Holliday? Holy…Cow.

Hello there, and a happy belated Father’s Day to all of you who are fathers. As for me, I don’t fit that category…as far as I know.

/crossing fingers

The Cardinals wrapped up a mostly successful week of interleague play taking four of six from Seattle and Oakland. Once again, starting pitching was a strong suit throughout the week. Carpenter and Wainwright both pitched well, Jaime Garcia pitched well enough to deserve a win (2ER in 7IP), but took a hard-luck loss. Even Brewers outcast Jeff Suppan is showing signs of being touched by Dave Duncan (er, not in that way), surrendering three earned runs in 8.1IP for a Cardinals ERA of 3.12.

All of this was lost, of course, in the revelation of Matt Holliday as the second-spot hitter. Since taking the spot against the Mariners, Holliday’s gone 10 for 23.

Most of that, however, came this weekend. Against his former team, he absolutely mashed the ball, going 8 for 12 with four HR and eight RBI in just three games. Hopefully he feels like the monkey’s been lifted off his back. Perhaps it was the weight of the new contract that’s placed stress on him to produce, or it could be his usual slow start. Holliday is typically a second-half hitter. Expect his numbers to pick up very soon.

– Jason Motte looked pretty strong Saturday night picking up the save when Ryan Franklin let the first three batters reach base. Motte did allow one inherited runner to score, but struck out two and got a pop up to get the save, his second this season. People might like to deride him at times, but he’s been one of our better relievers this year, with a 2.17 ERA and 35K in 29 innings. At one point, he had a perfect game over nine appearances, retiring 32 batters in a row.

Up next, the Cardinals travel to Toronto and Kansas City to wrap up interleague play.