The mystical intangibles of Mr. Ronnie Paulino

Paul Meyer in today's game story:

Perez zipped through the Cardinals over the first three innings, allowing only a two-out single to Scott Rolen in the first. He had a tough fourth, but crisis intervention by Paulino kept damage to a minimum.

Rolen flared a one-out double over first. Juan Encarnacion's single to center gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Jim Edmonds bounced a single to right, moving Encarnacion to second.

Perez thought a 1-2 pitch to Yadier Molina was a strike, but plate umpire Mike Winters ruled it inside. That seemed to upset Perez and, when Molina followed with a bases-loading single to right, his mood didn't improve.

Paulino kept calming down Perez through a six-pitch at-bat by Chris Duncan that ended with the rookie waving badly at a 3-2 pitch that was low and outside.

"[Paulino] has a sixth sense of recognizing that," Tracy said of the catcher's cognizance of looming trouble. "He put [Perez'] focus right back where it needed to be."

Perez finished the inning by getting Hector Luna to line to left.

It helps to remember that sixth sense when pondering the four strikeouts and the called third strike in the ninth with the tying run on third.