Monday, August 22, 2011

Game 127 Thread: August 22 @ Cards, 5p

Nathan Eovaldi (1-1, 2.12) vs. Chris Carpenter (8-8, 3.68).

The last-place Dodgers limp into St. Louis having lost five of their last seven. The Cards, a distant second place in the NL Central and third in the wild card, need to make up ground, and fast. They're sending a resurgent Carpenter against the Dodgers' callow Eovaldi. Oh, and the Dodgers have a franchise winning percentage of .444 in St. Louis. But hey, at least today's game is on TV!

Sax's note: SoSG Alex Cora and I made it to St. Louis and are at the game today. We'll be reporting live from St. Louis!

UPDATE: The lineup, via Sax:

UPDATE 7p CT from Sax: From the St. Louis Cardinals press box. Sons of Steve Garvey, reporting!

195 comments:

Jason said...

Carroll 6
Loney 3
Kemp 8
Rivera 7
Ethier 9
Miles 5
Barajas 2
Velez 4
Eovaldi 1

Here's hoping Mattingly sent Loney and Velez out to warm up in the bullpen before the game. And here's further hoping that Velez got beaned in the nuts by a Loney fastball and is unable to play.

MR.F said...

Velez is still hitless?

Jason said...

0 for 22

Steve Sax said...

SoSG AC and I are on the field at Busch Stadium. Wow.

Jason said...

@Sax

Stop streaking!

Josh S. said...

Sax and AC are surrounded by Busch.

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

Sax, if you're arrested, I know a guy in St. Louis who can sneak you some sporks and a wrench while in the slammer. Trust me, you'll need them.

spank said...

DUDE!

Orel said...

Post updated.

Nostradamus said...

Nice!

DodgersKingsoftheGalaxy said...

<--Jealous of ballpark road trips and just noticed that MLASC is actually Mr. LA Sports Czar.........

Steve Sax said...

Updated the post again, from the press box

Alex Cora said...

In the press box at busch stadium. Lovely view.

Steve Sax said...

And, Ken Gurnick is a pretty nice guy.

Alex Cora said...

Patrick ONeil from fox sports is sitting behind us. Nice guy.

Steve Sax said...

Two called Ks in the first inning. Difficult.

Steve Sax said...

Kemp was absolutely stroking them in BP by the way, so it's sad he didn't make contact there.

Steve Sax said...

Very aggressive beer man beneath us in the press box. Makes me...very jealous.

Steve Sax said...

Quick shot back to Eovladi. I accidentally clapped here in the box.

Bad, bad Sax.

Alex Cora said...

Hard to pay attention to the game with all of this baseball eye candy.

Steve Sax said...

Ground ball to the beanstalk for the second out.

I am eagerly awaiting Velez' ABs here.

Steve Sax said...

There goes the no-hitter. Pujols reaches on a weak dribbler to third, Miles can't quite get the ball out of his glove (though it would have been close).

Alex Cora said...

Lout of the jam. Nice job rook.

Steve Sax said...

Nutshot flies to second for the third out.

0-0 through 1.

Alex Cora said...

They have these cool automatic windows that roll down in front of us. Getting cooler and it is actually pleasant.

Steve Sax said...

Leadoff walk to Rivera.

Crowd is full but quiet

Alex Cora said...

I can see the Hilton hotel that I stayed at many years back that overlooked the old stadium.

Steve Sax said...

We probably should have had Ethier GIDP but Miles came back and promptly fouled out.

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

WE SUCK

Kyle Baker said...

Not many people there tonight.

I just saw an LA, a Boston, and a NY cap in the crowd.

Alex Cora said...

Wow Barajas Just barely beat that out. Man is he slow.

Kyle Baker said...

How is the crowd full? TV catching huge swaths of empty seats.

What are you guys, the Dodgers front office in charge of announcing the night's attendance?

Steve Sax said...

Wow, Descalso almost had time to get a sundae made and still almost throw out Barajas there

first and second with Eugenio up and two out. We know how this ends.

Alex Cora said...

Does the valez 0 for streak end here?

Steve Sax said...

Strike out swinging.

0-for-23, Eugenio.

Kyle Baker said...

No. nO it does not.

Kyle Baker said...

"Eugeni0"

Alex Cora said...

Nope. With the strike out. But Mattingly would say that was a quality at bat.

Alex Cora said...

Oh no the seats are empty. Especially in the corners. But for a Monday crowd not bad.

MR.F said...

I kinda want Velez to just really really suck.

Kyle Baker said...

But for a Shards game, bad.

Kyle Baker said...

No beer for you guys in the press box?

Kyle Baker said...

45

Alex Cora said...

Crap. There goes the shut out. They shoot loud fireworks after a home run.

Steve Sax said...

