Game blog: Cardinals vs. Nationals 2-28-09

2:54: Manning finishes the game as he gets Luis Castillo to ground out into a double play. The Cardinals win the game by a final score of 9-2. Brady and I are going to try to have a video update later today analyzing today's ballgame and Chris Carpenter's first spring training outing.

2:50: Montz hits a 3-2 pitch down the left field line as he hits an RBI single and scores Maxwell. Cardinals 9- Nationals 2. The Redbirds are now bringing in a new pitcher, Charlie Manning, to replace Salas, with runners on 1st and 2nd.

2:46: The right-fielder, Justin Maxwell, walks and that's the second walk of the inning for Fernando Salas. Runners are now on 1st and 3rd with the Washington catcher, Luke Montz, at the plate in the top of the 9th.

2:44: Davis grounds out to the first baseman, Allen Craig, as Milledge scores and Casto moves to third with 1 out. Cardinals 9- Nationals 1

2:42: Kory Casto hits a double to right-center off Salas and the Nationals now have runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs and Leonard Davis, the left fielder, is at the plate.

2:40: Fernando Salas stays in the game to close it out for the Cardinals, as he walks the designated hitter Lastings Milledge.

2:37: Joe Mather hits a flyball to centerfield and that finishes the Cardinals for the 8th as the Redbirds were able to add another run to their lead and go up 9-0 going into the top of the 9th.

2:36: Tyler Greene hits a double to right field and that scores Craig. Tyler Greene is now 2-2 with an RBI. Joe Mather at the plate with two outs and a runner on second. Cardinals up 9-0.

2:34: Brian Barden hits a bullet to the third baseman, Kory Casto, but Casto is able to make a great play at field it, throwing out Barden at first. Craig moves up 90 feet to second with two outs and Tyler Greene at the plate.

2:33: Allen Craig, the first baseman for the Cardinals, draws a five pitch walk form O'Connor and thats the ninth walk for the Washington pitching staff.

2:31 Nick Stavinoha at the plate to lead off the Cardinals in the 8th against the Nationals pitcher Michael O'Connor as he grounds out to the third baseman. 1 out.

2:28: Roger Bernadina, the Nationals left fielder, at the plate now as he flies out to Colby Rasmus in centerfield. Good inning from Fernando Salas. On to the bottom of the 8th, Cardinals still up 8-0.

2:27: Salas strikesout Ian Desmond of the Nationals, as he comes in the game and gets two straight strikeouts from his first two batters.

2:26: The new pitcher for the Cardinals is Fernando Sales, as Chris Marrero, first baseman for the Nationals is up to the plate and he strikes out. That is the eighth strikeout for the Cardinals pitching staff.

2:22 Colby Rasmus now up as he grounds out to first base and the Nationals turn the double play. As the 7th comes to a close, the Cards are still up 8-0.

2:20: Jason LaRue reaches first on the fielding error by Washington's Ian Desmond. Thats the fourth error of the day for the Nationals.

2:18: Joe Thurston leads off the Cardinals lineup as he grounds out on the first pitch to the shortstop. 1 out with Jason LaRue at the plate.

2:17: Castillo sends a long fly ball to the outfield, but Nick Stavinoa is there to make the catch. On to the bottom of the 7th, the Redbirds still up 8-0

2:14: Maekawa takes care of the runner on first quickly as he forces the double play on Luke Montz, the catcher for Washington. Luis Castillo up now.

2:13: Kat Maekawa leads off the top of the 7th with a walk to Justin Maxwell as thats Maekawa's second walk of the day.

2:09: Brett Wallace now the batter goes down on strikes and leaves Mather stranded at second. As we go to the top of the 7th, the Cardinals are up 8-0.

2:07: Joe Mather takes a 2-2 pitch almost out of the park, as he hustles out a double and scores Greene and Ankiel. Score now 8-0 Cardinals in the 6th.

2:05: Tyler Greene, pinch hitting for Khalil Greene takes a first pitch fastball up the middle. Now Ankiel is at 2nd and Greene at first. Still two outs. Joe Mather at the plate.

2:03: Duncan hits a long fly ball to the wall, but it is caught and Colby Rasmus, the pinch runner for Albert Pujols, scores on the sacrifice. 2 outs now with runner at 1st. Score now 6-0 Cardinals in the bottom of the sixth.

2:02: Ludwick strikes out. Still runners on the corners with 1 out and Chris Duncan at the plate.

1:59: The new pitcher for Washington is Steven Shell. So far, he's given up a walk and a hit to Albert Pujols and Rick Ankiel. That's Ankiel's first hit of the day. Ludwick is now up with runners on the corners.

1:53: Maekawa strikes out Patterson after going to a 3-0 count. Thats the end of the top of the 6th as Maekawa strikesout two with two walks. Score still 5-0 Cardinals.

1:48: The new pitcher is Kat Maekawa for the Cardinals. He's given up two walks so far, to Lastings Milledge and Kory Casto, but has two outs with Corey Patterson at the plate.

1:40: Hey, sorry about the delay guys. We had some problems with the gameday audio, but we're good now. They just made it through the 5th inning. The Cardinals are still up 5-0, but the bright spot is the pitching of Ryan Franklin, who has 5 strikeouts and only given up one hit through 3 innings.

1:05: Mather sac fly, Ankiel scores. 5-0 Cards in the third, one out.
NOTE: I'm going to leave now to take care of stuff and go to work, so John will continue the live blogging when he reaches his computer.

1:00: Duncan walks, bases loaded AGAIN, no outs. Khalil Greene at the plate. Pitching change.

12:57: Ludwick hits a single and brings home Molina and Pujols, 4-0 Cardinals in the third inning, no outs still for Chris Duncan.

12:55: Ankiel walks...bases loaded, no outs for Ryan Ludwick.  Ludwick is batting .000 so far this spring...but he did draw a hit by pitch with the bases loaded against the Marlins earlier this grapefruit league season.

12:51: Pujols draws the walk, and Ankiel comes up to the plate in a lefty-lefty matchup with no outs and two on.

12:50: Molina walked to lead off the inning, Pujols at the plate, batting .750 so far this spring.

12:48: Franklin struck out the side, sounds VERY good today.

12:40: Carpenter replaced by Franklin, who pitches his way through the inning. Carpenter's line: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0.00 ERA. He did allow one baserunner (a HBP)
VERY nice.

12:38: Headed to the third inning, Carp is dealing, Cards are hitting the ball well.

12:37: Jon Jay hit a triple that plated Joe Mather, putting the Cardinals up 2-0 in the second inning.  Jay is turning out to be a big time asset...his bat is making a lot of noise.


12:18: Carpenter hasn't allowed a hit yet, but Pujols hit an RBI double in the first that put the Cards up 1-0.