I received tons of great feedback, and I think everybody is starting to realize that Tony cannot be the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011. He is simply hurting the team. Some of the decisions he has made this season are just ridiculous, and the funny thing is that I have always been a Tony La Russa supporter. Until a couple weeks ago, of course.

I urge you to click on the link above so you fully understand my feelings about this situation. The franchise can no longer afford for TLR to hurt this team. It’s been fun, but enough is enough, and it is time for the La Russa era to come to an end. The question I have gotten from several people following my piece on Monday is, “Who replaces Tony?”

The answer is not so simple considering many teams are going to be searching for a manager this offseason. If La Russa does not come back, the Cardinals will join the Cubs, Braves, Mariners, Diamondbacks, Marlins and Astros as teams that could be looking for a new skipper. Due to talent already on-hand, fan support, payroll, etc., one would think the St. Louis job is one of the top two positions available, along with Atlanta. Hopefully that means the Redbirds can sign one of the top managers available to take La Russa’s job. But who is included in that list? I wish I knew. But I’ll give you my list.

Read Justin’s list of replacement options for Tony La Russa by reading the rest of this article on I-70 Baseball.

Justin Hulsey covers the Cardinals for i70baseball and his blogs, Cardinals Front Office and Rising Redbirds, that are also dedicated to Cardinals baseball and their minor league system.You may follow him on Twitter @JayHulsey by clicking here

Before this season, I have always liked Tony La Russa as a manager. There have always been people that would criticize his every move, but I would always stand up for the guy. I was a TLR supporter, and then 2010 happened.

After what I have seen this season, Tony must go.

Not only is he stubborn to the core, sometimes I actually think he does things just to stir the pot. I’m not a conspiracy theorist of any kind, but some of La Russa’s moves have been questionable at best. Time after time I find myself deep in thought trying to understand his methods, but I simply cannot.

Last week, Allen Craig was the lead-off hitter. May I ask why? Craig is batting .188 in 89 plate appearances. Need I go further?

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t the prototypical lead-off hitter a high on-base percentage player who has speed to burn on the bases when the two, three, and four hitters drive him in? Craig’s OBP is .258. That is good for thirteenth on the team. Jeff Suppan has a better OBP than Allen Craig. Even in Craig’s best years in the minors when he was hitting .320, his OBP never cracked .390.

As for speed? Craig has stolen six bases in his professional career, and that includes 499 games in the Minors. MLB players don’t get a whole lot slower than Allen Craig. I would rather see Skip Schumaker, Jon Jay, Colby Rasmus (I know he was injured, but still), Felipe Lopez, Brendan Ryan, Aaron Miles, even Randy Winn bat leadoff over Craig. Nevertheless, he was batting leadoff on Friday night. I need an explanation as to why. If you have one, comment below or email me, because I must know.

I told a friend before the game, “if Craig does not get on base at least twice tonight, I’m going to lose it.” He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.

The second of three situations that have occurred in the past week happened in the most frustrating game of the season, the 11-10 loss on Thursday night. I don’t even want to talk about the actual game, because it was awful. I want to know why Kyle Lohse was batting in the 11^th inning, with a runner on base, in a 10-10 game when Bryan Anderson was on the bench.

There were two reasons La Russa gave as to why he did not pinch hit Bryan Anderson. The first was that Anderson was our only catcher left on the bench. That is true, but don’t you play to win? Yadier Molina has caught exactly 90% of the games this season. Even if the game does go a few more innings, I would hope Yadi could handle that. And if, by some incredibly slim chance, Molina did get injured, then TLR can cross the bridge when he comes to it. How many times have the Cardinals thrown up a hail mary when we run out of pitchers? I understand that comparison is apples and oranges, but I’m sure La Russa (who over-thinks everything) would be able to figure something out if Molina happened to get hurt.

The second reason he had for not pinch-hitting Anderson was that (according to La Russa) the Nationals pitcher, Miguel Batista, is good against left-handed batters this season. That makes no sense to me at all. Sure, left-handers are hitting only .258 against Batista, but that is still a hit every four at bats. Looking at a much larger sample size, left-handers are hitting .289 against Miguel in 544 games. Not to mention, Anderson hit .294 in 218 at bats against right-handed pitchers this season down in Memphis.

Did La Russa check to see how Lohse fares at the plate? I’ll give him a hand. Lohse has hit .167 (36-for-216) in his career.

Was Tony just giving what he thought sounded like a good excuse? Because it is not valid by any measure. How can he possibly justify that move?

The third incident over the past week or so is just now really surfacing, but it all started when Colby Rasmus was benched 20 minutes prior to a game he was supposed to start on Sunday.

Read the rest of Justin’s thoughts on Tony La Russa by reading the rest of this article on I-70 Baseball.

Justin Hulsey covers the Cardinals for i70baseball and his blogs, Cardinals Front Office and Rising Redbirds, that are also dedicated to Cardinals baseball and their minor league system.You may follow him on Twitter @JayHulsey by clicking here

Looking at this week on the calendar, it looked like it was set up well for the Redbirds to do a little damage.  Coming off the two wins against San Francisco, including a shutout by Jaime Garcia, meant the Cardinals were going into a ten game stretch against Pittsburgh, Washington and Houston with momentum.  With Cincinnati holding a 3.5 game lead to start the week, the Cards needed a 5-2 or 6-1 stretch against the first two opponents to really make hay.  While these games were on the road, where St. Louis is a sub-.500 team, that didn’t seem to pose a problem.  For the Cardinals’ playoff chances, it could not pose a problem.

If this week had been a script, the Cardinals followed it to a T on Monday night.  Ross Ohlendorf started for the Pirates, but after he walked Skip Schumaker and allowed a single to Jon Jay, he left the game with an injury, one that will keep him out of a Pirates uniform for the rest of the year.  Sean Gallagher came in and had as much warm up time as he wanted.  It did not help.

Albert Pujols cranked the first pitch from Gallagher over the wall, giving St. Louis a three run lead before anyone was out.  The hitting did not stop there, either, as the offense we thought we would see most of the season briefly clicked.  Matt Holliday followed Pujols’s blast with a double of his own and Felipe Lopez drew a walk, then Yadier Molina singled in Holliday for a 4-0 lead.  Pedro Feliz almost continued the onslaught, lining one to left that Jose Tabata was just barely able to catch.  That broke the spell, as Allen Craig and Kyle Lohse finished the inning.

Lohse, after struggling in his return from the disabled list, had things working in this game, showing just how much fun this team can be when the hitting and the pitching both are going strong.  He was not perfect by any means, allowing a baserunner in each of his five-plus innings, but he was able to work out of things and did not allow a run until the sixth.

The Cardinals seemed to be content with that four-spot for a while as well, not putting together another serious rally until the fifth inning, when they exploded again.  After Jay lined out, Pujols hit a ground-rule double and Holliday followed with an RBI single.  After another walk to Lopez, Chan Ho Park relieved Gallagher, but it did not make much difference.  Molina doubled in Holliday, then, after Feliz grounded out, Craig was intentionally passed to get to Lohse.  That would have worked, save that during Lohse’s at-bat, Park uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Lopez to score.  Lohse ended the inning, but the Cards were now up 7-0.

With that kind of lead, it is not surprising Lohse was allowed to bat, but he had about reached the limit of what he could do.  He retired Pittsburgh in the fifth, but he allowed a leadoff triple to Neil Walker in the sixth.  The next batter was Garrett Jones, who took Lohse deep to break up the shutout.  Lohse was able to retire Pedro Alverez, but then he walked Ryan Doumit.  That was the end of his night, as Mitchell Boggs came in and retired the next two batters to get out of the inning.

St. Louis got one of those runs back in the seventh.  After a groundout by Molina, Feliz singled and went to third when Craig doubled.  Brendan Ryan, who had come in with Boggs on a double switch, grounded out to the pitcher, but that brought Feliz across for an 8-2 mark.

The bullpen did its job, keeping Pittsburgh from having delusions of adequacy and the Cardinals put two more on the board in the ninth on three hits, one by Bryan Anderson hitting for Pujols with the bases loaded, and two walks.  A fairly uneventful bottom of the inning and the Cardinals had their victory, plus with a Cincinnati loss, had cut the Reds lead to 2.5 games.  With Adam Wainwright going the next night, it seemed like the season-long roller coaster was on its way back up.

Little did anyone know that the exhibition of pitching, hitting, and relief that was on display Monday would be the highlight of an amazingly…wait, we’ve used frustrating, what’s next on the thesaurus, oh….aggravating week.

Tuesday seemed to be more of the same at the beginning before going horribly wrong.  With two outs, Albert Pujols singled and Matt Holliday followed with a home run to center field, putting the Cards up 2-0.  Usually that is enough for Wainwright, but it is possible Waino is hitting a slump as he had lost his last outing and was not able to hold the line in this one either.

Wainwright got into trouble in the first, when he allowed a one-out single to Jose Tabata then walked Neil Walker, but was able to get out of that unscathed.  After that, he started to cruise, getting outs and looking like the Cy Young contender that he has been all season long.

However, Paul Maholm had rallied from that first inning and was doing the same to the suddenly silent Redbird bats.  While the Cardinals were able to hit some balls hard and even loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth, Maholm could always get out of the situation, wriggling out of the fourth by getting Brendan Ryan to ground out.

Finally, in the sixth inning, the wheels started to come off for the Wagonmaker.  He struck out Maholm before Andrew McCutchen doubled.  Wainwright struggled all evening with Tabata and Walker, and that was emphasized here when Tabata tripled in a run and Walker singled, tying the game at 2.  Things could have been worse, as after getting Garrett Jones to pop out, he walked Pedro Alverez and Ryan Doumit before striking out Lastings Milledge.

The seventh was the final blow.  Ronny Cedeno led off with a double and was sacrificed to third by Delmon Young.  McCutchen then grounded out but Tabata walked, leaving runners on the corner with two outs.  Wainwright looked to have a chance to survive yet again.

Then Tony La Russa made a decision that was hotly debated for the next day.  He had Pujols play off of first, allowing Tabata to steal second.  La Russa’s rationale was that Walker hits the ball to the left and they had a better chance of getting him out if Pujols was off the bag.  Tabata, who has speed, quickly took second, then scored when Walker singled up the middle.  Pittsburgh took a 4-2 lead and that extra run, when looking at how anemic the offense had been since the first, loomed huge.

It became bigger in the ninth.  The game was still a two-run contest when Evan Meek came into the game.  Skip Schumaker pinch-hit and stroke a single.  Randy Winn then pinch-hit and reached on an infield single.  Aaron Miles continued the bench parade, coming in and laying down a sacrifice bunt.  Jon Jay singled in Schumaker to cut the lead in half and leaving runners at first and second.  Again, the Cardinals mounted a rally in the ninth, with Albert Pujols coming up.

Pujols laced an extremely hard-hit ball off the glove of Cedano at shortstop and it looked like the game was going to be tied up.  Winn turned the corner at third, but then was held up by Jose Oquendo, even though Cedano had not yet gotten to the ball.  With Holliday and Lopez coming up, though, Oquendo played it safe.

However, these are the 2010 Cardinals.  Which means, of course, that Holliday fouled out and Lopez grounded out, giving the game to the Pirates and spoiling an opportunity to move closer to the Reds, who also lost that day.

The Cards were behind the eight ball, to a point, even before the next game started.  Cincinnati played Wednesday afternoon and, after getting out to a 10-1 lead, had hung on for a 12-11 extra-inning win.  The Cardinals had to win just to hold serve.  That, however, was not the way this deck was shuffled.

If you have paid attention to this team this year, you knew it was trouble when Daniel McCutchen, a young pitcher with an ERA over six and a half, was starting for the Pirates.  Sure enough, he handcuffed the Cardinal hitters over six innings, with the strongest threat coming in the third when Matt Holliday doubled with one out.  Jon Jay flew out and Felipe Lopez walked, but Pedro Feliz popped out to end the threat.

In the bottom of that inning, the Pirates began their assault against Jake Westbrook.  Westbrook hit Chris Snyder with a pitch leading off the inning and moved to second when Daniel McCutchen, trying to sacrifice, was actually safe.  Andrew McCutchen followed with a infield single to load the bases for Neil Walker.  Westbrook had about as much success with Walker as Wainwright had the night before.  Walker tripled in all the runners, putting Pittsburgh up 3-0.

The Pirates were not done.  In the fourth, Ryan Doumit and Ronny Cedeno opened the frame with hits and Doumit moved to third on Snyder’s flyout.  Daniel McCutchen was unable to bunt the runner over, but Cedeno solved that problem by stealing second.  After Andrew McCutchen walked, loading the bases yet again, Jose Tabata reached on an infield single, putting another run on the board.

The score stayed that way until the top of the seventh, when Felipe Lopez smashed a home run off of Chris Resop, who came in for McCutchen.  Resop got an out then gave way to Wil Ledezema and it looked like the Cardinals were going to feast on the Pirate bullpen when Aaron Miles and Skip Schumaker both had two-out singles, but Allen Craig struck out to put an end to that thinking.

Pittsburgh added a run in the eighth when Garrett Jones hit a long ball off of Blake Hawksworth and the Cardinals had yet another ninth inning rally when Miles singled in Pedro Feliz, but that was all they were able to muster, falling back to 3.5 games behind the Reds.

So, during a pennant race and in a week where the Cardinals really needed to win games, they lost two of three to the last place team in their division in a park that they usually dominate.  Other than that, though, it was fine and dandy.  Surely going to Washington for four games would help out the demeanor.  After all, if they could sweep that series, they would still be 5-2 on the week.

With Stephen Strasburg on the disabled list, the pitching matchup for the first game did not quite have the star power as fans would have liked to see.  Chris Carpenter was still going for the Cardinals, but Jordan Zimmerman, making his first start in the bigs since his Tommy John surgery, started for the Nationals instead of Strasburg.  Zimmerman had been a top prospect for the Nationals before having the surgery, but was expected to be rusty in his return.  What was not expected was for this game to encapsulate the whole season for St. Louis.

St. Louis flashed their offensive muscle first.  With two outs in the second, Yadier Molina hit a ground-rule double to keep the inning alive.  Skip Schumaker singled him in, moving to second on the throw.  The Cards were not able to get him in, but they held a 1-0 lead.

As with Wainwright, usually if Carpenter is given a lead, things are going to turn out positively for the Redbirds.  As with Wainwright, that was not the case this week.

Things were moving well until the third, when Adam Kennedy reached with one out on Felipe Lopez’s throwing error.  That started things on the downward spiral.  Nyjer Morgan grounded out, moving Kenndy to third but putting Carpenter within an out of escaping, but he could not finish off the inning.  Ryan Zimmerman scored Kennedy with a single, then following an Adam Dunn double, Ian Desmond singled them both in, putting the Nats up 3-1.  None of the runs were earned, but that was small consolation to a team already struggling.

The Cardinals did not waste time retaliating.  The first batter of the fourth was Albert Pujols, who launched his 400th career home run into the Washington bleachers.  That made Pujols the third-youngest to reach that plateau, following only Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez.  More impressively, that put him 47th on the all-time home run list.  Not bad considering that he has not even finished his tenth season.

That only opened the scoring, though.  Matt Holliday reached on an infield single and moved to second on a hit by Randy Winn.  Yadier Molina was hit by a pitch, loading the bases, and bringing up Skip Schumaker.  Schumaker laced a single to left, plating Holliday and Winn and putting the Cards up by one.  Pedro Feliz singled to reload the bags, and after Carpenter struck out, Felipe Lopez had an RBI groundout.  When the dust settled, the Cards had responded in full and had a two run lead.

