McClellan coughs it up

As predicted yesterday, Jo Jo Reyes stymied the Cardinals for seven innings, allowing 3 hits and a run. Kyle Lohse needed to be better, and was, tossing six scoreless with six strikeouts.

Nursing a 1-0 lead, Motte navigated the seventh without incident.

Not so for McClellan. Much like Matt Garza's start (he's on my fantasy team, so I know these things), you can't walk the bases loaded and expect to get out of it unscathed. In Garza's case, Nomar (NOMAR!) cleared the bases with a double. In McClellan's, Diaz drove home two with a single. The two that scored were enough. Mike Gonzalez struck out the side in the ninth (remember him from his days with Pittsburgh?), and Atlanta had a 2-1 win.

It's tough to win 1-0 in this league, but when you need six outs to get there, or in McClellan's case, one more out to get out of the eighth, its especially tough. Pittsburgh did lose again, so the Cardinals maintained their 2 1/2 game lead in the division, so that's something.

Rubber game today - Wainwright vs Javier Vasquez. This is Vasquez's first season with Atlanta, after 3 with the White Sox. He's bounced around, starting in Montreal, with stints in Arizona and the Yankees. He's 2-6 career against St Louis, with a 4.01 ERA. At the TED he's 5-5 with a 3.24.