I’m going to go out on a limb and presume that at some point in life you’ve passed by a store window with a sign that read something like: Huge Sale!  It’s probably also a safe bet that if this store didn’t carry anything you wanted you walked on by without giving it much thought.  Now let’s say that sign read: Huge Sale – Final Days!  Many people would stop at this sign and give some thought to the potential of the deals going on inside the store before choosing whether to enter or walk on.  As the 2010 baseball season nears the trade deadline, there is a similar feeling brewing among many teams in the majors.  However, as the Mets have learned in the past, this is most certainly a time of buyer beware.

At the moment, the Mets are in a tough position.  They’re not so far down in the standings that they need to get rid of their top talent in return for young potential.  On the flip side, they are not at the top of the division looking for that one missing piece that will ensure them the division lead and beyond.  Given the team’s recent play, or more importantly, given their inconsistent play throughout the year, the Mets are likely a few pieces away from making the postseason a reality.

Pitching is an area that’s been easily identified as a need for the Mets.  In fact, pitching is an area that’s been easily identified as a need for just about every team.  So, now that the bigger ticket items like Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt have found their new homes for the remainder of the season, names like Ted Lilly, Jake Westbrook and Brett Myers (?!?!) are being thrown around like they’re difference-makers.  In fact, not only are these names being held in inappropriately high regard, but their current teams are demanding highly-rated prospects in return.  The same holds true for the relievers that are currently on sale.  From oft-injured and rarely dependable Kerry Wood to Diamondbacks reliever Chad Qualls who’s currently sporting an ERA over 8 (in 42 games).  A deal for any of these players would most likely require the Mets to give up a top youngster like Jenrry Mejia, Wilmer Flores or maybe even Jon Niese.

Are these players any kind of an improvement over what the Mets currently have?  For the most part, the answer is pretty obviously no.  I doubt that anybody is looking at the Mets bullpen and thinking that all that’s separating them from the next level is a pitcher with an 8.51 ERA.

That’s not to suggest that there’s nobody out there.  Even the aforementioned Lilly, while not a staff ace, would probably help this team.  But at what cost?  Does two months of Ted Lilly validate giving up on Mejia?  Granted when Lilly likely leaves for free agency after the season he’ll be considered a Type A free agent, earning his team 2 compensatory draft picks.  Would the Mets draft someone better than Mejia with either of those picks?  Moreover, if they are indeed willing to trade Mejia, would they get more for him by obtaining Lilly than by waiting until the offseason?

In 1989, following a 7-game losing streak, the Mets found themselves in fourth place in the NL East, 7 games out of first place.  With the Cardinals (3^rd), Cubs (2^nd) and Expos (1^st) in front of them, they knew they had to make a splash if they were going to get back in the race.  Just 6 weeks prior they had traded Lenny Dykstra and Roger McDowell to the Phillies for Juan Samuel.  That deal hadn’t done much good, so they were going to have to go bigger.  Just before midnight on August 1^st, the Mets sent five pitchers to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for their ace Frank Viola.  Most notably leaving the Mets in that deal were Rick Aguilera and Kevin Tapani.  The Mets would never get closer to first place than 1.5 games in 1989.  And while Viola did go on to win 20 games for the Mets in 1990, Tapani and Aguilera would play important roles in the Twins’ 1991 World Championship.

That’s not to say that only bad deals are made at the deadline.  In 1983 the Mets obtained Keith Hernandez in a deadline (the MLB trade deadline was in June at that time) deal that helped turn the franchise around.  On a less grand scale, the Mets were able to fill in some important pieces in 1999 by adding Shawon Dunston and Kenny Rogers (NLCS Game 6 aside) to their roster.

For many though, this is the time of year that we are reminded of Jose “The Beast” Bautista and Ty Wigginton (and Matt Peterson) for Kris Benson and Jeff Keppinger, or Melvin Mora for Mike Bordick, or everyone’s favorite: Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano.

So, as the 2010 non-waiver trade deadline approaches, it’s important for the Mets to accurately evaluate their current team, their needs, the available players and the asking price.  While this seems obvious, those names above suggest that sometimes the obvious has gone overlooked.

In other words, just because a sign says it’s the final week of a big sale doesn’t make the items any more valuable.

Besides, often times the best deals are found in the trades made during the waiver period prior to the August 31^st deadline, also known as, the closeout sale.

However, Ibanez and Werth were being paid a lot of money and Phillies GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. was quoted saying that he did not want to bring this young kid up with the idea of “being the savior for the season for the Phillies.” Therefore, Brown was blocked, and it took a perfect situation for him to come up and get to play every day. That situation came on Tuesday night. The Phillies were in the middle of a six game winning streak, Ibanez and Werth had picked up the slack and were playing much better, and Victorino went down with the injury. Therefore, Brown does not appear to have to be the savior and there should be less pressure on him. Now, you never want to see a player get hurt, but Phillies fans all over the Delaware Valley were extremely excited to see what this kid could do. Brown will now get that opportunity to play every day for the next couple weeks at the very least. Brown did not disappoint in his first outing at the major league level. In last night’s game, in Brown’s very first at bat, he crushed a pitch to deep right field off of the wall for a double that scored Jayson Werth from second.

Brown went 2-for-3 with that double, a single, and two RBI’s in the game, along with two runs scored as well. When Brown came to the plate the first time, I couldn’t help but think about the movie The Natural, since Brown wears the number nine. I thought of Dan Baker, the Phillies Public Address Announcer, saying, “Now batting…number nine…Domonic Brown.” In the movie, the line of course is, “Now batting…number nine…Roy Hobbs.” Well, if Brown has half the year/career that Roy Hobbs did, he will be pretty special. I know it’s only one game, but I believe this kid is the real deal. I saw him play in the minor leagues too, and he is definitely a five tool player, and with his rare combination of speed and power, I think he will easily be a 30/30 guy in terms of homeruns and stolen bases, and not only that, but I think he could challenge to become the fourth ever player to get to 40/40 in one season, which only Jose Canseco, Alex Rodriguez, and Alfonso Soriano have ever accomplished in the history of baseball. Phillies fans, you can rejoice, because you got a special player in Domonic Brown that you should be able to enjoy watching for years to come.