Carpenter had an uneventful fourth, but ran into a bit of trouble in the fifth.  After retiring Kennedy, Nyjer Morgan and Ryan Zimmerman singled, with Morgan moving to third.  Dunn lofted a sacrifice fly to bring the Nationals within one, but they could not get any closer.  Yet.

The see-saw battle continued in the bottom of the sixth.  Carpenter allowed singles to Roger Bernadina and Ivan Rodriguez before walking Willie Harris, which loaded the bases with nobody out.  Back to back sacrifice flies by Michael Morse and Adam Kennedy put the Nats back on top, 6-5.

That was the last inning that Carpenter would see, as when the Cards took the field in the bottom of the seventh, Kyle McClellan had taken the mound.  Unfortunately, the Nationals were not any nicer to him than they had been to the Cardinal ace.

A leadoff walk by Ryan Zimmerman was slightly negated by a strikeout of Dunn, but then Ian Desmond singled.  Bernadina flew out, but Zimmerman moved to third.  Runners on the corners, two out meant McClellan had a chance to get out of it, but then he walked Rodriguez and Harris singled in two more runs, giving the Nationals a three run lead.

St. Louis chipped away in the eighth, when Winn singled in Pujols, who had led off the inning with a double, but they still trailed by two when the ninth inning rolled around, after Ryan Franklin pitched the eighth to get some work and got all three batters out without incident.

As is their trait, the Cardinals decided to battle in the ninth.  Leadoff singles by Pedro Feliz and Aaron Miles panned out when Brendan Ryan doubled, scoring Feliz and putting runners on second and third with nobody out.  Jon Jay struck out, which led to the automatic passing of Pujols to load the bases for Holliday.

Most know that, at times, Holliday has struggled in this situation.  He did not get the chance to fail this time, though, as he was struck on the hand by a Drew Storen pitch, pushing Miles in with the tying run and leaving the bases loaded.  Winn then singled past the shortstop after Storen had been replaced with Sean Burnett, putting St. Louis up 10-8 and still runners were on the corners.

Yadier Molina was up next, but was unable to continue the onslaught, rapping into a double play to end the inning.  Still, a two run lead in a hard-fought game seemed safe enough to turn over to Franklin.

Franklin had not pitched much in the recent days, not having save situations falling out of the sky.  It was not even the heart of the lineup coming up.  There was not much that wasn’t going to be in the Cardinals’ favor.  Which, of course, spelled doom.

Franklin immediately surrendered a single to Alberto Gonzalez, but struck out Desmond to retain some semblance of control.  Then Franklin ran a 3-1 count to Bernadina.  Having to throw a strike, he did.  Knowing he had to throw a strike, Bernadina swung.  The ball settled in the bleachers and, just like that, the game was tied.  The Nationals did not score any more and the game moved to extra innings.

Holliday was able to play the field in the bottom of the ninth, but had to be taken out after that due to pain in his hand.  As in the 20-inning game earlier in the year versus the New York Mets, that had significant repercussions in a game that saw everyone getting on the field.

The first time it flared up was the top of the 11th.  The tenth had been unremarkable for either side, and the first two Redbird hitters in the 11th went down as well.  That brought up Albert Pujols, but since the pitcher’s slot was now behind him, due to a double switch, it was a no-brainer to intentionally walk him.  Kyle Lohse pinch-hit, but made the third out of the inning.

In the top of the twelfth, St. Louis threatened again.  Winn singled, then stole second to be there with no outs.  However, Molina grounded out, Craig struck out, and Feliz grounded out, so he never got off the base.  Fernando Salas made it a bit interesting in the bottom of the inning, walking two with two out, but was able to get the third out before any damage was made.

While there was no damage on the scoreboard, the bottom of the 12th almost shut down the Cardinal season for good.  Chasing a pop foul toward the stands, Pujols attempted his patented “climb up on the tarp” move, but instead of planting on the tarp, his foot slipped, causing him to land awkwardly.  The training staff and most anyone else of importance shot out of the dugout, checking on their star.  Pujols stayed down for a while and seemed to indicate he was in pain, but still stayed in the game.

The top of the thirteenth brought up another debatable decision from Tony La Russa.  Miles walked and moved to second on a wild pitch.  Ryan and Jay then flew out, bringing Pujols up again for an intentional walk, even if he was hitting with one leg.  With a runner on second, there was an argument that La Russa should use Bryan Anderson, the last remaining position player.  La Russa, though, thought that Doug Slaten would have been too tough for the left-handed hitter, and so sent up Adam Wainwright.  Wainwright popped out and the opportunity was lost.

The suffering came to an end in the bottom of that inning.  Blake Hawksworth came into the game and hit Morgan to lead everything off.  He got Zimmermanm to strike out, but Gonzalez then singled to put runners on the corners.  The infield came in, but Desmond hit a sharp ball that bounced off of Miles’ glove and Morgan scored the winning run.

So, in one game, the Cards had an offense that sputters at time, an inconsistent starter and a bullpen meltdown, plus a ninth inning rally that they are becoming known for.  Plus they lost a half game on the idle Reds.  What else could this be but a symbol of this season?

After losing games by Wainwright and Carpenter on this road trip through the cellars, the Cardinals desperately needed to win a game behind the third member of the Big Three.  Jaime Garcia lived up to his end of the bargain and the bullpen actually helped him do it.

The Cards again got out to an early lead as Albert Pujols proved there were no lingering effects on his ankle, smashing home run #401 in the first inning.  For a team that has been so good when scoring first, that had not been the best of omens on this trip.  Garcia made sure that it held up.

He stumbled a bit in the second, when Michael Morse hit a one-out double and moved to third when Roger Bernadina singled and stole second.  Garcia regrouped to strike out Ivan Rodriguez and, after an intentional walk loaded the bases, his opposing number in Scott Olsen.

Having been jolted in that manner, the Cards came back and tacked on a couple more in the third.  Garcia reached on an error by Adam Dunn and, after a walk to Allen Craig, moved to third on an error by Ivan Rodriguez.  Jon Jay, after going 0-7 in the extra inning affair, redeemed himself by singling in Garcia.  Pujols hit into a double play, but Matt Holliday drove in Craig and the Cards were up 3-0.

Garcia was not his sharpest self, but he was able to put up zeros before leaving with one out and the bases loaded in the sixth.  Mitchell Boggs came in and showed remarkable poise, getting Adam Kennedy to pop up and Ian Desmond to ground out to keep the Nats scoreless.

Matt Holliday put another run on the board in the eighth with a home run, one that was matched in the bottom of the inning by Willie Harris, which broke up the scoreless run.  Ryan Franklin came in to get the save in the ninth and again made it interesting, allowing a leadoff double to Desmond, who moved to third on a Ryan Zimmerman flyout and scored on a Franklin wild pitch.  After he struck out Dunn, Morse tripled and Bernadina walked, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate.  Franklin got Rodriguez to ground out, however, and that tightrope was successfully navigated.

The Cardinals had made a little history on this trip.  Saturday, they had some made at their expense.

Once again, the Cardinals jumped out early.  A single by Skip Schumaker and, one out later, a double by Albert Pujols started the scoring, then after a Holliday popout, Jon Jay stroke a two-run homer, giving Kyle Lohse a 3-0 cushion.

Lohse was going to need much, much more.

The first was three up, three down, but the second was a little rockier.  A two-out double by Michael Morse and a single by Ivan Rodriguez made it a 3-1 game, but Lohse got the last out to move along.

It started fraying in the third.  Livan Hernandez, the opposing pitcher, singled to start the inning.  Adam Kennedy did the same, but Ian Desmond was out on batter’s interference.  When Roger Bernadina struck out looking, most Cardinal fans started breathing a bit easier.  However, Ryan Zimmerman singled in Hernandez, Adam Dunn doubled in the tying and go-ahead runs, and Morse added a little insurance by singling in Dunn, though he was out trying to go to second.  The 3-1 lead had turned into a 5-3 deficit.

There was still fight in the Cardinals, and they proved that in the fifth.  Brendan Ryan singled and came around when Lohse doubled him in.  After Schumaker grounded out, Felipe Lopez doubled as well, tying the ball game.  Pujols was, unsurprisingly, intentionally walked, but then Holliday flew out and, during Jay’s at-bat, Lopez was picked off of second base.  Still, the game stood tied at 5.

That’s as good as it got.

We often talk about the Cardinals answering a punch, getting up and quickly scoring in response.  That is what the Nationals did in this game.  With two outs, Bernadina, who was a real pest in this series, singled and Zimmerman reached on a grounder to shortstop.  That brought up Adam Dunn and Lohse could not finish him off, allowing a soaring three-run home run that effectively ended the game.

Washington scored in only one more inning in this game, but that one inning would have beaten the Cardinals as well.  Six runs scored off of Mike MacDougal, capped by a two-run shot by Bernadina (again).  When the inning was over, the Nationals had their highest run total since coming to Washington and the game finished at that 14-5 mark.

Which meant that, instead of trying to add to some momentum, the Cards were just looking to split the series when Sunday’s game rolled around.  Adam Wainwright looked, again, to get his 18th win and try to stop losing ground in the Cy Young race as well as stopping the bleeding for the team.  John Lannan was a lefty pitcher with a soaring ERA.  We have seen this script before and, as usual, it did not turn out well.

The Cards looked to, again, jump on top early when Skip Schumaker led off the game with a single and, one out later, Albert Pujols did the same.  However, Matt Holliday fouled out and Pedro Feliz struck out, so that danger fizzled out.

Washington took the lead in the second in an unorthodox fashion.  Adam Dunn, not known for speed, beat out an infield single and Michael Morse moved him to second with a base hit.  The next two batters struck out, meaning that Wainwright only had to retire Lannan to get out of the inning.  However, the National pitcher got a good pitch and doubled in both runners, giving himself a lead that he would not relinquish.

The Cardinals’ inability to finish off innings, which had flared so many times in this road trip, popped up again in the third.  Wainwright got Roger Bernadina to ground out and Ryan Zimmerman to strike out, but then walked Dunn.  Morse took advantage and parked one into the seats, doubling the lead to 4-0.

Wainwright filled up the boxscore, with seven strikeouts, six hits, four runs and three walks, and that meant he hit 104 pitches after five innings.  Tony La Russa did not push him, taking him out and turning it over to a bullpen that held things together, not allowing any more runs and setting the stage for yet another late game rally.

Holliday led off the seventh with a double and moved to third on Feliz’s groundout.  Jon Jay then grounded out, scoring Holliday and at least ruining the shutout.  In the ninth, Feliz turned on a pitch and hit his first Cardinal home run, meaning that when Yadier Molina reached on a two-out error, the Cardinals were again able to bring the tying run to the plate.

Colby Rasmus had been in the original starting lineup for the day before being a late scratch.  The offense has noticed his absence, being that he has not started in roughly two weeks.  Rasmus pinch-hit for Brendan Ryan, in theory giving the Cards a chance to tie up the game on one swing, but he wound up striking out to clinch the series for the Nationals and push the Cardinals five games behind the Reds.  St. Louis stands three games out of the wild card, with Philadelphia and San Francisco in their way there.

A week in which the Cards were going to find 5-2 unacceptable saw them go 2-5.  A 3.5 game deficit stretched to five.  If the Cardinals do not make the October playoff schedule, this week may have been the final straw.

They have a chance to get back into it this week, as they go to Houston while Cincinnati hosts Milwaukee, then the two teams meet in Busch Stadium for their final tango this season.  (If you are more focused on the wild card, Philadelphia is at the Dodgers then home against the Brewers while the Giants host Colorado, then go to Los Angeles.)  A six game winning streak would put them back into the hunt, but does anyone expect they could put that together?  Besides, Houston leads the season series 7-5 against the Cardinals, so the Redbirds might be the underdog in that series.

As Cardinal fans, we remember 2006, when the team collapsed in September and almost missed out.  We also remember years where September was one of the strongest months in the whole season.  There was no tomorrow last week, there’s barely today this week.  Whether they can rise to this final challenge or not will make for interesting viewing.

Cover graphic and Pujols 400 banner designed by Derrick Docket of I-70 Baseball

It All Begins As opening day arrived, Pujols would find himself making his major league debut, going one for three with a single to left field in his third at bat of the game after flying to deep left field in his second at bat. It would be the third game of the season before Pujols would reach out and drive the first home run of his career. On Friday, April 6, 2001, as the Cardinals played the Arizona Diamondbacks, Pujols would hit fifth in the lineup and play right field. In the top of the fourth inning with Ray Lankford on first base, Diamondback hurler Armando Reynoso would work Pujols into a 1-2 count. After fouling off the fourth pitch of the at bat, Pujols would lift his first home run of his career. The home fun would tie the game at two runs a piece. Pujols would go on to drive in Ray Lankford with a double down the left field line later in the game as the Cardinals would go on to win 12 to 9.

Number 25 The number 25 was reserved by the big red headed man playing first base for the Cardinals when Pujols arrived on the scene. Pujols, who would find that position soon to be his regular home, was still being moved all over the field in 2001. On Saturday, July 28, 2001, the third place Cardinals would find themselves in Chicago playing the first place Chicago Cubs. The Cubs had a young player turning heads on the mound in Kerry Wood and in the fifth inning he would make a mistake on a 1-0 pitch to the Cardinals rookie. Pujols would hit the second pitch of the bat the opposite way for a solo home run, his 25th of the year (and his career, obviously). The Cardinals would win 7-4 to pull within 7 1/2 games of first place.

Rookie Of The Year When the curtains would close on 2001, the Cardinals would win the division and Albert Pujols would bring home the National League Rookie Of The Year Award. On Sunday, September 30, 2001, as the Cardinals played at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pujols would put the nail in the coffin of the competition for the award. In the bottom of the first inning, after Pittsburgh starter Tony McKnight walked J.D. Drew, Drew would still second base. With Drew on second and a 2-0 count, Pujols would launch a home run to left center field. The blast would be the final one of his rookie campaign, number 37 for his young career, and give him 128 runs batted in for the year. The Cardinals would win the ball game, their 90th win of the season and their 5th in a row, by a score of 7-3. Albert would finish the year hitting .329 with 37 home runs and 130 runs batted in. He would play five positions – first and third base, left and right field, and designated hitter – win a Silver Slugger as a third baseman, make his first All Star appearance and finish fourth in the Most Valuable Player award.

Going Home Jose Alberto Pujols would be the name you would find inscribed on a high school diploma from Fort Osage in Independence, Missouri, a stone’s throw from Kaufmann Stadium in Kansas City. On Saturday, June 8, 2002, in Kansas City, Pujols would play left field and hit the 50th home run of his career in the fourth inning off of Royals reliever Mac Suzuki. The blast, hit on a 1-0 delivery, would bring home Fernando Vina and Eli Marrero and would be pulled to left field. The Cardinals would go on to win the game 11-3 behind staff ace Matt Morris.

I Love L.A. It was a trip to the left coast that would find our next monumental home run in the Pujols saga, home run number 100. On Sunday, July 20, 2003 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Pujols would drive his 100th home run of his career while still playing a familiar left field for the Cardinals. The hit came in the fourth inning off of Dodger starter Odalis Perez on a 2-2 pitch and Bo Hart on first base. The home run, hit to straight away center field, would put the Cardinals in the lead 8-5 on their way to a 10-7 lead. The Redbirds would remain in 2nd place, three games back of the Houston Astros. They would finish 2003 in third place in one of the closest divisional races in a long time.

