Luvofthegame
09-13-2006, 09:54 PM
Cards can't recover from briefest start of right-hander's career
By Matthew Leach
MLB.com
9/13/06
For three months, Jason Marquis seemed to pick up a win whether he pitched well or struggled. For the past two months, it's been just the opposite. After a pair of hard-luck losses, Marquis took an entirely deserved defeat on Wednesday afternoon.
Pitching on short rest, Marquis endured an extremely short day, recording just three outs as the Cardinals fell to the Astros, 5-1, at Busch Stadium. The right-hander fell to 3-9 since the All-Star break. He's dropped three straight decisions and eight out of 10.
Marquis was charged with four runs in the first inning, digging his teammates a deep hole before they took their first swings at Houston ace Roy Oswalt. The Astros banged out five hits against Marquis, who also issued two costly walks -- one with the bases loaded.
The game's first three batters reached base against Marquis on a pair of singles and a walk. After Marquis struck out Aubrey Huff, Luke Scott drew the second walk, putting the Astros ahead for good. Chris Burke followed with a two-run single and Eric Bruntlett singled home run No. 4 before Marquis stopped the bleeding. He faced just one batter in the second, allowing a single before being pulled.
"I left a few balls up today," Marquis said. "Obviously, I got beat on all singles and a couple walks that put runners on base. I thought the key at-bat, really, to get out of the jam, was Luke Scott. I've had good success against him. I just have to make quality pitches against him, and I didn't."
Oswalt, meanwhile, was his usual superb self in quieting the St. Louis offense. He held the Cardinals to seven hits in 8 1/3 innings and took a shutout into the ninth inning. At no point in the first eight frames did the Cards even get a runner to second base before making two outs.
"When you're going up against a pitcher like that, you hope to get a good game by your guy to keep you in it," said bench coach Joe Pettini. "That way, you can battle, get into the game, make him use more stuff. But when you give up four runs in the first inning against Oswalt, that's going to be a tough day."
Pettini answered postgame questions in place of manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan, both of whom made quick exits in advance of the team's Thursday off-day.
Marquis needed an agonizing 46 pitches, half of which were balls, to make it through the first inning. When he was lifted following Willy Taveras' leadoff single in the second inning, it marked the shortest start of his career. It was also the shortest start by a Cardinals pitcher at new Busch Stadium.
"You never want to get taken out of a game, whether it's a game like that or a shutout in the seventh inning," Marquis said. "Obviously, I was in there battling. I want to do my job and try to go as long as I can."
Twice earlier this season, Marquis was left in to absorb a nasty beating, owing to a depleted Redbirds bullpen. Quite the opposite was the case on Wednesday. With Thursday's off-day coming up and nearly every reliever fully available, Marquis was gone extremely quickly.
Marquis has three starts left in the regular season. That means three more chances to stake a claim on a spot in the St. Louis postseason rotation, assuming the Cardinals make the playoffs. Marquis' ERA since the All-Star break is 6.27.
"Physically, I feel fine," he said. "I consider it mechanical -- some mechanical problems I've been battling all year, and I'm still searching, still working hard to get it."
Berkman tattooed a solo homer off Josh Hancock in the sixth, but it was otherwise an exemplary performance by Cardinals relievers. Five bullpenners combined to hold the Astros to one run over eight innings. The hole, however, was simply too deep -- especially against Oswalt.
The Cards picked up a single run on Oswalt in the ninth and forced him out of the game, but it made no difference in the final outcome.
"I was wanting to finish it out," Oswalt said, "especially after getting the first guy to pop up. I threw a good pitch to [Scott] Rolen down and away, a curveball, and he was able to hit it in the outfield. I threw a pretty good pitch to [Juan] Encarnacion, and he flared it through the infield on the right side. Overall, it was a good outing."
The third-place Astros pulled back to within six games of the National League Central-leading Cardinals with 17 games remaining for each team -- including four more head-to-head meetings. The Reds are 4 1/2 out of first, pending the outcome of their night game against the Padres.