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.

Obviously that has not been the case this season. However, what is amazing is that this team has remained in the race all year long, and even when they appeared to be out of it just a week ago, and I was even saying that they should maybe be sellers, they turned things around in a hurry. The Phillies went from being seven games back of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East to just 3 ½ games back now due to the fact that they have been red hot, winning seven straight games. Therefore, even though they have been snake-bitten all year long, they have found a way to come through at key moments. It has been a rare occurrence that every player one through eight in their lineup, and every pitcher, starter or reliever, have been healthy at the same time this year. However, if the Phillies can steady the ship, and avoid any more serious injuries, they have that chance to all be healthy and playing again in September, which happens to be the most important month of the season, and their time to shine. The Braves should have pulled away when they had the opportunity, because this Phillies team will not settle for the wildcard, and they are coming after Atlanta for the division.

After a day off on Monday to lick their collective wounds, the Mets returned home on Tuesday night to play the Cardinals and determine if the season is salvageable.

After defeating the Cards, 8-2, in the first matchup of a six-game homestand, the outlook is already better than it was after the 11-game road trip that began the second half of the season in abysmal fashion.

The all-consuming topic of discussion and print around Queens is whether or not Manuel should hold onto the reins of the staggering club until season’s end. The subject has become quite familiar in these parts during the 2010 campaign.

This is the third time during the 2010 schedule that Manuel’s head has been squarely on the chopping block. Both times the ballclub responded, bestowing Jerry with a stay of execution.

After losing all four series to begin the season 4-8, 2010 appeared to be a continuation of the pitiful 2009 season. Calls for Manuel’s job were underway.

The Mets then went 9-1 on a homestand moving from last to first in the early season National League East standings, quelling the demands for a new skipper.

Shortly thereafter the Mets stumbled again. This time losing five in-a-row, including a four-game sweep at the hands of the Marlins in Miami. After splitting two games each with Atlanta and Washington, Manuel’s employment was once again a point of contention.

With the next six contests scheduled against the defending champions of each league, the Yankees and Phillies respectively, the outlook was bleak. But, once again, the Mets countered, taking two of three against the Yanks and sweeping the Phills behind three shutouts giving Manuel a second brief reprieve.

Now, after a 2-9 West Coast road trip, Jerry is once again being run out of town by his many detractors.

Manuel’s in-game managing leaves him open to many second guesses; staunch managing by “the book” has left Jerry answering many difficult questions in the post-game press conferences.

However, the club has been inordinately streaky this season. Just as soon as the team seems to be staggering, it regains equilibrium.

Although Manuel was not in the dugout for the victory against St. Louis due to a suspension, Jerry should be on the bench so long as there’s a playoff opportunity.

With all that has gone wrong this season – two-fifths of the rotation are no longer starting, Jason Bay has contributed little, the bullpen has no depth – the Mets are still two games over .500 and in striking distance of a playoff spot.

While Jerry gets some of the culpability for things that have gone awry, he deserves and equal amount of credit for all that has turned out right – journeyman R.A. Dickey has been a major contributor in the rotation, rookie Ike Davis has been a legitimate bat in the middle of the order, a bullpen without an established eighth-inning man has not destroyed the team.

Going into the season, widespread feeling was if the Mets did not make it to October baseball, general manager Omar Minaya and Manuel would join the unemployment line. That philosophy should still be the one lived by ownership.

Last week Minaya claimed, “There is no discussion at all, Jerry Manuel is our manager, will be our manager.” But there is no timeline in that statement. It doesn’t mean that a discussion can’t begin.

Jerry deserves more than that for the job he’s done this season. Manuel has earned the right to finish this season, or, at least, until all hope is lost.

Manuel has been behind two turnarounds this season and is entitled to see if he can pull off a third.

Follow Shaya on Twitter: @Shaya10

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.

Wade LeBlanc took the hill against Jair Jurrjens who, since returning from a hamstring injury on 30 June, has been dominant (2oK in 24.2 IP, 2.19 ERA).  San Diego almost jumped ahead in the first on Nick Hundley’s single, but Brave center fielder Melky Cabrera threw out David Eckstein at the plate.  The play would be costly, as Eckstein re-aggravated his right calf injury and had to leave the game.  He would eventually land on the 15-day DL.  The Padres did take the early lead one inning later thanks to a Chris Denorfia home run.  Jurrjens would settle down after that, allowing San Diego only two more hits over the next 5.2 innings.

LeBlanc would hold the lead until the fourth, when Brave left fielder Matt Diaz drove in Troy Glaus with his third HR in as many days.  It would be a lead Atlanta did not relinquish.  The Braves tacked on two runs off reliever Ryan Webb, and went on to win 4-1.

Tuesday’s game featured Jon Garland against Tommy Hanson, and followed largely the same script.  San Diego jumped ahead in the second inning.  Will Venable was hit by a Hanson pitch, stole second, and scored on Everth Cabrera’s two-out single.  Garland kept the rally going with a soft single, and Jerry Hairston Jr scored Cabrera on a single to right-center.  Atlanta took over the lead in the fourth inning.  This time it was Brian McCann providing the fireworks, hitting a 3-run bomb just after Chipper Jones knocked in the first Atlanta run with a two-out single.

The score would stay that way until the ninth.  Billy Wagner had retired the Padres on 11 pitches the previous day.  Not this time.  After retiring Oscar Salazar on a ground-out, and getting ahead of Scott Hairston 1-2, his next three pitches landed in the left-field stands (Hairston), found its way past third and into left for a base hit (J. Hairston), and ended up in the right-field corner for a double (Yorvit Torrealba) which was enough to get Hairston Jr home from first.  Tie game.

It would stay that way into the twelfth, when Hundley, pinch-hitting for the pitcher Tim Stauffer, lined a double down the left-field line to score Denorfia and Salazar.  Heath Bell came on and blew away the Braves, striking out the side, and San Diego had escaped with a 6-4 win.