Saying Goodbye To The Old Ballyard This walk down memory lane finds a fast forward to September 30, 2005 and one of the last games played at Busch Memorial Stadium and Pujols at his now familiar position of first base. Pujols’ 200th homer of his career would come in grand style in the seventh inning of a game against the Cincinnati Reds. With Skip Schumaker, David Eckstein, and So Taguchi on base, Albert Pujols would step to the plate and take the first pitch he seen to left-center field for a grand slam, one of eleven in his career including milestone home run number 350. The Cardinals would go on to win 12-6 over the last place Reds as they looked to close Busch Memorial Stadium (Busch II) and set to open Busch Stadium (Busch III) the following season.

Providing The Fireworks It was Independence Day, Friday, July 4, 2008, when Albert would hit home run number 300 of his career. In a frustrating game that would see the Cardinals lose to the first place Chicago Cubs by a score of 2-1. The only fireworks from the Cardinal bats on this day would come in the bottom of the 8th inning when Pujols stepped to the plate to face Bob Howry. Pujols would work the count to 2-2 and foul away the fifth pitch of the at bat. On the sixth pitch, Pujols would launch the ball down the left field line to provide the only run for the Cardinals. The team would finish a disappointing 2008 season in fourth place despite Albert Pujols winning his second Most Valuable Player award.

The 47th Player To Hit 400 Home Runs On August 26, 2010, Albert Pujols would become the 47th player in Major League Baseball history to hit 400 home runs in his career. Leading off the top of the fourth inning, Pujols stepped to the plate and took a high curve ball for a strike from Washington Nationals’ right hander Jordan Zimmerman. The second pitch of the at bat was a high and outside fastball that Pujols drove to the opposite field for the 400th home run of his career.

Bill Ivie is the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com
He also provides Content Editing for Cardinals and Historical Sections here at BaseballDigest.com
You can find more of Bill’s work on Baseball Digest Official Website, i70baseball.com

Hope. Every team has it in spring training, and every fan feels it on opening day. For some teams and some fans, hope becomes expectation. Their team is too good to miss the playoffs this year. The players are in place, the rotation is sharp, and the lineup looks solid from top to bottom… in April. Barring a major injury or catastrophic collapse, things are looking up for a solid year, and a visit to October. For other teams, the wording is different. They have a young group of guys that are hungry for wins. They have experience, and a roster of players that ‘have been there before.’ These are the teams that are playing the underdog card, and their fans enter the season hoping that their group of guys is going to prove the skeptics wrong.

The Cardinals entered 2010 looking like a formidable foe. The rotation had two Cy Young candidates, the lineup had four All-Stars, and the bullpen was returning a strong group of arms that had performed well in 2009. Fans were excited for a season of pitching gems and runners circling the bases like a merry-go-round.

What happened to that? This has been a maddening season, riding highs like an eight game winning streak against two teams that are in the playoff hunt then turning around and dropping two of three against teams that have been hanging out in the cellar since May. Fans became convinced that the Cards were turning it around after serving up a three game beating on August 9-11 against their competition in the Central – the Cincinnati Reds. Since then, the team has stumbled, tumbled, and crumbled to the tune of a 3-6 record against the Cubs, Brewers, and Giants. The worst news is that this current slide is coming at home, where the team had been twenty games over .500.

Please, put away your pitchforks, Cardinal fans. All is definitely not lost. I am not about to tell you that everything is fine in the Busch Stadium clubhouse. There are numerous issues, but there is still hope.

To start, Pedro Feliz is not the guy that will come in and save the season, obviously. At the same time, could fans at least give him a chance before moaning and groaning about a worthless pick-up? Consider this, so far Feliz is 4-for-8 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI since coming over before Friday’s game against the Giants. Granted, this is a whole two games’ worth of at-bats, but with Felipe Lopez struggling both at the plate and in the field, it would be unfair to pass judgment so quickly.

The same can and should be said for Jake Westbrook. Please look beyond the fact that he was traded for Ryan Ludwick. To be objective about what Westbrook has brought to the team, one has to look beyond what was given up to bring him in. That simply cannot be undone. What can be done is looking at this: Jake has pitched six or seven innings in all four of his starts, giving up two or three runs in each game. That would translate to four quality starts, yet the team is only 1-3. He has thrown sixty-six percent of his pitches for strikes, and sixty-six percent of his pitches put in play have been ground balls. Obviously he has not blown away the opposition, but he has given the team more than enough opportunity to win every game he has pitched thus far. For a fourth pitcher on a team that includes the likes of Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter, that is nothing to fuss about.

Speaking of Wainwright and Carpenter, the work those two have turned in this year has been nothing if not stellar. Wainwright has asserted himself as a sure contender for the Cy Young award, and Carpenter is not too terribly far behind. To have a two headed monster like that at the top of a rotation is something Cardinal fans sometimes take for granted. This is without mentioning a dark horse in the rookie-of-the-year race in Jaime Garcia. Garcia has taken a couple of lumps in the past month or two, but he has come a very long way from being in recovery for Tommy John surgery just one year ago.

Looking over at the lineup, it is hard to have a non-condescending eye at what you see. Albert Pujols, who has seemed at times to be having a less-than-Pujols worthy season, still finds himself quietly (or as quietly as a three time MVP can be) at or near the top of every Triple Crown category. Despite fans moaning and groaning about Matt Holliday’s slow start, he is hitting over .300 with an OPS of nearly .900, as well as being a plus defender.

Those are the two big bats. Going down the lineup, things obviously become more grim. Jon Jay has obviously been a bright spot, batting .353/.401/.521 over 63 games. Skip Schumaker, Yadier Molina and Brendan Ryan, despite having disappointing years at the plate, have all managed to raise their batting averages each month. Also, as much as I hate to admit it, Aaron Miles has been a more than capable backup, hitting .312 over 47 games.

This team has flaws, yes. However, there are also several bright spots. Despite a four game deficit in the Central, there is still quite a bit of baseball left to play (42 games, if you want to be exact). The beautiful thing about baseball is that you never know what will happen. I know lightning rarely strikes the same place twice, but in 2006, there were many games and feelings like the ones coming through now. The right team gets hot at the right time, and anything can happen.

This is a team that is still capable of making an October run. Will they? I have no idea, but I do know this: there is still hope.

Angela Weinhold covers the Cardinals for i70baseball.com, BaseballDigest.com and writes at Cardinal Diamond Diaries. You may follow her on Twitter here or follow Cardinal Diamond Diaries here.

Remember where we came from.  Last week, the Cards had taken over first place with some inspired baseball, only to drop the last two of the week against the Cubs to fall back into second place.  This week was almost a negative image (someone explain film picture taking to the teenagers in the room, will ya) of the prior period, with only the last couple of days giving anything worth smiling about.

Monday, both the Cardinals and the Reds had days off, which meant that there was a lot of talk, but all the action was off the field and about future pennant races.  Monday was the deadline to sign players from the 2010 draft and the Cardinals were able to make it a very good night, signing their top selection, Arkansas 3B Zack Cox, along with one of their supplementary picks in Seth Blair and their second round selection in Jordan Swagerty.  With the signing of Tyrell Jenkins earlier in the summer, the Cards got their top four picks into the system.  Cardinal management believed all of them had first-round talent, so it was a major coup to get them all.

Sadly, St. Louis was not able to come to terms with perhaps their most talented selection, outfielder Austin Wilson.  The high school star had slipped to the twelve round due to his reported commitment to Stanford, but the Cardinals tried to dissuade him from that path, even bringing him to Busch for a workout with the team.  Apparently, though, that was not as convincing as they were hoping and, according to St. Louis, no salary numbers were ever exchanged.

The Redbirds sprang into action Tuesday night against a Milwaukee team floundering in the middle of the division and not at all close to .500.  With the Reds making a West Coast swing, this seemed the best time to make up some ground.

The Cards sent out Jaime Garcia to start the short, two-game series.  Garcia had been struggling a bit lately, even though he won a game during the Cincinnati series.  Concerns about the number of innings he had thrown and whether he was wearing down were on everyone’s mind as he matched up against Dave Bush.

Garcia proved that, for the most part, those worries were unfounded.  After a smooth first inning, he ran into a bit of trouble in the second, though not of his making.  A one-out single by Casey McGehee looked to be erased when Lorenzo Cain hit a tailor-made double play to third baseman Felipe Lopez.  However, Lopez airmailed a throw to the right side of Skip Schumaker, sending the ball into right field and putting runners at second and third.  Garcia intentionally walked Alcides Escobar, then struck out Jonathan Lucroy and his opposite number to wriggle out of the jam.

He was not so lucky in the third.  Rickie Weeks walked to lead off the inning, which was followed by a base hit from Corey Hart.  Ryan Braun hit a grounder to third that Lopez, in his haste to get the lead runner and perhaps turn two, botched, loading the bases.  Garcia got Prince Fielder to rap into a double play, though the first run scored.  However, since the inning was not over, McGehee came up with a runner on.  Though Garcia made a good pitch, McGehee laced it right over the center field wall, putting the Brewers up 3-0.  None of those runs were earned and Garcia would not give up another one on the evening.

Sadly, the offense that seemed to have started to come to life sputtered again.  In the top of the fourth, Albert Pujols hit his 31st home run of the year, but that was all until the eighth.  Most frustrating is that there was not even a solid scoring opportunity in that time.

One thing you can say about this team is that they do not give up.  An interesting project would be to see how many times they have left the tying run on the bases or at the plate in their losses.  Even Sunday’s loss to the Cubs, when they got down 8-1, saw this phenomenon come to pass.

The eighth inning was the frustrating one this time, instead of the ninth.  Aaron Miles singled, but then was forced at second by a Brendan Ryan groundout.  Schumaker singled, putting runners on the corners with only one out.  The Brewers then went to their new closer, John Axford.  He promptly threw a wild pitch, scoring Ryan and putting the tying run on second base.  However, Jon Jay uncharacteristically struck out, meaning that the Brewers could then intentionally walk Pujols.  Matt Holliday then brought back memories of his early-season struggles with runners on, grounding out to shortstop to end the inning.  The ninth was anti-climatic, with Colby Rasmus (an unexpected pinch-hitter, since he believed the calf injury he was nursing would keep him completely out of the game), Lopez and Yadier Molina going in order.

Cincinnati winning that night as well pushed the Cardinals back to two games out of the NL Central top slot.  It was expected that they would be able to get back on the winning track the next day with Adam Wainwright going for St. Louis.  Wainwright was 11-0 at home on the season, with a 1.30 ERA in day games, a 1.22 ERA at home and a 0.50 ERA against the Brewers this season.  He was going up against Randy Wolf, who had a ERA over four and a half, but threw with his left hand.  I think you can see where this is going.

Neither team could do much in the early going.  Wainwright actually had the Cardinals’ first hit in the third inning, but was quickly doubled up on a line drive by Brendan Ryan.  Through four innings, Wolf had faced only one over the minimum on a very hot day in St. Louis.

Wainwright started off strong, striking out the first two batters and four by the end of the third.  He even got his own double play off the bat of Lorenzo Cain in the second, as it looked like whomever would score first would win the game.

That turned out to be the Brewers in the fifth.  Cain doubled to center and, when Alcides Escobar struck out, stole third.  That allowed him to score when George Kottaras reached on an infield single.  Wolf followed with a double play, but the damage had been done.

The Cardinals looked like they were going to immediately answer, when Allen Craig singled to lead off the bottom of the inning and, an out later, Aaron Miles walked.  That brought up Wainwright, but instead of letting him swing away, the bunt sign was put on and never taken off.  Waino then bunted foul with two strikes, leaving the runners at first and second. Ryan then stranded them there with a fly out to center.

The seventh turned out to be Wainwright’s last inning and, with a stifled offense, turned out to be his undoing.  Prince Fielder led off with a single, but was erased on Casey McGehee’s fielder’s (no pun intended) choice.  Cain turned out to be a Cardinal killer in the making, tripling in the second run and then scored on Escobar’s sacrifice fly.  A 3-0 lead for the second straight night proved to be too much to overcome.

Of course, that did not mean that they would not try, waiting until the ninth to come alive.  Wolf started that inning bidding for a complete game shutout, but after getting pinch hitter Randy Winn to ground out to short, Albert Pujols doubled, forcing Wolf from the game and bringing John Axford.  Unlike the previous night, though, the Cardinals were able to hit him, with Matt Holliday immediately doubling in Pujols to put a run up on the board.  Skip Schumaker then pinch-hit and was plunked, putting the tying run on first.

Yadier Molina reverted to the first half version of Yadi, striking out looking for the second.  Aaron Miles hit a grounder to Fielder that looked to end the game, but Fielder booted it, allowing Holliday to score and putting the tying run on third.  Colby Rasmus drew a walk in his pinch-hitting appearance, loading the bases for Brendan Ryan.  That was it for Axford, as the Brewers went to Trevor Hoffman, the all-time saves leader who had been very flammable this season.  However, he was still more than a match for Ryan, who struck out to end the inning and, with another Cincinnati win, pushed the Cards even farther down the standings.

Cincinnati added a half game to their lead on Thursday, winning while the Cards had an off day.  St. Louis was not completely idle, however, trading a minor league pitcher to the Astros for third baseman Pedro Feliz.  The move was roundly panned across the Cardinal internet, as analysts pointed out that Feliz never had hit much and was hitting even worse this year.  The upgrade in the field was nice, but it did not seem to be worth the tradeoff of another weak bat in the already-sputtering engine.

The Cards stepped up in competition caliber over the weekend, hosting a San Francisco team that actually lead the local nine in the wild-card standings.  Jake Westbrook looked to finally get some support while going up against rookie lefthander Madison Bumgarner.  Westbrook started off slow, walking two in the first frame but getting out of it with a double play.

He was not so lucky in the second.  A one out single by former Cub Mike Fontenot was followed by a single by Freddie Sanchez.  Westbrook then perhaps let up, as Bumgarner was up next, but the San Francisco pitcher laced a single to center, plating the first run.  After he struck out Andres Torres, Westbrook faced hot rookie Buster Posey and lost, allowing a double that put the Giants up 2-0.

The Cards were able to get one back in the bottom of the inning.  Matt Holliday struck out, but Feliz, in his first Cardinal at-bat, singled.  That was followed by hits by Yadier Molina and Jon Jay, but out of three hits, that only loaded the bases.  Westbrook then struck out, but Brendan Ryan salvaged the inning by reaching on an infield single, cutting the lead to 2-1.

Any good feeling from that inning was short-lived, however, when Pablo Sandoval laced a long home run into the bullpen in the top of the third, putting the Giants up by two again.

Both teams then settled in, putting a runner on here and there but never being able to really construct a serious threat.  That changed in the top of the seventh, when Blake Hawksworth relieved Westbrook.  He got Torres with no problem, but then Posey doubled before Aubrey Huff sent one into the stands, putting the Giants up by four.  They added another one in the eighth on an RBI single by Torres.

Again, as the game got late, the Cardinal bats woke up.  The bottom of the eighth started off with Pujols going deep again, running Bumgarner out of the game.  Holliday struck out against Sergio Romo, but Feliz again got a hit and Molina followed with one of his own.  Jay then grounded into a fielder’s choice, but Feliz came into score to make the game 6-3.

The game ended with that score, but not without yet another last-gasp rally falling short.  With two outs, Skip Schumaker pinch hit and singled.  Pujols singled him over to third, making Holliday the tying run at the plate.  Frustratingly, though, Holliday grounded out to end the contest.

After Friday, the Cards took stock of their situation.  They had not won in a week and had seen their one game lead in the division turn into a four and a half game deficit.  While the bats tended to wake up late, they had not really been that competitive in a lot of the games in the five game losing streak.  So the star laid down the ultimatum.

“There’s no tomorrow, we’ve got to win games.”  Those were the words from Albert Pujols and they reverberated across the clubhouse.

Saturday, the Cards took aim with one of their best weapons.  Chris Carpenter went for St. Louis against two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, who had run into a bit of a slump this season but was still very dangerous.

