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Penny's stinginess gives Cards win[/h3]Right-hander holds down Astros after first to secure series
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
04/15/10 12:19 AM ET
ST. LOUIS -- For all the uncertainty attached to Brad Penny when he signed with the Cardinals, the truth is that there's not much mystery to the big right-hander. When Penny is healthy and pitching in the National League, he's very good.
As of now, Penny is healthy. And very good.
The marquee pitching acquisition of the Cardinals' offseason, Penny once again dealt on Wednesday night. He pitched seven superb innings to down the Astros, 2-1, as St. Louis improved to 6-2 on the young season. The Astros remained winless in eight games. Penny struck out four, didn't issue a walk and got double-digit ground-ball outs for the second time in as many starts.
"That's two in a row," manager Tony La Russa said. "The two games he's pitched for us have been high, high quality."
Penny fell behind early on an unearned first-inning run when a sacrifice fly brought home Michael Bourn, but he was barely touched for the rest of the game. He retired the next 10 batters after Bourn's leadoff single, and 20 of the last 22 he faced on the night. Penny needed only 89 pitches to get through seven innings, and 63 of those went for strikes. The right-hander has allowed a total of one earned run through two starts as a Cardinal.
The results look a lot like Penny at his best, which it's worth noting was seen as recently as 2007. He's still evolving as a pitcher, becoming more efficient and more of a groundballer. A pitcher who has averaged upwards of 16 and even 17 pitches per inning in earlier seasons has needed fewer than 14 per inning this year.
"I'm locating my offspeed and throwing my offspeed for strikes," Penny said. "Not [just] strikes, but quality strikes. The few hits I gave up today, they weren't quality strikes."
The Astros were impressed.
"He has a good fastball and was definitely hitting his spots and mixing in his offspeed just enough to keep us off balance," shortstop Tommy Manzella said.
Already much-maligned early in the season, the Cardinals' bullpen had a solid if momentarily scary night behind Penny. Kyle McClellan allowed an infield hit and a walk in two-thirds of an inning to start the eighth, and Dennys Reyes issued another walk to load the bases. But Reyes induced a groundball from Kaz Matsui, and Brendan Ryan made a fine play to beat the speedster, ending the inning.
It was the second time in three innings that Ryan made a key play on a close call to get Matsui. In the sixth, the Houston second baseman came to the plate with a runner on third and two outs after Michael Bourn reached on a double and an error by Colby Rasmus. Matsui hit a ball up the middle and Ryan ranged to his left, his throw barely beating Matsui to the bag.
Ryan Franklin experienced no such drama, however. Franklin finished it off with a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his third save in as many chances.
Albert Pujols' first-inning RBI single provided the tying run for St. Louis, and the go-ahead tally came on an error. With two outs and a runner on third in the first inning, Colby Rasmus grounded to shortstop. Tommy Manzella couldn't handle the ball, allowing Ryan Ludwick to score, and Penny and the Cardinals had a lead they would not relinquish.
Penny appeared to be picking up steam when he was removed for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the seventh. His pitch count was plenty low and he'd been effective, but the one-run lead made it an easy call to life him with one out and two on. He finished with three hits and only an unearned run on his ledger.
"When he's healthy, he's lights-out," said Franklin, a fellow native of Oklahoma. "He's going to be 93 to 97, 98 [mph], painting his fastball. The split that he's got now is filthy, and he can throw his curveball for strikes at any time. He pitches like an Oklahoman should."
Matthew Leach is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
What an ugly game, but a win is a win and I will take it. The Cards haven't been able to sweep a team this season yet and hopefully that ends today.
