Cardinals rookie right-hander Joe Kelly has been impressive as the fill-in for Jaime Garcia in the team's rotation, but used his legs to become the Cardianls' hero on Wednesday night. Employed as a pinch-runner for Lance Berkman, Kelly scored the winning run in the 12th inning against the Dodgers -- and may have earned himself a nickname.
Berkman, known as the Puma, has given Kelly the moniker of another jungle animal (from the Sports Exchange):
"(Lance) Berkman calls me a baby giraffe. I'm fast, but I'm just coming out of the womb."
Kelly first got on his teammates' radar on Monday when he slipped on first base after a hit:
Then on Wednesday, he had what could have been a more costly slip. After replacing Berkman at first, he fell rounding second on Matt Carpenter's single, keeping him from taking third. After he scored easily on Rafael Furcal's single as Tony Gwynn Jr. bobbled the ball in left field, the Cardinals were able to joke about his inability to keep his legs under him.
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