Early on, this looked like the pitcher’s duel that you would expect out of these two warriors.  St. Louis had not had a lead in 44 innings coming into this game, and it showed in the second, when Matt Holliday walked, stole second, then tried to score on Yadier Molina’s one-out ground ball.  The Giants threw him out at the plate, though, and the inning fizzled.

Finally, in a 0-0 game, an unlikely source of spark lit the fuse.  Randy Winn led off the inning with a longball off of Lincecum, putting the Cards ahead and, with a bulldog like Carpenter on the mound, usually one was going to be enough.  Thankfully, the offense continued to put up runs.

In the fifth, Molina drew a walk, then scored when the reviled Pedro Feliz tripled him in and then scored when Brendan Ryan doubled, making the score 3-0.  In the sixth, Albert Pujols walked, stole second and went to third on an error.  After Holliday struck out, Jon Jay cashed in that RBI with a single, continuing to add on.

Carpenter worked into the eighth, leaving after a one-out single by Buster Posey.  Trever Miller came on and allowed a single to Aubrey Huff, then left in favor of Kyle McClellan.  McClellan struck out Pat Burrell and looked to dodge the bullet, but Jose Guillen reached on an infield hit, scoring Posey and breaking up the shutout.  That’s all the Giants got, however, and the Cardinals made the final 5-1 when Feliz singled in Holliday in the eighth.

The Reds finally lost a game, so the Cards moved back to 3.5 out.  Had the team hit rock bottom and bounced, or would they return to their frustrating form quickly?

Jaime Garcia was back on the mound Sunday.  With his recent struggles, he had been overshadowed somewhat by players like Buster Posey in the Rookie of the Year race.  That changed on Sunday.

Garcia threw his first career shutout, needing only 89 pitches to get through the entire game.  Garcia struck out six, but in a marked contrast to some of his earlier control issues, he did not walk anyone and allowed only three hits throughout the game.  Two of those hits were immediately followed by double play balls, the third was with two outs in the ninth.  In a season that has been remarkable, this was the highlight of it for Garcia to this point.

The Cards got all they needed in the third inning off of Barry Zito.  After Garcia had struck out, Brendan Ryan doubled and went to third on a wild pitch during Jon Jay’s at-bat, which resulted in a walk.  That brought up Albert Pujols, who singled in Ryan.  Matt Holliday then singled in Jay and moved Pujols to third, who then scored on Pedro Feliz’s sacrifice fly.

However, the Redbirds did not rest on their laurels or take Garcia’s performance for granted.  Allen Craig smashed a two-run home run in the fifth.  The Cards put up three more in the sixth on RBI by Yadier Molina (double), Ryan (single) and Jay (single).  In the eighth, Craig added another one by singling in Felipe Lopez for the 9-0 final.

So, after a week of great optimism ruined by the last two games, St. Louis had a week of great pessimism “ruined” by the last two games.  With Pittsburgh and Washington being the seven games coming up this week, a rebounded team would probably win at least five of those.  Time will tell if this is a real renaissance or more of the up-and-down frustrations that have been placed upon the fan base so often this season.

This week the Padres head into Chicago and Milwaukee for a tour of the Mid-America.  San Diego has dominated the NL Central in 2010, posting a 19-4 record overall against the six-team division.  They have already started this week where they left off last week, and continued their Central Division domination, beating the Cubs 9-5 on Monday.  This is a Cub team that, despite their record, is still playing hard.  They lost three heartbreakers in San Francisco last week, then took two of 3 from the Cardinals in St Louis.  Pitching matchups for the rest of the Cub series:

• Jon Garland (11-8, 4.47 xFIP) vs Randy Wells (5-10, 3.95 xFIP). Garland has pitched very well since the All-Star break, posting a conventional 2.95 ERA and holding opponents to a .557 OPS.  He hasn’t faced Chicago since he played with the White Sox back in 2006.  Wells, on the other hand, has gotten hammered since the Break (4.54 ERA, .823 OPS allowed).  Wells has not faced the Padres at Wrigley.  He lost his only career start against San Diego (5/23/09).
• Clayton Richard (10-5, 4.03 xFIP) vs Casey Coleman (NR, 5.53 xFIP). As well as Garland has pitched, Richard has not.  Clayton has posted a 5.40/.787 ERA/OPS line since the Break, but is 4-2 over that span thanks to his teammates providing almost 6 runs a game in support.  He has never started against Chicago.  In contrast, Coleman has not started against anybody.  He has been working as a long man out of the Cub bullpen since the start of August, making 4 appearances.
• Mat Latos (12-5, 3.45 xFIP) vs Carlos Zambrano (4-6, 4.55 xFIP).  The Padres Ace versus the Cub Enigma.  Latos missed two starts after the All-Star break because of a strained back muscle (ostensibly from a violent sneeze) but has not missed a beat on the mound (1.86 ERA, .614 OPS in 5 starts).  He has also not pitched in Wrigley before, and lost his only start against Chicago (8/19/09).  A thumbnail of Zambrano’s season can be found over at i70baseball.com.  He pitched well against St Louis on Saturday in his second start since returning to the rotation.  In his last 4 home starts opposing the Padres, he’s gone at least 6 innings and allowed 3 runs or less in all of them.

The Padres will take a short flight to Milwaukee for their visiting leg with the Brewers.  You may remember the Padres took 3 of 4 from Milwaukee in San Diego earlier this year, winning all three by shutout, which led to some grousing from members of the Brewers.  If memory serves, Prince Fielder was particularly vocal about the ballpark taking home runs away from players like himself.  Not much came of the comments, but one wonders if that series will motivate the Brewers this weekend.

Milwaukee is only 8 games under .500, but trail NL Central leaders Cincinnati by 12.5 games and the Wild Card leaders by 12, so are effectively buried for 2010.  Your projected match-ups for the weekend are:

• Wade LeBlanc (7-10, 4.54 xFIP) vs Chris Narveson (9-7, 4.34 xFIP).  LeBlanc has been consistent since the ASB (3.86 ERA, .731 OPS).  He’s put together two fine starts in his last two outings, throwing 12.1 innings combined while allowing only 3 runs.  It is his best run since mid-June.  LeBlanc has not pitched at Miller Park.  His lone career start vs Milwaukee was this April, and he threw 6.1 shut out innings.  Chris Narveson is a former Cardinal farm hand in his first full season in the Majors.  He’s not faced the Padres in his career to date.  Milwaukee is 4-2 in his six starts since the ASB.
• Kevin Correia (10-7, 4.22 xFIP) vs Manny Parra (3-9, 4.11 xFIP). Correia has returned to his 2009 dominant self since the ASB.  He’s won 5 of his six starts since mid-July, including Monday’s win over Chicago.  He’s only started two games in Milwaukee during his career, and his teams are 1-1 in those starts.  Parra has pitched better than his record indicates, but he’s lost his last 4 decisions, and the Brewers have lost six of his last 7 starts.  He’s 1-1 in his career against San Diego at home.
• Garland vs Dave Bush (5-10, 5.00 xFIP). Garland has only started one game in Milwaukee over the course of his career.  He got a no-decision, but his team beat Milwaukee on that night in 2009.  Dave Bush is alternating good and bad starts at the moment.  He switches from surrendering 6 or more runs to allowing 3 or less.  In his last start he allowed 7 ER to Arizona, so he’s due for a good start against the Padres.  He’s started twice against San Diego in Milwaukee, and the Brewers won both games.

The Padres lead the NL West by 4 full games through Monday, and by 5 on the loss side over the Giants.  Having one three of four to start this trip, they are a confident group looking to extend their lead over the rest of the National League.  We should also mention that pitcher Chris Young continues to rehabilitate his shoulder.  He threw another side session on Monday, and should everything in that shoulder respond with no issues following the session he may go out for a rehab assignment as early as this weekend.  Although it would mean one of the starters would get sent out (most likely LeBlanc), getting Young back would be exactly like trading for a veteran pitcher in the stretch run.  So that’s more good news for the Padres.

Earlier in August, fans were treated to a glimpse of this young ballplayer’s joyful spirit when, in front of a hometown Florida crowd, Jon Jay beamed as he went 3 for 5 at the plate and scored three runs against the Marlins.  Jay had generously purchased a large block of tickets for friends and family there at Sun Life Stadium, and with his personal cheering section watching Jay continued his special brand of baseball magic.

Jon Jay has provided exactly what this Cardinals club has lacked all season: consistency. Jay’s last call-up from triple-A Memphis was July 3^rd when starting outfielder Ryan Ludwick was placed on the 15-day Disabled List with a left calf sprain.  Since then, Jon Jay has played in 34 of the last 37 games and has given management and fans alike a reason to cheer.

One of the most reliable and productive Cardinal batters since the All Star break, this rookie has somehow managed an amazing and dependable level of performance both at the plate and in the field.  In fact, in the last 28 games Jon Jay has led the club in (non-homerun) extra base hits with 7 doubles and 1 triple.  Jay’s gift for getting on base in front of Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday has spurred the Cardinals’ scoring chances in the last month and his timely hitting has sparked several rallies.

LOOKING BACK:

Currently shining in his first season with the Cardinals, newcomer Jay is hardly new to baseball success.  Jay played college ball for the University of Miami, was a three-time All-American and was selected First-Team All Atlantic Coast Conference.  Drafted in the 2^nd round of the 2006 amateur draft, Jay continued to put up solid numbers during his 5 seasons in the Minors.  Jay’s cumulative MiLB batting average is .321, excellent considering he played through pain in 2007, plagued by wrist and shoulder injuries.

In 2008 Jay batted .348/.406/.500 for AAA Memphis. In 2009 his AAA numbers fell a bit to .281/.338/.394, but Jay had an impressive season, playing a personal best number of games (136), leading all Memphis outfielders in fielding percentage and was considered the “Best Hitter for Average” among all Cardinals minor league players for 2009 by Baseball America’s “Best Tools” survey.  This year, Jay’s AAA Memphis numbers were impressive at .321/.394/.491 leading to his big league promotion.

RUNNING THE NUMBERS:

For those of you (like my editor) who need more than just my word on how amazing Jon Jay has been lately, here are some numbers.

Comparing stats with other Cardinal outfielders during the time frame of Jay’s recent MLB stint, it is readily obvious that he is having a fantastic summer.

For July 3^rd through August 14^th:

Jon Jay

125 plate appearances

Matt Holliday

149 plate appearances

Colby Rasmus

118 plate appearances

Translation: Jon Jay is playing very, very good baseball – and not just for a rookie.  Jay is making strong defensive plays, getting on base and running the bases with skill. With numbers rivaling big money superstar Matt Holliday and sophomore slugger Colby Rasmus, Jay has undeniably earned a spot in the Big Leagues.  Jay’s dependable bat, averaging near the .400 mark during the last month has won over fans and earned him the opportunity to bat in the club’s most desirable lineup spot – in front of Albert Pujols.

Jay’s strong defense leaves no room for worries.  He shows hustle and fielding skill, covers a lot of ground and has committed zero fielding errors so far this season with the Cardinals.  In fact, Baseball-Reference.com shows Jay made only 1 fielding error in his 5 seasons of professional ball, beginning in 2006 when he was playing low-A for the Quad Cities.

Replacing a skilled player such as Ryan Ludwick carries a lot of pressure. Even before the Ludwick trade, Jon Jay was looking comfortable in the lineup.  In fact, the steady production of young Jay most certainly eased front office anxieties about the hole left by the Ludwick trade.  Again, the numbers speak for themselves.  Ryan Ludwick’s 2010 Cardinal stats show that Jon Jay is filling those big shoes quite respectably.

Ryan Ludwick

312 plate appearances in 2010 for the Cardinals

Jon Jay (*in close to half the number of plate appearances as Ludwick in 2010)

170 total plate appearances for the Cardinals

In fact, by adding in Jay’s numbers from his stint with the big club earlier this season (April 26^th through June 2nd), it is easy to see how Jay’s plate discipline has improved. During those first 26 games (6 starts) Jay did not earn a single walk while striking out 9 times.  Compare that to his last 33 games in which he started in 27 games, walked 12 times and struck out only 13 times.

LOOKING AHEAD

I certainly would not expect Jon Jay to keep performing at this unbelievable starting pace.  As opposing teams see more of Mr. Jay, adjustments will be made.  Pitchers will learn his weakness and clubs will begin building a book on Jon Jay.  The next few months will be a good litmus test of this gifted rookie’s ability to make adjustments, while other clubs are attempting to break the code of Jon Jay.

I look forward to watching this game-within-the-game and see how Jay responds to more exposure.  Will he maintain his stellar production and help the Cardinals push for the postseason?  Looking ahead, I have faith in this babyfaced Miami boy, and lucky for me Jay is putting up the numbers to back me up.

Go Cards!!

Erika Lynn covers the Cardinals for i70baseball.com, BaseballDigest.com and writes at Cardinal Diamond Diaries.  You may follow her on Twitter at username @Erika4stlcards or follow Cardinal Diamond Diaries here.

After a tough loss and a rainout in Florida to end the last week, the Cardinals headed to Cincinnati for a statement series.  They trailed the Reds by two games in the standings, so a sweep by Cincinnati would have created a huge mountain for any team to climb, much less one as sporadic and inconsistent as this one.

Things were working in the Cardinals’ favor, though, as they were able to send their best three pitchers in the series.  Monday night, Chris Carpenter went up against rookie Mike Leake, who had been the talk of the Queen City during the season, being drafted in ’09 and spending no time in the minor leagues.

The Cardinals only scored in one inning.  However, when you put up seven runs in that inning, you really do not have to do much more.

Jon Jay started off the inning with something that seems to have become his trademark, a double.  He has 16 of them in 170 plate appearances, so Double Jay is often sitting on second when the bulk of the lineup comes up.  In this case, Albert Pujols moved him over to third with a single.  Matt Holliday followed with a single of his own and the Cards were up 1-0, with more to come.

Colby Rasmus rapped an RBI single, leaving runners at first and second.  Yadier Molina was able to beat out an infield single, which loaded the bases for Skip Schumaker.

Schumaker had some success with that many ducks on the pond in the past, but never had been able to clear them on one swing.  That changed with the first pitch from Leake.  Schumaker’s fly ball carried just enough and a close game became a rout.

It looked like that would stop the scoring when Carpenter and Brendan Ryan struck out, but Felipe Lopez singled, stole second and went to third on a passed ball.  After a walk to Jay, Pujols drove in the seventh run with a single, capping one of the biggest innings of the season.

That was easily enough for Carpenter, who was pitching as well–and as intensely–as always.  After the top of the first, ESPN cameras caught him reaming out Ryan, who had not only been late to taking his position but had then brought the wrong glove, necessitating another delay while he swapped them out.

Then, in the seventh, when the Reds were able to finally break the seal and score a couple of runs, one of the Reds’ RBI knocks when through where the shortstop was normally positioned, but Ryan was shifted almost to second base, so the ball got through to the outfield.  Carpenter screamed in frustration apparently directed at the shortstop, though afterwards stated that it was more self-directed.

Trever Miller pitched the last two innings and, save for a home run from Ramon Hernandez in the ninth, was fairly untouched.  The Cardinals had cut one game off of the lead with two more chances at it.

After Monday’s game, certain comments by Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips came to light, in which he indicated his dislike and general antipathy for the team from St. Louis.  His comments, in language typically not repeated in mixed company or on family newspapers or web sites (though, interestingly, it seemed to be written verbatim in the Post-Dispatch), seemed to fire up the Cardinals in some part, though it might have blown over without any more provocation.

