The Cardinals' highest draft pick, Brett Wallace, taken in the thirteenth round, is close to signing, according to general manager John Mozeliak.

Wallace could be signed sometime during the Cards' current home stand versus the New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs. Reportedly, a signing bonus of nearly $2-million has been offered. No other details of the contract have been released.

Contrary to rumor that Wallace might go directly to St. Louis, the Cardinals plan to send Wallace to Class A Quad Cities.

Manager Tony La Russa is re-calling pitcher Brad Thompson from Triple-A Memphis due to the Cardinals' serious need of relief pitching going into the current homestand. Nick Stavinoha will be as much as trading roster spots with Thompson, returning to Memphis in order to make room for Thompson.

The Cardinals are happy to be back in St. Louis after a rough nine-game road trip, even if when they take the field at Busch Stadium tonight, it will be against the New York Mets.

Both the Mets and Cardinals have played .500 ball in their last ten outings.

Kyle Lohse (9-2, 3.94) will be looking for his tenth win of the season, and since Braden Looper didn't accomplish the feat yesterday, Lohse could be the first Cardinals pitcher to reach that plateau this year. To accomplish double-digit victories, Lohse will have to outpitch the Mets' John Maine (8-5, 3.73). 

Lohse will also have to rely upon a Cardinals' offense that has done better lately, but still isn't running on all cylinders. In Lohse's favor, the Mets' offense hasn't shown as tough as the Tigers or Red Sox or the recently hot Royals. Maine almost never gets deep into a ball game, always a plus for any opposing team.

But Lohse may have to go deep, himself, for the Cards to get off to a good start in their four-game set with the Mets. Tony La Russa used everyone from the bullpen yesterday, with the exception of Ron Villone and Mark Mulder. Just who La Russa can point to in the pen if needed may be a matter of each individual's assessment of whether they can pitch tonight, and if so, how much. The Cardinals' skipper may have wanted to pick a perfect time for Mulder to test his rehabbed shoulder at the major league level, but the left-hander may have to settle from jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Now in the second half of the season, each series will take on more significance, starting with the Mets. What happens in this four-game series could determine whether the Cards will be in a position to battle the Cubs in the very next series (3-game at Busch) for a direct route to first place in the NL Central. This week in Cardinals' baseball is obviously not the make or break moment, so to speak, but it will set a tone for how the second half might run as far as July momentum. Any way it goes, many major league eyes will be on St. Louis over the course of the next week.

After six innings at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, the Cards lead 9-4.

Jason LaRue and Albert Pujols have each hit two-run homers.

The Cards' pitching line: Braden Looper, Chris Perez, Russ Springer, Jason Isringhausen.

Full game summary right after the conclusion of the game.

Braden Looper (9-5, 4.22) will try for his tenth win today as the St. Louis Cardinals attempt to win the rubber game of the second phase of the I-70 series in Kansas City. Looper will go head with the Royals' Brian Bannister (7-6, 4.47), who all but stumped the Cardinals' offense in mid-June at Busch Stadium, permitting only two runs in seven innings of work. Bannister has never lost to the Cardinals.

What might make the difference in this current set of games versus the Royals is that Albert Pujols has been available, Yadier Molina is healthier, and the Cardinals have made some breakthroughs on offense. Of note, Rick Ankiel has hit several home runs on this recent road trip. Also of note, is that utility infielder Aaron Miles has hit so well, overall, that he is currently the most successful interleague hitter, all-time.

The Cardinals can claim a winning road trip if they win today, as well as taking two out of three road series (won-Boston; lost-Detroit; ?-Kansas City).

It took a rookie pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals to "Show-Me" how it's done, helping his teammates finally get a 5-1 win in the I-70 series. This victory upped his record to 3-0.

Boggs was matched against Kyle Davies, who beat the Cards in the previous I-70 series at Busch Stadium.

The difference in tonight's game was slight, as Boggs did pitch a good game, but not too much better than the other starters who'd suffered losses versus the Royals this season. The difference in the offense was significant, apparent in the runs scored alone, scoring five, which at least doubles the scores in their losses to the Royals.

That offense came in several innings, another plus for the sputtering Cardinals' offense, which hasn't given either the starting or relief pitching staffs the support necessary for a reasonable chance at winning, and that applies regardless of which part of the staff is doing well and which isn't.

The game remained scoreless until the fourth inning, and then the Cardinals only scored one run. But they would tack on at least one run in each of the next three innings as well, scoring two in the sixth. By the seventh, the Cards were up 5-0, and the Royals would score their only run in the bottom of the seventh.

Offensive highlights included a Ryan Ludwick double to center, followed by a Chris Duncan flare hit to center that scored a charging Ludwick. A lead-extending home run by Rick Ankiel with Skip Schumaker aboard helped Boggs pitch with a healthy lead, unlike the other starters, who although did well, had to pitch almost every inning either down in score or tied or up by only one run.

Defensively, Brendan Ryan was busy at shortstop, but making plays with the sort of movements that suggest an increased confidence. Earlier in the season, many plays Ryan made seemed to have him walking on eggshells, as if he couldn't be too careful. These days, he looks like a seasoned infielder.

On one defensive gem for the Cards, left fielder Schumaker took a desperation dive for a ball over his head, missing, sliding through the warning track dirt, then popping up and scooping up the ball. Schumaker threw a strike to cutoff man Ryan as another Royals' base runner headed for home. All of Cardinal Nation held its collective breath as Ryan threw a one-hop strike of his own to the awaiting Molina. But the gasp was not so much for the close play at the plate as it was for Molina, who spun away from the lowered shoulder of base runner Miguel Olivo. Molina made the tag while avoiding any serious contact, getting the putout and allowing said Cardinal Nation to sigh in relief.

Kyle McClellan, another rookie, came on in relief after Boggs walked one and gave up a hit in the seventh inning. Ross Gload doubled home Mark Teahen, this play described with Olivo getting thrown out at home.

Horacio Ramirez relieved Davies in the eighth, holding the Cards. McClellan held the Royals in the bottom half of the inning.

Robinson Tejeda took over for the ninth inning, also holding the Cards.

Russ Springer came on in the closer's role, walking one, but allowing no runs.

The rubber game of the Kansas City phase of the I-70 series takes place tomorrow afternoon, the Cardinals pushing to take the series before coming home to Busch Stadium for a home stand featuring a four-game set against the New York Mets and a three-game series against NL Central Division leaders, the Chicago Cubs.

Named to the All-Star Futures Game from the St. Louis Cardinals for Team USA are starting pitcher Jesse Todd, and catcher Bryan Anderson.

Named to the All-Star Futures Game from the St. Louis Cardinals for World Team is starting pitcher Jaime Garcia.

Mark Mulder has been activated by the St. Louis Cardinals. Mulder had been on the 15-day DL from shoulder surgery.

Mulder will be able to pitch against the Kansas City Royals if called upon by manager Tony La Russa.

To open a roster spot for Mulder, Mike Parisi was optioned to Triple-A Memphis.

The last time Mulder pitched was June 19 in Memphis.

Troy Glaus is the top-ranking Redbird when it comes to at-bats, ranking 72nd in the National League with 276.

The National League leader is Cristian Guzman of the Washington Nationals with 341.

Most reports that will come out now are going to say Ryan Ludwick's current cool-down at the plate is due to Pujols not being in the lineup. Some of that does have an effect, but Ludwick is a good hitter regardless. And while Ludwick has plenty of baseball years under his belt already, he doesn't have too many at the major league level. Fans need to remember that he is like any other inexperienced big leaguer and needs more ABs to learn from.

Sure, there's a Pujols Effect, but there is a Sheffield Effect too, and an Ortiz Effect, and on and on, so Ludwick's situation is not unique to Ludwick. He would need to learn from this situation regardless of where he is. Ludwick falls more into the category as McClellan, where he has put in so many solid performances that it is hard to look at him as a rookie or a player of few seasons, in any case. More likely, Ludwick simply needs a few games off now and then, like everyone else.

If there is anything to analyze in Ludwick's swing, I would look toward the mental aspect of "pushing for a hit" maybe a little too much, but that is easy to mistake just because a hitter hasn't scored his usual number of hits. Ludwick has struck out a bit, and even got "frozen" on a few, which is more of a sign that opposing hurlers are learning how to pitch him more effectively. Now Ludwick must adjust.

As for pure mechanics, Ludwick is "muscling" a bit more at the expense of bat speed. For Ludwick, this is a fine line, as in his effective swings of excellent bat speed, he doesn't hold much back as far as the grunt-factor in slinging lumber. But his effective swings are set up more for speed on the boundaries of out of control than for crushing baseballs. Such a fine difference must be re-analyzed often, because it is easy to lose the touch, so to speak.

To attempt clarification, think of yourself swinging as powerfully as Ludwick. Certainly, it is going to take muscle to produce great bat speed, but the biggest difference is how you are accomplishing said velocity. If you muscle-up and muscle-through, you don't get the speed or accuracy necessary for successful swings on a regular basis, but if you allow your muscles to initiate from a relaxed state, the muscle-through becomes far more powerful and accurate, producing better bat speed.

A mental trick that a hitter can use is to replace his own brain's directives to crush the ball with thoughts of stinging the ball, or whatever word or abstract image works toward the stinging ends. There could be other factors in Ludwick's mechanics, but the aforementioned is what appears to be the current problem.

Randy Flores went on the 15-day DL due to peroneal tendenitis in his left ankle. He as much as switched places with Albert Pujols yesterday, when Puhols was activated from the 15-day DL from a left calf strain.

Mitchell Boggs more probably will be the starting pitcher for Saturday's game versus the Royals in Kansas City. Mark Mulder had been given serious consideration for the start, however, he had come up with stiffness in his back. If he has overcome the irritation to his back, he might still be considered for the start by manager Tony La Russa and his staff. It is obvious the Cardinals want Mulder to be able to get a chance to pitch, as they are in need of a left-handed hurler on a pitching staff that has none in the current group of starters. Even the Cardinals bullpen is down to one left-hander.

Joel PIneiro will get the start tonight against former Seattle teammate, Gil Meche. PIneiro's 2-3 record does not reflect how effectively he has been pitching for the last six to eight weeks, during which time he has no "paper victory" to show for his work. In his last outing, PIneiro's performance was excellent against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. His opposite tonight, Meche, is 5-8 with a slightly higher ERA.

Rick Ankiel has done somewhat better at the plate since hitting coach Hal McRae worked with him recently. Reportedly, Ankiel was opening up too quickly, especially on off-speed pitches. Of course, that was the rumor-flow to the media. This quick-opening difficulty is faced by hitters in almost every at bat, at least, on any off-speed pitch a batter believes is a fastball. Ankiel's swing suggests he may have been a bit anxious, opening up slightly early on almost every pitch, which can create a mechanical dilemma on all pitches rather than just being fooled on off-speed pitches.

Brendan Ryan had one terrible-looking error that was ruled a double, which is not too hard to believe considering today's inconsistent and forgiving scoring bias. Not that Ryan wouldn't mind one less error on his stats, but surely, if he had his druthers, he would've perferred to field the hard-hopper off the bat of Curtis Granderson. To be noted here was that Ryan was involved in plenty of other plays, routine and challenging, including a field-and-fire play to home plate to assist catcher Jason LaRue with a putout, and a snap-relay from right fielder Ryan Ludwick to Ryan to Aaron Miles at third base to gun down a Tigers' base runner.

Jason LaRue continues to give the Cardinals loads of good innings, throwing out a few base runners attempting steals, handling the pitchers well, and contributing a decent share of hits at the plate, including extra-basehits. Most of this recent play was accomplished without a regular back-up catcher, and some with Yadier Molina as back-up, but not at 100%. It is clear that LaRue plays better when in a regular role, however, with Molina all but recovered from a mild concussion, LaRue will have to adjust to less playing time. It is possible, on the other hand, that La Russa won't hesitate to play LaRue sooner than he might've in the past.

JasonIsringhausen seems to get better with each appearance, with few setbacks and mostly positive performances versus various opposing hitters. He has fallen into a set-up man role of late, but may work back into the closer's role if Ryan Franklin has any significant difficulties. It isn't the worst problem in the world, though, to have two pitchers with good closing capabilities.

The Cardinals bullpen in general is probably the weakest link right now. The biggest problem is not having enough left-handers for various relief needs. In fact, the only left-hander remaining is Ron Villone, who is intended for use against maybe one or two left-handed batters in special circumstances. Of late, Villone has been asked to relieve for several batters, a result of an exhausted bullpen. As more and more relievers are forced into service for too many innings, and if those innings are long, the workload bleeds out over the entire bullpen, forcing the coaching staff and La Russa to utilize more and more relievers in ways for which they are not intended under regular circumstances. Right now, the goal of opponents has to be to make it past the Cardinals starter, whoever it is, and make their push against the reliever, whoever it is.

The Cardinals offense is something like an eight-cylinder engine, having a lot of power and capability. In order for said engine to run efficiently, however, it must run on more than four cylinders. When it does, the Cardinals will normally end up with more than one inning where they score two or more runs. When that offensive machine doesn't run well, it sputters for inning after inning, the symptom easy to spot in high LOB. You don't always notice, however, because the starting pitching keeps them in the game so long.

Coming back from a Royals sweep to take the series against the Red Sox lifted the spirits of Cardinal Nation. Winning the first game of the Tigers series was out of character, but surely the Cards were happy to take it, being on the road and in Comerica Park, a traditionally tough ball park for the Cardinals. But after dropping two tough games to the Tigers, within a dozen hours or so, the Cardinal road armor is chinked.

The preview that's having a hard time developing here may be due to the fact that the next road series stop (and last one, thankfully) is Kauffman Park, home of the Kansas City Royals.

Not that long ago, the Royals pounded the Cardinals into the Busch Stadium dirt, then frustrated the team and fans alike in the other two games. Suffice it to say that this road trip could get ugly real fast if the Cards don't win one of the first two games.

What bodes well for the Cards is that Albert Pujols is back in play, and swinging a hot bat out of the gate. Also, Joel Pineiro will start Friday night. And this first game is one to go after, even if the bullpen has been all but exhausted due to the one-run, lengthy battles with the Tigers. That's because there is no clear starter for Saturday's game. Could be Mark Mulder, but if not, it could be Mitchell Boggs. The mere fact that the starter is a question mark doesn't exactly provide much security to a team that is having a lull in the overall quality of the bullpen work.

If the offense should go to sleep again, like it had versus the Royals a few weeks ago, the series could very well be a repeat of the Royals sweep.

Yet, these are the Cardinals, who have this unusual knack of playing up to the level of good teams and down to the level of the not-so-good opponents. When the Royals hit St. Louis less than two weeks ago, they weren't playing good baseball. The Cards played right down to that level. By the time that series was over, however, and the series had been swept, the Royals were playing good baseball, and have continued, tearing up National League teams to the tune of  12 wins out of 15 games as of the time of this post.

The next question mark, therefore, is: will the Cards now play up to their level?

PIneiro vs. Gil Meche on Friday night.

Mulder/Boggs vs. Kyle Davies on Saturday night.

Braden Looper vs. Brian Bannister on Sunday afternoon.

Translated: that's Cardinals vs. Royals in each game, just to remind everyone that it isn't just the pitchers out there doing all the winning and losing.

If this preview is based in phobia, it may be because there are no signs that the bullpen is going to get it together any time soon. That will happen when it happens. Only leadership can push up the confidence level of the relievers; that, or an offense that is maintaining a five-plus lead at all times. How confident does that sound?

The good thing about the Cardinals as a team right now is that they never coast through a loss, so there's little danger of them blowing off these next three games with the thought in mind that they'll be home soon enough.

The I-70 Show-Me Showdown series for the Cardinals at this point in the season is like a low-level gut-check time. In other words, there's a lot of season left even if things go south in Kansas City, but at the same time, there's fewer times in the remaining season when you can say there's a lot of season left. It's like saying, there's plenty of time, for a short while.

Less than 12 hours after the end of last night's disappointing loss, the Cardinals took on the Tigers in a rubber game at Comerica Park.

Tigers' manager Jim Leyland sent Nate Robertson to the mound, a left-hander. The Cardinals' manager, Tony La Russa, stacked the right-handed swingers against him, including, fresh off the DL, Albert Pujols, who singled in his first at-bat.

The only pure left-side swingers were Rick Ankiel and Adam Kennedy, and Kennedy, due to Pujols as DH. With the infield, from third to first, Aaron Miles, Bredan Ryan, Kennedy, and Troy Glaus, you might, instead of saying the Cards played a utility infielder, say they played a utility infield, every player having played multiple infield positions already this season.

A pitcher's duel ensued for five innings before La Russa brought in Ron Villone for the sixth, an inning that saw the Tigers' Placido Polanco ejected from the game for arguing his strikeout with the home plate umpire. Still, the Tigers managed to fill the bases. With one out, Villone struck out Miguel Cabrera, then permitted the first run of the game when he walked Clete Thomas.

Walking batters in relief has been the bane of bullpen, and understandably, La Russa yanked Villone. Jason Isringhausen got the call, getting out of the inning with one pitch, getting Gary Sheffield to pop out to Ryan.

Down 1-0, Ryan led off the seventh, Robertson still on the hill. Ryan singled. Barton laid down a semi-sacrifice bunt, but illegally ran inside the foul line, causing the received throw to be dropped. Barton was called out for the interference, and worse, Ryan was ordered sent back to first base by the umpires, as no gain could be made from an illegal play. Miles then hit a double into the right field corner. Ryan wouldn't have scored on the play, but a Ryan Raburn throw overshot everyone and landed in the Tigers' dugout. Ryan scored on the play, and Miles was awarded third base.

At that point, Leyland brought in Fernando Rodney. An intentional walk was issued to Albert Pujols, who had already tallied three hits on the day, and Rodney dispatched Glaus and Ludwick to end the Cardinals' rally, leaving two ducks on the pond.

With the score now tied at 1-each, Isringhausen remained in the game, but had a bit of a hitch during warm-ups, favoring his right leg. He managed to strick out Mike Hollimon, then got Dane Sardinha to pop out to Kennedy. Granderson hit an infield chopper that was too deep for Ryan to do anything with behind second base, wisely putting the ball in his pocket. The next big question was whether the speedy Granderson had the ability to steal, especially off of Isringhausen, who is know for being slow to the plate. Now, for the improbable. Granderson got a great jump on a slow delivery to home, and to top it off, the pitch was one of Isringhausen's downward sweeping curveballs, if you can call it that. In any event, Izzy's curve was slow. Jason LaRue threw a mildly high strike to second base, and Granderson was out on a play that wasn't all that close, considering the aforementioned attributes of the play.

The eighth went quietly, and both teams found themselves in the same situation as the early morning finish, all knotted up in the ninth.

Leyland stuck with what worked last night, bringing in the Tigers' closer, Todd Jones. Skip Schumaker got a one-out pinch-hit single to left, then advanced when Aaron Miles hit a flare, almost misreading the hit so badly that he might've been forced out at second base, had the Tigers defense noticed Schumaker heading back toward first base, acting as if he was sure the Miles' fly would be caught. Pujols got his shot, hitting a hard ground ball that found the hole on the left side, Schumaker scrambling home ahead of the throw. The one run was all the Cardinals could muster, but it put them up 2-1 with the Tigers down to three outs.