Thursday Clayton Richard faced Tim Hudson.  Richard had struggled in his previous 3 outings, allowing at least 5 earned runs in each.  He quickly got in trouble in this game with a leadoff walk, single, and sacrifice fly.  Atlanta was able to keep the inning going thanks to an error by Venable in right, and newly acquired Brave Alex Gonzalez singled in a second run for a quick 2-0 lead.

There would be no comeback on this day.  Jason Heyward drove in Atlanta’s third run in the second, and Gonzalez knocked in his second run of the day in the third.  Hudson mowed the Padres down, allowing only 4 hits through his seven innings.  Atlanta blew the game open in the seventh with four more runs off Mr. Webb, and cruised to a 8-0 win.

San Diego then moved to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates, who had won exactly as many has they had lost at home (23-23).  Newly resurgent Kevin Correia drew de facto Pirate ace Paul Maholm in Friday’s contest.  The Padres jumped all over Maholm in the second inning.  Aaron Cunningham led off with a triple, Salazar reached on an infield single to third, and Cabrera walked to load the bases.  Correia rolled a single through to left, scoring Cunningham.  Hairston Jr’s sac fly plated Salazar, and Denorfia’s double scored Cabrera.  Adrian Gonzalez got into the act with a sac fly as well, and the Padres had a quick 4-0 lead.  Pittsburgh would get two back on a Lastings Milledge single in the fourth, and cut the lead to one on a Jose Tabata RBI groundout, but that was as close as they would get.  Venable hit the Padres’ third sac fly of the game in the seventh, scoring a huge insurance (aided significantly by Pirate reliever Brendan Donnelly, who walked the bases loaded).  5-3 Padres.

Saturday saw Mat Latos, fully recovered from a violent sneeze that landed him on the DL, locking up with Jeff Karstens.  The Pirates scored first on a Tabata HR, but the Padres answered with a Cabrera RBI single.  Pittsburgh re-took the lead thanks to a Delwyn Young solo shot in the fifth, and the Friars responded with three in the sixth, on RBI singles from Gonzo and Headley, as well as a sacrifice fly from Hundley.  San Diego put the game out of reach with a 5 run eighth, a rally they started against former teammate Sean Gallagher, which included a run-scoring balk.  The big blow was Salazar’s 2-run double.  Stauffer worked a scoreless eighth and ninth inning giving the Padres a 9-2 win.

Sunday brought an early start time to San Diego, as LeBlanc squared off against rookie Brad Lincoln.  For the second consecutive game, Pittsburgh struck first, in the second inning, on a Ronny Cedeno two-run blast.  San Diego roared back in the next half inning.  Denorfia doubled in LeBlanc and the Junior Hairston, and Gonzo followed with his 21st home run of the year.  Venable capped the scoring when his single plated Torrealba, who had also singled and stolen second base.  Lincoln would knock in a run in the fourth in support of his cause, but that would be all for Pittsburgh on this day.  Denorfia added an insurance run with a solo shot in the seventh.  Webb, Luke Gregerson, and Bell combined to shut out the Pirates the rest of the way, and San Diego had their 6-3 win.

It also marked the first series sweep of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh since 1998, which was also the last time San Diego won a post-season playoff series.  The Padres enter the final week of July with the League’s best record, and only 4 games behind the mighty Yankees for the best record in all of baseball.  This year’s trade deadline will fall on Saturday afternoon.  Lots of speculation abounds locally as to what the Padres will do.  Will they trade for another hitter?  Will they look for some starting pitching help?  It promises to be an interesting week, to say the least.

San Diego will play six at home next week, hosting Los Angeles and Florida.  After that they will spend most of August on the road; they have only three home games (ironically, against Pittsburgh) from August 2 through August 22.  It’s been a great ride so far this season for the Friar Faithful.  With San Francisco surging, if the Padres can survive this long road trip either close to or in first place, the division should be theirs for the taking.

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.

Week 16 (7/19-7/25) record: 1-6

2010 Season record: 50-49

This week’s positives: Johan Santana, R.A. Dickey, Hisanori Takahashi, Raul Valdes, Bobby Parnell, Angel Pagan

This week’s negatives: Everybody else

Breakdown:

The Mets scored 15 runs this week.  They played a full week, all seven days.  A couple of the games went extra innings.  Real extra innings.  A 14-inning game against the Diamondbacks and a 13-inning game in Los Angeles.  That means the Mets came up to the plate in 72 different innings this week.  They scored 15 runs.  That’s only 15 more than either you are I scored this week, unless you’re a professional baseball player (in which case, congratulations, and thanks for reading).  The Diamondbacks scored 13 runs in Monday’s game alone.  The Mets scored 2 runs in that game.  That was tied for their third highest output this week.

I’m sure you get the idea.  You probably got it when you read the opening sentence.  If you watched a game this week, you probably got the idea within minutes of watching this team play. There’s not much of a need to break down this week further than that.  They looked lifeless out there this week.  No spark, no hunger, no bats.  They didn’t look like a team that was fighting to stay alive in their divisional race.  They looked like a team who was just going through the motions at the end of an injury-plagued season.  Problem is, this isn’t September 2009, it’s late-July 2010 and it’s the wrong time to look lost.

Sure, there were moments that could be considered highlights, mostly coming from the same game (their lone win, obviously).  Jason Bay crashing into the Dodgers Stadium wall to catch a fly ball, and then remaining in the game to eventually provide some offense.  David Wright staying focused on an 0-2 count to drive in a run with a sacrifice fly.  Johan Santana doing what Johan Santana does after the All-Star break.  A couple other guys got hits too, that was neat.

But game after game the Mets offense wasted strong starts by…wait, I feel like I’ve written this sentence before.  Actually, I feel like that sentence has made multiple appearances this season.  That to me suggests a pattern.  Yes, that’s it, a pattern of, oh I don’t know, let’s call it poor hitting.

Takeaway:

Perhaps I’m being too harsh.  All baseball players go through slumps.  Some people have been speculating as to the potency of this offense when everyone is hot.  Now we know how it looks when everyone is cold.  Certainly a good week, or even a good string of weeks, will help fans look back on this past week and laugh, cautiously.

The issue here is that this team has not given any indication that such a strong week is possible.  Try to imagine a week when all Mets starters, 1-8 in the lineup were all hitting well.  It shouldn’t be that hard to do.

