racked up the first two RBIs of the game with a single in the first. Pete Kozma had another nice game going 2 for 3 with the other RBI in the first inning, while Shane Robinson collected two RBIs and two hits as well. The offense combined for 14 total hits, but only a few came after the replacement players were given playing time halfway through the game.
Pitching: Jaime Garcia pitched eight brilliant frames and only gave up one run. While he faced mainly minor-leaguers within the Nationals organization, Garcia showed steady command, kept an efficient pitch count, and struck out eight batters for the victory. Fernando Salas took the hill in the 9th inning, and recorded three straight outs to give the Cardinals another spring victory. Since the Cardinals only have two spring training games left, Garcia and Salas probably won’t see much more action before Opening Day. However, the game proved to be a confidence builder for both of them.
Fan Experience: The Nationals had a split-squad set for this match-up, which basically consisted of players from their minor league affiliates. Matheny used about half his regulars in the original line-up, and later replaced them with less familiar players. Roger Dean Stadium was a slightly more friendly for autographs than Tradition Field, especially for the fans located near the bullpen and grassy berm area. While some Cardinals fans were extremely pushy in their attempt to get autographs, I managed to get five signatures (Motte, Kelly, Lynn, Adams, Miller). The stadium’s concessions had a few more options than Tradition Field, but parking, tickets, and souvenirs were a little more expensive. Overall, it was nice to see the Cardinals take a massive lead early, and dominantly hold on to it for another win.
Opening Day Projected Line-Up
1. Jon Jay- CF
2. Carlos Beltran- RF
3. Matt Holliday- LF
4. Allen Craig- 1B
5. Yadier Molina- C
6. Matt Carpenter- 3B
7. Daniel Descalso- 2B
8. Pete Kozma- SS
9. Adam Wainwright- P
Things To Remember
-David Freese, the postseason hero for the Cardinals in 2011, is expected to start the year on the disabled list (DL) with a back injury. He is expected to come back within a few weeks, but until then Matt Carpenter and Ty Wigginton are likely to get the most playing time in the hot corner.
– Additionally, closer Jason Motte will join Freese on the DL for the start of the year with a mild elbow strain. While it may be difficult to replace NL’s save leader from last year, Mitchell Boggs will get the first crack at closing games once the regular season starts.
-Adam Wainwright signed a contract extension with the Cardinals on Wednesday, which guarantees him $97.5 million over five years. Wainwright, who had a decent spring for the Cardinals, is slated to pitch the team’s first game of the year in Arizona.
-Shelby Miller was chosen by manager Mike Matheny to be the team’s fifth starter. Miller competed with Joe Kelly and Trevor Rosenthal this spring to fill in a hole that was created after Chris Carpenter’s lingering upper-body injuries from last year shut him down for the season.
-The Cardinals open up the 2013 regular season April 1 on the road against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The team will hold their home opener one week later, April 8, against the Cincinatti Reds. The Cardinals hope to exceed last year’s standards and win ballgames a strong and competitive core.
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