Lance Berkman just jacked that shot to centerfield.

Wow.

Steve Sax said...

They're calling 421 feet in the press box.

Kyle Baker said...

It does look to have filled in since first pitch.

What are these, Dodgers fans?

Alex Cora said...

421 feet per the announcer.

Steve Sax said...

The loudspeaker voice in the press box kinda scares me.

Alex Cora said...

@ mr F. As if he doesn't already?

Steve Sax said...

MSB gets the first out, 6-3

Alex Cora said...

Sweet play by loney. Card fans giving him the love too. Gotta like that.

Steve Sax said...

Wow, nice play by Loney, and the St Louis fans give him a great clap for the defensive play.

Impressive, St. Louis fans. Most impressive.

MR.F said...

@AC,
I mean, I have no wish to see him do well. It's not like Loney who I've accepted sucks, but still want to do well. I'm perfectly okay with Velez going 0 for whatever.

Steve Sax said...

Loney with out #3.

1-0 St Louis after two innings.

Steve Sax said...

Interesting ad on the St Louis scoreboard right there for Peabody Energy. They basically made it look like the scoreboard and ribbon scoreboards shorted out, only to come back on and tell us that coal powers Busch Stadium and that Peabody Energy brings us that power.

Hmm.

Alex Cora said...

Don't get me wrong, I love dodger stadium, but I gotta say that this new stadium looks really really nice.

Steve Sax said...

It's the "Mow 'em down" inning.

If Carpenter gets 1 K, section 249 row 1 gets a $5 card. 2Ks, it's a $10 card, 3 Ks, it's a lawnmower courtesy of bad boy mowers.

Eovaldi chocks up one K.

Alex Cora said...

Plus they built this thing in one off season just in time for the opening the following year.

Steve Sax said...

2 Ks. That's good for $10

Alex Cora said...

James continues the hot streak

Kyle Baker said...

"Possible extra bases for James"

NO. No it wasn't. Because he's fucking slooooooow.

DodgersKingsoftheGalaxy said...

Ask them what their GM is up to, would they be interested in Colletti? After Pujols walks what are the red birds going to do?

Steve Sax said...

Kemp with a comebacker. No lawnmower for you, big guy! But no runs for the Dodgers, either.

Steve Sax said...

Nice play by Miles on that comebacker that was just outside Eovaldi's glove. He had to wait until after it passed Eovaldi to make the play, so he stutter-stepped to see if it was going to be deflected or not.

Runner on second, one out, bottom 3. David Freese up.

Steve Sax said...

Eovaldi freezes David Freese, who grounds to short.

Two out, man on second, some guy named Pujols up and getting some cheering.

DodgersKingsoftheGalaxy said...

They built it in one off-season? No way, maybe they build 2/3 and then blew up the old stadium and did that part in one off-season?

Steve Sax said...

Pujols flies to right on a 1-0 pitch to end the inning.

1-0 Cardinals through three.

Steve Sax said...

@DK323: yes, that is a more accurate description of what they did to build the new Busch. They had about half of it built and had to finish it once the season ended in 2005, so they could build the rest of the new one in 2006.

Steve Sax said...

Rivera flies to left for the first out of the fourth

Steve Sax said...

Three quick out for the Dodgers.

Alex Cora said...

Got some nice popcorn and peanuts and water for the press peeps.

Alex Cora said...

Yeah they built as much as they could before the end if the season. But what is interesting is that the old stadium actually traversed some of the ground of the new stadium.

Alex Cora said...

Can someone explain to me how lance berkman is ripping it up this year?

Alex Cora said...

Pick off!

Steve Sax said...

Great 1-3 pickoff play there, Nate

Alex Cora said...

Mr f. The suckness continues for EV.

Kyle Baker said...

I actually root for Velez to fail.

Steve Sax said...

1-0 Cardinals through 4.5 innings

Steve Sax said...

nice play there from MSB for the firs out in the bottom of the fifth

Alex Cora said...

Trivia time! According to the press notes, eovaldi is one of the handful of pitchers under 22 to open careers with 3+ starts of 5+ IP, less than 2 runs and 5 hits of less since 1946. Can you name the others?

Steve Sax said...

Carpenter, trying to lay down the sac bunt. 0-2 count with one out and a runner on first...

Steve Sax said...

pitch out

Alex Cora said...

Trivia time. There are six others.

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

BOOOOOOOOOOOO

Alex Cora said...

Three ar current players, although one of those three is in the minors.

spank said...

Who the let these fools in the press box?!

#Saxy #AC

Alex Cora said...

Gets out o the jam. Took the air out of the crowd.

Steve Sax said...

Eovaldi pitching a great game through five, except for one bad pitch we'd be scoreless...

Steve Sax said...