Something’s got to give.  I’m not necessarily calling for the firing of a coach, manager, scout, ballboy or anyone else.  It would be pretty silly of me to call for someone else’s unemployment.  At the same time, at the moment this team just isn’t right.

Some people think Howard Johnson should be removed from his hitting coach role.  Perhaps.  For one thing, some action certainly seems necessary.  However, these hitters didn’t make it to the major leagues without knowing how to it.  A hitting coach, especially one who doesn’t have an especially unique approach or strategy for hitting, only does so much and can therefore only be held so accountable.  They look out for some bad habits, they make suggestions, offer up ideas, but they don’t teach these players how to hit.  David Wright has already struck out 111 times (with only 110 hits) this season.  I’m pretty sure most of those were his own fault.

So, if the Mets do choose to fire HoJo, or any other coach, it should not strictly be as punishment.  Rather they should then bring in someone who actually has a plan, an approach, a method for trying to help this team hit better.   Otherwise, there’s really no point.

Or they could stay with their current staff and their current roster and just move forward with the hopes that the entire team catches fire.  Hopefully this happen before the whole season goes up in smoke (see what I did there?).

Whatever they choose to do, 15 runs in a week won’t get them very far.  It certainly wasn’t enough to get them past the NL West.

Upcoming:

After a day off on Monday, the Mets return to Citi Field to face the St. Louis Cardinals for 3 games before trying to return the sweeping favor to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

3 things to watch:

1.  Will the Mets make any moves (trades, coaching changes, etc.) before Saturday’s trade deadline?

2.  Will the offense wake up?

3.  Will Citi Field resume the role of safe haven for this team?

Today the Arizona Diamondbacks traded him for a package of Joe Saunders, Patrick Corbin, Rafael Rodriguez, and a player to be named later, potentially 2009 first round draft pick Tyler Skaggs (but certainly not top prospect Michael Trout). On the face of it, it seems like this might have been a reasonable swap, but things may not be as they seem.

First up: Joe Saunders, LHP. The last time Saunders was a real asset to the Angels was during 2008, where he had a 17-7 win-loss record fueled by giving up just 82 runs in 198 innings. 2009 saw everything come tumbling down – except, somehow, for the wins. A 16-7 record masked some real flaws in his game: He walked more batters, performed worse with men on base, and the home run bug started to bite. Never a strikeout pitcher, Saunders needed everything else to go right in order to maintain his status as a mid-rotation guy, and 2009’s poor results saw his ERA jump all the way up to 4.60. He has not come anywhere close to repeating his 2008 numbers this year, either. If anything, he’s gotten even worse; although the home runs are down (probably luck) he’s striking out even fewer while walking more this year, and his record is finally starting to show his slide into back of the rotation material. While one can excuse a poor record or a poor ERA based on what a pitcher is doing right, Saunders is an example of a guy people made excuses for despite the warning signs. He’s also due to make somewhere in the area of $7,000,000 in arbitration this winter, so if this was a salary dumb by Arizona, they’ve only recouped about half of Haren’s salary for next year.

The prospect package is nothing to get excited about either. Like Saunders, Patrick Corbin is a left-handed starter, but he’s currently playing for Rancho Cucamonga in the California League (A+). While he’s doing reasonably well there (striking out 25% of opposing batters while running a 3.88 ERA), scouts still aren’t particularly impressed with the young pitcher’s command or ceiling, projecting him as a mid-rotation arm at best. As a right-handed reliever, Rafael Rodriguez doesn’t even have Corbin’s value. Moved to the bullpen because of arm problems, Rodriguez is having an adequate season with the Salt Lake Bees. The problem, of course, is that a reliever has to be something pretty special to make any real impact to an MLB team. Skaggs is projected as a likely candidate for the PTBNL as he signed with the Angels last August, making him ineligible to be named in a trade until then. He’s another mid-rotation lefty with good but not great stuff, although his fastball is a tick better than Corbin’s and several better than Saunders’s. Like Corbin, however, Skaggs is a ways off – if he ends up being the fourth piece in the return for Haren then Arizona fans will not see him for several years.

It’s instructive to compare the trade Arizona made today to the one they made for Haren at the end of 2007. On December 14^th, 2007, Haren was acquired (along with Connor Robertson) for Carlos Gonzalez, Brett Anderson, Chris Carter, Aaron Cunningham, Dana Eveland, and Greg Smith. The first three names on that list are each worth more than the entire package that Los Angeles just sent to Arizona, and of the remaining trio, Cunningham looked like a potential star that the time of the trade and Eveland was a serviceable back-of-the-rotation left-handed pitcher, like Joe Saunders but without costing significant amounts of money. Gonzalez is now one of the game’s premier young outfielders with Colorado, Brett Anderson, when healthy, is one of the top young pitchers in the majors, and Carter is an extremely promising power bat with AAA Sacramento. All in all, the Diamondbacks gave up their #1, 3, 7, 8, and 13 prospects in the trade, along with an inexpensive version of Saunders. Two and a half years later, they received a deal featuring the Angels #12 and #22 prospects (Skaggs ranked at #8 in the Baseball America 2010 Handbook, if they land him), and the version of Saunders that costs quite a lot of money.

Finally, let’s check out the common thread in both trades: Dan Haren himself. The 29-year old starter is commanding big money these days, and with a career ERA of 3.71 it’s easy to see why. He’s been playing in a bandbox in Arizona, which hurts his stats more than one might think (Bank One Ballpark has inflated scoring by about 7% over the past three years), and he’s AL-tested and approved by virtue of his time as head of the Oakland Athletics rotation. Going against him is the aforementioned contract, which is going to cost the Angels some $41 million over the next three years and the popular opinion that this year’s sub-par ERA is the result of some massive decline in his pitching ability. We’ll look at the latter point before we address the former.

