F'in' stick that rookie out there, Bob.
Is this evening's ballgame vs the Cardinals the first day of the JJ Furmaniak Kurt Suzuki Era? Or will Zuke, like Melhuse before him, play an ever more frustrated Herbert Lom to Jason Kendall's Peter Sellers? (And where's Bert Kwouk when you need him?)
In any event, Suzuki gets a chance tonight to call a brilliant ballgame (if all goes well) or merely serve as an inert receiver (if things go poorly) for Lenny DiNardo, who looks to sustain his Harenesque start.
The Cardinals, for their part, will be giving up the DH for the night, as starting pitcher Scott Spiezio will wield a bat and hit second. Hunh? Oh, never mind. Todd "The Road To" Wellemeyer will be on the hill for the Out-of-Gashouse Gang.
And not to wax blogotriumphalist, but a hat-tip to our own DiamondStarr, who seems to have noticed Chavez' apparent injury last night -- an event that looks to have escaped notice in every major MSM writeup of the game. Chavvy sitting tonight, Scutaro in at third.
Lineups:
St. Louis
Taguchi CF
Spiezio DH
Pujols 1B
Encarnacion RF
Rolen 3B
Ludwick LF
Miles 2B
Stinnett C
Ryan SS
A's
Buck LF
Kotsay CF
Swisher RF
Johnson 1B
Crosby SS
Cust DH
Eliis 2B
Scutaro 3B
Suzuki C