Cards' closer Ryan Franklin was called upon to hold the Tigers in their last at-bats. Sheffield had other ideas, hanging tough on any kind of pitch and location Franklin had to offer, eventually cranking one out in field left. The Cardinals continued to scrap for Franklin in the field, executing a good cut-off relay on a Holliman double to right field, Ludwick missing the first cut-off man, but hitting the back-up, Ryan, who wheeled and fired a strike on the third base bag, Miles gloving and tagging Holliman trying to stretch his double into a triple.

Booby Seay came on to pitch the tenth for the Tigers, holding the Cardinals.

La Russa called on 25-year-old Mike Parisi, who had been a starter for years, then had a few good appearances in relief, and then, botched a few major league starts. Granderson led off with a single to right, advancing to second on a pefectly executed sacrifice bunt by Raburn. La Russa then had Carlos Guillen intentionally walked to set up the double play, his run meaningless at this juncture. Ordonez had his chance to play hero, but not before pitching coach Dave Duncan would visit the young Cardinals hurler. Ordonez accomplished a sacrifice fly to Ludwick in right field, Granderson advancing to third on the tag-up. La Russa then had Cabrera intentionally walked, loading up the bases for an easy force out at any base, but piling the pressure on Parisi to face Thomas with the bases loaded. Given the Cardinals' relievers' difficulties with walking hitters, even to the point of walking them in for runs, the move was gutsy. Parisi worked the count full, then threw a couple off the plate to walk in the winning run, another tough loss for the Cardinals, the relief corps getting eaten alive on walks, and of the type that hurts the most--with the bases loaded.

The Cardinals lost the series in Detroit, something they don't often do, and on a day where Albert Pujols returned to gather four hits and a walk, they couldn't prevent handing out free runs to the Tigers, losing 3-2 in ten innings.

The way the Cards lost can be distributed amongst the team, but it is likely the media will throw this on the shoulders of Mike Parisi, who, while having his troubles, didn't pitch any worse an inning than some of the other relievers. Like McClellan last night, however, Parisi will take away a tough loss that hopefully will spur him on toward better performances in the future.

Parisi took the loss to go 0-4 while Seay got the win, improving to 1-1.

To add insult to injury, this was the third walk-off walk Parisi had endured, and for Thomas, the walk-off walk in the tenth was his second RBI on the day by this method.

Brendan Ryan, the subject of a previous Redbird Droppings, now gives us an example of an excellent defensive play, fielding a high-hopper, transferring the ball rapidly from glove to throwing hand, and gunning down a base runner trying to score from third base.

In the aforementioned post, I scoured Ryan a bit for his bull fighting technique, stating that if need to "square up." This is still true. But I also mentioned that you should square up on ground balls of which you are able, and that if you did play a ball off to the side, there had better be a good reason for it.

In the same game as his misplay, Ryan had no choice but to play a high-hopping grounder to his left, actually having to jump. So he did end up in a situation where squaring up was impossible. But what made this play an excellent exhibition of defense by Ryan was that he had to pull around to his right as he transferred the ball, and in a hurry, in order to fire a throw to catcher, Jason LaRue, who surely appreciated getting a throw that was a) on target, and b) in plenty of time to allow him to set up for the tag play on a Tigers' base runner.

At the time of the play, the game was scoreless, and Ryan's assist on the LaRue putout made the difference in the lead run.

In the first inning, Tigers' leadoff man Curtis Granderson hit a hopper to shortstop. Brendan Ryan turned himself so far sideways in his fielding that he looked like a bull fighter.

"Ohlay!" phonetically speaking, or whatever the term is for dodging that object flying past you as you spin clear of harm.

As you might suspect, Ryan's glove wave to one side is not how you field a ground ball. There are a lot of techniques to this defensive fielding play, and some of them vary by degree according to what type of ground ball is hit.

But one technique that is all but constant, is that you need to get in front of the ball whenever possible. That's a rule of fundamentals, and if you're going to break it, you'd better have a good reason.

Ryan did not.

Charging most ground balls is common, but if you are experienced and good at reading the speed, and how the current infield surfaces of grass and/or dirt are going to affect the velocity, you might, on certain grounders, stay back. But whichever is the case, you need to square up to the approaching ball, making sure you give yourself enough time to do so before the ball arrives.

Ryan may have been trying to get himself a nice big hop which would allow him to glove the ball easily from almost any position relative to the ball. Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen the way you suspect. Hence, the need to square up.

Why square up?

Because when those odd hops come, or you don't gauge the approaching ground ball perfectly, you still have a chance to block the ball. And true, you don't always get the type of block that will permit you to recover and throw a batter-runner out at first, for instance, but you often, at minimum, can prevent the same hitter from getting an extra base, as Granderson did on Ryan's miscue.

All the other mechanics of fielding ground balls need not be discussed here, as if you don't get yourself squared up to grounders which you are able, the rest won't make any difference, because you'll be watching the ball scoot by into the outfield.

Square up, or bring your red cape.

Hurry up, folks, the Cardinals have a "getaway day" game at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan, so previews and notes will be short and sweet.

• It's Todd Jones, not Tom Jones, the Tigers' reliever who held the Cards last night, and whom I mistakenly named after the legendary singer. (Although, Todd Jones did sing the Redbirds a lullaby last night.)
• Probable pitchers to today's game: STL-Todd Wellemeyer (7-2, 3.67) vs. DET-Nate Robertson (6-6, 5.60).
• Both bullpens are struggling: the Tigers' pen, all of a sudden; the Cardinals' relievers, have been slowly degrading on average.
• Albert Pujols comes off the DL, and is in the posted lineup for today's game, as DH, slotted in the familiar three-hole.
• There was talk of rookie Nick Stavinoha getting sent back to triple-A Memphis in order to make room for Pujols, but not so fast. Relief pitcher Randy Flores has some ankle issues to contend with, so the left-hander will go on the DL while Pujols is activated.
• Troy Glaus will play first base, Adam Kennedy at second base, Brendan Ryan at shortstop, and Aaron Miles at third base. The outfield, left to right, will be Brian Barton, Rick Ankiel, and Ryan Ludwick. The battery is Todd Wellemeyer pitching to catcher Jason LaRue.
• This is the rubber game of the three-game series with the Tigers.
• The Cardinals will continue interleague play, traveling to Kansas City to face the Royals in the western version or the I-70 series; three game set.
• The proposed Cardinals lineup is Barton, Miles, Pujols, Glaus, Ludwick, Ankiel, LaRue, Kennedy, and Ryan.

When Kyle McClellan threw the "wrong pitch" to Detroit's Gary Sheffield, it got me to wondering just what was the "right pitch."

Shoulda pitched Sheffield inside. And if Sheffield had rocked that one, like he had the previous game, when one of them sailed a dozen or more rows up in the left field seats, that was the wrong pitch. And the pitches he hit when he went 4-for-5 last night, those were all the wrong ones too.

Point is, nobody can throw the right pitch to Sheffield right now, not since he returned from the DL a few days ago. So I wouldn't let McClellan get too down about giving up the walk-off hit to Sheffield last night. There were at least four other pitches made during the course of the see-saw game, in particular, the pitches made that permitted four leads dissolve.

I don't see how anyone would dare lay the wrong pitch guilt trip on McClellan. Sure, he hurled in a fat one. It's not like nobody else on the staff doesn't. That's baseball.

And that brings up the point: let the kid learn. Oh yeah, remember, McClellan is a rookie, a young man that has done so well this season, it really is hard to see him as a newcomer. Yet a rookie is exactly what he is. Let McClellan learn. So far this season, he has shown that he has figured out quite a bit about that mound of dirt, and he has improved, in my opinion, in leaps and bounds.

Rookie McClellan has learned from Coach Duncan, we assume, and fellow pitchers, and from the catchers, and mainly, from his experience, from before the minor leagues and all the way to his last pitch against that terrible Tiger who has put in his bid to own the right-side batters' box in Comerica Park, or at least lease it for the Cardinals' series. When a hitter is that on, anything near the strike zone, on any side you prefer, doesn't mean ... well, you know what it doesn't mean. The man is simply going to rock.

Gotta tell ya, I do a lot of "that's all wrong" pieces, but I just don't see it this time. So my plea is for everyone to not make a mountain out of a pitcher's "mohill" and let young McClellan learn. Because McClellan is solid, he is a talent, a rookie that we have already learned how to take for granted. 

Pitcher Mark Mulder had taken a flight to Detroit in order to be evaluated for a potential start in the upcoming Kansas City Royals series. Now he has back pain. Nothing too critical, but enough to prevent him from any immediate consideration to pitch on the major league level.

Now Mulder will most likely head back to triple-A Memphis to continue his rehabbing, if it could be called that any more. His back troubles notwithstanding, his necessity with the parent club has lessened, now that Todd Wellemeyer seems up to snuff and ready to get back into the rotation.

Manager Tony La Russa said the Saturday start for Mulder in Kansas City didn't look like it would happen now, in so many words, and that whatever occurred, he had Mitchell Boggs ready to fill that slot if needed.

Sooner or later, Mulder will get a start with the Cardinals. If not in the Royals' series, the quite possibly, in the upcoming home stand versus the New York Mets or Chicago Cubs. One might wonder if it would be advisable to bring Mulder back for his first major league start in a long while against either of the two aforementioned clubs. The Royals, although every bit the tough foe of late, may be the more sensible place for the left-hander's return for trial.

Roster changes being what they are with the Cardinals, however, the situation could change on any given day. Mulder could get get the call at any time, just like many of the other players that have made that trek to the bigs, only to get sent back down. Fellow pitcher Brad Thompson did it pretty much within 24 hours. At this point, Mulder might not mind the same treatment.

After a lengthy rain delay, the Tigers and Cardinals took the field at Comerica Park, playing out a 5-5 tie from the fifth inning.

Rick Ankiel had just homered to tie the game. Duncan had been on first base with two outs when the game had been delayed by rain for two hours and fifteen minutes.

Upon the game's restart, Zach Miner took over for starter Armando Galarraga, who got the Tigers out of the inning.

After the long delay, Cardinals' staring pitcher Kyle Lohse couldn't continue. Chris Perez took over on the hill, keeping the Tigers from a quick strike.

In the top of the sixth, Miner hit Adam Kennedy with a pitch, but any potential scoring opportunity was snuffed when Nick Stavinoha grounded in a double play.

Perez remained on the mound, holding the Tigers again, only Carlos Guillen reaching on a double and then left on the bases.

In the Cardinal seventh, Schumaker lead off with a walk, but Aaron Miles grounded into a double play. With two outs, Rick Ankiel drew a walk. Troy Glaus followed him with a single to left, and Tigers' manager Jim Leyland brought in fireballer Joel Zumaya. The pressure mounted for the reliever when he walked Chris Duncan, loading the bases for Yadier Molina. The tension really thickened in Comerica Park, filling in the empty seats where the bulk of the crowd had bailed after the long rain delay. The count went full to Molina, but Zumaya's next pitch was nowhere close to the strike zone, making it easy for Molina to take the RBI walk, the Cardinals going up 6-5. But bases were still full, however, with Kennedy at the plate. Zumaya got ahead of the recently hot-hitting Kennedy, who fouled off several offerings before flying out to Curtis Granderson in center field.

Jason Isringhausen relieved Perez, and got himself in a jam when Miguel Cabrera singled to start off the Tiger seventh. Isringhausen then walked Clete Thomas, and Gary Sheffield singled. Just like that, the bases were full of Tigers with no outs. The Cardinals were content to trade some outs for the tying run, Edgar Renteria grounding to Brendan Ryan at short, over to Miles covering second, the pivot to Kennedy for a double play, Cabrera scoring, Thomas advancing to third. Troy Glaus scooped an Ivan Rodriguez ground ball and fired corner to corner to end the inning.

Hitting with the game tied, Nick Stavinoha ground out. Ryan drew a walk, however, and with Skip Schumaker at the plate, advanced on a Zumaya wild pitch. The crafty reliever mixed the rest of his pitches to Schumaker, getting him to swing at strike three on a breaking ball in the dirt. Miles would get a shot at him, shooting a single near the foul line in left field. Ryan scored easily on the RBI basehit, the Cards going up by one yet again, now at 7-6. Leyland took a walk to the mound, getting the ball from Zumaya and handing it off to reliever Bobby Seay. Ankiel face Seay first, who has trouble with left-handed hitters. Seay had not trouble with Ankiel, however, striking him out while tending to Miles leading off first base.

Now with Schumaker in left field, Chris Duncan at first base, and Ryan Ludwick in right field, Cardinals' manager Tony La Russa went to left-handed reliever Randy Flores. Granderson had his way, however, singling to center, and La Russa pulled Flores for Kyle McClellan, bringing in the right-handed rookie to face Placido Palonco. The Tigers put on the sacrifice bunt, but Molina pounced on the ball, gunning the throw to Ryan covering second base to get the lead runner. Polanco then took second on a wild pitch by McClellan, making up for his bunting miscue. Carlos Guillen advanced Polanco to third base with a ground to the right side. Magglio Ordonez supplied the RBI this tie, singling home Polanco, and the tying the game at 7-apiece.

Tigers' reliever Tom Jones came on to shut down the Cardinals one-two-three, giving his team a shot at a walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth.

Clete Thomas came to the plate at a quarter to one in the morning, eastern time in Detroit. Still on the hill, McClellan fell behind him 3-0, fighting back to a full count before Thomas rocketed a high fast ball to the left field fence. On second base and with no one out, Thomas would read whatever came off the bat of teammate Gary Sheffield. McClellan fell behind Sheffield in the count, then worked another full count, this time Sheffield ripping a walk off single into center field, scoring Thomas for the 8-7 victory.

Outside a prominent corner of Busch Stadium, statues honor Cardinals' greats. The Gateway to the West Arch is within view, and much of the downtown St. Louis skyline shimmers with reflective skyscrapers. If you peer down the street, you can see the Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum. The setting begs for a major league ball game in a proud Midwestern city. And when you wheel around toward the reddish architecture of the stadium, you pause.

No, you're jerked to a halt.

Because that isn't the glorious Ballpark Village. Why, it's Mudville.

Yeah, that place where Mighty Casey K'd.

No, that isn't it. Although it does feature a muddy pool at one end most of the time.

City Hall's getting a black eye from the mud. And guess what? Uh-huh, that mud's gonna slide downhill, right into those beautiful, brand new front offices at Busch Stadium.

So if you big wheels and pols get to mud-slinging, do Cardinal Nation a favor and don't let the ... well, let's just keep calling it mud ... don't let the mud seep onto the ball field.

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The line on Detroit starter Armado Galarraga (7-2. 3.03) is that he is very tough on right-handed hitters. So Cards' manager, Tony La Russa, scribbles a lineup full of lefty-swingers. TLR's move paid dividends in the first inning, leadoff batter Skip Schumaker taking Galarraga deep, and a batter later, Rick Ankiel dittoed. Ankiel jabbed Schumaker a bit in the dugout, but then it was back to work, playing defense behind Cardinals' starter, Kyle Lohse (9-2, 3.63), who got to take his first turn on the hill up 2-0.

Both Lohse and Galarrage have legimate shots, respectively, at making this year's All-Star team.

Lohse has been giving the Cardinals some quantity to go along with his quality so far this year, pitching to at least the sixth inning and beyond in many of his starts. The Tigers would make formidable foes, however, as they had faced Lohse several times when he pitched for the Minnesota Twins. After losing 8-4 last night, and in Comerica Park, the Tigers were looking to even things up in the three-game series, and quickly.

The Tigers threatened in the first, but Placido Palanco got caught in a rundown between third base and home when Cardinals' third baseman Troy Glaus fielded a ground ball and fired back to Yadier Molina, who properly ran Palanco back toward third base. Although Glaus didn't give a visual signal (that was apparent, anyway), Molina fed him the ball at the right time, Palanco a dead duck. That was enough to kill off any potential rally.

Gary Sheffield, just off Detroit's DL, hit the ball well last night, including a rocketed home run to left field. In the second, he took Lohse into the left-center field alley, cruising into second base with a standup double with one out and the Tigers threatening for the second time in as many innings. And they got some help from Adam Kennedy, who, in his second start playing first base, ranged way too far toward second base on a ground ball, so far that even Lohse couldn't believe it from the mound, getting a late start to cover, Kennedy throwing the ball away, behind Lohse. Sheffield came around, jogging home on the mistake, cut the Cards' lead to one at 2-1. The mistake continued to pay dividends for the Tigers, the batter on the play, Edgar Renteria, moving up to second on a Ivan Rodriguez single to center, then scoring on a Curtis Granderson single to center. Rodriguez learned why base runners hold up on balls hit to Ankiel in center field tonight, the strong-armed outfielder gunning him down at third base. The Renteria score, however, knotted up the game at 2-apiece.

It was the Cardinals' turn to threaten in the third, Schumaker singling to center. But the single wasn't the "found opportunity." It was when Aaron Miles hit a slicing fly ball to left fielder, Marcus Thames, the the Cardinals had a golden opportunity. Thames overran the fly, and by the time he hustled it up, Shumaker was on third and Miles was heading into second. Ankiel hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Schumaker for the go-ahead run, 3-2.

The Tigers squandered an possible scoring opportunity in their half of the third, Carlos Guillen singling to start off the inning, then advancing to third base when Miguel Cabrera doubled to left field. Thames, however, struck out looking, then rushed the home plate umpire with his difference of opinion, enough to get tossed within a few seconds, Molina peeking back for a moment, then getting focused on his pitcher Lohse, who would have to face Sheffield with two men on. Sheffield grounded out, ending the Tiger's hopes in the frame.

The Cards didn't waste the chance that came up for them in their next turn, Molina singling, Kennedy doubling, and suddenly, Redbirds runners on second and third with no out. When rookie Nick Stavihoha (DH) hit a ground ball down third base way, Guillen bobbled the exchange, never getting a chance at Molina lumbering down the line for home plate. Molina's run put the Cards up by two at 4-2.

A two-out rally in the bottom of fourth gave the Comerica Park crowd something to cheer about. After Curtis Granderson walked and Polanco singled, Lohse got a pitch up, Carlos Guillen pounding the ball over the right field wall. The three-run blast put the Tigers up 5-4.

Galarraga was able to pitch with a lead for the first time in the game, but that lasted only one out before Ankiel took him deep for the second time, tying the game at 5-all. Glaus singled. Chris Duncan then hit into what would have been a double play, but when Tigers' shortstop Renteria stepped on second base himself and threw to first, the ball short-hopped Cabrera, who couldn't pick the low throw.

With two outs and Duncan on first base, the game was delayed due to rain.  

Tony La Russa wonders why not one of his charges has garnered enough 2008 All-Star votes to break third on any list.

But TLR has issued a sort of respectful challenge to Cardinal Nation that pretty much asks Where are you? while behooving the same faithful to vote for Cardinals players, before it's too late!

