Cardinals can't escape the loss or the drama Friday night in Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE -- Even in what could be called a relatively mundane 6-2 loss to the Brewers on Friday night, the Cardinals still provided some drama.
Or maybe it was the Brewers. Or maybe it a rivalry being rekindled. Or maybe it was much ado about little.
There were, however, a few postgame sparks, though they did not last long.
Cardinals pinch hitter A.J. Pierzynski, known as one of the game's most irascible instigators, was in the middle of whatever it was that went on, even though he didn't realize it.
Pierzynski had flown out to left field against Brewers closer Francisco Rodriguez for the final out and appeared to be minding his own business, simply returning to the dugout.
On his way back, though, he might have come a little too close to Rodriguez for the reliever's comfort. At least that's what the Cardinals thought. Rodriguez was not pleased about something and let it be known, enough so that Cardinals first-base coach Chris Maloney confronted him on his way off the field and Yadier Molina also came out to question Rodriguez.
Many of the Cardinals joined them on the field before order was quickly restored and both teams departed.
From what was seen and what Pierzynski said, he was basically an innocent participant this time. "Just add it to the book," he said, agreeing that his reputation might have preceded him.
"I'm sure it does," he said. "Trust me, if it was a few years ago, I probably would have said something."
In his postgame presser, Mike Matheny said Pierzynski on his way off "brushed against Rodriguez and he didn't like it."
Pierzynski said he didn't even do that much, and replays backed him up. On his way past Matheny's office after showering, he raised both hands over his head and said, "I don't know what I did."
He told the assembled trio of reporters, "I guess I have to stay 25 feet away (from the pitcher). I was running in the dugout, getting my helmet off and I turn around and guys are running out on the field. I don't know what's going on. I didn't say anything, I didn't touch him."
Forty-five minutes after the end of the game, Rodriguez still had not made himself available to comment.
Was there a bad history between the two? Pierzynski wasn't sure of that, either.
"We've played a ton of games against each other," he said. "He's got me out and pumped his fist. I've gotten some hits off him."
Have you pumped your fist? "Yeah."
He added, "It's interdivision, pennant race, guys are on edge. Guys are playing hard and they're looking for anything to get a little boost. That's all teams in September, especially in a close race."
The NL Central race got closer as the Brewers cut the Cardinals' lead to three games with their first win since last Monday. Milwaukee will start former Cardinal Kyle Lohse against Lance Lynn on Saturday night with a chance to provide some more drama -- or real drama, perhaps -- to the division race.
3 UP
-- Jhonny Peralta. He broke out of an 0 for 10 when he smacked a hanging curve into the left-field seats that put the Cardinals on the scoreboard. It was Peralta's team-leading 19th homer and the 175th of his career. He set his career high for homers in 2005, with 24.
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-- Oscar Taveras. With Peter Bourjos working his way into the lineup regularly, Taveras is likely to get most of his at-bats as a pinch hitter in the coming weeks. That's not a bad thing. The rookie improved to 5 for 11 in pinch-hit at-bats with a run-scoring ground single to right. Taveras fouled off four consecutive pitches before delivering on the ninth pitch of his at-bat. Of Taveras' 17 RBI, four have come on pinch hits. Daniel Descalso leads the Cardinals with five pinch-hit RBI in 40 ABs as a pinch hitter.
-- Gary LaRocque. The Cardinals' farm director could be moving up -- and on. Diamondbacks president Tony La Russa told reporters Friday that he plans to talk Saturday with LaRocque about Arizona's general manager opening. It's not even an official interview, though. According to La Russa, it's a conversation so both sides can judge whether an official interview would be warranted.
3 DOWN
-- John Lackey. Sooner or later, the Brewers were going to bust out of their offensive slumber and unfortunately for Lackey, they did on the night he started. He had something to do with that, of course, by giving up nine hits and six runs in six innings. The loss left Lackey 2-2 with a 4.87 ERA in his seven starts with St. Louis, but he has pitched much better than those numbers, particularly, he noted, in this game. "I felt like I threw a lot better than the line score," Lackey said.
-- The Matts. In an occurrence more rare than a nine-game losing streak, none of the trio of Matts reached base or got a hit. Carpenter and Holliday both went 0 for 4 while Adams sat out again with a sore oblique. He was available to pinch-hit, though. Carpenter came close to a big hit when he skied a fly to deep center field with a runner on in the fifth. He smacked both hands on top of his batting helmet when he saw the ball wasn't going to leave Miller Park.
-- Stopping Scooter Gennett. Aramis Ramirez isn't the only Brewer who pounds Cardinals pitching. So has Gennett, though he's been doing so for only two seasons. With a 2 for 4 in this one, Gennett improved his batting average to .385 (32 for 83) against St. Louis. The only active player with a higher average versus St. Louis: Matt Holliday at .394 (41 for 104). Both of Gennett's hits were big ones, too. He drove in two runs with a third-inning single and added another RBI with a two-out double in the fifth, and then scored on a double by Jonathan Lucroy. Gennett left the game with a tight quad late, but the injury was not believed to be serious.
You can follow Stan McNeal on Twitter at @StanMcNeal or email him at stanmcneal@gmail.com.