By Matthew Leach
MLB.com
9/13/06
For three months, Jason Marquis seemed to pick up a win whether he pitched well or struggled. For the past two months, it's been just the opposite. After a pair of hard-luck losses, Marquis took an entirely deserved defeat on Wednesday afternoon.
Pitching on short rest, Marquis endured an extremely short day, recording just three outs as the Cardinals fell to the Astros, 5-1, at Busch Stadium. The right-hander fell to 3-9 since the All-Star break. He's dropped three straight decisions and eight out of 10.
Marquis was charged with four runs in the first inning, digging his teammates a deep hole before they took their first swings at Houston ace Roy Oswalt. The Astros banged out five hits against Marquis, who also issued two costly walks -- one with the bases loaded.
The game's first three batters reached base against Marquis on a pair of singles and a walk. After Marquis struck out Aubrey Huff, Luke Scott drew the second walk, putting the Astros ahead for good. Chris Burke followed with a two-run single and Eric Bruntlett singled home run No. 4 before Marquis stopped the bleeding. He faced just one batter in the second, allowing a single before being pulled.
"I left a few balls up today," Marquis said. "Obviously, I got beat on all singles and a couple walks that put runners on base. I thought the key at-bat, really, to get out of the jam, was Luke Scott. I've had good success against him. I just have to make quality pitches against him, and I didn't."
Oswalt, meanwhile, was his usual superb self in quieting the St. Louis offense. He held the Cardinals to seven hits in 8 1/3 innings and took a shutout into the ninth inning. At no point in the first eight frames did the Cards even get a runner to second base before making two outs.
"When you're going up against a pitcher like that, you hope to get a good game by your guy to keep you in it," said bench coach Joe Pettini. "That way, you can battle, get into the game, make him use more stuff. But when you give up four runs in the first inning against Oswalt, that's going to be a tough day."
Pettini answered postgame questions in place of manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan, both of whom made quick exits in advance of the team's Thursday off-day.
Marquis needed an agonizing 46 pitches, half of which were balls, to make it through the first inning. When he was lifted following Willy Taveras' leadoff single in the second inning, it marked the shortest start of his career. It was also the shortest start by a Cardinals pitcher at new Busch Stadium.
"You never want to get taken out of a game, whether it's a game like that or a shutout in the seventh inning," Marquis said. "Obviously, I was in there battling. I want to do my job and try to go as long as I can."
Twice earlier this season, Marquis was left in to absorb a nasty beating, owing to a depleted Redbirds bullpen. Quite the opposite was the case on Wednesday. With Thursday's off-day coming up and nearly every reliever fully available, Marquis was gone extremely quickly.
Marquis has three starts left in the regular season. That means three more chances to stake a claim on a spot in the St. Louis postseason rotation, assuming the Cardinals make the playoffs. Marquis' ERA since the All-Star break is 6.27.
"Physically, I feel fine," he said. "I consider it mechanical -- some mechanical problems I've been battling all year, and I'm still searching, still working hard to get it."
Berkman tattooed a solo homer off Josh Hancock in the sixth, but it was otherwise an exemplary performance by Cardinals relievers. Five bullpenners combined to hold the Astros to one run over eight innings. The hole, however, was simply too deep -- especially against Oswalt.
The Cards picked up a single run on Oswalt in the ninth and forced him out of the game, but it made no difference in the final outcome.
"I was wanting to finish it out," Oswalt said, "especially after getting the first guy to pop up. I threw a good pitch to [Scott] Rolen down and away, a curveball, and he was able to hit it in the outfield. I threw a pretty good pitch to [Juan] Encarnacion, and he flared it through the infield on the right side. Overall, it was a good outing."
The third-place Astros pulled back to within six games of the National League Central-leading Cardinals with 17 games remaining for each team -- including four more head-to-head meetings. The Reds are 4 1/2 out of first, pending the outcome of their night game against the Padres.