Since the in-stadium voting will be closed by the time the Cardinals return to Busch Stadium, Cardinals fans can still vote online at MLB.com, or at the St. Louis Cardinals Official Website. The online ballots allow fans to vote up to 25 times.

If you're online reading this post, then your just a few clicks away from voting.

At 4thebirds, we understand folks not voting for politicians, because who wants to be responsible for the actions of those clowns. But we're talking Cardinals here, people actual worth your vote.

With Kenny Rogers on the hill for Detroit and  Braden Looper going for St. Louis, there was a high likelihood of one run meaning a lot. A whole lot more then the days of enhanced vitamins and juiced up baseballs, anyway. All semi-kidding aside, it was the nature of these two hurlers that suggested the game might be decided by a close margin.

That being said, Tony La Russa made the most of Brian Barton's leadoff double (he got help when Detroit center fielder Curtis Granderson lost sight of the fly), deploying Aaron Miles in a small-ball tactic, bunting, almost beating out the attempt, but Barton advancing to third base all the same. Problem was, Tigers' third baseman, Carlos Guillen, who scooped a ground ball near the line, slapping down a tag on Barton sliding back toward third, putting him out and firing to first baseman, Miguel Cabrera to complete the inning-ending double play.

The Tigers went down one-two-three in the bottom of the first frame.

To set the quicker tone, the Cards put up only three batters in the top of the second, Rick Ankiel walking, but then getting picked by Rogers, who is known for having one of the (if not the) best moves to first base.

Magglio Ordonez singled to start off the Tiger second, but Looper got Cabrera to ground to shortstop Brendan Ryan, who sent the ball to second baseman Miles, then over to first baseman Adam Kennedy (his first start ever at first base) for the double play. Marcus Thames fouled out to Kennedy to end the inning.

The biggest opportunity of the young game came in the Cardinal third, rookie Nick Stavinoha singling to start the inning. After a Kennedy strikeout, Ryan singled to right, Stavinoha hustling to third base. With men on the corners, Barton grounded to shortstop Edgar Renteria, Stavinoha scoring and Ryan safe at second when Renteria erred fielding the ball. Miles then hit a swinging bunt to Rogers on the mound, almost beating this one out like his actual bunt in the first inning. Rogers threw home out on a close play, Ryan advancing to third and Barton moving up to second. They would die on the base paths, however, when Ryan Ludwick flew out to Thames.

The bottom of the third found not Tigers rally, but they did score the tying run when Ivan Rodriguez hit a bomb over the distant Comerica Park center field fence.

After a scoreless Cardinals fourth, Cabrera hit a long fly over the outstretched arm of right fielder Ludwick. The ball hit inches short of the yellow line, but the umpire ruled it a home run. La Russa offered an argument, but there was no change in the call. The solo homer put the Tigers up 2-1.

The fifth would end with Rogers striking out Ankiel with the bases loaded, but before a Redbird reached, Barton jacked one over the left field fence, tying the game at 2-2.

Looper sailed through the fifth, and the Cardinals' offense followed with a rally that would see Tigers' manager Jim Leyland pulling Rogers. Molina started the sixth off with a double, advancing to third base by Stavinoha when he grounded to the right side. Kennedy singled past a pulled-in infield, Molina scoring the go-ahead run. Ryan then singled, hustling to second base when he saw teammate Kennedy taking third on a base running challenge to outfielder Granderson. That is when Leyland called for reliever Freddy Dolsi. Pinch-hitting for Barton, Skip Schumaker hit a 2-RBI single, Kennedy and Ryan scoring, putting the Cards up 5-2.

The Tigers put up a fight in the bottom half of the sixth, working a potential rally together that would find Placido Polanco and Ordonez on base with two outs and Cabrera representing the tying run at the plate. Cabrera grounded out to kill the inning for Detroit.

Looking to tack on runs, Troy Glaus lead off the seventh, but flew out to Ordonez in right field. Ankiel then dropped a flare in front of Ordonez for a single. Yadier Molina singled sharply to right, Ordonez busy, and easily holding up Ankiel at second base with a throw in from shallow right. Stavinoha secured his first major league RBI with a basehit to left field, Ankiel speeding home from second base, Molina holding up at second base. Leyland brought in Casey Fossum to relieve Dolsi. Fossum promply struck out Kennedy for the second out. Ryan then tacked on all right, doubling off the left field fence, bringing home Molina and Stavihoha, putting the Cardinals way out in front, 8-2. The inning ended with Miles grouding out, but the Cardinals had successfully bum-rushed the tough Tigers' bullpen, lighting them up for three more runs in the frame.

Gary Sheffield cranked a two-run homer to bring the Tigers back within four at 8-4, and that was it was Looper. La Russa brought in Russ Springer, the Cardinals' best-performing middle reliever. Springer slowed the Tigers' momentum, joining the defense to shut down the rest of the inning.

Fossum shut down the Cardinals in the eighth, and La Russa went to reliever Kyle McClellan, his role obvious: throw strikes, don't get cute on the corners, make the Tigers hit their way on. Palanco did just that, singling to right field, but no free passes was the correct attitude for rookie pitcher McClellan, especially up four runs late in the game. For the defense, a double play would do nicely, but in this late-inning situation versus a team that can "come and get you" at any time, the sure out would be of paramount importance. Yet a double play fell right in the Redbirds' lap, Ordonez grounding into a tailor-made 6-4-3 to end their chances in the eighth.

Fernando Rodney would get work out of the Tigers' pen in the ninth, setting down the Cardinals in order.

The Tigers would take their last chance at-bats against the Cardinals' closer, Ryan Franklin. After one ground out by a non-hustling Cabrera, Franklin sinned, walking a batter (Thames). Sheffield, who had hit a two-run homer his last at bat, flew out to Schumaker in left field. The signs of troubled came when Renteria hit a squibber up the first base line, about twenty feet, a ball Franklin and Molina couldn't decide upon which of them would make the play. This put base runners on first and second for Rodriguez, who also had homered earlier.  Rodriguez hit a hard ground ball toward the hole on the right side, but Kennedy made an excellent grab, tossing to Franklin covering first to end the game.

Final score: Cardinals 8, Tigers 4.

Looper secured the win, extending his record to 9-5, while Rogers took the loss.

If you mix cats and birds, you're probably going to end up with a mess of feathers and not much flying high. Actually, the odds of the Detroit Tigers tearing up the St. Louis Cardinals may not be that bad, even when considering how hot the Striped Cats from Michigan are right now.

The Tigers have won a dozen of their last 15 games, and tonight's starting left-hander, Kenny Rogers (5-4, 4.36), is on a streak of hurling perfection he's not seen since 2006. Try this one on for size: Rogers has allowed only four runs in his last 36 innings.

And thanks to the Cubs dominating their crosstown rivals, the White Sox, their lead has been about cut in half. Add to that that the Tigers are playing in Comerica Park, a proven, winning playground for them, and you have yet another challenge for Tony La Russa and the Cardinals.

Previewing the first game of a three-game set in Detroit, most stats, as usual, come out too close to give out a decided edge, except for maybe a couple, related compilations. Comparing the two clubs, the Cards have taken a decidedly higher number of walks versus opponents while the Tigers have dished out a decidedly higher number of free passes to opponents.

Cardinals starting pitcher, Braden Looper (8-5, 4.10) hasn't given a free base to anyone in his last three starts. Rogers has been so steady lately, he is unlikely to give way to any batter from any team right now, and it just so happens that it's going to be Cardinals batters tonight. Put that all together and you've got a potential pitcher's duel.

The biggest danger tonight, and one that close friends La Russa and Jim Leyand (Tigers' manager) will be employing strategy for, is the big inning. If either Looper or Rogers permits any kind of rally to get out of hand, the team on the worst end of it might never catch up. Might is the operative word here, too, because in today's game, there's a better than not chance that each team will need to go to their bullpen at some point. If that occurs, the edge definately goes to the Tigers, and this is merely based on the fact that they've done so well, and so much better then the Cardinals lately, period.

At the same time, if the Cardinals can get all two of their left-handers in order, and rookie Chris Perez can get his fastball under some semblance of control, they relief corps might not be that far behind.

What we've got here is whole lot of maybes, and that's because these interleague rivals are just hot enough, or just home enough, or possibly even just away enough, to match up for what promises to be a tough series of baseball. And any runaways in score should be taken with a couple grains of salt, as each squad has explosive offense. (The Tigers have proved their offense a bit more in the last few weeks.)

Extra notes:

• The Cardinals may have Albert Pujols back in the lineup as early as Thursday.
• Mark Mulder missed yesterday's start in Memphis due to back strain, but may be with the Cardinals for the series in Detroit, in case Todd Wellemeyer cannot pitch. Or, Mitchell Boggs may fill Wellemeyer's spikes. There's a lot of options at this point.

Joel PIneiro faced his former teammates today, opposite Bosox starter Jon Lester, in a game that saw a pitching duel for five full innings before the Cardinals broke the string of donuts on the scoreboard. But Pineiro would have to team up with Yadier Molina to make sure the score remained pure with zeroes. Molina played first base in his first defensive action since his concussion.

With a scoreless game and the skies doing their best to open up on Fenway Park during the bottom of the fifth inning, the Cards had to treat the middle of the game as if it was the bottom of the ninth. If the Red Sox were to score even one run, and rain forced the game to get called, well, any lead is good enough for a final score. With two outs, Coco Crisp singled, but Pineiro picked to Molina, catching Crisp so dead to rights that Molina had to dive to apply the tag several feet from first base.

The weather lightened up, but the Cards still needed to score sooner or later, and the sixth would get them on the board first. Brendan Ryan started things off with a single to right-center field that slipped by J. D. Drew, and as soon as Ryan saw that Crisp would be fielding the ball, he dashed for an extra bag, the common lackluster defense by Crisp taken advantage of by Ryan. Brian Barton came up in a potential sacrifice bunt situation. Cards' third base coach Jose Oquendo motioned to Barton, pointing to the right side, which may or may not have been a decoy, considering a bunt in that situation usually is attempted toward the third baseman. In any case, Barton swung away, employing the strategy that calls for hitting the ball to the right side of the field, on which a batter can advance the base runner to third and possibly get a hit at the same time. Barton accomplished this, hitting a line drive down the right field line for a two-base hit, not only advancing Ryan to third, but permitting him to score. Miles wasn't able to either sac-bunt or advance Barton to third base, flying out to shallow right field. Barton made up for the out, however, stealing third. Down in the count, Ryan Ludwick ripped a drive to left, a single that scored Barton easily, the Cardinals going up 2-0. Rookie Nick Stavinoha, in the DH slot, and after a strikeout and fly out, got his first major league hit, a blooper to shallow right field, but toward the line and a long enough chase for Drew to allow Ludwick to scamper to third base. Those two Cards died on the corners, however, when Rick Ankiel flew out Crisp in center field.

The Red Sox answered one of those runs in the bottom of the frame on a solo shot off the bat of Youkilis, cutting the Cards' lead in half at 2-1.

After Miles got his third hit in the eighth, and Ludwick flew out, Manny Delcarmen came on in relief of Lester, striking out Troy Glaus looking with a 97-mph fastball, then striking out Stavinoha swinging.

Pineiro would only face one batter in the eighth, Crisp, who would triple to center field when Ankiel, who had drawn a bead on the ball, lost his footing and went down to the turf. The ball rolled all the way into the inlet and deepest part of Fenway Park, and by the time it was retrieved, Crisp was on third base.

Cardinals' manager, Tony La Russa, brought in Chris Perez, who struggled in his last outing with control. The infield played deep, conceding the run with Juilo Lugo at bat. Lugo hit a sacrifice fly to right field, Ludwick without a hope of throwing out the speedy Crisp at the plate. Jacoby Ellsbury grounded out to Ryan at short, and it looked as if the Cards might get out of the inning when Pedroia singled to right. To pile the pressure on Perez, Pedroia then stole second on a close play and good glove and tag work by Ryan covering, however, his foot did get into the bag before the tag was applied. J. D. Drew had gone to a full count on the steal, and Perez walked him on the next pitch, putting Red Sox runners on first and second for the dangerous Manny Ramirez. More pressure, Perez walking Ramirez, loading the bases. Mike Lowell would bat next with a chance to not only help break the 2-2 tie, but to bust the game wide open and give his team the chance to avoid a sweep in their own ball park. Lowell walked on four pitches, Perez giving up three walks and allowing the lead run to score, the bases still loaded with two outs. Still wild, and not getting his slider anywhere near the plate, Perez almost hit Youkilis in the next at-bat, then, regained enough control on his fastball to strike him out swinging.

The damage in the eighth had been done, however, an inning that may have been over one-two-three if Ankiel had not slipped in center field. The Cardinals did get out of the inning down only one run, which was a small success in itself. The biggest problem with the loss of a lead in the eighth inning, however, was that the Redbirds would have to face ace closer Jonathon Papelbon.

Papelbon went right to work with his high-90s fastballs, striking out Ankiel and Molina, then facing pinch-hitter Chris Duncan. Messing around with change-ups and off-speed split-fingers, Papelbon went 2-0, then couldn't find the strike zone, walking Duncan. Adam Kennedy pinch-hit for Ryan, swinging through a 96-mph fast ball on the first pitch. Another heater; Kennedy fouling it off. More heat, up, and Kennedy fought it off, fouling it away. Kennedy hung in, fouling off yet another Papelbon fast ball, up. Papelbon then tried to get cute again, throwing a change-up, which Kennedy drove over Crisp's head, off the wall, doubling home Duncan to tie the game. With the lead run in Kennedy at second base, Skip Schumaker grounded out to Lowell at third base, but the Cardinals had knotted it up at 3-apiece.

The dilemma continued when Molina would have to dawn the catcher's gear for the next Cardinals' reliever, Russ Springer. The defense saw wholesale changes, Molina, as stated, going behind the dish, and Springer on the hill. Duncan took over at first base, Kennedy to second, Miles now at short, Ludwick moving to left field, and Schumaker to right. The Red Sox went down in order, Kennedy making a nice stab on a Crisp liner up the middle.

In the 10th, the Red Sox brought on Hideki Okajima to relieve Papelbon. Miles got his fourth hit of the day, a single to shallow center field, to start things off. Ludwick then flied out to center, but Glaus added to the bases when he drew a walk. Stavanoha popped out. Ankiel struck out swinging, and the Cards left a couple on base, not able to capitalize on Miles's leadoff single.

La Russa brought on Kyle McClellan in place of Springer, facing Ellsbury, who lined a double down the left field line which a fan touched, making it a ground rule double and putting the winning run on second base with no one out. Pedroia sac-bunted Ellsbury to third base.

Surprisingly, La Russa opted to have McClellan to pitch to J. D. Drew, the hottest Red Sox hitter, instead of walking him and the next batter in order to enable a force play at home plate or a potential double play to get out of the inning. McClellan struck out Drew, making the gutsy strategy work, at least for this batter. After a visit to the mound by Duncan, Red Sox manager Terry Francona called by Branden Moss, pinch-hitting Sean Casey, and leaving the Cardinals without the ability to send Duncan back to the mound with another scouting report for McClellan. The Cardinals could've walking Casey intentionally to give them another option on defense, but once more, La Russa ordered the hitter to be pitched. Casey hit a pop fly to Ludwick in left field, and the Cardinals got out of the inning.

Molina singled off the left-center field wall to start the 11th. Duncan flew out to left, leaving base runner advancement up to Kennedy. Hitting a looping sort of fly into right field, Molina moved up to second base, but could go no farther. Schumaker failed to advance the base runners, flying out to Crisp in center field. With two outs, the Cardinals had their turn at catching a break, good fortune off the bat of Miles, accomplishing a check-swing slow-roller down third base way, Lowell without a chance to make a throw to first, opting to fake, but finding Molina on third base behind him, not buying the juke.

With the bases full of Redbirds, Francona brought in Chris Hansen, a power reliever, to face Ludwick, who got a few cuts at 97-mph fast balls, eventually getting fooled on a curve, the score static at 3-all.

Jason Isringhausen would get a chance to test his confidence at a new level since returning to the club, facing Lowell to start off the bottom of the 11th. Lowell ripped a line drive into the left field corner, doubling. Youkilis took his shot at a game-winning hit, but took a walk. The entire infield met with Isringhausen on the mound, deciding on a defense versus Jason Varitek, who might bunt. With one strike, Isringhausen swooped the nasty 12-6 breaking ball he'd shown in the past. Varitek hit the next pitch back to Isringhausen, who elected to take a force out at third base instead of going for the double play with Miles covering second. Crisp walked, loading the bases, bringing up Alex Cora, who had replaced Lugo earlier. Isringhausen got ahead of Cora, putting him away for the second out. Still in danger, Ellsbury stepped into the batters' box. When Ellsbury took a "Mighty-Casey" cut at the first offering, Isringhausen went to his hard-biting curve, twice, striking out the young Red Sox hitter, forcing yet another inning of play.

Glaus lead off the 12th for the Cards, striking out. Stavinoha got another shot at putting the Cards in a winning position, but he struck out as well. Ankiel ground to second.

La Russa chose Villone for relief, who has had a few rough outings in his last appearances. Perdroia lead off with a ground rule double to right field, the ball bouncing in a short area down the line. Once more the Cards would face a tough situation. Miles then made a heads-up play at short, taking a ground ball and alertly firing over to third base, Glaus applying the tag to Pedroia. With one out and Drew at first, Casey came up to bat, grounding into a double play, Kennedy to Miles to Duncan.

The game extended into the 13th, Molina popped out. Duncan doubled off the wall in left-center, an area where he needs to hit as a goal instead of by mistake. Kennedy then singled, third base coach Jose Oquendo waving Duncan home, catcher Varitek holding onto the ball after Duncan pile-drived him in an attempt to shake the ball loose. Duncan was out, and Cards failed to score in the inning.

Mike Parisi took his turn in relief in the bottom of the 13th. Lowell drove a ball into the green monster, so hard he could only manage a single, Ludwick hustling the ball back in to second base. Youkilis then hit a towering shot over the green monster, to its back row, the two-run blast a game-winner for the Red Sox, finalizing things at 5-3.

The Cardinals now travel to Detroit for more interleague play, and have a day off tomorrow, before entering the confines of Comerica Park.

That's rookie number 9, enough so that if all the call-ups were available, and if Tony La Russa was looking for yet another lineup variation, he could field a team of rookies. Not all those called up this season are in Boston right now, but the thought of the St. Louis "Redbirds" isn't too abstract a thought.

Not a serious thought, to be sure, but food for thought, or more accurately, bodies for innings. And the idea of yet another rookie taking the field for the parent club is serious business to one Nick Stavinoha, the ninth rookie this season to get a shot at a major league debut.  

The hamstring injury to Cesar Izturis created the opportunity for Stavinoha, who, according to MLB.com reporter, Matthew Leach, is a right-handed batter hitting close to .350 and with a slugging percentage just over .500. Stavinoha has tallied 10 home runs in the Pacific Coast League.