However, Phillips was either completely naive, hoping that the Cards would let bygones be bygones, or deliberately wanted to stoke some flames.  Before his first at-bat in the first inning of Tuesday’s game, he tapped Yadier Molina’s shinguards with his bat, which apparently is a custom of his.  Molina took exception, standing up to tell him that he could not be buddy-buddy after remarks of that nature.  Phillips took offense and suddenly both players were jawing and shoving.

The benches cleared and both managers were in the mix, yelling at each other.  Of course, this was not the first time Dusty Baker and Tony LaRussa have had issues and, odds are, it will not be the last.  Things were just about to settle down when Carpenter, who had been one of the first ones out of the dugout, directed an expletive toward Baker that NO media outlet would print, and then it was back on.

There was a lot of pushing and shoving going on, as most of the players wound up at the netting behind home plate.  Scott Rolen, from appearances, went after Carpenter when he said those things, but both Rolen and Carpenter afterwards indicated that Rolen was trying to break things up and keep Carpenter from getting hurt.  It is notable that Rolen was not fined in the punishments handed down by the league.

Johnny Cueto, that night’s starter, was not so lucky.  Whether out of fear or malice, he started kicking from his placement against the netting, leaving marks on Carpenter’s back and catching Jason LaRue in the head.  LaRue, who suffered a concussion in the incident, was apparently only an inch or two away from being only the second Cardinal in four years to have a major vision-related problem on the field.

The only people tossed from the melee were the managers, so Cueto was able to stay in the game trailing 1-0.  (Before the whole incident, Felipe Lopez had doubled to lead off the game and, after a Jon Jay sacrifice, Albert Pujols had an RBI groundout.)  It did not take long for Molina to put an exclamation point on his feelings, taking Cueto yard in the second.

St. Louis held that 2-0 lead until the third.  Jaime Garcia faced the minimum in the first two innings, but immediately ran into trouble by walking Drew Stubbs to lead off the third.  Ramon Hernandez followed with a single and Cueto sacrificed them both over.  Phillips, who struggled all series with the spotlight on him, was able to ground out and drive in the first run.  After another walk, this time to Paul Janish, Joey Votto continued to show why he is in the MVP discussion by singling in the tying run.

The Cardinals threatened in the fourth, putting two on before Skip Schumaker struck out, but it wasn’t until the sixth when they were able to break the tie.  Pujols started it off with a single, then Matt Holliday doubled him in.  Colby Rasmus then doubled the other way and moved to third when the right fielder bobbled the ball.  Molina got his second RBI of the night with a sacrifice fly and the Cards were up 5-2.

Cincinnati answered in the bottom of the inning due to more control issues from Garcia.  Joey Votto and Scott Rolen both walked after one out, which was the end of the night for Garcia.  Fernando Salas came in and stuck out Johnny Gomes, but then walked new Red and old familiar face Jim Edmonds to load the bases.  Stubbs then singled and drove in Votto and Rolen, but Edmonds was tagged out after going too far around second, preserving the Cardinal lead.

Back came the Redbirds.  Brendan Ryan singled to open the eighth, and after Lopez struck out, Jay doubled (yet again) and the Reds decided to intentionally walk Pujols to load the bases for Holliday.  Holliday dropped a hit into left scoring Ryan and Jay, then Pujols ran through the stop sign of third base coach Jose Oquendo and scored when the throw from Gomes sailed over the catcher’s head.

After two games, the NL Central was tied at the top.  Fortunately for St. Louis, they had Adam Wainwright going in Wednesday afternoon’s series finale.

Wainwright was opposed by Bronson Arroyo, a junkballer (as he was termed by Colby Rasmus earlier in the year) who had been able to often keep St. Louis hitters off balance.  It had the potential to be a top-notch pitcher’s duel, and for a while it lived up to that promise.

The Cardinals put a threat together in the second inning, when Matt Holliday singled and, with two out, Skip Schumaker did the same.  Adam Wainwright then drew a walk, loading the bases, but Arroyo got out of the jam when Brendan Ryan struck out.  In the third, Jon Jay singled with one out and moved to second on a balk, but Pujols grounded out and Holliday struck out.

Wainwright, however, was not allowing much of anything and was working around the few runners he was allowing.  While he did not strike out a lot of batters, he continued to frustrate the Cincinnati offense.

The game was decided in the fifth.  With two outs, Jay (wait for it) doubled.  Not wanting to take any chances, the Reds again intentionally walked Pujols, then Arroyo lost Holliday to load up the bases.

That brought up Rasmus.  In a quality at-bat, Rasmus worked the count full and fouled off a few tough pitches.  Then, in the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Arroyo made his mistake and Rasmus parked the second Cardinal grand slam of the series.

With Wainwright being Wainwright, that was more than enough.  The Wagonmaker finished with seven scoreless innings, only allowing two hits and striking out four.  His season ERA dropped down to 1.99 and he won his 17th game, putting him in the front-runner slot for the 2010 National League Cy Young Award.

The Cards put a couple more on the board in the seventh, when Holliday walked and moved to second on a Rasmus single.  Yadier Molina and Skip Schumaker both followed with RBI singles to pad the lead.  The Reds put up a meaningless run in the eighth when Joey Votto singled off of Trever Miller, scoring Brandon Phillips who had reached against Mitchell Boggs, but that’s all they were able to do.

The Cardinals had made a statement–do not write off the defending champs.  After the sweep, they held on to first by a game and had a day off before hosting the Chicago Cubs on Friday.

Jake Westbrook, who of course came over in that three-team, much-debated Ryan Ludwick trade that we are not discussing today because these columns already go way longer than Bill Ivie wants to read as editor, had pitched well in his first few outings in a Cardinal uniform, but had no wins to show for it.  Friday, he tried pitching not so well to start and it triggered enough offense to get him a W.

The Cubs, as noted, wasted no time getting to Westbrook.  After an opening groundout, Starlin Castro singled and Derrick Lee, in a foreshadowing of what was to come, doubled.  Marlon Byrd then drove them both in with a single and the Cubs were up 2-0.

Albert Pujols got one of the runs back in the bottom of the inning, when he launched a Thomas Diamond pitch over the wall in a continuation of his hot August.  The Cardinals looked to tie it up in the second, but Skip Schumaker hit into a double play after the first two batters had reached.

Westbrook, for his part, settled down and kept the Cubs off the basepaths, allowing only a single walk in the next two innings.  Keeping the Cards in the game worked out for him, as the Redbirds took the lead in the third.

Felipe Lopez walked and, after a Jon Jay flyout, Pujols singled.  Holliday then doubled in Lopez, tying the game and putting runners at second and third.  Colby Rasmus was intentionally walked to load the bases, then Yadier Molina hit a sacrifice fly to give the Cards the lead.

The Cards tacked on another in the fourth.  Westbrook, happy to be in the National League, led off the inning with a ground rule double.  Brendan Ryan sacrificed him over, but Lopez wasn’t able to bring him in.  However, Jay came through with a two-out single and the Cards were up 4-2.

Westbrook continued his fine pitching, getting through six innings with no problem.  He reached 103 pitches, but allowed only the two runs in the first and struck out three over that span.  Blake Hawksworth pitched the seventh and did not deviate from that script.

St. Louis put it away in the seventh.  Justin Berg came into the game and promptly gave up a single to Pujols, a double to Holliday, then walked Colby Rasmus as ball four skipped past the catcher, allowing Pujols to score and Holliday to advance.  Molina then drove in Holliday with a sacrifice fly and the Redbirds had a 6-2 lead.

Derrick Lee homered in the eighth, something he would do a lot of this weekend, for the final 6-3 score.  The Reds kept pace with a win over Florida, so the Cardinals remained only one game up.

Carpenter returned to the mound on Saturday in a national broadcast facing off against renowned Cub hothead Carlos Zambrano.  The Cardinals staked Carpenter to a lead early when Jon Jay singled, Albert Pujols doubled and Matt Holliday hit a sacrifice fly.  Unlike leads from the rest of the week, though, this one would not hold up very long.

Aramis Ramirez, who has been a thorn in the Cardinal side for a long time, homered to lead off the second.  Normally, Carpenter would be able to bounce back from something like that and it appeared this would be no different as he struck out Tyler Colvin.  Marlon Byrd doubled next, though, and after a groundout moved him up, Koyie Hill doubled in Byrd, putting the Cubs on top.

When Zambrano is on his game, he is very tough to beat.  Even with all of his publicized problems, he still has many weapons on the mound and was able to use them to quiet the Cardinal bats.

The Cubs put another run on the board in the third when Derrick Lee homered once again.  That 3-1 lead would be the score for most of the rest of the game.

Perhaps the best mid-game opportunity was the fifth, when Felipe Lopez walked with two outs and Jay and Pujols then singled.  However, Holliday was not able to come through, grounding out to end the inning.  They did pick up a run in the sixth, when Skip Schumaker singled with two outs and moved up to second on a wild pitch.  Randy Winn drove in Schumaker but then was stranded at second when Ryan flew out to center.

The Cardinals had a few chances in the last two innings, but bunts became their undoing.  To start the eighth, Holliday singled against Sean Marshall.  Even though Tony LaRussa was not in the dugout, serving the second of his two game suspension from the Cincinnati brewhaha, the decision was made to bunt Colby Rasmus in this situation, most likely due to the fact that Marshall is left-handed.  However, that backfired when the bunt was popped up to the catcher.  Molina flew out and Schumaker struck out to end the threat.

The ninth gave the Cardinals another chance to at least tie it up.  With Carlos Marmol on the mound, Aaron Miles had a infield single and went to second when Ramirez threw the ball away.  Ryan came up to bunt Miles to third, but popped it up as well.  Lopez fouled out and Allen Craig struck out, finishing off the game.  With the Reds again winning in Florida, the NL Central was tied up once again.

Kyle Lohse was activated from the disabled list to make Sunday’s start, forcing Fernando Salas back to Memphis yet again.  There was a lot of interest to see if Lohse was going to be able to rebound from his surgery and become a reliable fifth starter for the club.  Judging by Sunday’s results, the jury is still out on that one.

Lohse got the first two batters out before allowing the third home run of the series to Derrick Lee in the first.  Albert Pujols, though, countered with his 30th home run of the season in the bottom of the frame, knotting the score at 1.  The teams matched zeros in the second before Lohse allowed another two-out home run to Lee in the third.

The fourth is where it got ugly.  Marlon Byrd started it all with a single, followed by another from Xavier Nady.  Neither ball was hit hard, but just out of the reach of the infielders.  Blake DeWitt walked to load the bases, then the barrage began.  Koyie Hill bounced one into the stands for a two-run double.  Ryan Dempster, Lohse’s opposing number, singled in another run.

That was enough for Tony LaRussa, who removed Lohse and, perhaps believing the game was already out of reach, brought in Mike MacDougal.

To say that MacDougal did not stop the bleeding is an understatement.  Kosuke Fukudome doubled in Hill, then Dempster scored on a wild pitch.  MacDougal seemed to gather himself then, getting Starlin Castro to ground out and actually striking out Lee, but then he walked Aramis Ramirez before Byrd, up for the second time in the inning, singled in Fukudome.  When the dust settled, the Cubs led 8-1 and were well on their way to another win.

To their credit, the Cards did not completely fold.  They got another run in the fifth when Colby Rasmus walked to lead off the inning and then scored on a two-out single by Schumaker.  Nothing else happened on the scoreboard until the ninth, but that inning made up for the lack of action in a big way.

In the top of the ninth, Chicago pushed across another run with a double by Tyler Colvin and a single by Aramis Ramirez.  It turned out to be a pretty crucial tally.

Marcos Mateo came in to open the ninth and faced Cardinal prospect Steven Hill, who had been brought up as insurance with the team waiting out Jason LaRue’s concussion.  Hill was not expected to see much action, but there are fewer low-stress debuts than a seven-run deficit.

On his second plate appearance in the bigs, Hill smashed his first big league home run, in the process apparently inspiring the team.  Nick Stavinoha, who was called up when LaRue went on the disabled list after Saturday’s game, singled and Aaron Miles followed with one as well.  When Brendan Ryan walked, the Cards had bases loaded with nobody out and the Cubs went to James Russell.

Russell was able to strike out Schumaker for the first out, but then walked Jay on four pitches to force in a run.  Not willing to risk any more, the Cubs went to their closer Marmol while the Cardinals used Felipe Lopez to pinch hit for Dennys Reyes, who had double switched with Pujols in the last inning.  Lopez singled in Miles and Ryan to make it a 9-6 game.  When Randy Winn walked on four pitches, the Cardinals had the winning run at the plate with only one out.

However, as exciting as the inning was, the ending was anti-climactic.  Allen Craig had an RBI groundout to short, but that ran the outs to two.  Hill wasn’t able to pull a Keith McDonald, who homered in his first two major league at-bats, instead grounding out to end the game.

With the Reds winning again, the week that had started out so promisingly had the Cardinals again in second place, one game closer than they were last Sunday.  It seems to be the story of 2010, taking one step forward and one step backward, never being able to really sustain a drive, to use a football image.

This week, the Cardinals have Monday and Thursday off, with a short two-game set with the Brewers sandwiched in between.  After that, the Cards have a big weekend series with NL West contender San Francisco, who took two of three when St. Louis visited out there earlier in the year.

The Cardinals can only tread water for so long.  Eventually, if they want to play in October, they have to start swimming.

Before you go rushing off to buy the entire minor league lineup of your favorite big league team you will have to make a list of your teams affiliates. The Lids site does not allow you to search by team or really list any connection to the big league club. Decoding what minor league team houses the promising young talent for your organization can be simple or mind blowing depending on your team. The Cardinals for example have affiliates mostly with the same colors as the big squad and the affiliates all go by Cardinals except for three the Memphis Redbirds, the Quad Cities River Bandits, and the Batavia Muckdogs.

The Royals on the other hand make it a little more difficult with teams like the Wilmington Blue Rocks, Northwest Arkansas Naturals, Burlington Bees, and the Idaho Falls Chukars. This is why I have taken the liberty to include pics of all in this article just on the off chance that any of you thought this was as cool as I did when I stumbled across it a few weeks back. If your favorite minor league team is not yet on lids do not fear the site the has been adding new hats weekly.

Cardinals

Memphis Redbirds AAA

Springfield Cardinals  AA

Palm Beach A (Advanced)

Quad Cities River Bandits A

Batvia Muckdogs  A (Short Season)

Royals

Omaha AAA

Wilmington Blue Rocks A (Advance)

Burlington Bees A

In baseball, the stories may not catch as much national attention, but we have seen the underdog pull off the upset.  Pride comes before the fall.  Many teams take pride in their gobs of accumulated talent only to see it swept away.  We remember the back and forth series of the Yankees and Diamondbacks in 2001 that ended in a walk-off upset and gave Arizona their first title.  We remember that same Yankee dynasty losing to the “idiots” known as the Boston Red Sox in 2004 after being up 3-0 in the ALCS.  We even have the improbable 1969 Miracle Mets, who came out of nowhere to win it all.

In 2006, the St. Louis Cardinals had come off a 100 win season but had lost in the NLCS to the Astros.  They had a good team in a below average division with the rival Astros their biggest competition in the division.  However, even if they made it to the playoffs, which they did with 83 wins, the lowest total ever by a team to win it all, they were not expected to make much noise. Not only in 2006, but also in the recent history of the Cardinals, they have typically been a team described as competitive but not truly overwhelming on paper.  So, the role of underdog has always fit this club well.  Yes, they would challenge for the division title, but if they reached the playoffs, there were others more favored than them.

Now, in 2010, they walk into a season boasting a better looking team, on paper, than they have had in quite some time.  A team that usually is looking to knock someone else out now has a target painted across the birds on the bat.  The role has changed.