Haren’s 2010 ERA currently stands at 4.60, identical to Saunders’s mark with the Angels. However, when we compare some other numbers, we get some very different results. Haren strikes out 23% of opposing batters. Saunders? A paltry 12%. Haren issues free passes 4% of the time. Saunders has a mark double that. Saunders does get more ground balls, helpful in avoiding home runs, but Arizona’s infield defense isn’t spectacular and Haren’s gopherball tendencies should be mitigated by Angel Stadium, which has significantly suppressed long balls over the years. Haren clearly has the makeup to be an ace: He assumed that mantle five years ago and half a season of mixed results isn’t enough to declare him no longer mentally capable of being the head of a rotation, so questions about toughness are clearly off the mark. In short, Haren’s ERA is deceptive, and Saunders’s isn’t.

It’s a frankly bizarre deal by the Diamondbacks, who’ve been claiming that it would take an A+ package to seal a deal for Haren. From where I stand, this isn’t even a C package. The Mariners managed to land a consensus top 10 prospect from the Rangers in the Cliff Lee trade, and Arizona should have been able to leverage Haren into something at least comparable: Smoak alone is far, far more valuable than the collection of warm bodies the Angels shipped off to them. As for the Angels, they now have an ace locked up for the near future, and their rotation now profiles as one of the best in baseball for years to come – the trade was a no-brainer (although there’s some worry about how their weak outfield defense will play with Haren’s flyball tendencies). There’s one question left to deal with, though. Why on earth was an interim general manager allowed to trade the organization’s best player?

Gross provides that different voice that the Phillies may need. Coincidence or not, since Gross was hired, the Phillies have scored 16 runs in their past two games, beating the Colorado Rockies 6-0 and 10-2 respectively on Friday and Saturday. Just to put things in perspective, those 16 runs are more runs than the 14 runs the Phillies scored in their last five games combined under Thompson. Now, I am not saying that Greg Gross could have had that much of an impact right away, but what I am saying is that sometimes a team just needs a “wake up call,” and this Phillies team certainly needed that. For a veteran squad, the firing of Thompson is a big reason for them to look themselves in the mirror and say, “hey, I just cost someone I liked a lot his job, and now it’s my turn to step up and help this team.” If the Phillies go on to make the postseason this year, this move could be a big reason why. Thompson was a fan favorite because he played on the 1993 Phillies team that went to the World Series, and he will always be appreciated for his role with this team over the past several years.

Here are my thoughts: If it were just one move that they had to make to win the division or even the wildcard, then I would say, yes, go right ahead and do it. However, I think with the way this team is currently constructed they would probably have to make at least two, if not three moves to truly have a shot down the stretch. If that’s the case, I say it makes sense to just become sellers and build for 2011. Would I love to have Roy Oswalt if I were a Phillies fan? Sure I would! Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt would make for a lethal combination. However, the Phillies also could use another arm in the bullpen, and they could use another bat in their lineup too. Don’t forget this team’s major flaws have come on offense, not because of pitching. They have failed to score runs for Halladay and Hamels and really any pitcher for that matter, time and time again. This leads me to say that it might just not be their year. I hate to depress you Phillies fans, but you might want to start checking out how Kevin Kolb looks in training camp. I’ll certainly admit it if I’m wrong at the end of this year, but right now, I don’t see the Phillies winning the division for sure, and unless they make some major moves, I think the wildcard will be tough for them to win as well. What are your thoughts?

Uecker is not a personality that makes himself easy to forget.  In 1971, Bob Uecker came back to his home town of Milwaukee and settled into a broadcast booth calling play-by-play for the Brewers franchise.  Along the way, he left quite a trail.

He spent six years coming into our homes every week on the sitcom “Mr. Belvedere” as the macho father George Owens.  While his acting and comedic career would prosper occasionally, even through that aspect of his career it was sports journalism that continued to propel him.  Owens, his character on Mr. Belvedere, was a sports writer in Pittsburgh.  Later, he would grace the Big Screen as Harry Doyle, the emotional, sarcastic, alcoholic announcer for the Cleveland Indians in the Major League series of movies.  During that run of movies, Uecker has provided baseball fans with numerous quotes and anecdotes to utilize over the years, including the title for this very article.  Sprinkled amid his acting and comedic careers were appearances at World Wrestling Entertainment’s largest show of the year, Wrestlemania.  Uekcer would serve as interviewer and ring announcer multiple times over the years for the Sports Entertainment Spectacle and would receive an induction into the “Celebrity Wing” of the WWE Hall Of Fame for his efforts.  In possibly one of his most famous, yet shortest, acting efforts, Uecker portrayed himself in multiple Miller Lite commercials, becoming the punch line to many jokes.  The most famous line “I must be in the front row” that Uecker uttered as he sat in the last row of the stadium became iconic amongst baseball fans.

It has seemed fitting throughout the years that he has continued to portray that “lovable loser” type personality.  His characters have constantly been attached to losing franchises while his career in baseball has done very little to distance him from that.  He has found his way into baseball immortality with his name amongst the “Ring Of Honor” members in Milwaukee and on a plaque in the Announcers section of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.  His golden voice has become a staple in Milwaukee and the fans continued to be graced with one of the true legends of the sport.  That was, until this season.

In April of this season, Uecker announced that doctors had informed him that he would require heart surgery to repair problems with his aortic valve.  In May the surgery was performed and considered a success, but his return to baseball was yet to be determined.

Tonight, that return will occur.  A clean bill of health will lead the long time voice of a franchise to return to the booth tonight as the Brewers take on the Washington Nationals at Miller Park.  It will be a welcome return for an announcer that is sorely missed by his fans.  A friend who lives in the area, yet is not a Brewers fan, informed me that she is “tempted to turn on the radio just to listen to him.”

Baseball Digest Classic will be tuned in, for sure.

Bill Ivie is the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
You can find daily news about the Royals and Cardinals on Bill Ivie’s official Baseball Digest affiliate site, I-70 Baseball.

Let’s get one thing straight, Omar Minaya has not made many mistakes as the Mets’ General Manager.  Hold on Mets fans, I’m not saying that he’s been perfect, far from it in fact, but in reality his mistakes have been few.  His bad gambles, however, have been plenty, and plenty bad.

Before we go on, let me explain the difference between a mistake and a gamble.  A mistake is when someone believes that he/she is doing something right when it’s actually quite wrong.  A gamble is when someone makes a move that he/she knows might not work out but figures it’s worth a shot anyway.