Depending on whether the opposing pitchers are right- or left-handed, Stavinoha may get a chance to take the field in short order, possibly at first base. Wherever he might get a chance to play, he's probably hoping it occurs soon, as Albert Pujols is not long for the DL. When Pujols rejoins the lineup, chances are that Stavinoha would get sent back to Memphis.

According to the Press Pass release on the St. Louis Cardinals official web site, Izturis has been placed on the DL and the contract of Stavinoha has been purchased.

Right off the bat, literally, the Redbirds' jumped all over Daisuke Matzusaka, the Red Sox starter just coming off the DL. Aaron Miles, oddly, on a hit and run, lofted a two-run homer that just made it over the right field fence. Skip Schumaker had singled, and was Miles's additional RBI.

But the Cardinals weren't finished. Ryan Ludwick and Troy Glaus singled, and with two outs, Jason LaRue continued to wield hot wood, singling both of them home to increase the lead to 4-0.

Mitchell Boggs had the start for the Cardinals, an opportunity afforded him due to the bevy of Redbirds' hurlers on the DL or overused of late and in need of rest. He rose to the occasion, holding down the initial Red Sox assault.

Cardinals Nation had more reason to smile in the second inning, the Redbirds doubling their score and taking a load off of their rookie pitcher. Matzusaka walked Shumaker. Miles singled, and Matzusaka walked Ludwick, loading the bases for Rick Ankiel. Bosox manager Terry Francona had little choice but to get Matzusaka off the hill, going to reliever Chris Smith.

Smith struck out Ankiel on three change-ups, but didn't get away with getting cute with Glaus, who hit a towering shot that landed in the first row atop the green monster, the grand slam racking up four RBIs for Glaus and putting the Cardinals up 8-0.

The Red Sox answered in the bottom of the frame, Alex Cora doubling into the left field corner, scoring Kevin Youkilis and Brandon Moss. Boggs kept his composure, however, getting Jake Ellsbury to ground out to snuff the rally at two runs, keeping the Cards up 8-2.

Javier Lopez relieved Smith in the sixth, holding the Cardinals scoreless in the inning.

Boggs didn't fare as well in the bottom half of the inning, giving up the long ball to J. D. Drew. He accomplished no easy feat on the next batter, Manny Ramirez, striking him out looking. But when walked the next batter, Mike Lowell, walked,  Cards' manager Tony La Russa felt it was time for a change, not waiting for the Red Sox to get to the rookie with a huge lead. Kyle McClellan got the call, doing much better than his last outing against the Royals. Then, he gave up a home run. Now, he struck out the rest of the side, including Youkilis and Moss.

In the seventh, Ankiel took Lopez deep, homering and extending the Cards' lead to 9-2. That was all the Redbirds added, but it was significant to their offense, which has had a lot of trouble scoring at, let alone adding "cushion" runs.

McClellan breezed through the Red Sox seventh, striking out Cora and Ellsbury in the process.

David Aardsma came on in relief for the Red Sox in the eighth, striking out the side, Ryan, Schumaker, and Miles all going down swinging.

What has come to be expected these days from La Russa with a lead late in the game, Russ Springer took over on the hill. Springer retired the side, getting Drew and Ramirez to fly out.

Yet another Red Sox pitching change found Chris Hansen relieving Aardsma. Ankiel tallied a single in the ninth, Chris Duncan drawing a walk, but the Cards left both base runners.

The Cardinals would defend the Red Sox last at-bats with a six-run lead.

For the first time in a long time, Jason Isringhausen took the mound in the role of closer. Izzy had been on the DL for weeks, but most of the reason for his absence (to the Cardinals' Florida facility) was to get his confidence back in order. Today, however, he would test that confidence, in a double-edge sword situation. With a big lead, the pressure would reduced, but should the Red Sox light him up in a huge way, his confidence would surely be crushed once more.

Lowell lead off the ninth, fouling out to catcher LaRue. Youkilis then grounded to Ryan at short. But the Red Sox wouldn't go down one-two-three. Moss singled to left, then took second uncontested. Kevin Cash then grounded back to Izzy, and the second game in the three-game set went to the Cardinals, who secured a series win and would now be able to attempt a sweep.

Matzusaka (8-1) suffered his first loss while Boggs remained perfect (2-1), picking up his second win.

Fenway Park was as green as you've ever seen it, and not because of the Green Monster. Maybe, however, green with envy over the masterful pitching performance of Kyle Lohse.

The Redbirds' right-hander picked up his ninth win (9-2) at the expense of the World Champion Boston Red Sox, who, in honor of the Boston Celtics winning the NBA championship a few days earlier, wore green uniforms.

Lohse painted the outside corner of the plate for six innings, keeping the ball low on almost all his other pitches. He didn't get that corner, however, early on, home plate umpire Fieldin Culbreth squeezing him pretty good in the first frame. As the innings went on, however, Lohse got that outside corner, and kept it. There were a few rough spots, namely, in the second innings, when he started off the inning by walking Manny Ramirez. An unusual error by Cesar Izturis allowed Mike Lowell to reach, Ramirez moving up to second base. Lohse did strike out Kevin Youkilis looking, but Coco Crisp singled, loading up the bases. Julio Lugo hit a sacrifice fly to Rick Ankiel, with no chance of throwing out Ramirez at the plate. Kevin Cash grounded out to end the inning, with the Red Sox up 1-0.

The third inning proved challenging to the Cards as well. With two outs, Lohse couldn't stand prosperity, walking J. D. Drew. Ramirez promptly singled to right field and just like that, the Red Sox were threatening again. Lohse got Lowell, however, to ground out to Troy Glaus at third base.

The Cardinals offense was as dormant as it had been during the I-70 series, this time unable to figure out how to hit the knuckle ball of Tim Wakefield. The fourth inning was even more demoralizing, as the Cardinals threw away a real opportunity. When Ryan Ludwick walked, that was a good start. Ankiel flew out, but Glaus followed with a single to left on which Ludwick advanced to third base. With base runners on the corners, it seemed as if the Cards had put together the beginnings of a decent rally. And when Chris Duncan walked to load the bases, the table was set for Yadier Molina, the Cardinals' DH in the American League ball park. Moline laced the ball, but lined out to third. Adam Kennedy, who had singled his first time up, and who was specifically placed in the lineup by manager Tony La Russa because of his success against the Red Sox, flew out this time.

Brendan Ryan had to take over for Cesar Izturis, who had to leave the game due to a hamstring-related injury. There was no detailed report immediately available on Izturis's condition, but any kind of prolonged injury would create a roster dilemma for the Cards should he need several games off.

The Cardinals showed no signs of offensive life, but Lohse breezed through the fourth, just the same.

Leading off the fifth, Jason LaRue surprised everyone with a powerful blast that cleared the green monster, tying the game at 1-1.

Lohse pitched through another tough inning in the fifth, the Red Sox loading the bases again, bringing Ramirez to the plate with one out. Ramirez has 20 career grand slams, second highest all-time for the major leagues. In four pitches, Lohse struck him out looking, freezing him with a curve on that outside corner for the backwards K. Lowell ground out to Ryan at short, who flipped to Kennedy covering second for the easy force.

Two errors on Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo in the sixth gave the Cards their second run, after Ankiel had doubled. An errant throw to first off a Glaus ground ball allowed Ankiel to move to third base. Once more, the Cards had base runners on the corners. The next batter, Chris Duncan, grounded to first baseman, Youkilis, who threw out Glaus at second on a fielder's choice, but Lugo's return throw to first base was wild, permitting Ankiel to scamper home with the lead run. The one run was all the Cards could muster.

Lohse did make a mistake in the sixth. With two outs, he got a pitch up in the strike zone to Lugo, who blasted the ball over the green monster and clearing the back fence. Lohse struck out Cash to end the inning, but the Red Sox had tied it up at 2-2.

LaRue started off the seventh with his second hit, giving the Cards another opportunity. Ryan bunted him over to third, but in this instance, the advance didn't matter, as the next batter, Skip Schumaker, homered into the Red Sox bullpen in right field.

Now up 4-2, La Russa brought in left-hander Randy Flores. Lefties out of the pen (all two of them) continued to have troubles, Flores allowing a single, then walking the next two hitters. La Russa had seen enough, bringing in probably the only available pitcher for the situation, Russ Springer, to face, you guessed it, Mr. Grand Slam, Manny Ramirez. Springer got Ramirez to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, the Cardinals happy to trade a run for the pair of outs. Still in danger with Dustin Pedroia at third base, Springer struck out Lowell to get out of the jam.

Down only one run, the Red Sox brought in Hideki Okajima. The Cards left a couple men on base in the eighth, but not before Molina took his turn at driving one over the green monster.

Still pressed for relief pitching, La Russa went to closer Ryan Franklin in the eighth. Youkilis lead off with a single, but Crisp grounded to Kennedy, who started a successful 4-6-3 double play. Franklin walked Lugo on a pitch that brought a lot of groaning from the Cards battery, a pitch LaRue probably felt Lohse had gotten all night. The base runner put the Cardinals at risk, but pinch-hitter Brandon Moss grounded out to Kennedy to end the inning.

David Aardsma took the hill for the Red Sox in the ninth, striking out Ludwick, Glaus, and Ankiel in order, with a barrage of mid-90s fast balls.

Franklin remained on the mound for the Cards. With one out, Pedroia doulbed. Springer struck out J. D. Drew for a big second out, but then walked Ramirez, bringing the potential winning run to the plate in the form of Lowell. The plot thickened for the Cardinals when Lowell singled to center, Pedroia scoring and the tying run, Ramirez, moving to third base. Youkilis took his shot at the plate, but flew out to Schumaker in right field.

The Cardinals had survived the opening game of a three-game set of interleague play against the Red Sox, winning in Boston, which is no easy feat for anyone, let alone a team traveling with one wheel off the roadster.

Wakefield suffered the loss, his record falling to 4-5.  Franklin earned his tenth save.

The Redbirds couldn't be facing a bigger challenge tonight when they take the field at Fenway Park in Boston to face the reigning World Series Champion Boston Red Sox.

The Red Sox are without the services of David Ortiz, but J. D. Drew has filled the void in their three-hole to the point where production has dropped one iota. Kevin Youkilis, Manny Ramirez, and Coco Crisp are questionable for tonight's game, but it might take the absence of all of them to start talking about how the playing field has leveled out.

As Redbirds fans well know, the injuries and therefore, the DL, have grown to the point where the St. Louis team is getting close to being called Memphis, or maybe even Springfield. Yet there's still plenty of hope to compete with Boston, even after getting swept by the Royals at home. And a lot of that hope comes in the fact that while the Cards locker room has a revolving door (spin it one way and you get triple-A, spin it the other for double-A), there have been plenty of pleasant surprises in the form of minor league call-ups, including the rookies.

Not every replacement has been outstanding, or even totally ready to compete at the major league level, but it seems as if every player called up has contributed. Each have had some good outings, and a lot of them, in their major league debuts.

If the Red Sox have any difficulties against the Cardinals, it may be due to a lack of tendency charts and other needed scouting reports. That might be expected from an interleague competitor, but the Red Sox shouldn't feel alone, because a lot of the National League probably feels the same way when it comes to the Redbirds. Forget the fact that manager Tony La Russa changes the lineup so much it would take a computer to figure out a combination he hasn't used. The Red Sox will have to figure out how to play against players most of either league has ever seen.

And you have to keep in mind that even a lot of the Redbirds' regulars have just taken on said role this season. For instance, Rick Ankiel, Ryan Ludwick, Skip Schumaker, or, in other words, the entire outfield, plus bench players. About the only thing any opposing knows for sure when it comes to these guys is that you aren't taking any extra bases.

The minor league connection threads through the pitching as well, at first, the bullpen, and now it has infected (sometimes in a good way) the starting rotation. As stated, a lot of pleasant surprises, although Cardinal Nation might be less stressed if some of these well-liked players could get a little more experience in the minors before putting everyone on the edge of a cardiac event every time La Russa creates a novel lineup or heads for that mound with a look like the wheels are turning in overdrive.

But since the Cards' roster listing is changing like the New York Stock Exchange scrolling board, maybe we should quit trying to figure it out and leave that gargantuan task to the Boston Red Sox. Let them have to deal with facing Memphis, Springfield, and St. Louis, all at the same time.

If this was anything other than professional baseball, you would probably say the St. Louis Cardinals organization is nothing more than a bunch of dirty birds.

This, because of how quickly on-again, off-again major leaguer Brad Thompson was utililzed in yesterdays game against the Kansas City Royals. Short on even the short list of pitchers, the Cardinals activated Brad Thompson to pitch. Putting it simply, the Cards needed an arm.

Thompson's role in yesterday's game was, of course, to pitch well, to try to help the team win, but of equal importance, he needed to fill the void left by Todd Wellemeyer and Wellemeyer's replacement, Anthony Reyes, both out with elbow maladies. (Thompson had just come off the DL, rehabbing from problems with his own elbow.)

After five innings of solid pitching, Thompson was relieved by Jason Isringhausen, having given up only two runs and with the Cards down by one. That's not bad for any starting pitcher, figuring your team needs to score at least a few to win, anyway. The Cards did not win, the Royals tacking on a couple more runs on a homer off of Chris Perez in the ninth.

Thompson got word in the locker room right after the game: He was to report immediately to the minors once more.

Hmm. After getting dispatched like that after pitching so well, most folks would probably say: Well that's a fine how-do-you-do. But not Thompson, who when speaking to reporters, had to break the news himself, that he was no longer needed with the major league club. And at that moment, the surrounding reporters, who can be quite crass at times, and who have nothing invested in that circular mound of dirt, fell into stunned silence, for just long enough so that you could feel Thompson's disappointment flow through them, then the TV cameras, and into the living rooms of Cards fans.

Thompson's dejected appearance, combined with his boyish looks, gave him the appearance of a youngster who had just been picked last to play, did well on the field, then was told by the other kids that they didn't want him around any more. But instead of throwing a fit, he stood there, making the announcement that a Cardinals' front office staffer should've been making, and then, like a man, explaining how the demotion was a part of the business of baseball.

Explaining why he was there pitching. Explaining why he was no longer needed. Explaining, and maybe biting his lip a little (who could blame him), that how everything went down concerning his five inning stay in St. Louis was acceptable, in so many words, educating players "on the verge" of getting called up, and players "on the verge" of getting sent down, and players who are approaching this point in their careers, and anyone who ever wondered how badly it would suck to suffer such a seemingly unappreciative moment in a baseball career.

If they haven't already, Cardinal Nation ought to be embracing Brad Thompson for how well he represented himself and the team.

In a game where we have learned to hesitate before promoting the idolization of "certain" mega-star behaviors, and while I wouldn't always want my kids to read Brad Thompson's lips while he's at work on the mound at times, I wouldn't mind the kids hearing Thompson's post-game interview, even if at this point they can't quite fully appreciate it. Because what Thompson may have unwittingly taught goes far beyond anything that can be accomplished on the ball field.

The Kansas City Royals stunned the Cardinals and Cardinal Nation in their 4-1 afternoon victory today at Busch Stadium.

Brad Thompson pitched five solid innings, filling in for Anthony Reyes, who went on the DL with elbow problems. Thompson had just come off the DL, and gave up only two runs.

Jason Isringhausen pitched three innings in relief, a bit of a surprise, and held the Royals during his outs.

The only Cardinals hits came from Aaron Miles and Rick Ankiel, the latter hitting a solo home run.

Zack Greinke went seven innings for the Royals, picking up the victory.

The Royals put the game out of reach in the ninth, scoring two more off of Chris Perez, specifically, a two-run homer by M. Teahen, putting the Royals up 4-1.

Joakim Soria, who had successfully shut down the Cardinals in the ninth inning of each of the first two games of the series, shut them down once more, his third save in as many days.

Nothing but worry for Cards fans. First, for the original starting pitcher, Todd Wellemeyer, who developed soreness in his right elbow. But when it was decided to let Wellemeyer skip a start in the rotation, let Anthony Reyes come out of the pen to take on the Royals in an afternoon game, another problem surfaced.

Reyes reported soreness in his pitching elbow, noticed during work in the bullpen. The Cards' medical staff didn't like the situation, so to be sure of Reyes's health, sat him down, too, on the DL.

Enter Brad Thompson, who was only around long enough in the beginning of the season to accumulate a 1-1 record, and who also has just come off the DL for, you guessed it, bad elbow. And the worry continued onto the mound for today's game.

But suddenly, it was the fifth inning, and Thompson was still on the hill, having given up only two runs, a concise rally put together an inning earlier by the Royals, during a rough period where he couldn't get his breaking ball in order, and when he went to the fastball, was getting it up in the zone. Jose Guillen singled, scoring when Mark Grudzielanek's doubled off the wall in center. Grudzielanek then scored when Teahen singled. It took a solid 5-4-3 double play to get Thompson out trouble.

When Thompson was getting into difficulties, it seemed as if he was gripping the ball too tightly, as if his forearm was tightening up, his pitches tending to pull down and to the left, no control on the curve at all. As well, Thompson was blowing a lot of air, like he was winded. At the time, he'd thrown less than 50 pitches, and had had a couple eight-inning outings previously in the minors. Possibly, he was overcome by the heat, which can happen to anyone, at any time, regardless of how long he'd gone recently.

Five innings, however, from Thompson, a good outing, considering the long layoff he'd encountered, and the pressure on him to go for as many innings as possible, given the ever-worsening pitching situation. Braden Looper pinch-hit for Thompson in the fifth.

Have been seeing a lot of folks wanting to let everyone know that Chris Duncan isn't swinging the bat well. Duhhh.

So what's wrong?

• Biggest problem: his entire swing is set up to pull.
• improper weight transfer
• opens up front side too quickly

The "pull" issue is probably the biggest problem, because from there, all other mechanical problems are created, and tend to intensify. You could easily add shortfalls in hitting mechanics on batting speed, follow through, hitting the ball out in front of the plate, stride, etc., but  the root must be dealt with, or all those other by-products cannot be corrected.

In fact, if Duncan could get the initial phase of his stroke in order, most or all of these other issues would take care of themselves.

My couple cents worth: get in balance on a stride that doesn't commit to pulling the ball. And since working on a negative command is not efficient, make the plan: get in balance on a stride that permits you to hit through the middle or even to the opposite side.

It has become obvious, the "book" on Duncan, to either bust him inside with heat, so that even if he does get around with a powerful swing, the struck ball is likely nothing but a loud foul. Or, pitch him away, low, and slow, and slower, and, well, you know. So we see Duncan taking a batters' box position well off the plate, maybe trying to get that inside fast ball in a location that might be off the plate, but very hitable. Problem is, that's not addressing his inability to drive the ball toward the middle of the field. Since he has set up so far off the plate, he is seeing a lot more outside off-speed, which isn't going to do a power-hitter like him much good.

Unless ... he can hit through the middle with authority. And I hate to say this, but the hits he got last night weren't off of good swings. Okay, we aren't giving them back, but realistically, this is just looking like more frustration when those types of hits don't fall in.

