Carlos Villanueva has been on the other side–literally, as the right-hander was part of the Chicago Cubs team that blew a 5-0 lead last August to fall to the St. Louis Cardinals 9-6. On Monday, Villanueva pitched a key 2.1 innings of relief for the Cardinals as they rallied from another 5-0 deficit to beat the Cubs 10-9.
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“I keep telling the guys, we’re pretty good,” said Villanueva, impressed not just by the game but the team’s performance all season. “I’ve been on the other side too many times in games like this, trust me, right now we have the advantage” Villanueva shared to Tyler Lyons during the game. “You never felt like the Cardinals were out of it, that’s how we felt on the other side. So the fact that I was sitting at a table watching the boys slowly come back and people getting all excited, I’m not that excited because I kind of expected it to happen. It’s not going to happen every time, but you feel like you have a chance for it to happen. Obviously, it’s a good thing it did.”
That experience and having been on the mound for those rough outings are part of what the veteran of 11 season helped relay to his teammate in the locker next to him, Carlos Martinez.
“Tomorrow, when he comes in he’ll realize that it’s going to happen,” said Villanueva. “It’s not going to be 30 starts of what’s been happening off his first four starts–it’s going to happen. He doesn’t have that much experience as a starter, might get too down on himself because of a bad game and we’re here to make him understand, it happens. It happens. You don’t want it to happen but it’ll happen a couple times a year but you balance it out with the other 25-26 starts you have and you’ll be all right in the end.”
Martinez entered the game 3-0 with a 1.73 in four starts this season. He allowed five runs in the first inning and was at 88 pitches by the time the 3rd inning ended.
“Tonight was a little difficult,” said Martinez through the help of translator Kleininger Teran, the assistant bullpen catcher. “When he goes to throw, he doesn’t think too much on the catcher because he believes in Yadi, he believes in Tony too. He says tonight, it’s his fault. Not Tony’s, not anybody else.”
REYNOLDS RESPECTS STREAK
–Mark Reynolds hit his 4th career grand slam in the 1st inning. He’s also proven to be a good luck charm during the team’s seven game win streak–taking the lineup card out before the game.
“I guess like seven or eight days ago I took the scorecard out just to get out of the dugout for a little bit and we won, then I took out again and we won and we keep winning so everyday I take it now,” laughed Reynolds. “We keep winning, I’ll gladly do it.”
ROSTER MOVE
–The Cardinals will need to make at least one roster move prior to Tuesday’s game to add starter Tyler Lyons to the 25-man squad. Sam Tuivailala was packing his bags after Monday’s game, but it’s possible an additional move could be made to fortify the bullpen. Other than Randy Choate, Mike Matheny shared that all of the available bullpen arms were utilized in the game. Choate, Tuivailala, Trevor Rosenthal, and Mitch Harris were the only relievers who did not appear.
photo credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