So many have taken shots at the Cardinals to try and explain what has been going on.  Lack of hitting, blaming new hitting coach Mark McGwire, injuries to pitching, all these and more have been rolled through again and again.  All the while, this Larussa team has been plugging along staying around 10 games above .500 and trying to figure out who they will be as a team.

Perhaps the best shot taken at the Cardinals this year was when Brandon Phillips opened his mouth this week.  There is so much to say about Phillips and his comments, and so much his teammates are saying under the breath wondering why he opened his mouth in the first place.

By now, we have all seen the replay a few times as the NL central race has led off sports programming on our televisions.  The words, the pushing, the shoving and, yes, the kicking, have all sparked something that a team going through the motions, perhaps waiting for October, has really needed.  As a good friend said to me, what really sparked this team was Skip Schumaker’s grand slam in game 1 of the series.  Well, if that was not enough to kick-start this team, Phillips words, along with Cueto’s “cleating” techniques in Game 2 (which may be available soon in a video series called “How Not To Fight”) may have put a little fire in this team.  When Game 3 rolled around with the Cardinals looking for a sweep, Colby Rasmus ignited the team with a grand slam of his own.  Did you by chance notice the reaction in the Cardinal’s dugout?  I can’t recall seeing this team more excited at any other point this year than on that homerun.    

In the words of Colby, after the sweep, the Reds may have awakened a “sleeping giant.”  I’d say that this team got exactly what they needed- a good swift kick.  A kick that may inspire them to go on a run and become what everyone expected them to be.

Looking back to last year, Wainwright did have the most first-place votes, 12, while winner Tim Lincecum had 11 in one of the closest Cy Young votes in history – yet Wainwright finished third in the voting. (Carpenter was second.) Lincecum did lead National League pitchers in strikeouts with 261 and he tied for the NL lead with four complete games and two shutouts. In addition, he fared better than Wainwright and Carpenter in categories such as opponents’ batting average, strikeouts per nine innings and strikeout-to-walk ratio – statistics that apparently are taking on increasing importance with voters.

Which brings us back to this season. Just how does first-time All Star Wainwright stack up against Josh Johnson, Ubaldo Jimenez, Roy Halladay, Tim Hudson and the other league leaders in 10 pitching categories? (Note: All numbers are through Aug. 8.)

Wins
Jimenez, 17
Wainwright, 16
Halladay, 14

ERA
Johnson, 1.97
Wainwright, 2.07
Hudson, 2.24

Strikeouts
Halladay, 168
Lincecum, 159
Johnson, 156
Wainwright, 154

Innings Pitched
Halladay, 185.0
Wainwright, 169.1
Carpenter, 164.0

Complete Games
Halladay, 8
Wainwright, 5
Matt Cain, 3
Jimenez, 3

Shutouts
Halladay, 3
Cain, 2
Yovani Gallardo, 2
Jimenez, 2
Wainwright, 2

Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched (WHIP)
Mat Latos, 0.995
Wainwright, 0.998
Johnson, 1.013

Opponents’ Batting Average
Latos, .191
Jimenez, .201
Wainwright, .213

Strikeouts per Nine Innings Pitched
Gallardo, 10.134
Clayton Kershaw, 9.585
Jonathan Sanchez, 9.546
Wainwright is not in the top 10

Strikeouts/Base on Balls
Halladay, 7.636
Dan Haren, 4.862
Ricky Nolasco, 4.643
Johnson, 4.333
Wainwright, 3.667

If the voting were today, and based what voters considered important in 2009, it seems like Roy Halladay should be the 2010 Cy Young recipient. However, there are still eight weeks left in the season for Wainwright to make an impact and improve all of his numbers (as well as continue to lead the Cardinals toward the NL Central division title). And with as consistently good as he’s been all season, it won’t be a surprise to see Wainwright take over the top spot in many of those categories – and hopefully win a well-deserved Cy Young Award.

Christine Coleman covers the Cardinals for BaseballDigest.com and writes at Cardinal Diamond Diaries.  You may follow her on Twitter here or follow Cardinal Diamond Diaries here.

San Diego’s I-5 neighbor and rival Los Angeles reported in for a key three game set.  LA had swept the Padres in a May series at Petco and had won 4 of the 5 games overall between the two, so many in San Diego considered this a statement series.  Folks in the Dodger organization apparently felt the same way; LA manager Joe Torre said as much before the series.  On Monday Jon Garland took the mound against Chad Billingsley.

The stands were packed, and a noticeable playoff feel permeated the stadium.  Both Billingsley and Garland were on top of their games, spinning scoreless frame after scoreless frame.  San Diego had the first best chance to break through, loading the bases in the fourth on three straight singles with no one out.  Billingsley dug deep, enticing Will Venable to ground into a forceout at home, getting Tony Gwynn Jr to pop out to short, and blowing away Everth Cabrera looking.

It stayed scoreless until the seventh, when the Dodgers managed to put runners on first and third with two out.  Bud Black rolled the dice, intentionally walking Russell Martin to get to the pitcher’s spot.  Torre countered with pinch-hitter Andre Ethier, who was scratched from the start with a stomach ailment.  Black left Garland in the game to face the left-handed Ethier.  The move backfired when Andre lined a single to center to score two runs.  Those runs were all the Dodgers would need.  Hong-Chih Kuo and Jonathan Broxton got the last nine outs without incident, and the Dodgers had won their fourth straight in San Diego, 2-0.

By now the Padres hadn’t scored against Dodger pitching in almost three games.  With Hiroki Kuroda taking the hill on Wednesday, and the Dodgers having won his last 3 starts in San Diego, the prospects seemed bleak.  Kuroda immediately started dealing, allowing only one hit through the first 5 innings.  Clayton Richard, starting for the Padres, was almost as stingy; but he surrendered a lone run in the third inning, and the Padres found themselves trailing 1-0 heading into the late innings.

Then a funny thing happened.  Kuroda suddenly lost his mojo.  Gwynn led off with a single and stole second with one out.  Chris Denorfia walked.  Adrian Gonzalez worked the count full, then lifted a soft single to center.  In the play that changed the series, Gwynn got a tremendous read on both the ball and CF Matt Kemp’s position, taking off for the plate.  Kemp played the ball on a short-hop and had no play at the plate.  With the scoreless streak stopped at 31 innings, San Diego relaxed.  Chase Headley walked to load the bases, and Nick Hundley drove in Denorfia with a sacrifice fly to give the Padres the lead. San Diego tacked on two more each in the seventh and eighth innings, and came home comfortably with a 6-1 win.

Thursday afternoon put the Padre ace Mat Latos up against Vicente Padilla.  San Diego took an early lead on Headley’s RBI single in the first, but the Dodgers equalized immediately on James Loney’s home run leading off the second.  San Diego retook the lead on Yorvit Torrealba’s run-scoring double in the fourth, and the Dodgers answered again thanks to Garrett Anderson’s pinch-hit single in the fifth.  Patient Padre hitters had forced Torre to remove Padilla after only 4 innings.  It stayed tied and tense into the ninth.  Heath Bell shut down the Dodgers in the top of the inning.  Scott Hairston led off the bottom with a single, and was moved to second by Gwynn.  Oscar Salazar, pinch-hitting for Everth Cabrera, drove a 3-2 pitch up the middle to score Hairston and give San Diego a huge series win.

Before the game, San Diego made their first foray into the trade market, acquiring third baseman Miguel Tejada from Baltimore for minor-league pitcher Wynn Pelzer.  Production from the shortstop position has been a glaring weakness for this team.  The original plan had been to use Jerry Hairston Jr as a utilityman, spot-starting him to give Headley, Cabrera, and David Eckstein days off.  Unfortunately, injuries to Eckstein and Cabrera, as well as Cabrera’s lack of production, has forced J. Hairston to play virtually everyday.  Although Tejada has primarily played third base in 2010, the Padres clearly intend to use him at short, and hope his bat rejuvenates itself once out of Baltimore.

Following the emotional series win over Los Angeles, the Florida Marlins came to town.  San Diego had already played two series against the Marlins in Miami this season, taking 5 of 6.  Florida, for whatever reason, plays very well on the opposite coast, having won 9 of the last 12 games at Petco.  Friday night Chris Volstad matched up against Wade LeBlanc, and the Padres struck first when Headley singled home J. Hairston.  However Tejada was thrown out at the plate, ending the inning.

From there Volstad took over, scattering three hits over the next 4 shutout innings.  Meanwhile after going out in order in the first inning, the Marlin offense came to life.  LeBlanc lost the lead by giving up two runs in the third, then surrendered solo home runs in the fourth and sixth innings.  San Diego tried to fight back in the home half of the sixth.  Denorfia led off with a triple, and Gonzo singled him home, chasing Volstad.  Gonzalez made it to second on Tejada’s ground out, then tried to advance to third on Headley’s ground ball to short and was cut down 6-5, effectively ending the rally.  The Padres only managed one more baserunner the rest of the way, and fell to Florida 4-2.

Saturday morning started with a bang, as the Padres announced a three-way trade with St Louis and Cleveland.  San Diego had also suffered all season long from a lack of production at the corner outfield positions, and tried to address that need by acquiring Ryan Ludwick from St Louis.  Ludwick, suddenly expendable in St Louis based on the play of Jon Jay, immediately became the best outfield bat on the roster, and one of the better gloves.  Ryan would not make it to San Diego in time for Saturday’s mid-afternoon tilt.

On the mound, Ricky Nolasco faced Kevin Correia.  The Padres again faced excellent pitching, as Nolasco faced the minimum through five and did not allow a hit.  Correia has been bitten by the HR bug all season, and it reared its head again on Saturday night.  Marlin rookie Michael Stanton hit a 2-run shot in the second to give Florida a quick lead, and Dan Uggla’s solo shot in the sixth extended it.  Scott Hairston broke up the no-hitter with a solo run leading off the home half of the sixth to keep the Padres within shouting distance.  Florida kept pushing, adding an unearned run in the seventh, then two insurance runs in the ninth.  It turned out they needed those runs, because Gonzalez knocked in two with a single in the ninth, and when Tejada followed that with a single the tying run came to the plate with one out.  Marlin closer Leo Nunez was summoned to face Tejada, and after allowing the single got Nick Hundley and Venable to each ground out, ending both the threat and the game.  6-3 Marlins.

San Diego suddenly found itself both trying to avoid a sweep, and maintain some distance between themselves and he rest of the NL West.  San Francisco had been charging the whole week, and after winning two straight over those Dodgers sat 1.5 games behind.  It was up to Garland to stop the bleeding, but he drew NL Cy Young contender Josh Johnson.  Not an easy assignment.

The 2010 Padres will not be intimidated.  After the first two men were retired by Johnson, Gonzalez singled, Tejada walked, and Torrealba doubled them both home.  Quick 2-0 Padres lead.  Florida fought back with single runs in the second and third to tie the game, then took the lead with another single run in the sixth.  It was San Diego’s turn to come back.  Torrealba singled and Venable walked.  After S. Hairston popped out, Ludwick pinch-hit to a standing ovation.  Ludwick fouled off 4 pitches then singled to left, loading the bases.  Denorfia hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game, followed by J. Hairston doubling over the head of Marlin left-fielder Logan Morrison, clearing the bases.  The Padres did give up a run in the ninth, but held on for the 5-4 win.

San Diego maintained its 1.5 game lead over San Francisco, and now head north for 4 more games with the suddenly reeling Dodgers.  The front office aggressively and imaginatively moved to strengthen the roster, and found a perfect fit in Ludwick, and a potential high-upside offensive player in Tejada.  As August starts, the Padres hold the best record in the National League, and start their stretch drive to the NL West Pennant.

This week John Mozeliak commented that the promising progress of starter Kyle Lohse would not impact the moves they make going forward.  In other words, he said, “We need another reliable pitcher.”

As you scope the landscape to see what might be available in a trade, nothing is really compelling for the Cardinals.  The problem is not necessarily the talent, even though the top three pitchers have all moved (Lee, Haren, and Oswalt).  Instead, it is the ability they have to match up and make a deal.  Let’s take a look at every possible available arm, mostly looking at free agents after the season and guys the Cardinals could actually afford to deal for.

Jorge De La Rosa would be an intriguing arm if the Rockies do decide to sell.  He is a free agent after this year and is a good strikeout pitcher.  The Cardinals would be buying low, as he has not posted strong numbers this season.  If he could harness his control (4.95 BB/9) and move to a pitchers ballpark, he might be a nice surprise for them down the stretch.

The Cardinals were not really in position to bring in Oswalt.  The pitcher they should have been pursuing all along is Brett Myers.  His last outing was impressive (CG, 12K, 1ER) and the Astros have recently made him virtually untouchable. He has an $8M mutual option for next season, which are seldom picked up.  The Astros should see what they could get in return but Drayton McLane wants to look really good with any deal he makes.  If Oswalt brought a #4 Major League ready starter (Happ), and a low minor decent OF prospect and a SS prospect, it would be hard to believe he’d ask for more in a Myers deal.  The best the Cards could really do is a MLB ready bat (Craig perhaps) and pair a low minor prospect.  Not to mention the hurdle of being division rivals, that can sometimes make the prices, go up.

Koji Uehara from Baltimore will be a free agent after this season.  He has been pitching out of the bullpen for the O’s this season but did start 12 games last year.  Although he is a fly ball pitcher he might be an under the radar guy the Cardinals could obtain? Jeremy Guthrie from the Orioles has drawn interest from teams looking for a middle rotation pitcher.  Although he is also a fly ball pitcher the Cardinals could deal for him if the asking price is not extremely high. Buster Olney of ESPN recently reported that the Orioles are concerned about becoming even worse by trading too many of their veterans.  This could impact Guthrie but not Uehara.

Jake Westbrook and Fausto Carmona are two Indians that have come up in discussion for other teams.  Westbrook seems a more likely guy than Carmona to come to St. Louis.  Carmona has a very team friendly contract and the asking price would most likely be too high for the Cards.  Westbrook is having one of his worst seasons (4.65 ERA) coming off surgery last year but he is a groundball pitcher and would be an improvement over Suppan or Hawskworth.

A guy that has not been discussed a whole lot, as a Cardinal target is Ricky Nolasco from the Marlins.  He is in his third year of eligibility for arbitration and might be a guy the Cardinals could pry away for a few B prospects.  Nolasco is a great pitcher from the wind-up but not as good with runners on.  He’s similar to Javier Vazquez in that regard, but does not have the same length of track record to compare.  He has a 4.43 K/BB ratio.  Even though he can be inconsistent from start to start, an arm of this caliber would help give the Cardinals a chance in a divisional race and beyond.

The other team that might be selling a starter would be the Pirates.  Zach Duke and Paul Maholm are available.  It seems that the Cardinals would not be too excited about what either bring to the table.

If this team does not make a move, they will need to rely on the arms of Hawksworth and Suppan.  If we were talking Jeff Suppan from ’06 there would be no worries.  However, it appears that the Soup is getting cold.   Hawksworth has been prone to the long ball and might be best served to go back to AAA now and work things out.  If this team is winning every start by their top three pitchers, there would not be much concern but when any have a bad night or the offense stalls, there is no way the Cardinals can hang on for the division title, let alone make any impact in the postseason.  Other than maybe Brandon Dickson, there are no real arms ready to help out at AAA, unless P.J. Walters figures out how to translate his minor’s success to the majors, which has so far been an epic fail.

If the Cardinals could have foreseen the length of the injuries to Penny and Lohse, they may have acted sooner to make a deal.  It just might be one of those cases where there is no right deal to be made and they got to the trading party too late.  If that’s the case, the Cardinals are going to be stuck and find themselves entrenched in a battle for the division.  This may not be such a bad thing, as they really should have the pieces in house to compete. If they respond well, it may spark a little fight in them and help give this team the fire they need entering this fall.  If they falter, it might mean the disappointment of a really hopeful fan-base.