I doubt that when Minaya signed Luis Castillo or Oliver Perez to their ridiculous deals he felt confident that he made the right move.  I have to think that he recognized the risk (calculated as he may have thought it was) that he was taking.  Castillo’s best days were obviously behind him, and who knows where Perez’s best days can be found.  We all knew this.  And if we knew it, surely Minaya knew it.

Still, as bad as these deals have turned out, they were not mistakes.  But now that we’ve established that, let’s take a look at how these deals have hurt the Mets.  For “fun” I’m going to add the Jason Bay signing into the mix.  It’s really too early to make a declaration on the Bay contract.  Obviously he hasn’t lived up to management, fan or financial expectations, but we’re barely halfway through the first season of a multi-year deal and that must be taken into consideration.  At the same time, it’s likely that Minaya thought that signing Bay was the right move and not a gamble, therefore making it look an awful lot like a mistake, at the moment at least.

Luis Castillo

Why did they sign him? The Mets acquired Castillo shortly after the All-Star break in 2007.  He was one of the few players who played well during that season’s collapse, finishing with a .296 batting average, even stealing 10 bases, and pretty much giving the Mets what they had expected.  Furthermore, there was some talk that his close friendship with former (and future) teammate Johan Santana, would play a role in facilitating a trade and subsequent long-term signing of the ace.  So they signed him Castillo to a deal.  Furthermore, the only other option for second base they seemed to be considering at the time was David Eckstein.  Eckstein is best known as the 2006 World Series MVP and as the punch line to many of the jokes from famed website FireJoeMorgan.com.  The punchlines seem more appropriate than the 2006 honor.

How did it go? The Mets got Santana, so that was cool.  Castillo had an awful and oft-injured 2008 campaign, but rebounded in 2009 as the most consistent player in the Mets lineup, even though he’ll be mostly remembered for dropping a game-losing pop-up against the Yankees.  He has been injured for much of this season as well, and hasn’t been incredibly effective when he has played.

So why was it such a bad gamble? It was obvious when the Mets signed Castillo that he was not the player he once was.  His range at second base, where he was once a gold glover (for whatever that’s worth), had decreased substantially.  His ability to run the bases had been compromised by multiple injuries.  But what really made this deal hard to swallow was the fact that it was a 4-year contract, and a hefty one at that.  By committing that much time and money to Castillo the Mets had pretty much taken themselves out of the running for picking up a second baseman during the next few offseasons (usually named Orlando Hudson).  By the time 2008 was done, they were looking for a way out.  They still haven’t found one.

Oliver Perez

Why did they sign him? When the Mets originally acquired Perez on July 31, 2006, he was a throw-in on a deal they felt compelled to make.  A freak accident in a taxi cab removed reliever Duaner Sanchez from the Mets bullpen for the remainder of the ’06 season.  The Mets traded Xavier Nady to the Pirates in exchange for reliever Roberto Hernandez and were forced to take Perez in the deal.  Perez came up clutch in the 2006 postseason and the acquisition looked like a steal.  A solid 2007 season (15-10 3.56) seemed to establish Perez as a quality starter and not nearly as inconsistent as advertised.  While his 2008 results were adequate, he did lead the league in walks and had a few outings that were short and painful, causing people to once again question his ability to stay on track.  Still, in need of pitching following the 2008 season, the Mets chose to invest in the potential of Perez instead of overpaying for Derek Lowe.

How did it go? In short, not well.  Perez made two appearances on the DL in 2009, the second one shutting him down for the season.  Sadly, these were the two best appearances he made all year.  Coming into the 2010 season, there was much talk of the steps that Perez had been taking to improve.  These steps did not take him far however.  He did not fare well at the beginning of this season.  After rejecting multiple requests to send him to the minor leagues, Perez was forced to accept an assignment to the Mets bullpen in a “Use Only in Case of an Emergency” role.  Perez made his 2010 DL debut in early June and has recently returned to his earlier bullpen banishment.

So why was it such a bad gamble? Around the time the Mets signed Perez, the Braves overpaid for Derek Lowe.  The Mets had been trying to obtain Lowe, but weren’t willing to give him both the money and the years he demanded.  Having lost out on Lowe they were more or less stuck with going for Perez or having a seemingly hard-to-fill spot in the rotation.  Perez’s agent, Scott Boras, exploited the situation and worked a 3-year $36 million deal for his client.  Very few expected Perez to live up to this deal, but if he could just repeat what he did in 2007 it would have been deemed a good move.  Sadly for the Mets, he hasn’t come close.  It’s not without trying.  He’s changed his motion, arm angle, eating habits, sleeping habits, he may have even tried a few different religions for all we know.  But, if baseball success was predicated on best intentions, I would probably be an All-Star.  At this point, his refusal to go to the minor leagues has seriously hurt this team.  It seems that he’s trying to force the Mets to just release him, which they refuse to do.  This game of chicken hurts the team, the fans, and in a round about way, the game of baseball altogether.

Jason Bay

Why did they sign him? This past offseason featured three well-publicized free agents: pitcher John Lackey and outfielders Matt Holiday and Jason Bay.  While the Mets tried initially to pursue Lackey, they weren’t interested in meeting his demands and he wasn’t interested in playing for the Mets.  So really it came down to Holliday vs. Bay.  The Mets signed Bay to a 4-year (with a vesting option for a 5^th) $66-million deal.  The Cardinals then signed Holliday to a 7-year $120 million deal.  The Mets would contend that they thought Bay’s game was more appropriate for Citi Field than Holliday’s.  This was the first time I had heard this reasoning for signing a player.  I doubt they signed Bobby Bonilla in 1992 because they thought his game really fit Shea Stadium.  So why this reason now?  I suppose it sounded better than saying that they were afraid of Holliday’s price tag.

How did it go? With the season just about four months old, the best thing that can be said about Jason Bay’s Mets experience is that he’s been a better fielder than expected.  That’s not why they signed him though.  Bay is on pace for an extremely disappointing season, threatening to put up numbers reminiscent of George Foster’s first season on the Mets (1982).

