Wednesday, August 28, 2002
Finley finds peace in St. Louis
By Joe Kay
AP Sports Writer
Chuck Finley left all of his baggage back in Cleveland. The left-hander allowed only two singles by Juan Castro as he pitched his first shutout in four years, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-0 victory and doubleheader split with the Reds.
Finley (5-3) has made a strong recovery from his troubled times in Cleveland this season — a 4-11 record and a messy divorce with actress Tawny Kitaen.
He came to the Cardinals in a July 19 trade and has settled in comfortably, going 3-1 with a 1.16 ERA in his last four starts.
“When I got over here, I got a boost of energy and some new life,” Finley said, after his 15th career shutout. “It's been a good change. I haven't felt pressure to do anything superhuman — not that I could. It's been a smooth transition.”
“When he's on, he's tough,” said Ken Griffey Jr., who poppped out, flied out and grounded out against Finley. “We just couldn't get anything going.”
Finley retired the first 16 batters before Castro lined a single to center in the sixth, drawing an ovation from the crowd of 19,570. Castro was erased on a double play, and the Reds had the minimum 24 batters through eight innings.
Jason LaRue opened the ninth with a walk and Castro hit a soft infield single. Finley retired the next three batters for his first shutout since April 17, 1998 against Tampa Bay.
“You have a couple of games like that a year, where everything just flows,” Finley said.
Finley's seven strikeouts moved him one ahead of Hall of Famer Bob Feller into 20th on the career list with 2,582.
In the first game, Albert Pujols' 30th homer gave him 100 RBIs and moved him into exclusive territory in Cardinals history. He became the second Cardinal to drive in 100 runs in each of his first two seasons — Ray Jablonski also did it in 1953-54.
Pujols also became the fifth Cardinal to hit 30 homers in consecutive seasons, joining Stan Musial, Ray Lankford, Mark McGwire and Edmonds.
“I'm just letting it happen instead of trying to make it happen,” Pujols said.
He hit 37 homers and drove in 130 runs last season, when he was unanimously chosen NL rookie of the year, and is on pace to match or surpass those numbers.
“I don't think you can compliment him enough,” manager Tony La Russa said. “Here it is, not even the end of August, and he's done it. It just shows you how tough of an out he is.”
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Finley finds peace in St. Louis