I'm going to guess Stephen Strasburg, Matt Cain, and Felix Hernandez, among others.

Steve Sax said...

In fact, I'll go nuts, AC. Wayne Simpson, Rudy May, and Dave Morehead for the other three?

Jason said...

I was at the new Busch III during the NLCS in 2006 when I was traveling to St. Louis for work on a semi-regular basis. The park wasn't complete, mostly on the club level. I remember my access card from my office in Pittsburgh opened all of the RFID-style locks on the club level so I took in a good chunk of the game from the shell of what would become a suite. The plumbing was done in my "suite" so I had a personal bathroom. Alas, no catering, though.

Steve Sax said...

MSB with a full count here to lead off the sixth...and he grounds to second.

Alex Cora said...

Wow sax, your baseball knowledge is amazing. Great job. Your prize is to go get me some popcorn from the dining hall. Go now.

Steve Sax said...

Loney now has two of the three hits

Alex Cora said...

It is strange to hear the dodgers players get announced here and NOT hear their walk up music.

Steve Sax said...

All right, so here's the big Matt Kemp-batting-third-in-the-lineup experiment. Kemp is 0-for-2 with a K (looking).

Steve Sax said...

Kemp with a big swinging K there. Hmm.

Two out, SLow-ney on first

Steve Sax said...

1-2 count to Rivera here with two away

spank said...

@ Spank 6:32pm

^fuck

Damn Apple II.

Steve Sax said...

I know how this story ends unfortunately. Yep, fly out to right to end the inning.

1-0 St Louis through 5.5.

Steve Sax said...

@Jason 6:38p: how did you figure out that your rfid card would work here in the Busch Suites?

Alex Cora said...

Wow a marriage proposal at a baseball game! Amazing.

Steve Sax said...

Dude, I just realized we are in last place here.

Holy smokes.

Steve Sax said...

Ethier with a nice catch out there in right off of Albert Pujols

Steve Sax said...

Wow, just opened GameDay and noticed that there are bayer aspiring ads abutting the top scoreboard edges.

Hmm.

Steve Sax said...

Holliday K! Celebrate!

Steve Sax said...

That was a big swing there, Nutshot.

Steve Sax said...

Ribbon scoreboard JUST changed from Holliday to Berkman, in Berkman's second pitch of the AB

Steve Sax said...

Rivera with the fly out to end the sixth inning.

Alex Cora said...

For all of you bobblehead collectors, they are doing a Willie McGee giveaway on Friday august 26 and a Matt Holliday giveaway on Sunday august 28.

Steve Sax said...

not drinking at this game is very very strange

Steve Sax said...

Ethier is swinging for the fences here

1-2 count

Alex Cora said...

Sax last call for beer.

Steve Sax said...

Ethier grounds to second, not even close. He's 0-for-3.

Jason said...

Way back in the day, I ran the IT systems including the badge/keycard system for a few location of a large ad agency. I recalled that during office remodels or new space build-outs, the installed system was "all-open" meaning any badge would activate any lock. It was up to an admin to lock things down which is why, generally, the card readers on outside doors are never hooked up until well after construction is complete. The system at Busch was all wired up so I gave it a shot. Sure enough: green light, audible beep and the sweet click of freedom.

I also ran the PBX system for that company. I can still route free calls through their system since they never changed the access codes or the toll-free dial-in support line. I haven't worked there in 11 years. Not that I'd ever do anything like that.

Steve Sax said...

Dammit, they're doing last call now, and I am completely beerless.

That's a hell of a gun at short to nail Miles at first.

Steve Sax said...

AC is mocking my beerlessness

Steve Sax said...

Base hit Barajas! His second hit of the game.

Loney and Barajas have two hits each, and everyone else has ZERO.

Alex Cora said...

Keep the streak alive EV!

Steve Sax said...

Here's Velez, 0-for-ever

Alex Cora said...

Why oh why is the playing?

spank said...

Great!

Steve Sax said...

Bunch of middle school choirs sang TMOTB. You couldn't hear them singing at first, and then the Cardinals crowd joined in and you could hear the song faintly.

Very cool.

Steve Sax said...

Dammit, we've held the Cardinals to one fucking run all game long, and we are going to lose.

This sucks.

Steve Sax said...

"You have two outs left to buy beer! Last call!"

Ohhhhhh, this hurts.

Steve Sax said...

Sax may lose his streak of 935 consecutive games with a beer

Steve Sax said...

Rivera with a sweet catch in left field. Wow.

Alex Cora said...

Man are we really going to go down 1-0? Crap

Steve Sax said...

Attendance: 35, 198

Steve Sax said...

SAX'S STREAK IS ALIVE!!!

Kyle Baker said...

I mock your beerlessness, Sax.