I think we all know our outfield hasn’t exactly lit the lamp with the bat this year.  Scott Hairston and Will Venable have been league average hitters; Tony Gwynn Jr OPS+ hovers at 82.  Ludwick addresses that need in a big way.

My concern for the Padres, in making trades, was that they not upset their run prevention model.  That is why I am not completely sold on the Miguel Tejada deal.  I have no such reservations with this move.

Read the rest of this blog post at Padres Trail.

Read more on the breakdown of this trade at Baseball Digest Affiliate I-70 Baseball.

Currently Jeter is the only player to have a real off the field shoe that is sold in the casual arena and that shoe is branded as Jordan so it does not really count in my mind. The debate started with me and my was this “If Albert Pujols is so good and such a dominate force in the baseball world why has he not been given a sweet off the field shoe?”

It is a simple question I think. The world of sport can often be measured by the shoes on the feet of this so called All-Stars.

No one will argue that Griffey was the coolest guy to ever play the game. He single handedly gave more little coaches headaches than any other player before or to come after him. Griffey had us all rocking our hats to the back, buying chains, and trying to rationalize to our mom and coach why we need long sleeves in August. You could not just have the Griffey cleats you had to have the trainers too not because you planned on playing in them but because you planned on wearing them to dance that friday night.

Griffey Jr. even after hanging up his glove has one last shoe coming out next month. The new Nike Air Trainer 1.2 will have a colorway dedicated to Jr. and his 600 HRs.

So if we all agree that Albert is the best player in the league now why am I not seeing the Air Albert or Pujols Pinch Hit at my local footlocker? Is it because Albert can not sell a product? Is it because he is a Cardinal? Is it because no matter how good Albert plays he will never really be cool? The simple answer is all signs point to Nike saying yes. Nike who has owned the rights to make a signature Pujols shoe since his 2007 but have only recently used his name on a shoe and that was under the umbrella of the February re-release of the Bo Jackson Trainer from the BO Knows ads (Possibly the Greatest Sports Shoe Marketing of All Time). The Albert shoe was sold with the re-release of the BO Knows shoe in a double pack and only in limited numbers in a few stores. (The shoe if you missed it is the one on top of the box in the pic below). This week for the All-Star game saw another Albert shoe but it was just a red version of the new trainer 1.2 which all players at the game were given.(pictured below)

I know Albert has a cleat but lots of guys have cleats but no one has a trainer. Albert has been used by Nike to sell other shoes but they have yet to pull out a one of a kind Albert only shoe. Kobe has his own shoe, Lebron has like 20 or so at any given time, Jordan is his own brand now, Lance Armstrong has his own shoe/brand, but King Albert doesn’t? Bo, Griffey Jr., and Big Hurt all proved that a true MLB Uber Star can and should have their own shoe so I am calling on all of you in Cardinal Nation to support my case for the first real King Albert Signature Trainer to be made, sold, and waited in line for across the nation.

I am suggesting we all start a design competition/naming competition for the first Albert Pujols Signature Trainer. If we design it and yell loud enough Nike will build it and sell it back to us. So submit your design and name on our facebook page.

These are my three favorite names and my favorite design for an Albert Trainer.

Names for shoe

King Albert

Air Machine

M5P

Here is my attempt at an Albert Only Shoe Design Idea. My challenge to you is – show us what you think his shoe should be – and who knows, maybe we can get Nike to make it.

There are nine teams with 50 or more wins other than the Cards. There will be three division winners leaving 6 teams with 50 or more wins for the Wildcard. If we give the division titles to the Reds, Braves, Padres there then is a huge race for that final spot. The Cardinals(55) are behind the the Giants who have 57 wins but ahead of the Rockies(51), Phillies(54), Mets(51), Dodgers(54), and Marlins (50).

The Marlins and Mets are long shots to win the Wildcard but they can surely cause problems for everyone else. The Phillies, Dodgers, and Giants are all said to be working the phones hard as the deadline nears. The Rockies are finally getting healthy which will ad the same pop of talent that any trade could bring the team. So, the Cardinals are in the spot of looking not only at the Reds to see if they can beat them to win the division but they also have to look closely at the six teams in the Wildcard hunt.

Do the Cards need to make a move is being asked in every bar, newspaper and TV show. Can anyone player guarantee this team a spot in the playoffs. The answer to this question is the key to understanding if any trade is a good trade. The team has to be brutally honest with themselves this week because bringing on a bad contract or two could not only ruin this season but seasons for years to come. The question is simple can Oswalt or any other player for that matter bring enough wins to the Cardinals to make up the difference in strength of schedule between them and the Reds.

If all the stars fall in place to bring Oswalt to the Cardinals it will mean the team will have added more than $38 million dollars to the books for the next two years. Oswalt would require several players such as Miller and Jay to be sent to the Astros along with $16 million next year and $16 million the year after not to mention the $6 million remaining this year. Oswalt could push the Cards into first place in the Division making for a strong rotation for the World Series run. The other side of the coin is that Reds could plow through their soft remaining schedule offsetting the wins brought in by Oswalt putting the Redbirds in a dog fight for the Wildcard.

The worst case scenario here is that Cards are left out of the playoffs this year with $32 million committed to Oswalt. This result would most likely not sit well with Albert. Oswalt on the roster will also take away the amount of money that the team can throw Albert next year when he is a free agent.

Simply doing nothing is an option that also could anger Albert. If the team seems unwilling to do whatever it takes win now they may not have a chance to win later if Albert leaves. The Cardinals are in a rough spot as the deadline nears. The cheaper talent of Haren and Lee are off the board leaving only the more expensive Oswalt or lesser talent left on the market.

The Cardinals have to decide if they need to make a trade to help make a playoff push or if it is best to do nothing even if that means not making the playoffs. By rolling the dice that the current roster can pull out the division is around 30% once you factor in the soft schedule of the Reds. The the wildcard race is even worse just because there are so many teams in the running at this point of the season. The Cardinals can save the the $6 million that Oswalt would make for the rest of this year and the $32 million over the next two seasons for a total of $38 million in an offer for Cliff Lee in the summer.

If the move is to do nothing at the deadline the team needs to let the fans and the team know that it is because they are waiting until the summer to go after a better package of free agents or a better value trade.

To put a number on how many lineups Cardinal fans have been treated to this year, through 99 games in 2010 (Sunday vs. the Cubs was game number 99), LaRussa has run out 84 unique batting orders. The most common lineup (last seen on April 26) has been used only five times. The pitcher has hit eighth. The pitcher has hit ninth. The leadoff batters have been rotated, and one never knows who might be hitting second any given night. What gives?

Sometimes it feels like this year’s team has been in one long spring training audition. Younger players like Jon Jay, Allen Craig and Tyler Greene are fighting for every inning of playing time they can get, and despite their best efforts all three are well acquainted with the shuttle between St. Louis and AAA Memphis. In the meantime, Tony has insisted that the best players will play and that you have to earn your starts. About the only non-pitching players that seem guaranteed their next starts are Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday and Yadier Molina. A few of the positions on the field and in the lineup have seemed like a merry-go-round at best. For example:

Shortstop

Far and away the most confusing position on the field this year has seemed to be the shortstop spot. In 2009, Brendan Ryan fought his way into the everyday lineup, playing in 129 games, 102 of them coming at the shortstop position due to his .292 batting average and highlight reel worthy glove more than the fact that Khalil Greene just could not shake whatever mental ailments had befallen him. It was understood coming into this year that the starting shortstop spot was Ryan’s to lose, and at times it looks like he is doing everything in his power to do just that, batting .196 and committing twelve errors in the field, three more than the slick fielding shortstop had all of last year.

Enter Felipe Lopez and Tyler Greene. LaRussa has been asked repeatedly this year what his plans are with Ryan, and the manager always states that the players have to earn their starts. While there have been some discrepancies (Chris Carpenter, for instance, insists on having Ryan in the lineup to have the strongest defense behind his starts), for the most part this has held true. When David Freese was lighting up the scoreboard with his excellent play in the beginning part of the year, Greene found himself in AAA getting regular playing time and Felipe Lopez – a spring training signee – getting starts at second, short and third, spelling all of the infielders except Pujols as needed. Lopez frequently found himself slotted into the shortstop position, while Ryan found himself on the bench trying to sort out his hitting and fielding funks.

Now that Freese has been on the disabled list for a month, Greene has found himself back in St. Louis, starting 13 of the teams 21 games in the month of July. He has earned every start he has received in the month as well, hitting .300 while making starts at three different positions. His glove scares some, but it is hard to take someone hitting well out of the lineup when your other option is hitting under .200. Currently, Ryan has started seven of the last eight games, and has responded well, making several flashy plays in the field, snagging a few key hits and driving in some timely runs. But Greene is still around, waiting for LaRussa to drop him into that next start at short if Ryan begins to struggle again.

Right Field

The other main spot of intrigue lately (although there are several more possibilities) is found in right field, where a combination of Jon Jay and Randy Winn filled in while Ryan Ludwick took a turn on the disabled list (Ludwick made his return to the club on Saturday vs. the Chicago Cubs). Despite having Jay, Allen Craig and Joe Mather all hitting extremely well down in AAA, the club brought in Winn after her was released from the New York Yankees at the end of May. In 15 starts and 36 games, Winn has been serviceable, batting .276 and making a few key hits when the team needed a boost after the All-Star break.

Jon Jay was doing everything required of him to stay with the team, batting .302 through June 2, but Winn’s arrival meant Jay’s departure to the minors, despite fans’ outrage and scribes’ head scratching. Jay continued his blistering pace in Memphis, and when Ludwick hit the disabled list Jay was the first of the Memphis team to rejoin the big league club. Since his call up he has been on a hitting rampage, throwing out a slash line of .460/.533/.780 (batting, slugging, on-base percentages) over 13 starts and 18 games played. He has played all three outfield positions and forced his manager to continue to find ways to get him into the lineup now that Ludwick has returned.

Does competition breed better play?

It is hard to say. Brendan Ryan was not going to play atrocious defense all year long, and the truth is he is far from terrible. He actually has 17 defensive runs saved above average this year. The next closest is Matt Holliday, who has 7. He has been taking better at-lately as well, so perhaps being pushed out of the consistent starting job for a few days/weeks helped him clear his head and get refocused on playing better baseball. Winn was struggling, but then suddenly had a couple of really solid games right when it looked like Ludwick was getting close to coming off the DL. Was he playing for his playing time? General manager John Mozeliak has admitted that Jay’s strong play over the last month has forced his way into well-deserved playing time, and he has made the most of his opportunities.

For a Cardinals team that seen more than their fair share of rollercoaster play this season, perhaps a little fighting for the playing time (not to mention fighting to hold on to first place in the Central) is necessary. Sometimes the teams that had to battle their way to October are the ones that come out on top.

Sometimes.

Angela Weinhold covers the Cardinals for BaseballDigest.com, i70baseball.com and writes at Cardinal Diamond Diaries.  You may follow her on Twitter here or follow Cardinal Diamond Diaries here.

Coming off a short week of no losses, the Cardinals stayed at home and welcomed in one of the top teams in the NL East.  Before the season started, St. Louis and Philadelphia were both being touted as World Series contenders.  The season has not exactly panned out that way for either team, though both are still in the hunt.  It was a good test for these newly revived Redbirds.

Monday, the Cards sent Blake Hawksworth to the hill against one of the lengthy list of Cardinal killers, Kyle Kendrick.  Kendrick had dominated the Redbirds in the past, as had many of the Phillies starters.  Hawksworth, of course, just tries to get to the sixth in a good position.

It didn’t look like he’d make it that far in this game, as Hawksworth got off to a very shaky start.  With one out, he gave up back to back hits before Ryan Howard reached him for an RBI double.  He came back to get Jayson Werth, but Shane Victorino drove in the two base runners with a single, leaving the Cards down 3-0 before even coming to bat.

The St. Louis squad continued to prove that the second half was different than the first half, however.  Instead of going through the motions the rest of the game, they began to claw back, and it began immediately in the bottom of the first.  Felipe Lopez led off the game with a single and Jon Jay, who really should be called Double J because of the number of two-baggers he has hit, roped a ground-rule version.  With nobody out, the Phillies pitched to Albert Pujols with first base open and it worked to some degree, as Pujols had an RBI groundout.  They were unable to get any more in that inning, but it helped set the tone.

They got even closer in the second when Kendrick could not find the strike zone, walking Skip Schumaker and, after Schumaker stole second, Yadier Molina to start the ending.  Hawksworth bunted them over and Brendan Ryan, whose name came up in trade talks toward the end of the week, had the second RBI groundout of the night.

The Phillies got another run in the fourth in a very frustrating manner.  With one out, Carlos Ruiz doubled.  After Wilson Valdez lined out, the inning looked to be over with Kendrick up next.  However, Hawksworth wound up walking his opposite number, letting the inning continue.  The Phillies took full advantage, getting an RBI single from Jimmy Rollins to make it 4-2.

However, in the bottom of the fifth, the Cardinal offense exploded in a display of power not seen in a long time.  Lopez walked with one out, then scored when Jay, yes, doubled.  The Phillies again pitched to Pujols with first base open, but this time the result was more crushing, as Albert laced a two-run shot into the stands.  After Colby Rasmus grounded out, Allen Craig smashed his first major league home runs, quickly followed by Skip Schumaker hitting one out as well.  When the smoke from the fireworks had cleared, it was 7-4 and the Redbirds were on top.

Hawksworth made it through the sixth with no more damage, then Randy Winn pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the inning.  Winn also reached the seats, giving the Cards four home runs in the span of six at bats, something that had never been done before in their history.  I would guess the number of four-home-run games period is pretty slim in a history of speed like the Redbirds have.  In any case, that made it 8-4, which was the final score as the Phillies never challenged again.

That meant the winning streak had reached six when Chris Carpenter took the mound on Tuesday night.  It didn’t take long to realize that seven was, indeed, going to be lucky. Carpenter cruised through eight innings, only running into trouble in the seventh, when Werth and Victorino had back-to-back doubles to put the Phils on the board.

By that time, though, there was little doubt how this game was going to turn out.  Randy Winn ran his homer streak to two as he followed a Lopez third-inning leadoff single with another blast.  The next inning, Yadier Molina doubled, and after Aaron Miles lined out, Carpenter added to the cause with a single, moving Molina to third.  That became very big when Andrew Carpenter, the Philadelphia pitcher that came into the game when Jamie Moyer left after an inning with an elbow injury, threw a wild pitch that allowed Molina to score.

For the second straight night, the fifth inning turned out to be the decisive one.  Winn led off against Danys Baez, drew a walk, and stole second.  Not surprisingly, Pujols was then walked, but, as the preseason commercials said, you pick your poison.  Pitch to 5, pitch to 7.  Matt Holliday made sure their choice was the wrong one and smacked a three-run shot to extend the lead to 6-0.  The Cards scored another in the eighth when Winn singled in Lopez to make the final 7-1.

St. Louis continued to move through the strength of their rotation with Jaime Garcia next up on the mound, facing off against Joe Blanton.  Blanton was another pitcher who had a strong ERA against the Redbirds.  He was to find that, as others had in the two-week span, that things had changed.

Actually, Blanton had a solid game.  This was a scoreless duel for the first three innings, with neither team having a hit.  Only a Yadier Molina walk spoiled matching perfect games, in fact.  Garcia kept his going in the fourth, but Blanton had a bit of a stumble.  Jon Jay doubled–does he do anything else?–to lead off the fourth and Albert Pujols singled him home.

