In a meeting between heated divisional rivals, even tornado sirens couldn't keep the game from being completed, and Tony La Russa played a game of human chess at the expense of Dusty Baker and the Cincinnati Reds. The St. Louis Cardinals won at home on Friday night, defeating the Reds, 4-2 after a lengthy rain delay.
Reds Vs. Cardinals: Tony La Russa, St. Louis Outlast Cincinnati After Lengthy Delay
With a rain delay imminent, La Russa held back scheduled starter Kyle McClellan and instead gave reliever Miguel Batista the starting assignment. Batista faced one batter and threw six pitches before the delay, which lasted over two hours. Scheduled Reds starter Edinson Volquez warmed up as if the game were going to proceed as normal, and when the delay stretched on, Baker decided not to let his pitcher start the game after he cooled down.
Some folks around the Twittersphere and elsewhere wondered if LaRussa and the Cardinals feigned that the game would start so that the Reds would waste Volquez in the event of a lengthy delay. Before the game, the home team has authority over when a game starts, and only six pitches were thrown with a storm approaching before the umpires delayed the game.
But even if that were the Cardinals’ ploy, Baker and the Reds could have pulled up weather.com on someone’s phone and held Volquez back, anticipating the delay. As is, it seems like an interesting gambit that worked well for the Cards. La Russa expected the lengthy delay, and Baker did not.
When the game did start, the Cardinals jumped out quickly. De facto Reds starter Matt Maloney gave up singles to the first two hitters of the game, and Albert Pujols followed with a sacrifice fly. Pujols contributed an RBI single in the second as well, with the Cardinals adding additional runs in the third and fifth innings
Brandon Phillips backed up his lively pre-series banter with a solo home run in the fifth inning for the Reds’ first run, and Jonny Gomes would add another run in the seventh, but that is all the Cardinals would allow. Cincinnati’s best chance to make noise late in the game was in the eighth inning with two runners on and two outs, but Chris Heisey was caught off first base by Yadier Molina, and the Cardinals nabbed Miguel Cairo to end the inning and the threat.
"Starter" McClellan pitched six innings for what would have been a quality start, allowing two earned runs with two strikeouts. Newly minted closer Mitchell Boggs nailed down the save in the ninth.
But the story of the night was the gamesmanship by La Russa and the Cardinals that allowed their scheduled starter to pitch, while Baker and the Reds wasted their starter in pregame warmups. It’s worth wondering if a different team would be in first place in the NL Central if Volquez had made his scheduled start.
For more on the Reds and Cardinals, please visit team blogs Red Reporter and Viva El Birdos.
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