I'll bet you don't have to pay full price for that non-beer, either, like at some stadia I know.

Steve Sax said...

MSB with a MS fly out

Kyle Baker said...

Carroll has had some good at bats.

Kyle Baker said...

NOT!

Steve Sax said...

Some of the St Louis reporters do not wash their hands after using the restroom facilities

Steve Sax said...

Three-hit game for Loney!

Of course, we won't score, but still.

Alex Cora said...

Put em on your back James!

Steve Sax said...

The Dodgers finally strike, felling Holliday in left field...by a bee sting

Kyle Baker said...

Nutshot got an earshot.

Kyle Baker said...

Ooooh...I had 45 and 145. Life is good.

Steve Sax said...

STEEEEEERike out. Okay, it was only Carpenter, but still.

Steve Sax said...

fookie sighting!

Alex Cora said...

Cards fans are actually booing whomever is going out to the mound right now. Wow those are some crazy fans.

Steve Sax said...

That's right, Carpenter! STAY DOWN! We OWN you!

Steve Sax said...

Dre Ks for the first out

Come on, Blue. Make me cheer in this press box.

Steve Sax said...

I have a bad feeling this is a Miles GIDP to end the game here

Kyle Baker said...

Streak the press box, win or lose, Saxy.

Steve Sax said...

Unos wild

Kyle Baker said...

Them crazy 1s!

Alex Cora said...

Miiles needs to do something here. Natives are getting restless.

Steve Sax said...

Cardinals fans are all here right now. I mean, it's a quick game so far, but they're still all here...those that came.

Dusty is right, this stadium was FAR from full this evening.

Steve Sax said...

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW

Alex Cora said...

Wowowowowowowowowow

Kyle Baker said...

FUCK YEAH!

Steve Sax said...

MILES RBI TRIPLE!!!

Steve Sax said...

Holy smokes, I want to cheer.

I want to cheer.

I want another beer!

Alex Cora said...

These. Crd fans are brutal. Booing the heck out of Larussa walking to the mound.

Kyle Baker said...

Wait, you ended up getting a beer after all, Sax?

Steve Sax said...

Didn't expect the Miles triple (obviously, given my prior comment). Wow.

Steve Sax said...

Get him home, Barajas

Steve Sax said...

Cardinals fans are leaving early!!!

In a 1-1 game!

Steve Sax said...

I have photo proof of Cardinals fans leaving early

Barajas RBI!!!

Steve Sax said...

FC RBI

Alex Cora said...

Holy crap. Could the sons see a win?

Kyle Baker said...

Dodgers take the lead! Dodgers take the league!

Fookie helps us out.

Josh S. said...

Raffy still loves us!

Steve Sax said...

Velez will not break his 0-for-lifetime streak in this game.

Alex Cora said...

Bottom of the ninth. Here we go.

Alex Cora said...

Playing AC DC in the stadium.

Orel said...

Furcal finally comes through for the Dodgers!

Alex Cora said...

Come on javy

Orel said...

Time to find out what Javy Guerra is made of.

Kyle Baker said...

Wow - 3 Sons posting in one GT!

Kyle Baker said...

^ cc: Lasorda

Steve Sax said...

I did in fact get a beer, with two out in the bottom of the seventh I ran out of the press box and grabbed a beer vendor for a $8 Bud Light which I promptly downed in two gulps (I'm getting old).

SoSG AC has proof of me with beer, Dusty: I knew you'd be doubting!

Alex Cora said...

You could hear navy in the press box yelling "up up up up !!!!" on that puljos pop up.

Steve Sax said...

Carroll with a nice play at second

Must be the wide eyes

Alex Cora said...

Will Furcal help his old team again?

Alex Cora said...

You can hear a pin drop here it is so quiet

Alex Cora said...

Well that woke up the crowd

Steve Sax said...

Dammit, Carroll gives the favor back to Furcal

Orel said...

DODGERS WIN!

Alex Cora said...

Yes!!

Kyle Baker said...

@Sax

I would NEVER doubt you, my man.

Alex Cora said...

There it is folks, the sons travel 1600 miles to see a Dodger win!

Kyle Baker said...

Thx for representing, Sons!

Alex Cora said...

Now it is really is quiet in here. These fans are really sad.

Alex Cora said...

One kid is crying.

Steve Sax said...

SONS SEE A WIN ON THE ROAD! HOLY SHIT BATMAN!!!

Steve Sax said...

Post-Game Thread is UP

Alex Cora said...

Ok Dusty, now hat the game is o ver and we are going to walk out, what was it that you wanted me to say to these cardinal fans again?

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

I don't believe it!

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

Or do I?

DodgersKingsoftheGalaxy said...

lol LaRussa is a bozo for some reason that franchise lets him call the shots though.....