Duncan survives as he is, struggles and all, basically, because he is such a good hitter. And a good athlete from all appearances. Add to that his hustle. These factors tell me Duncan will be just fine, if he develops a swing that doesn't require such a confining pitch selection.

So why is it so hard for Duncan to regain his successful swing? A few reasons, one of which is that he isn't going to see those pitches he can pull for his optimum power swing. It just isn't going to happen unless there's a pitching mistake. Otherwise, Duncan will end up either "pulling off" the pitch, or, if he lays off his perfect pitch, he will take a lot of strikes and be forced to swing from behind in most counts, which doesn't lead to lot of production.

Another reason for Duncan's lack of success is that there is an underlying factor to how he approaches correcting mechanics. So, pick your hitting problem, any one you like, and set Duncan out to correcting it. Won't work. And the reason it won't work is that "hitting through the middle" issue.

Final analysis and fix: Duncan, as he is currently, cannot have success with his swing because it is obsolete according to the "book." He is having tremendous difficulty with his engrained hitting habits, which will not work against a decent pitcher. As stated, he is a good athlete, so he can struggle along and still contribute, but cannot fix things at the major league level. In order to get a good swing back in line with what will work at this highest level of competition, he must form new habits, which is time intensive, but is much more productive than trying to break old habits.

Of course, it would be difficult to get a major leaguer to mess with what has taken to the top level, but athletes who falter and return often accomplish relearning an aspect of their game, and come back even better than before. And of course, some don't. There is no guarantee.

Hitting through the middle, in my estimation, is the only way Chris Duncan will attain the level of which is capable. And make no mistake, he is capable. A lot of this type of adjustment is mental, a sort of open-mindedness that allows you to, for instance, do something as basic as "wait, wait, wait, explode on the ball" with the intent of driving it through the middle, or near the middle. This should help a lot with staying back productively longer with the hips, so that when the swing does come through, it is with good bat speed as well.

Duncan does a great job of keeping his head still and down on the ball, which is probably how he can hit the ball at all to this point. To me, that's the starting point of any good hitting. With a "quiet" head, you can swing like a proverbial rusty, old gate and still have some success. Without stillness of the head, and a head down and on the ball, you got "whoosh." Duncan is okay in this respect.

That being said, he needs to "let go" of his urge to pull, a mental trick which he will need to figure out, something can tell himself that permits himself to take a totally different approach. And when he allows himself to drive the ball more toward the middle, things will change for the better. You'll know this is beginning to occur when starts driving the ball to the left-center field alley. And he will not hit for the same power you are used to seeing, not for a while. Yet that too, will come, after he adjusts.

The biggest obstacle to Duncan's correction to hitting right now is the fact that is at the major league level right now. It's almost as if he has to put any "fixing" on the back burner while he does whatever he can to help the team now.

It is possible Duncan will find his way at the major league level, but unlikely. I, for one, would like to see him go back to some level of the minors just so he can get the proper allocation of time he needs to devote to this New Habit Project. Remember, don't break old habits, form new ones. And at the minor league, the push to produce won't interfere with his working on his mechanics.

So don't tell me Duncan's not hitting, like we haven't noticed. It's not like he doesn't care. I do believe folks got Chris Duncan all wrong, and ought to be supporting his efforts, not matter how he actually gets his bat back in order.

In the sixth inning of last night's game, Ryan Ludwick attempted to tag up at second base on a fly ball to deep left field. Jose Guillen would catch the ball at the warning track and fire to third base.

Ludwick was out sliding on a close play.

Strategy. Okay, six of one, half a dozen of the other, but as long the risk isn't too outlandish, I tend to agree with aggressive base running. Forcing the defense to be perfect will oftentimes produce enough pressure to force mistakes. Unfortunately for Ludwick, Guillen made no mistake. In Ludwick's defense, it took a perfect throw to get him.

But the potential solution here is too use a more appropriate slide in this situation. Ludwick might've chosen better, as this was no bang-bang play. Guillen, the Busch Stadium sellout crowd, and entire viewing fandom all new Ludwick was tagging up on the ball. That he used the wrong slide probably got by most folks. And keep in mind, that had Ludwick employed a different sliding technique, he very well still might not have been safe.

The slide, in my opinion, that Ludwick should've executed is called a hook slide, whereby a base runner falls away to one side or the other of the base he is approaching. In this case, Ludwick would've had to extended his left leg outward toward the home plate side of third base, laying as far over as possible and still "hook" the bag with his right foot. His right leg would sort of drag along, bent at the knee, allowing the top of the right foot to contact the bag. The left arm is usually held high for balance while the right hand and arm reach to the right, following the right foot to the bag in case of an overslide. A hook slide to the right side of the bad uses the same technique, with all limb assignments flip-flopped.

What Ludwick employed was a pop-up slide, so named because the base runner slides directly to the bag with lead leg (whichever he is comfortable with) extended for the most part, with a slight bend in the knee. The other leg is bent and is part of what the base runner is sliding upon, beside his backside. Ludwick performed a decent pop-up slide, in all fairness.

Now, the difference in each slide as per the Ludwick putout at third base. Pop-up slide: gets Ludwick to the base faster, but puts him much closer to the tag. Hook slide: takes Ludwick a bit longer to reach the base, but places him farther from the tag.

Considering the third baseman had to reach in order to make the tag, the hook slide might've served Ludwick better.

As well, observant fans would've noticed Cardinals' third base coach Jose Oquendo waving Ludwick toward the home plate side. A good base coach--like Oquendo--will assist a base runner in this fashion, but it requires the base runner be aware and ready to accept his help. I speculate that Ludwick never gave him a look. But okay, Ludwick decided he was going to take the quick route, and gave it a shot. I would feel better as a coach, however, if I knew Ludwick was aware of all the aforementioned techniques and strategies, and simply made a base running decision on his own. If not, then a hitter like Ludwick, who gets quite a few extra-basehits, would serve himself and the team by getting up on these very different slides, and the how's and why's and when's to employ them.

Using a hook slide to combat the Guillen throw from left should've been a consideration on a throw from this steep left field angle. There simply wouldn't be any other area to go in avoidance of such an impending tag. On throws into third from center and right, Oquendo can do the base runner a great service in directing them left, right, or straight in, employing big, swooping double-armed waves. This does require Oquendo to decide pretty fast, as a late signal doesn't do much for a base runner barreling toward the bag.

Still, I have no problem with the fact that Ludwick was aggressive, and in fact, I do like that strategy, especially on a team-wide basis. And Ludwick may well have made about the best decision on the slide that a base runner could. So I put in my alternative strategy, with solution attached, because I don't like sports writing and sports blogging that gripes, but with no real understanding of what they're griping about, or worse, how to fix it, or at least try. With that said, I submit this hook sliding technique. No biggie, because in this blog, I'm 4thebirds.

Brad Thompson will pitch in Thursday's afternoon game versus the Kansas City Royals, replacing Anthony Reyes in the rotation, according to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Reyes had inflammation in his pitching elbow, and was scratched at the last moment.

The Cardinals are attempting to avoid a sweep in the I-70 series. In a few weeks, the Cardinals will travel to Kansas for another three-game set with the Royals, at Kauffman Park.

Just as the Royals executed good baseball offense in their one-run victory yesterday, the Cardinals showed off the same in the first frame of tonight's game. After Braden Looper shut down the Royals in their first at bat, Skip Schumaker lead off with a single up the middle.

Thus started the offensive strategy and execution. Two-hole hitter, Aaron Miles, spelling Cesar Izturis tonight, stroked a single to right field on a hit-and-run, Schumaker stealing on the play, and, advancing to third. Schumaker then scored on a sacrifice fly deep to right field off the bat of Ryan Ludwick.

The inning sputtered after that, but the Cardinals desire to run was apparent, with Rick Ankiel at the plate, another hit-and-run was attempted, Miles stealing. Ankiel popped out, Miles hustling back to first base. Glaus then grounded out on an excuse-me swing, ending the inning. But the Cardinals intent to run was clear. The strategy might've been put into the works by manager Tony La Russa, as Royals catcher John Buck has not thrown a base runner out on a steal attempt yet.

In the bottom of the third inning, Adam Kennedy singled, and it appeared he was itching to steal second base, but before he had a chance, Schumaker grounded hard to the shortstop, the Royals pulling off a perfect 6-4-3 double play.

The fourth inning brought up a potential long-ball inning for the Redbirds with Ludwick, Ankiel, and Glaus due up. They faced the Royals starter, Brian Bannister, who had been rolling along okay. Ludwick grounded out, but Ankiel hit a drive up the middle for a single. Glaus then flew out, Ankiel still trying to advance from first base. Chris Duncan had a chance to improve his troubled swing, somehow pulling an outside pitch for a single to right field. Jason Larue cracked another pitch through the box, Bannister getting a piece of it, and when Royals' second baseman M Grudzielanek couldn't field the ball cleanly and step on second base for an easy force out to end the inning, a hustling Duncan slid into the bag safely. Ankiel scurried home with the go-ahead run, the Cardinals going up 2-0.

There was a slight scare in the top of the fifth inning when Looper deflected a hard hit ball off the bat of M Teahen. Looper fell away, backward, toward the rubber, almost down to mound dirt, throwing up his hands in self-defense more than anything. The ball deflected to the ground and Looper scrambled to make the putout, throwing to Duncan at first base.

At the end of five innings, both Looper and Bannister were sailing along, the two-run lead precarious at this juncture. The Cardinals made some noise in the sixth when a routine fly ball off the bat of Ludwick fell to the outfield turf untouched, Royals' center fielder D. DeJesus losing the ball in the dusk sky. The advantage was squandered, however, when Ludwick was thrown out trying to tag up and advance to third base on an Ankiel fly ball, left fielder, Jose Guillen throwing him out with a strike from the warning track. The inning withered away.

Looper became frustrated in the seventh when the Royals scored their first run, a run that might have never happened if a close play at first base had been ruled an out.

Up 2-1 in the seventh, the Cardinals couldn't quite take advantage of another miscue by the Royals. LaRue had singled, and when pinch-hitter Cesar Izturis lined to Bannister on the mound. Bannister had LaRue doubled off of first base on the hard hit ball, but overthrew, the ball bouncing off the rolled-up infield tarp. LaRue scampered to third base before a Royal player could recover the mis-thrown ball. The Cardinals, however, failed to get LaRue home, Kennedy lining out to left field.

Kyle McClellan came on in relief for Looper in the eighth, and the Royals proceeded to take the 23-year old deep, twice, D. DeJesus and Alex Gordon both hammering up-zone pitches for homers to right field. DeJesus's home run barely made it over the wall, but Gordon's was a no-doubt blast, the collective heart of Cardinal Nation sinking with the crack of the bat.

Royals' skipper Trey Hillman sat down Bannister, putting in reliever Ramon Ramirez. Now down by a run, Schumaker singled to left field, giving the Cards yet another opportunity to build a rally from which to tie or take the lead. Miles kicked the potential rally into serious with a hard-hit single to right field, Schumaker wisely sticking to second base. Ludwick lined out to left fielder, the base runners unable to advance.

Hillman then gave the nod to left-handed reliever, R. Mahay, bringing him on to face the left-handed swinging Ankiel. Known to be tough on lefty hitters, Mahay struck out Ankiel, putting the pressure squarely back on the Cardinals, in the form of Glaus. With the count run full with two outs, Glaus grounded out t shortstop, the Cardinals wasting a good opportunity, leaving themselves with the job of hold and score, from one half-inning to the next, respectively.

Ryan Franklin and the Redbirds defense held the Royals in the ninth, giving them a shot at a comeback in their last at bats, reminiscent of the previous night.

Hillman went to their closer again, bringing in Joakim Soria.

Duncan lead off, continuing to struggle at the plate, his swing set up to pull only, and with this swing, grounded out to short for the first out. LaRue jumped on the first Soria pitch, flying out to center field. Izturis took a last-chance at bat, grounding out to short, the Cards going down on another one-run game, 3-2.

In tonight's game, Braden Looper was called out for interference after Royals catcher John Buck was blocked by Looper as he tried to throw out base runner Chris Duncan.

Duncan was stealing second base on the play, so the batter, Looper, is called out and the umpire then can automatically call out the base runner, whether he thinks he might've made the base safely or not.

The umpire's decision  was proper, for fans who didn't quite understand this rarely called play.

Obviously, this isn't the entire official rule on the play, but 4thebirds welcomes anyone who has the particulars on this unusual (or pros, anyway) occurrence.

More woes for the Cards' pitching staff as recently activated Anthony Reyes now has difficulties.

As it was, Reyes was going to replace Todd Wellemeyer in Thursday's start versus the Kansas City Royals. Now the word is that Reyes has inflamation in his pitching elbow, to the point that he needed examination by the team's medical staff.

Reyes admitted soreness, but thought he could pitch through it. The team doctor differs. Now Reyes will undergo further examination and the Cardinals will need to make another decision on who will replace the replacement. Now we're into deeper rumor, but what's floating around is that Brad Thompson may come off the DL and get the start. Nothing confirmed.

Chris Carpenter -- Good news. A second doctor's opinion has confirmed the Cardinals' organizations' doctor's diagnosis that further surgery on Carpenter's elbow is unneeded. The Redbirds' former ace can now continue with his rehab in the minors, and while he will not come back to the majors as soon as expected, there is optimism about his returning some time prior to the end of the season.

Todd Wellemeyer -- The word now is that Wellemeyer is going to miss another turn on the rotation due to soreness in his elbow. Recently activated Anthony Reyes will take his place on Thursday night versus the Royals. It is not known at this time if Wellemeyer will go on the DL. This is a bit forboding, considering how many Cards pitchers have had difficulties this season.

Matt Clement -- The written word, going around most of the main sportswriters columns, is that Clement is doing well, but may take a while longer to reach a level where he can be considered to return to the major league level. Some of this conjecture is due to data on his fast ball, which depicts he is not throwing into the low 90s, where it its felt he will need to be in order to make an impact on the major league hitters.

Mark Mulder -- Still rehabbing at the AA level in Springfield, Mulder is said to be on track and almost ready for a call-up. And this, without any pushing or pressure to get ahead of a reasonable rehabilitation pace. This represents some good news where much of the news regarding Cardinals pitchers is downcast.

Jason Isringhausen -- If you blinked, you might've missed the fact that the former Cards closer pitched one inning in relief in the I-70 series opener against the Kansas City Royals. Izzy came in the night with the Cards down a run, in a position where it was highly unlikely he could muster a loss, and with a genuine shot at a win, or at least, in the case the Cards would've caught up, to hand off to another reliever. His outing was good, and fans are hoping his progress continues.

Braden Looper -- Probably the best Cardinals pitcher at this juncture, his last game was his first complete, a win. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, is how he might want to handle his current situation.

Joel Pineiro -- In a frustrating loss to the Royals last night, Pineiro did pitch an excellent seven innings, keeping pace with the opposition while giving up only one run.

The I-70 series "rivalry" opener took place last night at Busch Stadium, the Kansas City Royals edging the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1.

Both starting pitchers weren't giving up much, each allowing only one run in seven innings or work. The Royals' Kyle Davies would end up with the victory, but his match-up with the Cardinals' Joel Pineiro proved to be a test of wills. Davies ended up scattering five hits, while Pineiro permitted seven. (Pineiro was a last minute assignment to start, switching spots with Braden Looper in order to better suit the strategy of upcoming game match-ups.)

The Cardinals only run came in the third inning after Cesar Izturis stretched a single into a double,  then advanced to third base on a Skip Schumaker single. Brendan Ryan then grounded into a doubleplay, but Izturis scored.

The Royals tied the game in the top of the fifth with some sound offensive strategy. With one out, Gload singled, then advanced when Davies helped his own cause, sacrificing Gload to second base with a well-placed bunt. From scoring position, Gload scored on a Dejesus single to center field. Basic baseball, well-executed, and the Royals scored the tying run.

It wasn't until Ron Villone came on to relieve Pineiro to start the eighth inning that the Royals scored what would amount to the game-winning run.  With one out, Royal rookie MikeAviles homered into the Royals' left field bullpen, a solo shot that turned out to be the game-winner. After getting one more out, Russ Springer cleaned up the inning with one pitch, get J. Guillen to fly out. 

Ron Mahay took over on the hill for  Davies, taking down Schumaker, Ryan, and Ludwick in order.

Cardinal Nation then welcomed back Jason Isringhausen, who had been on the DL for an injured hand, plus getting his psyche in order. Izzy did well on his comeback. One Royal reaching on an inflield error. Izzy hit one batter, but otherwise got three outs on a foul out, a fly out, and a ground out.

In their last-chance at bat, the Cards went down without making any noise against Royals' closer Joakim Soria. Rick Ankiel struck out, Troy Glaus flew out, and Chris Duncan line out.

When the New York Mets hit St. Louis for a four-game set, starting on the last day of this month and continuing into the first days of July, former manager Willie Randolph won't be at the helm.

Randolph and two other coaches were fired somewhere around midnight by the Mets organization. Interim replacements will cover their next west coast games.

For the last month, rumors have been flying about the potential heave-ho, the Mets not performing nearly as well as expected after a successful run two seasons ago. That Randolph was fired was not surprising, although many feel the problem with the Mets was not his fault. Reportedly, if the Mets didn't win, and win immediately, Randolph would be let go.

But this scenario, Randolph handed his walking papers, is a chance for baseball fans to see how higher-echelon staff sometimes operates, and it can be quite cutthroat, harsh, and can reek of scapegoat techniques. Or, the move to eliminate Randolph can be seen as appropriate baseball management in action. Only the fans can decided how they feel about such a circumstance.

Questionable aspects of the Randolph firing:

• Not only did the Mets win, givng Randolph a sort of "dugout sanctuary," but who would want to play the ogre, firing a man on Father's Day. That would put the "hook man" in same infamous category as the Grinch.
• That Randolph was fired during the midnight hour was no mistake. There just isn't much press around to record reaction that might put those responsible for the firing in a bad light.
• Coast to coast actions like this distance a lot of the negativity, the loyal local fans pretty much cut off from demonstration and immediate media comment. Can't hear the gripes of the pro-Randolph fans if they're all the way on the other side of the country.
• If insulting Randolph was part of the plan, waiting to fire him until he had traveled a few thousand miles and just started a series would certainly grind the man.
• Firing Randolph even though they'd last night's game, and most of their recent games, heightens the suspicion that the timing of this firing may have been rushed in panic. Think about this one, fans, because a lot can get lost in translation. While everyone is saying, "They fired Willie, and after they won, too," you have to ask yourself why? Why now? When the Mets were winning? Answer: if you had intended on firing the man anyway, for whatever reason, you had better do it before the team gets hot and wins even more, because if that happens, you will draw exponentially more ire from the fans. Not only would you look like a fool, you would look very mean-spirited, penalizing a man for doing well, which might point out that the firing was more of a personal issue than simply wins and losses.

Something does smell funky here, and the fact that the odor is sifting from baseball ownership in New York makes the smell very familiar.

