Calero, Renteria Lead Comeback By The Redbirds
By JOE STRAUSS Post-Dispatch
April 13, 2003
HOUSTON - A significant April series that began Friday night with Cardinals manager Tony La Russa leaving the clubhouse before any of his players ended Sunday with Cards rookie pitcher Kiko Calero clutching a baseball he swore he'd never surrender after gaining his first big-league victory.
In between, the Redbirds turned a potential disaster against the Houston Astros into something memorable. The Cardinals, who were beaten Friday by the game's final swing and placed into a 5-1 hole Sunday, recovered for an 11-8 win before 30,078 fans at Minute Maid Park to take two of three games in the series.
A much-scrutinized bullpen pitched ably enough to allow the Cardinals to come all the way back from deficits of 3-0, 5-1 and 6-3 that resulted from starter Jason Simontacchi's four eventful innings.
After moving from the No. 2 spot in the batting order to No. 7 on Saturday and then No. 6, shortstop Edgar Renteria constructed a breakout Sunday that included his second and third home runs and five RBIs. One night after scoring three times and stranding 14 runners, the Cardinals scored 11 and left only four.
Most important, a limping team stayed within one game of the Astros by winning consecutive games. A sweep would have sent the Redbirds to Milwaukee trailing by five.
"The thing about this team, we're going to play. When you do that you give yourself a chance," said La Russa, whose mood was brighter than during Friday's high-decibel, clothes-throwing, postgame
demonstration. Every team claims never to lie down. The Cardinals so far have lived the cliche Sunday, they rallied from at least four runs down for the fourth time this season. They did so by battering Astros starting pitcher Roy Oswalt for 10 runs in 6 2/3 innings and by receiving two shutout innings each from Calero and the re-born Cal Eldred. Renteria's two home runs allowed him to tie a career high with five RBIs. Second baseman Miguel Cairo capped the scoring in the eighth with the Cardinals' third home run.
"This team never gives up," Renteria said. "We have so many great hitters, we always have a chance. If we stay close, we can win."
Renteria is five for 11 lifetime against Oswalt, only enhancing his reputation as a good hitter who hits dominant pitchers.
Astros manager Jimy Williams had leaned heavily on his bullpen in the series' first two games and attempted to compensate by staying with Oswalt on Sunday. A 19-game winner last season, Oswalt started the seventh inning with a 6-4 lead having surrendered only four hits. Catcher Eli Marrero's one-out flare scored Cairo to make it a 6-5 game, but Oswalt appeared to have escaped when he got Scott Rolen to hit a sharp two-hop, double-play grounder at shortstop Julio Lugo.
Beaten by a bad-hop ground ball that extended Friday's ninth inning, the Cardinals this time benefited when Rolen's ball rode up Lugo's forearm for a game-tying error.
The Cardinals (6-5) were one out away from a 2-1 win Friday night when Matt Morris fed Jeff Kent a fastball when his pitching coach and catcher wanted a breaking pitch. Kent's two-run shot marked the third time in as many games this season the Astros had beaten the Cardinals in their final at-bat.
Given two extra outs Sunday, the Cardinals followed Albert Pujols' strikeout and ejection with Tino Martinez's RBI double, not only giving them the lead but breaking Martinez's 0-for-12 funk with runners in scoring position. Renteria then chased Oswalt by slicing a home run to right field.
"With this lineup, there's no reason to ever think you're out of it," Rolen said. "OK, being down 10-1 might be a little different. But a game like this - why doubt yourself?"
The five telling unearned runs against Oswalt contrasted a Cardinals defense that did not commit an error in the series.
Calero, 28, made the club as a non-roster invitee this spring only after first being reassigned to minor-league camp. He never had pitched in a major-league game until April 2. Sunday he won his first major-league decision in exchange for a perfect fifth and sixth inning.
"I know the Astros are a very good team. Against a team like that, I prepare even more," Calero said. "I pitched pretty good against them (in St. Louis) the first time. Today I made good pitches. This is the greatest day of my life. I will never forget what happened today."
"He's got some weapons," said La Russa. "It's an exciting day for him. Then Eldred came in with two clutch innings. Those shutdowns are critical."
Calero and Eldred's salvage operation came after the out-of-sorts Simontacchi walked four and was beaten like a pinata for four innings. La Russa tried to get Simontacchi through as many innings as possible to avoid an early dive into his bullpen but noted, "Every time he got the ball up, they hit him."
The Cardinals rallied on Renteria's two-run home run in the fourth inning and his three-run shot to cap a six-run seventh. Renteria's five RBIs give him 12, second on the team to Jim Edmonds' 13.
Renteria said he never lobbied La Russa to move down in the lineup but appreciated the switch.
"I like hitting with runners on base and I like seeing pitches," Renteria said. "Hitting second, I don't see as many pitches as I do down in the lineup. I'm more comfortable (hitting sixth or seventh). I'm a more aggressive hitter this way."
The Cardinals left for Milwaukee in a better frame of mind because of it.
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