WESTPLEX TODAY SPORTS PAGE: JULY 2, 2009
Colby Rasmus led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a home run to give the Cardinals a 2-1 win over the Giants in the third of a four-game series at Busch Stadium. The homer came after his foul pop was dropped by Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval. Ryan Ludwick singled in a run in the first inning for St. Louis, which had lost three straight and six of its previous seven games. Starter Adam Wainwright struck out 12 while allowing just six hits and one run in nine innings, but Ryan Franklin worked the 10th to get the win. Bob Howry faced just one batter and took the loss for San Francisco. Fred Lewis doubled and scored on Bengie Molina's sac-fly in the eighth to tie the game at one for the Giants, who had three errors.
The Cardinals will try to earn a split of their four-game set with the Giants when the teams play the series finale this evening at Busch Stadium. Todd Wellemeyer makes the start for the Redbirds. He's 6-and-7 with a 5.68 ERA. He'll by opposed by Giants lefty Barry Zito, who is 4-and-7 with a 4.55 ERA. Last night's win pushed the Cardinals to 42-and-38 on the season. They moved to within one game of the Brewers for first place in the NL Central.
The Cardinals got some good news yesterday concerning infielder/outfielder Mark DeRosa. He was diagnosed with a strained tendon in his left wrist and is expected to miss only a few days after injuring himself during Tuesday's loss to the Giants. DeRosa said he felt a tweak in the wrist while batting against San Francisco's Randy Johnson in the fourth inning. He played one more inning, but was replaced by a pinch-hitter in the sixth. X-rays on the wrist came back negative. DeRosa is 0-for-9 in three games since being acquired from the Indians.
With Mark DeRosa expected to be sidelined several days with a wrist injury, the Cardinals have called up infielder Jarrett Hoffpauir [[ HOFF-pow-er ]] from Triple-A Memphis. Hoffpauir is the 15th rookie to join the Cardinals this season and will become the ninth player to make his major league debut with the team this season once he hits the field. To make room on the roster, the Cardinals optioned pitcher Clayton Mortensen back to the Redbirds. Hoffpauir, who has been playing second base, was batting .276 with 10 homers and 31 RBI with Memphis.
Major League Baseball announced Wednesday that All-Star Game rosters have been expanded from 32 to 33 players. The extra spot will allow for a 13th pitcher for each league, to be chosen at the discretion of American League skipper Joe Maddon and National League manager Charlie Manuel. Last year's game at Yankee Stadium lasted 15 innings, with both teams using all available players. Online fan voting for starting position players ends tonight at 10:59 p.m. Central, with 32-man squads for both leagues to be announced this Sunday. After that, fans can vote on five leftover players from each league, with the winner to occupy the 33rd roster spot for their respecitve American and National League. The 80th Midsummer Classic will be played July 14th at Busch Stadium.
The Blues bolstered their goaltending depth with the addition of veteran netminder Ty Conklin Wednesday. The "Post-Dispatch" reports Conklin received a two-year, $2.6-million contract. The 33-year-old was 25-11-and-2 with a 2.51 goals-against-average in 40 games with the Red Wings this past season. He posted a .909 save-percentage and tied for sixth in the league with six shutouts. Conklin is expected to be the backup for Chris Mason.
