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Frogs in the Pros, May 24-31, 2016

Homeruns, a baby, and a no decision this week around the MLB.

By Deanna Rust
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Jake Arrieta (P/Chicago Cubs) -€” On May 25, the Cubs faced the Cardinals in St. Louis.  This is normally a matchup I hate to watch, as Arrieta tries to strike out Carpenter while Carpenter swings for the fence.  But Carpenter was out of the lineup for this game due to a new baby on the way, which made this game much more enjoyable and much less nerve-racking for Frog Fans.  Arrieta did his thing for 5 innings, allowing 4 runs on 7 hits, including a homerun by Randal Grichuk in the bottom of the 2nd.  He walked 1 and struck out 4, and the Cubs pulled off a tough 9-8 win.

Then on May 31, the Cubs were home against the Dodgers.  In 7 innings, Arrieta allowed 0 runs on just 2 hits, while walking 4 and striking out 8.  But, after he left the game tied 0-0, Pitchers Clayton Richard and Adam Warren did a fine job of screwing it all up and allowed 5 runs in the 8th and 9th innings to give the Dodgers a 5-0 win.  While he wasn't technically the losing pitcher here, Arrieta's Consecutive Team Wins streak has come to an end at 23, but his personal Win/Loss Record remains at 9-0.

Arrieta's ERA is currently 1.56 with a .89 WHIP.  You can see more stats from his 2016 season here.

Matt Carpenter (3B/St. Louis Cardinals) -€” Congrats, Matt Carpenter, on the birth of your first baby!  Carpenter had a busy week, with a home game against the Cubs on May 24.  The Cardinals as a whole had a rough night, with a heavy 12-3 loss.

Then on May 25, Carpenter's wife went into labor.

Apparently, this set off a slew of Twitter posts, ranging from Congratulations by St. Louis fans,

to begging Carpenter to take the rest of the season off by those whose teams will face him soon.

Of course there were also tweets complaining about him taking one day off from the heartless morons who think his whole life should revolve around baseball.

The nice part was, the Cardinals were off for a few days, so Carpenter was able to spend time with his wife and new little one before joining the team in D.C.

On May 28, Carpenter and the Cardinals faced the Nationals.  Carpenter had a solid double to right center in the top of the 2nd to bring in Adam Wainwright.  The Cards won 9-4.

On May 29, they played the 2nd in a 2-game series against the Nationals.  Unfortunately, the tables were turned this time, and Carpenter had zero luck at the plate.  The Nationals had 3 homeruns to rack up the score 10-2 and give the Cards the loss.

So now the Cardinals were pissed heading to Milwaukee to face the Brewers.  Carpenter hit a single in the top of the 3rd and was brought in by Matt Holliday for the run.  In the top of the 5th, Carpenter doubled to deep right field.  Then he got to third on a wild pitch by Junior Guerra.  Holliday hit another single to bring Carpenter home again.  In the top of the 7th, Carpenter hit another double to deep right center.  Then, Jhan Marinez threw a wild pitch and Carpenter turned on the afterburners to get home.  The Cardinals won 6-0, with half off of their runs scored by Carpenter.

On May 31, the Cardinals faced the Brewers again.  Carpenter doubled to deep right to start the game, and his good buddy Holliday brought him in again for the run.  In the top of the 5th, he singled to deep right and Holliday brought him in again when he hit his own single.  In the top of the 7th, Carpenter tripled to deep center, bringing in Greg Garcia.  Then Holliday grounded into a double play, allowing Carpenter to score again.  In the top of the 8th, Carpenter tripled to deep right field, which brought in Jeremy Hazelbaker.  Diaz grounded out to third and Carpenter beat the throw home.  The Cardinals won 10-3.

Carpenter's AVG is .272, and he has a total of 6 homeruns in May (9 for the year) and 18 RBIs (35 for the year).  For more stats from Carpenter's 2016 season, click here.

Andrew Cashner (P/San Diego Padres) -€” Cashner returned from injury to face the Giants in San Francisco on May 24.  He allowed 3 runs on 4 hits, while walking 4 and striking out 1.  It was 1-0 Giants through 5, but San Francisco managed to pile on 7 more runs (including 5 in the bottom of the 8th).  The Padres lost 8-2.

On May 30, the Padres were in Seattle to face the Mariners.  Cashner pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits, including a homerun in the 6th by Kyle Seager.  He walked 1 and struck out 3.  The Padres lost 9-3.

Cashner's ERA is 4.79 with a WHIP of 1.40.  For more of Cashner's stats, click here.

Brandon Finnegan (P/Cincinnati Reds) -€” May was a rough month for Finnegan.  He ended the month visiting the Brewers on May 29.  He pitched a litt over 6 innings, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits.  He walked 4 and struck out 4 in what turned out to be a close game to the end.  Milwaukee scored first, but Cincinnati tried to keep up with them.  Down by 3 in the top of the 9th, the Reds could only manage 2 runs before the third out.  Cincinnati lost 5-4, and Finnegan said goodbye and good riddance to the month of May.  Here's hoping June looks a little better for him.

Also, he tweeted a congrats to TCU Baseball during the Big 12 Tournament this past weekend, so we still adore him, of course.

Finnegan's ERA dropped to 3.97 with a 1.36 WHIP.  For more on Finnegan's season, you can go here.

Bryan Holaday (C/Texas Rangers) -€” Holaday and the Rangers were home against the Angels on May 24.  Holaday grounded into a fielder's choice to third in the bottom of the 3rd.  He got to second before the inning ended.  It was a pretty quiet game for the Rangers, especially given the drama we've seen in past games.  They stayed ahead the whole game and won 4-1.

Holaday played again in Pittsburgh on May 29.  It was 4-2 Rangers going into the 6th.  Holaday hit a sac fly to center to bring in Adrian Beltre.  The Rangers went on to win 6-2.

On May 30, the Rangers faced the Indians in Cleveland.  In the top of the 2nd, Holaday hit a sac fly to center that brought in Elvis Andrus.  The Rangers went on to win 9-2.

On May 31, the Rangers stayed in Cleveland. Holaday slammed a 2-run home run in the top of the 3rd to bring in Jared Hoying for the first 2 runs of the game.  The Rangers won 7-3.

Holaday's AVG is .254.  He has 2 homeruns and 12 RBIs for the season.  You can find his stats here.

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