Given all these suspicions, one has to also admit that the firing could be construed as appropriate. After all, in baseball, it is not uncommon for the boss to get the axe when the team fails, even if it isn't his fault. But what seems to have a lot of fans riled about the Randolph scenario, is that between the lines of organizational double-talk, there seems to have run some type of plot, a witchhunting scenario, and regardless of the Mets' true problems, whatever they may be, making Randolph the scapegoat is not only underhanded, but could worsen the Mets situaiton. Of course, there's not too many places to go for that team but up, but we'll let the Monday morning folks glom onto that one.

Cardinals fans will still get to see the Mets in St. Louis, but are now cheated out of getting to see the manager that was responsible for much of their success, as well as a one-time great ballplayer. And in St. Louis, fans appreciate great games, great plays, great ballplayers, great effort, no matter who is the deserving party.

Willie Randolph got fired. Okay, it's baseball, it happens, but it's not so much that the Mets' ownership did it, as it is how they did it. And the way they did it might just point to the underlying problem within the Mets' organization.

The St. Louis Cardinals have announced that catcher Yadier Molina has been released from the hospital.

Molina had stayed overnight at Missouri Baptist Hospital, mainly as a precautionary measures, after a violent collision at home plate with Phillies' base runner, Eric Bruntlett. At the time, Molina complained of neck pain.

The diagnosis was a mild concussion.

The Cardinals as yet have not called up an extra catcher from any minor league affiliate, and the word is that for now, they don't intend to, going into tonight's game against the Kansas City Royals with one healthy catcher in Jason LaRue.

To speculated, LaRue would more than likely be catching probable starting pitcher Braden Looper, in tonight's match-up. Molina's next participation is sort of "up in the air" at the moment, but manager Tony La Russa most likely will let him sit out tonight. Whether Molina is ready for any catching duties, or even to pinch-hit if needed, would have to be evaluated almost on an hourly basis.

Never saw Colby Rasmus play. Never even seen him in a highlight. But as I hear, Rasmus, is touted as the Cardinals number one prospect. So what?

Don't care about the hype so much as I'm wondering why he hasn't been called up to the Big Show. Why not? It seems his left-handed bat would've come in handy on several occasions, but the Cards opted to make different moves. Why?

As I'm hearing it, in articles and blogs and web sites expounding about this 21-year old who has done quite well working his way through the minors, his "numbers" have been a bit off this year. But his Memphis manager says Rasmus had hit pretty well, just a lot of  "at-em" balls. I've seen this before, where there's a player that creams the all every time and somehow ends with no hits, while another player hits a flare here, gets an unusual hop there, and goes three-for-five, or better. And this can happen for weeks on end. A bit of simple math will tell you that if you replace only half of Rasmus's well-hit outs, he's probably having a great year, just as good as he ever has.

And there's the rub. You have a player like Rasmus in this situation, and his manager knows he's hitting the ball well, and the minor league fans know it, and anyone that can tune into the MLB web sites knows it, but amongst the organizational decision-makers, the final word is that the guy remains in the minors. Why? Because who's going to chance voting him up and chancing that he might lace the ball all over Busch Stadium, but made all outs. It seems like it's possible that no one wants to get saddles with the responsibility of making a wrong decision, even if it's actually the right decision in disguise.

There also seems to be an unreasonable worry about the psyche of a lot of these players in the St. Louis organization as well. It's like: "Oh boy, let's find the most perfect situation to bring this guy in, or that guy in, so there's almost no chance of a tough break, just in case he flips out and can never recover mentally." No, if that's going to happen, it's going to happen, and has more to do with the individual's mental makeup and practically nothing with whether he's put in a game or not, or, brought up to the bigs or not.

And yes, all this is relevant to Rasmus, because he could, and should, be brought up, as there have been and will be needs for the Cardinals to get a good left-handed swinger in the lineup, or as a pinch-hitter. Believe me, if this kid gets called up, and hits the same kind of line drives directly into the gloves of opposing teams, he's not going to be scarred for life. So if he gets sent back down, as is reasonable as the situation will tend to dictate, he will have a renewed motivation to do well and improve at every opportunity. In short, the up and down road to the bigs and back is going to make him "hungry."

Case in point: Brendan Ryan.

No one can tell me that guys like Parisi and Mather aren't chomping at the bit to get back to Busch Stadium. And if a player should to hang them up, so be it. He was too fragile anyway, in that case, or maybe just plain right, with a proper assessment of his lack of ability to play on the major league level.

So Colby Rasmus, yeah, he needs a shot. Maybe not at this minute, because Pujols is out and the Cards actually need Duncan to fill, even with his struggling bat. But Pujols will return to the lineup, and depending on the unpredictable situtions involving pitching on this team, there will probably come a time when Rasmus makes sense, unlucky line drives or not.

And Rasmus should be called up before the end of summer, because afterward is no big stretch for anyone. In September, half the minors comes to overcrowd the benches.

I say, when needed, Rasmus is ready, if only for a few series, to get his motivations in order for the big leagues. And it wouldn't matter if he'd been up before or not. The point is, he didn't get the call when it counted this season.

Rasmus may not make a big mark when his day comes, but everyone needs to recognize that he needs to get a few days on the job for the sake of his development. Right now, no matter what is said, a guy's going to take the "non-action" by the Cardinals organization in regards to constantly passing him up on callups as a vote of no confidence.

Hey, if we could wait around for weeks for Schumaker to get his first hit of the year, we can do the same for Rasmus. I believe Rasmus will turn out okay, just like Schumaker did. 

Show-Me Series, I-70 Series, if you've got a rivalry, the fans of the Royals and the Cardinals got a name for it. And the fun thing about rivalries is that the current team records don't  seem to matter.

The inter-league match-up will be the first for both teams this season, the first three of six total games to be hosted by St. Louis, at the ballpark by the Mighty Mississippi. A few weeks later, the rivalry will continue with a three-game set down I-70 in Kansas City, at Kauffman Stadium.

Save any bad weather (knock on a wood bat) and /or earthquakes, I will be at Busch Stadium on Tuesday for the first game of the series. Braden Looper is the probable starting pitcher for the Cards, which should make St. Louis fans happy, considering the Redbirds usually lose the first game of any new series. This would be a bonafide chance to correct that annoying tendency.

According the MLB Royals web site, they will counter with Kyle Davies, who sports an ERA beneath 2 but and perfect record, although it is short, at 2-0. The site also features articles describing the Royals bullpen as a bit disoriented, mainly due to an injury to Leo Nunez, a successful set-up man. There are other injuries, and when you put them together, it has made for some creative shifting about my Royals' manager Trey Hillman.

The Cardinals are already used to the perpetual shuffle of pitchers (and more recently, position players) due to injury. The almost weekly incidents of injuries have all but caused the opening of  a new transportation line between St. Louis and its triple-A affiliate team in Memphis. The list and descriptions of DLs, rehabs, call-ups and send-downs is much longer that this blog entry, for instance. Suffice it to say, the Cardinals have been in a similar boat to the one which now carries the Royals, only maybe in rougher waters.

Put these factors together, and you can see how the team records may not give a true indication of how these teams might match-up. Add the fact that this is a now a semi-long rivalry and you've got quite a bit of doubt. The Cards may hold the edge on odds, however, due to Looper's consistency, especially coming off a great performance in his last outing--his first complete game, a win. Not so sure the lopsided numbers on the won-loss for the duration of the I-70 series means as much this time, but an American League team playing in a national league ball park does put them at some disadvantage, both for the unfamiliarity and non-use of the DH.

Word from the St. Louis Cardinals official website is that Cardinals' medical staff has stated that Yadier Molina has a mild concussion and will remain in a hospital overnight for observation.

St. Louis Cardinals' catcher Yadier Molina was removed from the field at Busch Stadium today on a stretcher, strapped down as a precautionary measure after a collision at home plate with a Phillies' base runner.

Molina had received a low throw from teammate Chris Duncan, who, playing first base, fielded a tough hop ground ball, then rushed a throw to home plate to attempt to cut off the Phillies lead run in an extra inning affair. At the time, the game was tied at six.

Duncan's throw was low, forcing Molina to field the ball on the short hop with a backhand style, which then forced him to have to spin hard to his right to attempt a tag play on the base runner steaming for the plate. A collision ensured, Molina taking a forearm and elbow with the momentum of a running base runner to the back of the head, then suffer a second impact when he was thrust to the ground.

Amazingly, Molina held onto the ball, the base runner called out when he ran into the gloved ball on the play. Molina pulled the ball out of the glove, holding on, then sort of feeling the right, back side of his head with ball in hand. Trainers rushed to his aid, telling him to remain still on the ground. When Molina complained of neck pain, they called in a back board and strapped him to it, immobilizing him as a medical precaution in case of more as yet unknown injury. Molina was loaded onto the back of a motorized cart and driven off the field to a standing ovation. No word on Molina's condition was known at the time of this posting.

A pair of all but identical miscues by the Philadelphia Phillies in the bottom of the tenth gave the Cards a one-run, extra-inning victory on Father's Day, 7-6.

The inning looked to be a quick one-two-three for Phillies' reliever Tom Gordon, who got Aaron Miles to fly out to center, then Ryan Ludwick to ground out to third.

But when Rick Ankiel hit a ground ball to the second baseman Chase Utley, pulling Ryan Howard far enough away from first base so that Gordon had to cover, things went south for the Phils. Utley lead Gordon with the throw, an appropriate measures, as the technique of this play demands the pitcher to stay on the move in order to make the throw easier to judge. But Gordon, for whatever reason, stopped dead in his tracks, the throw now out of reach in front of him. Doesn't matter who the official scorer gave the error to, because the mistake was made by Gordon. Additionally, Gordon's approach was all wrong, taking a track to first base that did not allow him to remain out of the baseline, where the batter will be steaming through. This off-track course also makes it extra difficult for the pitcher to receive the time and receive the throw while determining the proper footwork to touch first base (right foot, which keeps more of the body out of the hitter's running path through the base).

Troy Glaus then got or took a green light on 3-0, lining a single into left field, Ankiel taking second base. Chris Duncan was next, and with two outs, hit a ground ball to Utley, Howard again roaming in that direction, requiring Gordon to cover first base.

Once more, Gordon took a risky route to the bag, and while he didn't put on the breaks, he failed to catch Utley's throw, this one slightly behind Gordon, but very catchable. Once more, regardless of the scorekeepper's official call, the error belongs to Gordon, for flat out missing the throw. On this play, his path was worse then the first time, taking him right across the first base foul line, Duncan just missing running him down.

The way for Gordon to fix the problem is to get his path down pat, because he is quick enough to beat most hitters to the bag. Gordon needs to hustle to a spot just inside, or on the fair territory side of the first base foul line, then cut up toward first base, his field of view of both the bag and the throw as good as it's going to be from this angle. He should get his steps settled as fast as possible, so that however the play goes down, he has already put his footwork in order to recieve the throw and stomp the bag with his right foot.

Taking this "up the inside of the line" path, Gordon can make foot speed adjustment to the throw, whether it is coming from Utley or Howard. When Gordon fails to execute this technique properly, he makes the play doubly difficult on himself, given such a play is not easy even when everyone executes properly.

This "pitcher covering first" play is one that most fans can see major leagues on most teams going through the motions, just asking for disaster, a day like today for Gordon and the Phillies serving as a perfect example, as the non-execution of this very "doable" play was so bad, twice, that it makes it almost impossible to believe that Gordon or the Phillies staff have stressed the importance of this basic baseball play. Again, not easy, but one that if messed up, should not be for the reasons found in the pair of Utely-to-Gordon mis-plays. Shame, twice.

But we are 4thebirds, so we'll learn from the Phillies mistakes, take the win in which they pitched in to help us with, and move on to the next game.

In a Father's Day ballgame at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals played host to the Philadelphia Phillies in the rubber game of their three-game set. Both teams started the day sporting 41-29 records.

Still in the throes of rotation problems, Tony La Russa sent Mitchell Boggs to the mound for his second major league start. Phil's manager, Charlie Manual, countered with Brett Myers, who has had some rough outings in the last few weeks. Boggs won his major league debut last week.

The Phillies wasted no time getting on the board, scoring one run in the first inning when Ryan Howard doubled home Jason Rollins. The Cardinals answered in the bottom of the first, scoring two. (A random analysis of an inning features this half of the first frame in the preceding blog entry.) A pair of doubles--back to back--lead to half-inning comeback, Ryan Ludwick doubling off the right-center field wall to bat in Skip Schumaker (who lead off the game with a double), then Rick Ankiel doubling off the left field wall to score Ludwick.

The Cardinals added three more in the third. This time the hits were much bigger, Schumaker cranking a solo homer into the right field bullpen. And after Aaron Miles reached base, Troy Glause took one deep to right-center field, the two-run shot bringing the score to 5-1.

Boggs had a rough first couple of innings, but settled in after that, all the way until the fifth with a four run lead, when the Phillies started a rally, loading up the bases with Rollins, Werth, and Chase Utley. Howard singled Rollins and Werth home on a single to right field, Utley advancing to third base on the two-RBI hit. La Russa then called in Kyle McClellan to try to put out the fire, but Pat Burrell was still too hot in the series, providing an RBI single of his own, batting in Utley to bring the Phillies within one run at 5-4.

Myers remained in the game for the Phils, getting the top of the Cards lineup to ground out, one-two-three.

McClellan continued his relief effort in the top of the sixth, allowing only one Phillie to reach base, Werth singling, then left on base.

In the bottom of the sixth, Ankiel lead off with a triple off an odd angle in the right field wall. Glaus popped out, failing to get Ankiel in, but Chris Duncan did, on a ground ball that Phillies' first baseman Howard erred upon, Ankiel scoring easily. Ankiel would have scored even if Howard had fielded the ball cleanly, based upon the nature of the batted ball in this case. In somewhat of an odd move, La Russa pinch-hit Braden Looper for McClellan. Looper beat out an infield single on a ground ball down the third base line, but neither him nor Duncan scored when Cesar Izturis grounded out to Howard to end the inning. The Looper pinch-hit seemed appropriate, as Looper has proved he swings well, and such a move at this juncture meant La Russa did not have to burn up a position player just to pinch and exchange a pitcher (meaning McClellan).

Chris Perez came on to face the Phillies in the seventh, asking for trouble by walked the leadoff batter, Howard, who stole second base after Burrell struck out, mainly, off of Perez, who didn't even look over to hold him close at first base. Perez got Geoff Jenkins to fly out and struck out Dobbs to shut down another Phillies scoring chance.

Madson came on in relief for the Phils, striking out the side, Schumaker, Miles, and Ludwick.

Perez got in trouble in the top of the eighth after striking out one batter and getting a pinch-hitter (Victorino) to pop out. Rollins triple to right field, Ludwick just missing on a diving attempt. Perez then walked Werth. La Russa went to the pen, bringing in left-hander Randy Flores to face Utley. Flores walked Utley to load the bases, turning the inning into a real pressure-cooker. Flores then walked Howard, forcing in Rollins to bring the Phillies within one run at 6-5. La Russa was not about to let the game get away on Flores, bringing in Russ Springer. Unfortunately, Springer walked Burrell, bringing in the tying run. Springer remained on the hill with bases still loaded, facing Geoff Jenkins, getting ahead of him and getting a strikeout on a drop third strike, catcher Yadier Moline touching home plate for the force, the Cardinals avoiding total disaster, the score tied.

The Phillies put J.C. Romero on the mound to try to keep the score tied through the bottom of the eighth. He did so, putting the Cards down in order.

In the top of the ninth, Ryan Franklin got the nod as closer, taking over for Springer. Dobbs created trouble, leading off the inning with a single to center. Coste then sacrificed Dobbs to second with a bunt, and Victorino singled to right, advancing pinch-runner E. Bruntlett to third.

Then, a scary moment, when on a Rollins ground ball to first baseman Chris Duncan, a funny hop caused Duncan to rush his fielding and throw to home plate, Molina catching a short hop, spinning to his right, and directly into a full-on collision with Bruntlet. Molina held onto the ball, Bruntlet the second out, but Molina was down and unmoving for several minutes.

After some precautionary first aid measures, Molina was taken from the field, strapped down to a backboard, the sold out crowd at Busch Stadium dead silent, then in a standing ovation as Molina departed the field.

Jason LaRue took over behind the plate, and after the delay, Franklin hit Werth with a pitch, loading up the bases once more. The next batter flew out, however, and the Cardinals took the 6-6 tie into the bottom of the ninth.

The Phillies brought on Durbin to face Larue, the Cards now short in the bullpen and on the bench. LaRue popped out foul to the catcher. Brian Barton pinch hit, striking out. Izturis hit a short pop fly to left field, singling, but died on first when Schumaker hit a comebacker to the pitcher.

Not the best of situations for a team short on players, the game headed into extra innings, and everyone wondering who would replace Frankliln on the mound. LaRussa put recently activated Anthony Reyes in to face Howard, who flew out to Ludwick in right. Izuris came up with a beauty on a ground ball deep in the hole, throwing out pinch-hitter Feliz for the second out. Jenkins came up with two outs, grounding out Duncan to Reyes covering.

The Cardinals took their chance to end the game in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs, Ankiel reached on a throwing error with the pitcher covering. Then, on a 3-0 count, Glaus stroked a single to left field, Ankiel to second base.

Lightning then struck twice, not on a hit, but on a Duncan ground ball to the Phillies second baseman, who threw a bit behind the pitcher covering, who missed, for the second time, Ankiel sprinting around third base and scoring on the miscue, the Cardinals winning on Father's Day, 7-6, in 10 innings.

The following is a plus/minus on the bottom half of the first inning versus the Phillies, facing pitcher Brett Myers.

+ Skip Schumaker takes second base on a leadoff single to left field and toward the foul line, challenging the fielding and arm of Phillies  left fielder, Pat Burrell.

+ Aaron Miles advances Schumaker to third base on a ground ball to the right side.

+ Schumaker scores on a double by Ryan Ludwick to right-center field. Obviously deep enough, even if the hit is a single right at an outfielder, or a fly ball of similar depth, the Cardinals will score Schumaker.

+ Rick Ankiel drives a double off the left field wall, scoring Ludwick from second base, who reads the hit very well.

+ Troy Glaus advances Ankiel to third base on a ground ball, not to the right side of the infield, but to the right side of base runner Ankiel, allowing him to advance.

- Chris Duncan grounds out to the second baseman.

+++ All pluses this inning, with Duncan the only minus, due to making he last out of the inning. Even on the first two outs, the grade was plus, because the outs were productive. Both of the first two outs weren't scored as sacrifices, like a fly or bunt might be. However, each out was a ground ball that advanced a base runner from second base to third base. With that type of productivity, the odds are in your favor as far as scoring runs.

Former Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter has been shut down by the Cardinals organization for time being, after complaining of pain in his elbow. Carpenter has been sent for evaluation by a non-team doctor, but whether he will need more surgery remains to be determined. No timetable has been set, and the Cardinals' ace must be frustrated at this point.

In other news relative to Cards pitching, rehabers Mark Mulder and Matt Clement have both pitched a game in a minor-league doubleheader today, and are on track for another shot at the major league squad in the near future.

