Marqed Man

Because I really do love you readers, I've provided a capsule recap, for use if your casual-sort-of-a-baseball-fan friends or relatives ask you how yesterday's game went. It goes as follows.

"Jason Marquis threw a ton of great-looking curveballs, going seven solid innings. David Eckstein struck out twice, but Juan Encarnacion picked him up with two walks and Gary Bennett filled in for Yadier Molina with three hits. John Rodriguez put the capper on it with a 450 foot home run, and Jason Isringhausen went more than an inning without a hitch."

That'll probably do it. Despite all of those happenings, this is as much a "business as usual" game as the Cardinals have played all month. The starter pitched well, the offense scored enough runs, and the closer slammed the door. The Marquis curveball was the good one, the one that gets seen about as often as Harper Lee dates; it didn't have a lot of movement, but what was there was sharp and effortless, kind of like the movement Anthony Reyes gets on his changeup. Because of its consistency and bite, I expect him to move to a forkball/screwball lineup in time for his next scheduled start.

But really, don't worry about Marquis today. Savor the clean, efficient win against a heated division rival. Savor the idea of the other team walking six. Savor the fact that, tomorrow, Young Reyes appears to match up against some sort of zombie:



He looks like one of the Hussein brothers in the "After" photos... is that a liver spot?