So why was it such a bad gamble? Once again, the issue with this signing is not just about the underperformance of the player but rather how this contract handcuffs the team.  By investing so much in Bay the Mets made the statement that Jason Bay will be the left fielder for the next few years.  When the Mets signed Bay, many questioned whether he had proven that he could provide the middle-of-the-lineup power that this time would need.  Now, as the Mets are experiencing some obvious offensive struggles, they are in desperate need of that production.  But where would they put it?  They have four outfielders but really only one who has been any good this season.  And, as pleasantly surprising as Angel Pagan’s season has been, he is also the only member of this quartet who will never bat in the middle of the lineup.  Worse yet, should Bay never get going, he would be impossible to unload without covering most of his salary (the way the Angels did with Gary Matthews, Jr.).  The Mets should have learned this from the Castillo and Perez experiences.  Basically, Omar Minaya should have known better than to take this chance.

Mets fans should appreciate Omar Minaya’s penchant for gambling.  Seriously.  He came into his GM role with a desire to take chances and make a difference rather than just trying to plug-in holes and convince himself that the team would right itself.  And to some extent he succeeded.  In the early 2000’s, the Mets looked like a directionless franchise.  Minaya came in with something resembling a plan (loose as it may have been) and the Mets have been contenders almost ever year since.  What Mets fans should question and what ultimately may be Minaya’s downfall, is his inability to think ahead.  As the team struggles on their current west coast trip, an observer’s first move is to think about outside options for the Mets to obtain in order to improve.  However, Minaya’s short-sightedness has hampered this idea to what may be a devastating level for this team.

In the first six games since the All-Star break, the offense has produced a total of 12 runs and is in serious need of a boost. But the assistance is unlikely to come from outside the organization, in fact, it’s doubtful it’ll come from anywhere but the current roster.

In setting the current lineup, manager Jerry Manuel all but declared that Angel Pagan has taken the right field spot from Jeff Francoeur. “Frenchy is like a relief pitcher right now,” says Manuel, “trying to get back into the starting rotation.”

But that creates a dilemma for Manuel: Both Castillo and Pagan maximize their ability near the top of the lineup, but, with leadoff hitter Jose Reyes’ return from a strained oblique, the only spot available is the two-hole.

At this point in his career, Castillo’s offensive prowess lies in his handling of the bat – moving runners over with a bunt or well-placed ground ball. There’s little value for this skill anywhere other than behind a speedy leadoff hitter and in front of the big bats in middle of the order.

The 34-year-old is no longer the .300 hitter and 40-plus stolen base man he was in his younger years in Florida, his knees won’t allow it.

Pagan, on the other hand, has been one of the Mets pleasant surprises of the season batting .306 to go along with 20 stolen bases.  But, like Castillo, Pagan doesn’t have a natural place in a batting order other than setting the table.

Here’s where the mad scientist of St. Louis’ constant tinkering with the game of baseball may have formed a strategy for Manuel to adopt. Love him or hate him, and most baseball fans feel strongly one way or the other, Tony La Russa will experiment.

Over the past few years, the third winningest manager in baseball history has often filled out his lineup card with the pitcher batting eighth and a position player ninth.

“The goal (of batting a position player ninth) is to have another table setter coming back around the second time through the lineup,” says Bill Ivie, executive editor and founder of i70Baseball.com, a site devoted to covering the Cardinals and Royals.

Pagan’s quality bat is just the kind of hitter needed to bat ninth. Placing two leadoff men in front of David Wright will increase the third baseman’s RBI opportunities and may just be the remedy to knock the Mets out of this latest funk.

The chances of Wright’s at-bats coming with two runners in scoring position increase dramatically. How often will we see Pagan and Reyes get on base then be moved into scoring position by Castillo ready to get picked up by Wright or cleanup hitter Beltran.

Another run-scoring scenario will be created if six-hitter Jason Bay or the catcher batting seventh reach base. The pitcher batting eighth is then in an obvious bunting situation and, if successful, Pagan will come up with a runner in scoring position. Pagan’s batting average with RISP: .391.

La Russa hasn’t always kept to the strategy. “If there is no hitter in the lineup providing the on-base percentage/catalyst style, most often the pitcher will hit ninth,” explains Ivie. “In addition, you will see the pitcher hit ninth when the offense is all chipping in.”

But Pagan is a catalyst with nowhere for Manuel to bat him and the offense has not performed at all.

Manuel has shown a propensity to manage conservatively – bunting when “the book” says to bunt, going to the closer in a save situation despite the fact that leaving the starter in the game may be a better option, etc. – so he is unlikely to adopt a maneuver hatched in the Cardinals laboratory just a few years ago.

However, desperate times call for desperate measures. The Mets season is slipping away, and with it, possibly Manuel’s employment.  If Jerry doesn’t shake this lineup out of its funk, the season will spin out of control.

All the goodwill toward the ballclub will be eliminated with another late season collapse.

Manuel needs to explore options he otherwise would not consider, batting Pagan ninth would be a fine place to start.

Follow Shaya on Twitter: @Shaya10

The newly-minted All Star visited more than 120 kids at Union League on Thursday, speaking with them and watching as they participated in gym, computer, library and art activities.

In the interactive session, Byrd talked about how he grew up going to the Boys & Girls Club in Atlanta and even worked there as a teenager, and that it was nice to be back at the Union League Boys & Girls Club.

“It’s all about giving back to the community,” said the popular outfielder, in his first season with the Cubs after three standout years in Texas.

When a youngster asked how he made it to the Major Leagues, Byrd’s reply was simple but instructive.  “Hard work, every day.”

Marlon Byrd

Kids from the Club’s Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities (RBI) program were then invited to attend a clinic at Wrigley Field yesterday, with Byrd and teammate Randy Wells helping launch the Cubs-Steiner Collectibles community outreach program.  The day included the clinic, Wrigley Field Tour and the Cubs-Astros game last night.

The new Cubs-Steiner Sports joint venture gives fans and collectors the opportunity to own game-used artifacts from the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field.  Products include game-used baseballs, Certified Authentic Wrigley Field dirt, lineup cards from the Cubs’ dugout, bases, pitching rubbers, home plates, locker room chairs and game-used bats.

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.

