Welcome back to Earth, J.A. After pitching well all season long, J.A Happ lost his first game since his his Major League debut in 2007.
The St. Louis Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Rick Ankiel’s RBI single. He drove in Matt Holliday, who got an infield single in his first official at-bat as a Cardinal. Holliday wasn’t close to being done.
A 48 minute rain delay paused play, but Happ was back on the mound once the game resumed. Happ was pitching fine, but all his trouble came in the sixth inning. Usually, when Happ gets into jams, he gets out of them. Friday was a different story. Holliday, Ryan Ludwick and Yadier Molina each had RBI singles. Ankiel doubled to give the Cardinals a five-run cushion.
Happ allowed five earned runs on ten hits in six innings. Granted, he wasn’t backed with the best defense as there were some sloppy plays (most notable by Jayson Werth and Pedro Feliz). On a positive note, he made hitters earn their way on; he did not walk a batter.
The Cardinals did not look back. The score was 7-0 in the seventh, thanks to a RBI single by Mark DeRosa, and yet another run batted in from Ankiel. Julio Lugo homered in the eighth.
Albert Pujols is usually the one who has the big game. Pujols went 1-for-4, but was backed by teammates Ankiel (3-for-4, 3 RBI) and Holliday (4-for-5).
The offense was pathetic and didn’t help their own cause. They had plenty of opportunities to score, but managed just one run in the seventh inning on a wild pitch. They left 10 runners on base and were 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
The 8-1 loss destroys Happ’s undefeated streak. He is now 7-1 this season, but his earned run average is still under three.
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