Jason Isringhausen was activated today, maybe sooner than he expected. The slightly earlier than planned activation may have been due to last night's heavy bullpen usage in the pitch-count intensive run-marathon for the Phillies.

Ron Villone went way past his usual amount of work. Mark Worrell didn't last, and when Russ Springer got tossed for hitting Phillies' slugger Ryan Howard, the Cards had to use Ryan Franklin as well. In order to not to use yet another reliever, Aaron Miles had to come in to pitch the ninth. Amazingly, Miles put the Phillies down in order, something none of the other pitchers had accomplished for the previous eight innings.

And so, Isringhausen may have been activated due to a sort of semi-panic. Luckily, Kyle Lohse went eight full innings, Franklin saving in the ninth.

It has been speculated that Izzy won't get thrown directly back into the closing role. Regardless of the reasoning behind however he will be utilized, it must be noted that Franklin has accomplished a save 75% of the time. Not shabby for Tony La Russa handing him the ball in the pressure-packed closing scenarios and as much as telling him: "Our closer's out, your it, go."

Franklin should remain on the ideal that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Mark Worrell and Joe Mather were sent to Memphis to rejoin the triple-A squad, leaving one more roster spot, to be filled by pitcher Anthony Reyes.

After getting trounced 20-2 last night, the Cardinals edged the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 today at Busch Stadium. Kyle Lohse had a big hand in the victory, going eight full innings, allowing only four hits, walking two, and striking out three. One of those hits was a two-run blast from Pat Burrell, who homered last night as well.

There was little doubt the Cards had something to prove today, mainly, that last night's lopsided loss was just one of those things. But since "do-overs" are not allowed at the major league level, the Cards had work with sparse scoring and make all the routine defensive plays. It didn't hurt that Cesar Izturis was a vacuum cleaner at short today, or that Adam Kennedy and Troy Glaus made what FOX announcer Mark Grace called "gems" on defense, adding that the Cardinals were "throwing some leather" today.

But Lohse was a huge factor in the victory, very much on location with all his pitches, keeping the dangerous Phillies offense off-balance, the Cards defense assisting him in holding the team that scored 20 runs less than 20 hours earlier to only two. That's usually enough for any major league team to win, even on a day when the offense can produce only three runs, as the Cards did today. The victory helped the Redbirds re-establish respect with fans and those with little patience for a team that had just had a bad game.

Pitching eight innings was a bonus for the bullpen as well. The relief corps wasn't exactly overworked, yet, but may been pushing into that territory had Lohse been knocked out in the fifth or even sixth inning. Because Lohse went as far as he did, the Cardinals have more options for tomorrow's rubber match versus the team with the best road record in baseball.

Adam Kennedy, who hadn't been getting much playing time lately, surprised fans when he hit what looked like a waste pitch over the right field wall in the first inning. It was one of two hits, and brought home Skip Schumaker, who also had two hits on the day. Schumaker scored what turned out to be the Cardinals' winning run in the third inning when Ryan Ludwick singled him home.

Ryan Franklin earned his ninth save, relieving Lohse, pitching a one-two-three inning versus Ryan Howard, Burrell, and Geoff Jenkins. Lohse improved to 8-2 with the win, Adam Eaton suffering the loss for the Phils, going to 2-4.

One of the best things about baseball is that there's always "next time."

"We'll get em tomorrow."

"Just wait'll the next game."

Or even: "Just wait till next year!"

Sounds trite, but there's a lot of truth to these phrases, much to be gained by their motivational implications, and the St. Louis Cardinals would do well to permit themselves the psychological benefits of applying one of the first two oft-spoken outbursts. Because putting it bluntly, last night, they got smeared and these utterances are about all they have to use as coping mechanisms.

Not even going to throw out a bunch of useless stats. Doesn't take a trivia geek and or an "armchair analyst" with a fave link to ESPN and MLB to figure out why the majority of fans at Busch Stadium were gone long before the remaining coaches (two were tossed) decided to let Aaron Miles (the delegated last-string pitcher) finish up on the mound so the Cards wouldn't burn up every last bullpen asset. After all, they do have to play these road-worthy Phillies a couple more times this weekend.

And thus, we reitterate one of the best things about baseball: "Just wait'll the next game."

Because for all the Redbirds' feathers strewn over the field, they can be cleaned up, and the diamond prepared for the next game, the scoreboard cleared of yesterday, a new score to behold, all tied up and waiting for the first pitch.

It started with Chase Utley, jumped to Ryan Howard, and from there is spread to Pat Burrell, a Phillie home run virus that stunned Todd Wellemeyer and the St. Louis Cardinals and the sellout Busch Stadium crowd. Who know's, the shell-shocking offensive display of three home runs in a row may even have dazed the Phillies themselves.

And there was no looking back for the Phillies.

As last night's, well, Redbirds' nightmare seemed to go on and on for 22 runs scored by the Philies, it turned out that those three first inning dingers were all the Phils needed to win the game. Pat Burrell's blast was the winning hit in a 20-2 rout.

The Phillies hit parade didn't end early, however. They tallied 21 hits on the night. Howard added one more home run.

In the 20-2 drubbing of the Cardinals on Friday night a Busch Stadium, during the eighth inning, reliever Russ Springer threw an inside pitcher that hit batter Ryan Howard. At the time, the Cardinals were down by 15 runs. Howard had hit two home runs.

Home plate umpire larry Vanover rushed out from behind catcher Jason LaRue and ejected Springer, who argued in disbelief that he'd been tossed. Manager Tony La Russa stormed out of the dugout, defending his pitcher and his team, vehemently arguing in words we can only imagine that there was no way Springer would've been intentionally throwing at Howard.

In fact, La Russa grew so heated that he got ejected by Vanover. But that didn't end the debate. La Russa carried on his beef with the umpiring crew chief McClellan.

When the bottom of the eighth came along, the Phillies relief pitcher Rudy Seanez threw a fast ball behind Brendan Ryan, a message perhaps. Cardinals' third base coach Jose Oquendo had something to say about the pitch behind Ryan, in no uncertain terms of which we can only speculate that his logical argument might've been that if you're (home plate umpire Vanover) going to throw out Springer in hasty fashion for throwing inside and hitting a batter, then why aren't you doing anything about Seanez zipping a pitch behind a batter?

In post-game interviews, both La Russa and Springer denied Howard was hit on purpose.

There's no real way to explain a 20-2 shallacking, and now that it's over, I wonder if I can retract my application to go over to MVN and write for them.

The sellout crowd at Busch Stadium thinned and thinned and thinned on an unlucky Friday the 13th for the Cardinals. There were few times for the fans to get excited. In a game that lasted almost four hours, here were the few moments of recognition the Redbirds' faithful could muster:

• Skip Schumaker's home run
• So Taguchi's plate appearance as a Phillie
• Aaron Miles's one-two-three inning as a relief pitcher

To attempt to put this Phillies rout of the Cardinals into perspective and analysis would take a novella, so we'll  break it down in one or more entries as time allows, considering the Cardinals have to play these Phillies again tomorrow at approximately 3:00 p.m.

Homestand at Busch Stadium begins with a three-game set versus the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Cardinals return to Busch Stadium tonight to begin a six-game homestand, the first three games versus the Philadelphia Phillies tonight, Saturday and Sunday; then a day off on Monday; followed by games Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday versus the Kansas City Royals.

About Johnny Cueto, the starting pitcher for the Cincinatti Reds, the FSN Midwest camera crew seemed to have spotted a tipoff in Cueto's delivery, that he may be kicking a bit higher when he throws his curve ball. This might be too slight to take to the plate, however.

A better tipoff to follow on this pitcher may be in the amount time he takes to deliver, especially from the set position. Most of the time, he barely delays long enough after coming set to make the pitch legal, but he does, and this "no-delay" delivery finds him throwing a fast ball over 90% of the time. When Cueto takes a slight hesitation, though, just a little longer in the set, just enough to notice, he delivers off-speed, mostly curves.

Like the leg kick study, the variance may not be enough to "take to the bank," or "to the plate," for our purposes. Further study is warranted, and I think the Cards pay people for that. Anyway, we're letting nothing out of the bag here, as it is highly doubtful Cueto or the Reds or even the Cardinals read much press, and if they do, it would probably be from a stat-heavy source.

It's fun for us, however, so feel free to disect for tip-offs and tendencies. And don't forget to watch for them from the Cardinals as well. Last season, I believe I found a major tipoff "leak," so to speak, concerning the Cardinals pitching, but, nothing confirmed (if such studies can ever be?). The aforementioned study went on for several games, and eventually the suspected problem went away. Don't know if it was real and the Cards figured it out, or if I was way off and wrong all along. But that's the fun of it.

What a road trip, full up ups and downs, more injuries, great comebacks for naught, big rally innings, super bullpen, and even better starts.

Surviving a nine-game road trip for the Cards was the goal, but coming out so far ahead is even better, taking each of the three series. Can't ask for much more considering the current roster dilemma the Cardinals face.

Home is good, back at Busch, downtown St. Louis, familiar and comfortable taking on the Philadelphia Phillies, who by the way, I think have the best road record in major league baseball right now. This three-game set should make for some good baseball.

And with a day off coming up on Monday, La Russa may be able to extend the pitching if need be. After the rest, the Redbirds will take on Kansas City for three more at Busch. I plan on attending at least one of those games. (It'll give me an excuse to write my "poor man's trip to the ballpark" style pieces. I know, who cares? Maybe us poor folk.)

Don't even want to think about going to Fenway, but if the nightmare does creep into your thoughts and naptime, just hope the Cards can take these next two series at home before heading into the East Coast din at Boston.

And if anyone is going to Busch for the Phillies series, I wouldn't mind some comments on your experience at the ballpark.

... Chris Duncan has done well with his return to the bigs, having some decent at-bats, but looking a little bit tentative. Although Duncan has had some good swings, he may have some work to do at that plate. The best aspect of his return: he is taking aggressive swings instead of the excuse-me type of cuts he'd been getting that led to his demotion to re-work his swing. The problem of him letting a lot of strikes go by is still a product, in my opinion, of his lack of ability to hit the ball to the opposite field. To be able to hit the other way is crucial to getting better pitches to hit. It is easy to tell he is only setting up his swing to pull. Granted, Duncan is a great hitter when he gets the type of pitch he needs to drive to the right side. But if pitchers know that's all he can do, their going to continue to toss him a steady diet of "bust em inside" and "drift em outside." This doesn't leave a lot of pitch location that's going to work out in his favor.  More at-bats are in order to verify whether Duncan is going to try to overcome the limited pitch selection, or whether he may be making a genuine effort at hitting to the opposite field with some type of authority, or even up the middle.

... I wish it was the Cardinals that had pulled off the squeeze, but credit must go to Dusty Baker and the Reds, who pulled off a perfect suicide squeeze versus a battery of Pineiro and Molina. The suicide squeeze is usually a part of La Russa's weaponry.

... Joel Pineiro made an excellent return, giving up a couple runs, but looking to be in great command of his pitches. This is a veteran Cardinals pitcher that Boggs should watch because of Pineiro's constant change of speeds, from his low-90s fast ball down to either a low-80s curve or a mid-80s straight change. Pineiro is also able to "take a little off" his fast ball; not a change-up and not his heater, but just enough to throw off the timing of the hitter. And Pineiro had command of all these pitches, until the fifth when his good stuff started to get flat and more over the plate.

... Brendan Ryan continues to play with that extra bit of "giddyup" in his play. I think Ryan really wants to remain on the major league level, and may be showing off his abilities in hopes of becoming an everyday middle infielder on another team. The latter is total speculation, but I would never fault any player for wanting to play on a regular basis. I mean, nobody puts in a lifetime worth of work at the ball park to become a pinch-hitter specialist or a utility infielder

... The end of a great road trip became more of a good road trip when the Redbirds' relievers hit a snag. Flores had a rough night, unable to follow Pineiro, Worrell, and Villone in a positive way when he walked a couple Reds, namely, Janish and Griffey Jr., the latter forcing in the lead run at the time. Phillips then hit a bases-clearing triple down the right field line and suddenly, the 2-2 tie the Cardinals had fought back for was demolished. Actually, what I didn't quite understand was why, after walking a couple in a row, TLR didn't bring in a right-hander to face Phillips.

... A return to the Chris Duncan swing in the ninth inning is still showing an unrelenting attempt to hit everything down the first base line, and like the aforementioned pitching strategy versus this struggling Redbird, a steady diet of  "low, slow, and away," and in place of that, anything low if it is slow. Every swing Duncan took found his head and front side of his body pulling away into a wide open stance. When this occurs, any good power he might've generated with his hips and is long gone, and so was this at-bat.

... The nine-game road trip was successful from the standpoint of winning each series, in order, the Nationals, Astros, and Reds. Now back to St. Louis, a late start (why today's game wasn't an afternoon affair I don't know), and a night game tomorrow versus the Phillies, whom, like the Cardinals, has a winning road record.

Going to pick on one of my favorite Cardinals today--Aaron Miles. Unfortunately for Mr. Miles, last night's lapse of base running skills gives us an excellent example of what not to do in close plays at home plate.

And now that the goof-up is over and done with, we as fans can learn from the mistake. Miles probably figured out everything that went wrong somewhere about when we was upside-down and rolling over with his spikes pointing toward the Cincinatti sky.

First of all, when heading for home plate in a situation where the potential throw may be coming, realize that most of these throws are coming from an angle whereby your view will be severely limited. In last night's case, the throw came from directly behind Miles. Now, this gives you a clue that since there's no way you can be sure of how close a play there will be, that you might want to consider sliding, just in case. To continue my sarcasm, heed this base running rule of thumb on potentially close plays at the plate: When in doubt, slide.

Teammates near home plate can help as well. As a base runner, you should always have the on-deck batter positioning himself to assist you with verbal and hand signals. In Miles case, Rick Ankiel was the on-deck hitter, and positioned himself in an acceptable fashion so that Miles could see him. In these situations, "picking up" Ankiel was what Miles should've been doing.

Other assistance can be given by any and all base runners who happen to have crossed the plate ahead of time. In last night's case, this was Skip Schumaker, who gave a better hand signal for Miles to slide, although he wasn't in the best of positions as far as line of sight for Miles. In other words, if Miles had bothered to look in the first place, he might not have seen Schumaker on this particular play.

The next problem, and this one isn't Miles's, was that the signals to an oncoming base runner at home plate where there could be a play, should come from the on-deck batter, all the time. This is because there may or may not be a base runner that has crossed the plate prior to the base runner with the potentially close play. But there will always be an on-deck hitter, so for the sake of consistency, the on-deck hitter should be used for assistance.

So Miles had made the ultimate mistake of not sliding, and base runners are often tricked by good catchers who stand by, waiting for the throw, but acting as if there is no throw coming at all. To prevent such tactics from making you look silly, apply the aforementioned rule: When in doubt, slide.

Now it's time for the What-ifs. Let's say Miles does slide, as he should have.

No guarantee Miles will be safe, but on the play last night, had he applied a strong slide, he more than likely would've knocked the catcher's left foot clear of blocking the plate, thereby allowing a "home free" slide, in plenty of time to beat the tag.

Another "what-if." Had Miles slid safely, he very well might've upset the catcher (instead of the other way around), either dislodging the ball or making him miss the throw completely. Ryan Ludwick could've the advanced to third, or possibly came around to score himself, depending on where the ball might've strayed off to, considering the following important aspect of the play that even FSN Midwest announcers Al Hrabosky and Dan McLaughlin missed. If you've seen the play, or the many replays, notice that Reds' pitcher, Cueto, is so taken in with the action of the play, he doesn't bother to back it up. On such a play, a pitcher hustles to a position in foul territory, behind the plate, in line with the throw, or where he believes an "off-throw" is heading, just in case. Cueto's play was just as sloppy as Miles's. Cueto never left the area of the mound, but got away with his mistake, so common to youth leagues where 10-year-olds are just learning how to back up a base.

These plays do matter, even when you win by a huge score like 10-0. Why? Imagine a close game, perhaps a tie game, or the chance to tie, and you have a base runner heading for home, in much the same way as Aaron Miles did last night. How important are all these aspects now?

So I've scoured Mr. Miles pretty good, here, but I'm confident, as I'd said earlier, that he figured out the mistake by the time he was on his back and rolling along the dirt. I'm confident that Miles will not make that mistake again, nor any other Cardinals' player who watched, like the rest of us, with pursed lips and sounding, "Ewwwwww."

Yeah, it, well, it sucks bigtime that Albert Pujols is out with injury, and for several weeks as we understand it. But the weird thing is, no one's freaking out over it.

Everyone is admitting it's not a good situation, but this injury thing is sort of par for the course regarding the St. Louis roster.

Star players have gone down, regular players have gone down, infielders, outfielders, starting pitchers, relievers, and so many players have exchanged uniforms with minor leaguers, the Cardinals front office might be considering adding a transportation voucher to Memphis and back.

Just look at how different the roster is now compared to opening day. It's no grand experiment that no less than eight rookies have made their major league debuts with the Cards so far.

That the Cardinals are holding up and holding their own and show no signs of folding has got to be the most intimidating factor toward opposing teams.

This scenario of injured players in all positions and varying degree of capability has become so common, that freaking out over it just won't happen. It's old hat. Been there, done that. Now, while we're waiting for the other half of the team to get well, let's play ball.

Just wondering how the Pujols' injury will affect the all-star voting.

To wit, if fans who would've voted for Prince Albert believe he will be out of commission anyway, will they cast their respective votes the next most deserving player as they see fit?

This injury development could have a major impact on the voting for the other contenders for the first base spot.

If it is certain that Pujols will not be able to participate regardless of the selection outcome, it would show respect to the others in contention to make such a statement public. If it is not certain, however, then that uncertainty will yet have an effect, in all likelihood.

Schumaker, LF
Miles, 2B
Ludwick, RF
Ankiel, CF
Glaus, 3B
Duncan, 1B
LaRue, C
Looper, P
Ryan, SS

With Albert Pujols out of the lineup and Chris Duncan called up from AAA-Memphis, Tony La Russa is putting out a lineup that hopefully can hit well against right-hander, Cueto for the Reds. Cueto has a 5-5 record, but has won his last three starts.

Getting a rest will be Yadier Molina and Cesar Izturis, replaced respectively by LaRue and Ryan.

The surprise here is that Chris Duncan will play first base. This would have to do with a left-handed swinging stack-up against Cueto, because Mather would make more sense as choice to play first base in place of Pujols. If Izturis could be used tonight instead of resting, Glaus could play first base as well, which would allow the recently hot Brendan Ryan to stay in the lineup.

Talking lineups relative to the St. Louis Cardinals, admittedly, could contain a bottomless pit of possibilities, and we'll simply stick with what TLR has penciled in, as listed above. His choices could well have been due to how certain players hit against Cueto, or not, as the case may be. Any way you slice it, TLR and staff are earning their paychecks with this roster juggling act that is nobody's fault or caused by mistakes.

Since the Cardinals have taken the first game of the three-game series, there's a good chance of coming out on top over the course of the next two. Usually, the Cards do not win the first game, and somehow overcome the odds to win many series. The Cards have the third best major league record when it comes to games on the road.