While that was all for this inning in the scoring department, another chapter was added to the lengthy book of baserunning miscues when Pujols, who had stolen second, was then picked off of the base after Colby Rasmus struck out, resulting in possibly the strangest “strike-’em-out, throw-’em-out” double play in recent memory.

Garcia lost his perfect game, no-hitter, and shutout all on one Ryan Howard swing to lead off the fifth, but immediately settled down and kept the Phillies off balance for the rest of his night.  He got into a spot of trouble in the seventh, when he allowed a hit and two walks to load the bases, but got Blanton, who was inexplicably hitting for himself, to strike out to end the threat.

Wanting to help out his teammate after such fine work, Matt Holliday made sure Garcia was in line for the win by leading off the bottom of the seventh with a home run.  The Cardinals tacked on three more in the eighth, two on a double by Felipe Lopez and one on a pinch-hit sacrifice fly by Colby Rasmus, and the streak reached eight games.

The offense was clicking.  The pitching was clicking.  Good, solid games were being played.  What could possibly go wrong?  Just when you thought it was safe to start really believing that this team was coming together, that things were going the way they should go, that brick wall appeared.

The first layer of brick came in the form of Cole Hamels.  Hamels was another one that had been tough on the Cardinals in the past, but then again, he has been tough on a lot of people.  With Adam Wainwright and his remarkable home record going against him, this one figured to be a pitcher’s duel and it didn’t disappoint.

The pitchers matched zeros throughout the game, though Wainwright was far from his normal sharp self.  In the first, he allowed two hits before retiring Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth.  In the second, it was a double to Brian Schnider.  The fourth was problematic as well, with two hits allowed and a wild pitch.  Still, he was always able to keep the Phillies off the board.

The problem was, Hamels was doing the same and in a much more efficient fashion.  He struck out the first five batters he faced for Yadier Molina was able to ground out to end the second.  The Cardinals did not get their first hit until the fifth when Matt Holliday opened the inning with a single, but he was then erased on another baserunning miscue, when Allen Craig’s drive into the gap was caught and Holliday was doubled off of first.

With the sweltering heat and a pitch count that was elevated in part by some defensive lapses, Wainwright was removed after six innings.  The bullpen did their job, though, as the Phillies continued failing to cash in on the few opportunities they had.  Unlike the Cardinals, who did not even have opportunities, with Hamels only allowing that one hit in his eight innings of work.

The scoreless battle went into the ninth, then the tenth.  Finally, in the eleventh, the dam broke.

On Twitter, Matthew Leach pointed out that Kyle McClellan, who came in to work the 11th, had been very weak in tie games.  Close games were not a problem, but tie games seem to affect McClellan in some strange way.  He noted, before the inning started, that McClellan had given up eight home runs in around 150 plate appearances with the game tied, compared to eight home runs in over four times that number otherwise.

Leach had barely gotten that into the Twitterverse when Placido Polanco launched a pitch from McClellan into the stands.

The Phillies tacked on another run, which became important in the bottom of the inning.  Jon Jay led off the inning, not with a double this time, but a walk and then he stole second.  However, two groundouts and a flyball later, the winning streak was soundly snapped.

Still, winning streaks do end.  Hamels was a top of the line pitcher, so it was not a completely frustrating loss.  Besides, the Cardinals were heading off to Chicago and the fanbase burned for a sweep there, and how often do you hear of 12-game winning streaks?

The idea that St. Louis would sweep in their visit to the Friendly Confines, already made problematic by the fact that Jeff Suppan and Blake Hawksworth would be starting two of the three games, was elevated to unlikely after the first Cubs batter in Friday afternoon’s contest.  Tyler Colvin took Suppan yard, giving the Cubs a 1-0 lead.  It turned out to be all that the baby bears would need, though not all that they would get.

Suppan weaved and bobbed his way through three innings, putting runners on but getting out of it.  At times, he pitched better than the results, as he would get ground balls that the Cardinal defense either would not get to or would not turn into double plays.  The fourth, however, opened the same way as the first, with Geovanny Soto doing the honors this time.

In the fifth, another unturned double play finally rose up to haunt Suppan.  With one out, Marlon Byrd hit a grounder to shortstop, but Skip Schumaker was not able to get it out of his glove to make the pivot at second base.  Byrd was safe and the next batter, Alfonso Soriano reached the Wrigley bleachers and the score was 4-0.

Meanwhile, Randy Wells was just moving along.  After not getting an out in the first when he faced the Cardinals the last time, he was able to limit opportunities and take care of the Redbirds when those opportunities arose.  He retired Albert Pujols with two on and two out in the third, keeping the Cards off the board.

In the fourth, yet another baserunning loss with Matt Holliday in the midst of it.  This time, it really was not Holliday’s fault–Colby Rasmus hit a sharp liner that Derrick Lee was able to catch at first and then double Holliday–but it still was another in a long line of lost baserunners this season.

The final run for the Cubs came in the sixth inning and it symbolized the futility of this day.  Ryan Theroit led off with a single and Wells bunted him over.  Colvin flew out, so there were two down and a runner on second when Starlin Castro popped up to apparently end the inning.  However, this was a day game in Wrigley with the wind blowing.  Jason LaRue was catching and could not find the ball in the high sky.  The wind blew it to the left of the pitcher’s mound, where it dropped between LaRue and Suppan, allowing Theroit to score.

St. Louis had a bit of a chance in the seventh, when Randy Winn and Tyler Greene both walked with two out, but Felipe Lopez could not bring them in.  Other than that, the Cardinals were not able to generate anything, marking the first time since Tony La Russa took over managing that the club had been shut out in back-to-back days.

A team that was blasted in the press and perhaps in the locker room for a lackadaisical performance on Friday at least showed up to play Saturday, even if the result was the same.  Things looked promising in the top of the first when Jon Jay hit a one-out double and Albert Pujols walked, but Matt Holliday grounded into the double play and that threat was snuffed out.

The bottom of the first was strikingly familiar, as Tyler Colvin hit a leadoff home run for the second time in as many days.  Blake Hawksworth allowed another hit, but was able to get the double play to get out of the inning.

The Cardinals finally figured out what that scoreboard thing was for in the second, snapping their 21-inning scoreless streak.  Ryan Ludwick, who was activated from the disabled list before the game and took Allen Craig’s slot on the roster, started the inning off with a walk.  After a fly out by Yadier Molina, Brendan Ryan doubled, but Ludwick held at third.  Ryan, who heard his name in trade rumors this week, seemed to have taken that as inspiration as he had a strong weekend.  Hawksworth struck out, but Tyler Greene singled in both base runners, giving the Cards a 2-1 lead.

That lead did not last long.  In the third, after a walk to Colvin, Starlin Castro continued the Cub artillery show, giving the Cubs a 3-2 lead.  They tacked on another in that inning when Marlon Byrd doubled in a run with two outs.

The Cards chipped into the lead in the fifth when Greene bunted his way on, went to third on an Aaron Miles single, and scored on a Jay sacrifice fly.  The Cubs responded in the bottom of the frame when Mitchell Boggs, who came in when Hawksworth allowed two hits around one out, walked Byrd then threw a wild pitch that allowed two runners to score.

To their credit, the Cards did not fold.  In the sixth, there were two on and two out when Greene popped out to second.  In the seventh, St. Louis took advantage of a weak Cub infield, who made errors and misplays numerous times during the game, to get a runner on for Pujols to hit a sacrifice fly, making the score 6-4.  In the eighth, Ludwick and Molina singled, then Ludwick scored when Ryan’s hard grounder was misplayed by Ryan Theroit.

That gave the Cards their best opportunity, down one with two on and nobody out.  However, Randy Winn flew out and Greene hit into a double play and the momentum shifted.  No more scoring happened and the Cards were looking at a three-game losing streak and the possibility of being swept in Wrigley.

At least the Cardinals had gotten through the weak portion of their rotation and could get back to throwing an ace.  Chris Carpenter went up against Ryan Dempster in the ESPN Sunday Night Game of the Week and, like the matchup on Thursday with Wainwright and Hamels, this one was just about as good as advertised as well.

St. Louis was able to get on the board first, a huge advantage for them so far this year.  After some baserunning hijinxs in the first, which led to Ryan Ludwick being thrown out at home after Matt Holliday had gotten into a rundown at first, the Cards put it together in the second.  Jon Jay went one better than his norm and tripled to lead off the inning and Skip Schumaker brought him home with a single.  Then, with two outs, Brendan Ryan blooped a single that scored Schumaker.  He then stole second and Felipe Lopez walked, but Ludwick stranded them both.

The way Carpenter has been pitching since the All-Star Break, one run was all that was needed, two was a luxury.  It did not pan out that way in this game, though.

Carp kept the Cubbies scoreless until the fourth, when a double by Derrick Lee and a single by Marlon Byrd cut the lead in half.  He surrendered the lead in the fifth, when Ryan Theroit tripled in Geovanny Soto and, with two outs, Starlin Castro singled in Theroit.  Suddenly the sweep specter was growing stronger.

The leadoff batter in the sixth, though, was able to push that specter away a bit.  Albert Pujols launched his second home run of the week to make the game 3-3.  St. Louis almost used a two out rally to take the lead, with Schumaker doubling and Yadier Molina being intentionally walked, but Carpenter’s single was not deep enough and Schumaker was thrown out at home plate.

Both teams continued to squander opportunities.  The Cardinals came very close to breaking the game open in the seventh with two on and two out, but Pujols’s bid for a second home run was knocked down by the wind and turned into a harmless fly ball.  St. Louis had a similar situation in the eighth, but Aaron Miles grounded out to leave two runners on.  In the ninth, the Cubs had the winning run on second, but Theroit grounded out to end that threat.

The Cardinals loaded the bases in the tenth, with Holliday, Jay and Schumaker all singling after a Pujols ground out.  Molina, though, then grounded into a double play.  The Cubs loaded the bases in the tenth as well, but Ryan Franklin struck out Byrd and the game continued.

Finally, with two outs in the eleventh, Lopez got a pitch to hit and drove it into the bleachers.  His bat flip, if this starts another significant winning streak, may become the second-most famous bat flip in Cardinal history.  Kyle McClellan and Dennys Reyes slammed the door in the bottom of the inning and the Cards took home the win.

In the wild and wooliness of the week, the Cardinals had actually slipped back into second place, a half-game behind the Reds.  However, with the Reds losing earlier in the day, Sunday’s win put the Cardinals back on top by themselves, at least until Cincinnati’s Monday night game with Milwaukee.

There was a lot of smoke off the field this week as well, as Wednesday it was revealed that the Cardinals were the top suitor for Houston Astros ace Roy Oswalt.  By the end of the week, John Mozeliak was downplaying any trade, much less one from a divisional rival and the buzz seemed to have cooled, but St. Louis is still in on the talks with less than a week to go until the deadline.  The Cardinals have also discussed adding a hitter, preferably a middle infielder.

The Cardinals have an off day today in New York City.  Ryan Franklin is taking in the sights and giving updates through the official Twitter feed while Albert Pujols will be on David Letterman tonight.  They get back to work tomorrow with a three game series against the Mets, followed by a weekend series in Busch against the Pirates.

Programming note: your humble correspondent will be on a vacation of his own and the next couple of weeks will be covered by another, probably someone with much more talent.  I will return on August 16, which coincidentally is the next off-day for the Redbirds.

As a steadfast optimist and firm believer in this Cardinals team, I was initially shocked and dismayed that someone – anyone- would dare question the fortitude and desire of the boys.  Times have been tough.  Injuries are plaguing the team and until the All Star break, the wins had not been stacking up as easily as we had all hoped.

Life experience has taught me that coworkers and management often make or break a job environment.  While success depends on many factors, the support and encouragement in a work atmosphere can have a dramatic effect on productivity.  How do our Cardinals hold up when we look at the group dynamics?

Surveying the team, it may at first be difficult to identify a specific player who embodies the personality of a team motivator, one who lightens the mood and rallies the troops.  The current clubhouse may not have the standout characters such as Orlando Cepeda with his cheer of “Viva El Birdos” in 1967, Edgar Renteria with his handshakes and bright attitude that drove the Cardinal team spirit from 1999-2004, or even Jim Edmonds with his idea to spark clubhouse excitement by awarding game balls each night during the 2006 postseason charge.  But we do have an amazing ensemble cast, full of men with outstanding character, heart and passion for the game.

Team energy may not come from a single individual, but rather from the sum of all parts.

Start at the top:  Albert Pujols.  The man has legendary clout and status.  Merely playing on the same field with Albert must be inspiring.  His reputation says it all.  Albert Pujols is a brilliant ballplayer, a fierce competitor, dedicated to giving his all every time he plays.  Pujols is obviously happy when things are going well, the first one to celebrate a team win or to cheer a teammate’s success.  He astutely absorbs everything from the dugout or from his patrol at 1^st base. During games Albert can be seen discussing strategy and comparing pitches faced with teammates.  There is a definite dynamic at work there.  Albert’s role on the team may never be rookie cheerleader or cruise director, but leading by example carries responsibility enough.

For more signs of support and club camaraderie, look no further than the dugout. Bench players are paying attention, cheering their teammates – not just taking a nap in the corner. Injured players on the DL are also present, supporting the team. David Freese, Ryan Ludwick, Brad Penny and Kyle Lohse have all been there watching, soaking up the game and helping to advise their teammates on the field.

Leadership and friendships among the Cardinal pitchers and bullpen have been visible. Our co-aces Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright obviously work well together, but also support and respect each other. Often inseparable, they are together during batting practice and side by side in the dugout during games.  However, unlike some superstars, they are not aloof.  I have watched Carpenter modeling examples of technique and delivery with Jeff Suppan and Adam Wainwright deep in discussion with rookie Jaime Garcia.  Bullpen buddies Mitchell Boggs and Blake Hawksworth joke publicly about sitting way too close together, but chalk it up to the nature of working together in the pen.  All are obvious signs of a staff that communicates well and enjoys working together.  The chemistry among the Cardinals hurlers is undeniable.

Camaraderie among position players, on the other hand, has not been so easy to pinpoint during a disappointing first half of the season when team struggles dampened club attitude. Admittedly Brendan Ryan, last year’s vivacious rally personality, has had his spirit hampered by the crushing cruelty of repeated slumps.  Matt Holliday, under pressure to perform with his new megabucks contract, has often been an island unto himself in the dugout. Others have had similar frustrations.  When a team struggles, it is understandable that players would be disappointed and more reserved.  I would not expect frivolity where there should be focus. Likewise, when a team is winning, that spark of chemistry burns much brighter.

The Cardinals have now gotten off to a strong start after the All Star break and hopefully will continue full steam ahead.  With the return of core players such as Freese and Ludwick from the disabled list, the depth and strength in the lineup can only improve.

We may discover we already have that elusive clubhouse personality when the Cardinals continue stringing together series wins.  After all, there is nothing like a late season charge to spark further camaraderie and energy. Winning gets the adrenaline pumping and the excitement becomes palpable.

Watching the highlights from Sunday’s come-from-behind victory over the Dodgers to get the series sweep was enough to banish my worries.  That happy mob of Cardinals rushing Matt Holliday at 2^nd base to celebrate his walk-off RBI looked to have solid chemistry to me.

Sometimes all it takes to inspire a team is the sheer force of a winning attitude. If the Cardinals leave their early season struggles behind them and forge onward with the potential recovery and rallying offense they have shown lately, all the chatter about poor clubhouse chemistry will soon be a thing of the past.

Erika Lynn covers the Cardinals for i70baseball.com, BaseballDigest.com and writes at Cardinal Diamond Diaries.  You may follow her on Twitter at username @Erika4stlcards or follow Cardinal Diamond Diaries here.