MVN - Most Valuable Network

Game #22 vs. St. Louis

PNC Park | 7:05 | Gorzelanny vs. Joel Pineiro | Box

Tom Gorzelanny as undone by walks. He had walked four hitters through the first four innings, but remained unscathed until the fifth. In that inning, he walked the bases full, helping the Cards score three times and take a two run lead. Overall, he pitched five innings and gave up seven walks and two hits.

Joel Pineiro through six effective innings, giving up just one run and made a nice play on a ball up the middle from Freddy Sanchez. He kicked his front leg to the side and deflected the ball. Then he hopped off the mound, fielded it cleanly and threw to first to easily record the out. I’m sure you’ll be seeing that one on ESPN.

Adam LaRoche had his second two hit night of the season. Nate McLouth was held hitless for the third straight game. I don’t believe he went hitless in three straight starts at any point in 2007.

Pre-Game Thoughts
Joel Pineiro was once a promising prospect. He had won 37 games before he turned 25. He was won just 28 over the last four seasons. He has had some control issues and some elbow trouble in his past. Coming off an injury, this year he is 0-2 in two starts with no strikeouts and an 8.10 ERA in 10 IP.

Both times he faced the Pirates, he has started and won. Last time was 9/4/07. The new comers have the most appearances against Pineiro. Doug Mientkiewicz is 7-25. Luis Rivas has 5 hits in 22 ABs. Chris Gomez is 6-18. Sounds like Pineiro and Tony LaRussa aren’t on the same page. LaRussa publicly airing a gripe against a player? Unheard of.

Will tonight be the night that Tom Gorzelanny gets going? In his four starts in 2008, he is 1-2 with an unsightly 9.35 ERA. He has averaged just 4-1/3 innings per outing thus far.

Against St. Louis, Gorzo is 1-2 with a 3.04 ERA in four career starts. Aaron Miles is 6-9 off Gorzo and Rick Ankiel is 3-3 with a homer. Those two have 9 of the Red Birds team total of 14 knocks of Gorzo. So, if he can hold them at bay, he could be in good shape.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 24th, 2008 at 6:03 am and is filed under Nate McLouth, Luis Rivas, Chris Gomez, Tom Gorzelanny, Doug Mientkiewicz, Freddy Sanchez, Adam LaRoche. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.