As we approach the trade deadline, I-70 Baseball discusses with the fans two very different franchises that will be active at the deadline for very different reasons.  With the Royals most likely in “Seller” mode and the Cardinals looking to be “Buyers” at the deadline, what can fans of the two franchises expect?

Bill will be joined by his co-host, Matt Kelsey, this week to take a deeper look into the Royals.  In addition to the hosts, the show will feature Ben Nicholson-Smith from MLB Trade Rumors to help break down some of the rumors circulating around the teams.

I-70 Baseball strives to ensure that every fan of the show has a “voice” in the show.  Angela Weinhold will be serving as Chat Host in the Blog Talk chat room tonight during the show.  If you cannot call in to the show, do not want to be on the air, or simply prefer chatting about the topics, Angela will make sure that you are heard and your points are openly discussed in the room and on air.

Also tonight, a representative from the mobile application Venuing will join the broadcast to tell fans what they can expect from their product, what new and exciting things they are working on, and how I-70 Baseball will be helping them out along the way.

It should be a great show tonight and the I-70 Baseball team hopes to see all of you there.  Call in, chat, or listen to the show every Monday night at 10 p.m.

This year’s All Star roster included two Padres, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and closer Heath Bell.  Gonzalez was also invited to participate in the Home Run Derby, but he declined.  Padre contributions to the game were minor; Gonzalez entered in the bottom of the fourth replacing Albert Pujols.  Adrian had five putouts, but went 0-2 at the plate.  Heath Bell entered the fifth after the AL scored to take the lead, and retired Torii Hunter on a flyball to right.  The NL eventually won the game 3-1.

San Diego got Wednesday and Thurday off, and resumed the season with three at home against Arizona.  Jon Garland took the hill, and continued a disturbing trend of late by allowing a first-inning run.  The score stayed that way until the fourth.  Diamondback starter Dan Haren had retired eight straight, the last 4 by strikeout, when David Eckstein led off with a ground-rule double.  Two pitches later Gonzalez homered into the left-center field seats.  Later in the inning, Aaron Cunningham knocked in the third run with a sacrifice fly, and Jerry Hairston Jr completed the scoring with a 2-run single.  The Padres led 5-1 and never looked back.  Chase Headley homered in the fifth, Scott Hairston drove home two with a double in the seventh, and the Padres added 4 more in the bottom of the eighth, cruising to a 12-1 win.

Saturday night showcased Clayton Richard vs Rodrigo Lopez.  Saturday’s game became interesting because of several oddities.  The Padres scored five of their first six runs via the HR, unexpected from a club 12th in the league in homers.  Of their eight hits, 5 went for extra bases (the 4 home runs, and a triple from Headley).  Tony Gwynn Jr hit his second inside-the-park home run of the season, tying the club mark held by his father.*  Padre first-base coach Rick Renteria was ejected in the fourth inning by the first base umpire for strenuously claiming Lopez was balk-ing.  San Diego’s last run was knocked in courtesy of a bunt single by catcher Yorvit Torrealba.  The Diamondbacks stole 2 bases off San Diego reliever Ryan Webb, and a third theft attempt led to a run when Arizona CF Justin Upton hit a ground ball through the spot third baseman Headley had just vacated.  Richard struck out 6 through 6 1/3 innings, and 4 Padre relievers combined to get the last 8 outs, preserving the win.  8-5 Padres.

*During the game a graphic reported Gene Richards had also hit two inside-the-park HR as a Padre, and had hit both during the 1982 season.  According to Baseball-Reference, Richards only hit one inside-the-park HR in his career.

On Sunday Kevin Correia and Edwin Jackson squared off.  Correia has been struggling early in games and after the fifth inning starts.  So naturally Arizona lead-off hitter Chris Young singled, and second baseman Kelly Johnson homered, giving Arizona a 2-0 lead before an out had been recorded.  Correia settled down, and the Padres dug in.  Chris Denorfia, getting the start in right this day, homered in the second to cut the lead in half.  Gonzalez drove in Jerry Hairston Jr in the third to tie the game.  Edwin Jackson handed San Diego the lead when his wild pitch allowed Matt Stairs to score in the fourth.  Correia, unfortunately, handed it right back by allowing a mammoth home run to Justin Upton.

These Padres are a tough lot.  Denorfia singled, and Everth Cabrera tripled to deep right and restored San Diego to the lead.  They tacked on two runs in the eighth, on Denorfia’s second HR of the game, and when a throwing error by Matt Reynolds allowed Luis Durango to score from second on Gwynn Jr’s bunt single.  Heath Bell made things a little more interesting than desired in the ninth.  After retiring the first two hitters, a walk to Young, single by Johnson, and RBI double by Upton scored one and put the tying runs in scoring position.  But Bell was able to entice D-Back catcher Miguel Montero to ground out to shortstop Cabrera, and the Padres escaped with a 6-4 win.

I should also mention there was a minor scuffle in the sixth after Cabrera was caught off third.  Cabrera and Matt Reynolds got into a minor shoving match, and both benches emptied.  No punches were thrown, and order was quickly restored.

The series sweep could not have come at a better time.  Los Angeles dropped four straight in St Louis and Colorado lost 2 of 3 in Cincinnati.  San Francisco, winners of 3 out of 4 against New York, climbed into the race, but at week’s end, San Diego leads Colorado by 4 games and the Giants by 4.5.  The Dodgers sit fourth, 5.5 games out.  Not bad when the team can play 3 games and pick up 2 games in the standings.

The other news this week centered on the Disabled List.  Mike Adams left the last game before the All-Star break in the middle of an inning, after throwing a pitch to Ian Stewart.  Adams strained one of his oblique muscles, and is on the 15-day DL.  Currently Luke Gregerson is filling in as the eighth inning guy, and Ryan Webb has become the seventh inning arm of choice.  Mat Latos strained a muscle in his back sneezing during that same series in Denver.  San Diego placed him on the 15-day DL, effective Friday 9 July.  He will return the end of the month.

There was some question about the validity of Latos’ injury, given the team’s publicly stated intent to give him a break during the season (in an attempt to limit his innings thrown on the year), however no outside organization has implied or insinuated this injury is ‘fake’.