Cardinals vs. Rockies, May 7

Unbelievable.

When does loyalty turn into insanity?

I'm not sure. But I think we're going to find out. Because manager Tony La Russa isn't going to quit running Jason Isringhausen out to the hill. And if something doesn't change dramatically, Izzy isn't going to quit blowing games.

The Cardinals owned the game Wednesday for 7 1/2 innings. Adam Wainwright was dealing and staked his team to a 3-0 lead that the bullpen turned into dust in the wind. Kyle McClellan allowed one run, Randy Flores another. And then Izzy came in with two outs and handed Colorado two more.

I know Izzy wouldn't have had a chance to let the eighth get completely out of hand if Albert Pujols would have caught a playable pop up with two outs. But closers get the big bucks to get their team out of tight situations. And Isringhausen isn't exactly earning his check right now.

Wainwright is really becoming a joy to watch. And it's a shame that he has been robbed of three wins by the bullpen so far this season.

Fundamentally, he is such a good player. He has beautiful mechanics -- which is remarkable since the knock on him in his minor league days was that he was too tall to have good mechanics -- he has great stuff and he works so efficiently.

His record may not show how good he has been. But he still gets the View From the Cheap Seats Star of the Game accolades. Izzy gets the lowlight for the above mentioned reason.

Sure, Mulder and Clement have been a huge disappointment. But, if ace Chris Carpenter comes back in top form, the former Cy Young Award winner and Wainwright will be an awesome foundation for the 2009 rotation.

The Hot Dog of the Game Award belongs to Willy Taveras for his catch on Albert Pujols' bid for a grand slam in the top of the fourth.

It was a nice catch on its own merits. But the way Taveras caught the ball right in the middle of the warning track, running from center to left.

But the way he lept into the padded wall after he already caught the ball was pure gold.

I'm sure that somewhere Sammy Sosa is smiling.

Comments

[Jesse]

Lowlight is Pujols by far who should have taken a day off, or maybe even two. Izzy gets paid big bucks to pitch better than he did (9 straight fastballs), but Pujols gets paid MORE to make routine catches. The missed catch, not to mention 6 runners left on base and not getting things done at the plate in the 9th. Pujols's stupid streak of reaching base in a game meant sacraficing the team. He said he was sore, so rest him. Now in order to win the series we might need to do it without his help tomorrow.

Btw, in the 8th I leave McClellan in to try his best because he at least tried to pitch something besides a fastball.

[dep258s]

I have been an Izzy fan all along, but I am starting to cringe when he comes in. Maybe it is time to rotate others in to give him the best chance to succeed. Perhaps K-Mac, he has been impressive. Plus Motte and Perez await in the wings. If we are to win this year, something different must happen.

[Bowen]

Izzy's gotta be hurt. Throughout his career, the only times he's not been great have been when he's banged up.

[View From the Cheap Seats]

He's either hurt or age is catching up with him...

He seems to still have good velocity. But his pitches aren't doing anything. That's something easy to dismiss as a problem with his mechanics. But, if his hip is bothering him and he can't land right, his mechanics are naturally going to be screwed up.

I still stick by my post of a couple of days ago in which I said that the Cardinals should call up AAA closer Chris Perez and start to work him into the mix. At the very least, he would lighten the load on Izzy and maybe he would pitch better with more time to recover.

It stinks about Mulder being pushed back because the obvious answer if Izzy is unable to do the job is to make room for Mulder by moving Looper back to his old job as closer.