W: Dennys Reyes (1-0)
L: Trevor Hoffman (0-1)
S: Ryan Franklin (2)
HR: Holliday (2), Stavinoha (1)
Win Expectancy Graph
SBNation Coverage
All that for nothing. It was looking like a good solid win for the Crew tonight. But with one strike left and one swing of the bat, Nick Stavinoha ruined our night.
Dave Bush pitched admirably tonight. He gave up a run in the second inning when Matt Holliday scored on a David Freese sac fly, but was fairly dominant through the next few innings. He ran into trouble again when Holliday hit a two-run homer in the sixth to bring the score within one. Overall, Bush pitched 5.2 innings allowing four hits, two walks and striking out six Cardinals.
The Crew did a good job of manufacturing runs today, in what might be a preview of how our offense will work this year. Rickie Weeks got the scoring started in the third inning, driving in Alcides Escobar with a single. Ryan Braun led off the fourth with a double, but when Prince Fielder and Casey McGehee were quickly retired, it seemed like Braun wuld be stranded there. But Jim Edmonds and Gregg Zaun both drew walks, setting the stage for Escobar to get the big hit of the day: a two RBI double. The Crew tacked on another run in the sixth when Fielder drove in Carlos Gomez with an RBI groundout.
The bullpen looked pretty solid tonight. Chris Narveson replaced Bush and struck out Colby Rasmus for the final out of the sixth. Todd Coffey and LaTroy Hawkins each pitched scoreless innings to set the stage for Trevor Hoffman's 594th save. But it was not to be. Hoffman walked Rasmus, but quickly retired the next two batters. But Nick Stavinoha came in and socked a pinch-hit homer to left field to give the Cards the lead.
Silver lining of the game: Albert Pujols was 0-3.