St. Louis Cardinals’ Tony La Russa disappointed after Game 4 loss – MLB Update
St. Louis Cardinals’ manager Tony La Russa was utterly disappointed after being blanked 0-4 by the Texas Rangers in Game 4 of the World Series on Sunday, October 23 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas.
The Cardinals annihilated the Rangers in Game 3 to take a commanding 2-1 lead in the seven-game series, but Derek Holland outpitched Edwin Jackson in Game 4 to bring the Rangers back in contention in the Fall Classic. Nevertheless, the National League Wild
Card entrants remain confident of toppling the American League Champions in Game 5 of the World Series, scheduled for Monday, October 24.
Explaining what made Holland so effective against the Cardinals, La Russa stated that the starter worked the team over and deserves credit for shutting an offensive powerhouse down. Holland pitched into the ninth inning, but was pulled out with one out to
allow closer Neftali Feliz a stint on the mound.
La Russa employed Mitchell Boggs on the mound to relieve Jackson in the sixth inning, but the decision did not come in handy. The manager admitted that it was a bad decision and that things might have been different in Fernando Salas was used instead. However,
he was quick to add that Boggs is a talented pitcher and it was Mike Napoli’s brilliance that won the game for Rangers.
After Pujols made history in Game 3, going 5-for-6 with three home-runs, the Rangers came back well to keep the slugger at bay. Except Lance Berkman, no one managed to centre the ball and La Russa emphasised yet again that the Rangers deserve credit for
this.
Explaining how to be successful in a hitters’ ballpark, La Russa stated that the pitcher does not get a chance to think, not unless the offence has given him a lead to play with. He said, “Unless you've got a big lead, you can never think, I'm going to get
the ball somewhere over the heart of the plate, especially elevated a little bit and it's going to be good, unless you get lucky. 0 2 is an interesting way to put it. It's kind of true, but it's not really 0 2. So you just have to play the situation and sometimes
you have to move it over the plate some.”
With Chris Carpenter scheduled to start game 5, it will be interesting to see how the Cardinals bounce back.
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