Of note is that Joel Pineiro will start tomorrow's game, helping the rotation to remain in proper balance.

Tonight's game presents yet another challenge to a Cardinals roster that has seen disablement almost every week, and lately, with Pujols and Wainwright going down, in a matter of speaking, for substantial periods of time. Wainwrights should be a couple weeks, but Pujols's early diagnosis calls for a minimum of three weeks on the sideline.

Is it just me or has Brendan Ryan decided to have a substantial impact on the outcome of Cardinals games?

Has the young Ryan simply hit a stretch where things are going a little better than usual, or has he stepped up his game?

Watching Ryan at the plate, he looks different, as if he has an attitude that he expects to hit, and hit well. Maybe he has discovered that playing in front of Pete Rose gives him the idea that if a lifetime overachiever like Rose can have incredible success, why can't he?

It's fun to watch Ryan play lately, to see him attack at the plate with some serious bat speed instead of a semi-tentative swing. And defensively, Ryan hustles as if he, himself, expects to make plays, instead of just doing what he can because nobody really expects him to make any play a bit on the difficult side.

Of course, to take this view of Ryan is sort of like saying he wasn't hustling before. Not true. He has. Just appears as if he as moved things up a notch, jammed his engine into a higher gear.

Proof is in the pudding. Ryan has contributed in a good way of late.

Still thought of as a utility infielder, it also appears as if Ryan has his sights set on probably the only infield position where he could possibly become a regular --  second base. True, Ryan needs a lot more experience, which is not easy to get in a platooning role. Ryan has shown, in this writer's opinion, that he should get some serious innings at second base, and eventually, against more right-handed pitchers. If he can prove himself versus the righties, he has earned a regular spot all the more.

Ever notice how solid the Cardinals really are right now, even with injuries to so many players. I would say "key" players, but it seems all the Redbirds players are key players.

No real issues at third base. And we were so worried when Rolen left. For good reason, sure, because those were huge spikes to fill. Glaus has done just fine, and continues to "fit in," ironing out batting issues and getting stronger on defense each week.

Before the season, there seemed to be a lot of worry about the outfield, and now, even with Chris Duncan in the minors fixing his swing, there's plenty of outfielders to make up any lineup Tony La Russa wants to throw at an opposing pitcher. And that's a lot of different lineups as we've discovered.

Pujols, rock solid, and now, out with injury. In steps Joe Mather, and though he nor any other player comes close to matching the all-around capabilities of the beloved number 5, I think fans will be impressed with Mather, should TLR use him in that capacity.

Izturis has done a great job at short, better than Eckstein defensively, and that's no knock on Eckstein. No issues there.

Over at second base, the Cardinals have a great platoon situation. Not something you necessarily want, if you could come up with a steady, everyday player. But without a regular second baseman, the Cards are still in good shape with Miles, Ryan, and Kennedy.

The starting rotation is somewhat like a wheel with a few bent spokes, maybe a dented rim. It goes around okay and then we get the defective part. Not that the Cards hurlers are defective. Just an analogy that points to the fact that the Cards have had to rely on some inexperienced pitchers, throwing rookies out there on the hill just to keep the rest of the rotation (or rim) from bending out of shape. From that perspective, they've done very well, overall.

And we never even bring up the catcher, Yadier Molina, who at times is the hardest major leaguer to strike out, and defensively, has made a few more errors than in previous season, but is still so rock solid you just don't question the fill of the position.

And if the TLR and coaching staff have accomplished anything, it would have to be the "management" of personnel, which takes all coaching staffs' collective input to maintain. On a more psychological level, one would have to believe that the team's focus is much more on what they do have to work with at any given moment (which changes a lot), and not to dwell on players they don't have, or difficulties they might be experiencing. All the focus remains on what's at hand, game situations and right now, not how it could've been.

Once Mitchell Boggs made it through five full innings, Tony La Russa could breath a sigh of semi-relief, but with about a half a game remaining, he would need plenty of bullpen to see the defensive halfs of the innings left to play.

First came Ron Villone, who did what you don't really want to do when you're up 5-2, and that was to walk the leadoff batter in the sixth. He got the next hitter to fly out, but TLR had seen enough, the fly out having been driven. It just didn't look as if Villone had command of his pitches. Of course, it might've just been TLR deciding he wanted a specific pitcher versus a specific batter, or portion of a lineup.

Either way, Kyle McClellan came on, Encarnocion promptly getting a basehit to left. When the infield couldn't turn a doubleplay on the next batter, the Reds suddenly had men on the corners and the tying run at the plate. A ground out to what you might call, deep second base, found Brendan Ryan throwing out the hitter at first, and the Cards were out of a jam.

The last three innings were much easier for the bullpen, with McClellan continuing, taking the seventh, Chris Perez the eighth, and Russ Springer the ninth.

No doors were opened for the Reds, which has been a bit a problem for the Cardinals at times. But now that the Cards have used a starter and four relievers, it remains to be seen what configuration will hopefully work for the team from St. Louis tonight.

Who didn't hold their breath when Albert Pujols went down last night? What a scary moment, and we're all still waiting for word.

Everyone could see it was the left calf that decided to give way in some fashion. That part was no secret. But to what degree the injury is makes Cards fans worry.

It did appear as if the calf had been overextended, so to speak, when Pujol's left leg slid back on the swing. Then, in an effort to power out of the batters' box, the strain seemed too much for the already-injured muscle. All conjecture on my part. Just seemed that way.

The point is, something happened, and that is what doctors will have to determine in the coming days. There'll be no rushing Pujols back into the lineup, that's for sure.

No doubt, the Cardinals will be tested further with Pujols down for the time being, Joe Mather coming in to fill the first baseman's spot, having had experience there, and at third base. One also wonders if this will hasten the return of Chris Duncan, regardless of his continued struggles in AAA.

Tonight's lineup will give everyone an idea of just how the Cardinals organization is going to handle yet another shuffle due to injury. I believe the Cardinals issues will weight more heavily on the starting rotation, however, for a short period of time. If Pujols is out for any significant amount of games, though, we'll probably see even more of no-two-lineups-the-same.

FIRST INNING: Works fast, which I like. Good fast ball with late movement, well noted by FSN-Midwest announcers.

Got ahead of Jay Bruce, the Reds' leadoff batter, then fell to a full count before Bruce grounded out to second base. Nothing but fast balls and fast work, which is okay if you're establishing yourself on the mound, making a statement that "This is my fast ball, if you can't deal with this, you may not see anything else." But the book on Boggs is that he really doesn't have anything else. Some major league innings will begin to prove or disprove the notion.

The next batter, Janish, walked on four pitches, with the last pitch looking to be a strike. When you're all over the place, however, the home plate umpire isn't as likely to give you a borderline strike.

After two balls to Ken Griffey Jr., Albert Pujols visited the mound to calm Boggs down, maybe slow him down. Another ball later, Yadier Molina did the same. Boggs proceeded to walk Griffey on four straight balls. Maybe not the worst thing, walking Griffey, but not a good sign here, because it wasn't as if Boggs was pitching around Griffey. Boggs simply couldn't throw a strike.

Another ball to Phillips, a sad attempt at a curve ball, which really put the rookie in danger. Now the Reds' hitters would approach their at-bats as if Boggs has no curve at all, until he proves it, anyway. Phillips, however, did Boggs a favor by swinging at a possible high-ball, flying out to right field for the second out.

With two Reds base runners on, Boggs faced Dunne, taking him to a 2-1 count, all on his fast ball. The Reds hitters had already picked up on that fact. Dunne took a healthy chop at the next (you guessed it) and drove it to the warning track in right field for the last out of the inning.

Boggs's pace was good, but when he had trouble finding the plate, he might've taken a bit more time to compose himself on the mound. With no substatial off-speed, he was begging the Reds' batters to start taking whacks at whatever headed toward their sweet zones.

SECOND INNING: Votto lead off the second for the Reds, and you just tell he was sitting on the fast ball. Boggs was enough around the plate to get Votto to fly out, but that out was all the way to the warning track in left center field, Rick Ankiel making a nice running/gliding catch. Encarnocion then reached on an infield single down the third base line, a tough play Troy Glaus couldn't come; up with.

Boggs continued with the fast balls, Molina having trouble handling one which he should've had. A past ball was charged, and Encarnocion advanced to second base. The next Reds' hitter, Bako, grounded to Boggs, a well hit ball, and Bako sitting on the fast ball, just like everyone else. Boggs made the play without panicking, looking back Encarnocion at second base before retiring Bako.

Homer Baily then grounded to Pujols, ending the inning, without a single fast ball.

The big deal here is that Boggs had gone through the Reds' lineup once. All the Reds hitters were setting up their swings for the fast ball, but the saving grace for Boggs was that his fast ball was moving rather well. Molina had an obvious challenge catching him, the fast ball he did have having a very late break to it, a tailing away from a left-handed hitter type of break. And the sink on the ball was excellent. So Boggs survived just fine, and as long as his fast ball would continue to break the way that it does, he could hold his own, at least until hitters mount up several at-bats against him, therefore, getting used to seeing his "stuff."

An early analysis on Boggs is that if he cannot at least get some type of curve over the plate every so often, the opposing hitters will eventually eat him alive. A pitch that would serve him much better would be a good change-up.

THIRD INNING: More of the same in this inning, regarding the fast ball, and at this point, the Reds may have been wondering if there were ever going to tee off on Boggs. Going down one-two-three on ground balls went Bruce, Janish, and Griffey Jr.

Boggs also proved on the last out, Griffey Jr., that covering first base on a ground ball hit to the right side was second nature, Pujols having to stray far to his right and then make a long throw to Boggs covering. Boggs might've taken a better course up the foul line however; he almost put himself over the first base bag. He wasn't moving quick enough for that to occur, luckily, but on the other hand, too slow a course can make for an inconsistent play the next time around. Still, for a rookie, and a play that few major leaguers handle well at all, Boggs did okay.

FOURTH INNING: After getting Phllips to ground out on good-moving fast balls (what else), Boggs got a bit wild, walking Dunn on nothing close to controlled. Votto then set up his swing for a fast ball and got one, a little high in the zone, and a little high out in center field, just over the 404 foot marker. The two-run shot put what would be the only Reds runs scored in the game. Encarnocion then worked a 1-1 count before ripping one down the third base line, Glaus unable to get a glove on this one, the hit going for a double. Boggs then settled down, getting the next two hitters to ground out.

Boggs biggest danger in this inning, considering his limited pitch selection, was getting behind the hitters, and worse, getting his pitches up in the strike zone. Already obvious is that Boggs is tough when he does get his sinking/tailing fast ball down in the zone, especially away with left-handed hitters.

FIFTH INNING: A big test came for Boggs in the fifth inning, facing the top of the Reds order, and for the third time around. Bruce jumped on the fast ball, singling to right. The next hitter, however, Janish, took a shot at bunting for a basehit down third base way. Glaus threw him out, Bruce advancing to second. Griffey then tried to jump on Boggs, but flew out to center field. Phillips was the last batter to face Boggs. Boggs mixed in a curve ball that actually got over the plate,and although quite hitable, was enough to throw off the hitter. Boggs then threw a better curve, sort of, for a strike, and this was a very important pitch, because it finally gave a Reds' batter something to think about. Phillips thought fast ball on the next pitch, appropriately, and got one, but Boggs got it down in the strike zone, maybe lower, and got Phillips to ground out to short.

FINAL THOUGHTS: To harp on a theme, Boggs needs something off-speed before opponents tally some at-bats against him. What helped him get away with a well-pitched game, and he did pitch well with what he threw (except the off-speed), was the fact that he'd never faced the Reds' batters. He can carry that over into starts against other opponents, if La Russa allows him more mound time, and they will probably have a tough time with their first at-bats, but they will have a scouting report on him, and will be sitting on his fast ball right away, and if smarter then the Reds, will not let him off the hook when he goes into another tailspin when he can't get the ball over the plate. Overall, I've picked over the rookie like any fan, but do like him a lot for the good pitch he possesses, and for his composure. It helped tremendously that the Cardinals offense gave him a great lead from which to pitch from, and that Boggs didn't waste the prosperity.

Probably the best news for the beleaguered Cardinals' starting rotation was the major league debut of Mitchell Boggs. Five innings, yes, five, out of the rookie recently called up from Memphis Triple-A. And the fact that he accomplished the five while giving up only a couple runs on a long ball was pretty amazing, considering he did it with a late-moving fast ball and a lazy breaking ball that probably had pitching coach Dave Duncan holding his breath. And more nerve-racking, Boggs didn't show much of a change-up, which awaits my further video analysis tomorrow, time permitting.

And here's some more good news from the hill: the bullpen relievers gave up nothing. That's Villone, McClellan, Perez, and Springer, over the course of four innings. And in fact, these relievers allowed only one hit while striking out five Reds.

More good news at the plate came in form of a Brendan Ryan double, an Albert Pujols 2-run homer, followed by a Rick Ankiel solo shot. But Ryan Ludwick had the hottest bat, going  four for five with a single,  two doubles, and a home run.

The one bad bit of news came in the seventh inning when Pujols hit a grounder, took a few steps out of the box, and went down, grabbing at his left calf, an area that has been bothering him for some time now. Villone and Molina had to come out to the field to help Pujols off. As of this entry, late night post-game, there is no word on Pujols's condition.

The intentions for blogging in 4thebirds was to actually post entries, but having the misfortune of living in Illinois, Mother Nature threw one major fit a few days ago and zapped our local internet service, then drowned it in floods, and yadda-yadda-yadda, making me a reluctant fair-weather blogger. Not by choice, know that.

Will catch up to the Cards by tonight, hopefully, with whom all contact had been lost. Yikes!

Have heard so far that the pitching staff is getting thinner and thinner, and that Mitchell Boggs will therefore get a shot at starting. Baptism by fire, which may be tonight's entry.

And why not? We don't need stats to notice how these Redbird pitchers have been hacking away at the plate, coming up with a lot of solid contact, lately.

In my younger days, most pitchers were automatic outs, scorers marking them down as such to get ahead of the card. Back then, pitchers couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat, much less hit a baseball. (There were exceptions, which I'm sure you'll tell me about.)

Maybe the Cards hurlers are hitting because TLR does bat them eighth. Or maybe they can just flat hit. Or maybe (you just knew there would be one more "Or maybe ...") they're tired of the offense not padding a lead with insurance runs when they need them.

Hard not to notice, however, that most of the Cards' pitching staff that is permitted to take an at-bat or four does a pretty good job at making contact. Like, contact to the outfield wall, and a few over the wall.

So why not bat them sixth, or at least a few of them that have proven they won't get cheated on their cuts.

And that's another thing, while we're on this roll ... TLR (respectfully suggested) ... consider, when short on the bench, letting your better hitting pitchers pinch-hit, especially in circumstances where you might not pinch-hit someone for fear of "burning up your bench" too early in the game.

Why not have a recently-thrown starting pitcher pinch-hit for a pitcher, especially if he has proven he can make decent contact. Who knows? The Redbirds might lower that LOB.  

See, it's the next morning, the Redbirds by now have flown out of our nation's capital and are in the Central Time Zone once more. Albeit, far south of the Gateway to the West, but ever closer to home, and with another homestand looming to the north, the Cardinals should have realized by now that they've learned a lot about themselves, as individuals, and maybe more importantly, as a team.

A good manager and staff won't miss what has been gained over the last couple of days, and we speculate that Tony La Russa and his coaching cohorts have noticed just how much the team can benefit from a heartbreaking loss.

As a player, manager, or fan, you can't help but feel great about how the Cardinals approached a dismal game situation in last night's game. Down plenty, short on players, semi-used bullpen, coping with defensive misplays and base running mistakes, hanging with a rookie hurler having trouble keeping the ball down in the strike zone. These things happen, just usually not all at once.

Herein lies adversity. Oh, how easy it would've been to pack it in, maybe save a little face and get the heck out of Dodge. But that didn't happen, and this idea of refusing to giving up is an unmistakable sign of what it truly means to be a team. Let's go over that again. Team.

That's right, Redbirds fans, what you've suspected and hoped for has occurred. There is courage amongst the ranks. The Redbirds have passed an Adversity Test. Sometimes you can see them coming, sometimes they present themselves like a teacher dealing you a Pop Quiz. But either way, Adversity Tests seem to come up several times a season. Seems last night was one of those tests.

And if you're a Redbirds fan, then you probably have a great appreciation for the same qualities in others. Odd, how the Washington Nationals, who displayed very little pride in their play over the first two games of the series, had nothing but pride and courage in last night's game.

Baseball becomes a great game when two teams provide the same gutsy display. Makes for a great game to have witnessed, for all its errors and good plays and mental mistakes and quick thinking reactions, the total package was pretty neat to watch.

Hat's off to the Nationals as well, for passing their own test at the same time. 

After being down 8-0 at one point in the game, the Cardinals' Joe Mathers, dubbed Joey Bombs hit his first major league home run in the top of the tenth inning.

Earlier, we had discussed how how Troy Glaus's swing was condusive to long ball hitting, and we alluded to the fact that Mathers's swing was similar.

Unfortunately, Mr. Dukes of the Nationals clobbered a home run of his own in the bottom of the tenth, taking Ryan Franklin deep and handing the Cards a heartbreaking loss after a long day of baseball.

The Cards now have to take a late flight to Houston and contend with the Astros tomorrow night.

When the highs and lows of the doubleheader day even out, however, the Cardinals will realize they have taken the series from the Nats, and did prove to themselves that they can come back from a large deficet. They also found out a few things about the capabilities of some of their rookies.

This was a much better day for the Cardinals than they might realize at the moment of the heartbreaking loss.

Earlier today, we analyzed why Troy Glaus's home run swing works. That was in the make-up game with the Nationals, played during the afternoon. Glaus hit a 2-run shot off the back of the bullpen wall in that contest.

Tonight, Glaus hit a solo shot to dead center, his swing compact, the shortest path with bat speed. (On the pitches which he cannot accomplish this, you can tell, because he opens up way too fast, his head turning around, and nothing works from there.) We notice that once more, the pitch he selected to crush was a bit lower than most long balls require.

Additional note: Mark Worrell, in his first major league at bat, did a bit of ball crushing of his own, taking one deep to left, a three-run shot that put the Redbirds within two runs, all after being down at one point, 8-1.

Mid-game entry.

The struggling Mike Parisi had his chance to show he could pitch in the bigs, but didn't exactly make the most of his chance. Whatever his troubles, you simply cannot pitch "up" that much, and get so much of the plate at the same time, at least, not without having a bunch of movement on your pitches.

Or plenty of speed differentials. Something. Anything.

Anyhow, the Nationals scoring seven runs on him wasn't totally his fault. With two outs, center fielder Skip Schumaker missed a catchable fly ball, possibly getting on his heels while tracking down the hit into right-center field. From that point, many more Nationals runs. Many.

The other Redbirds foul-up came from Adam Kennedy, who, while down seven runs, decided he was going to advance from first to second base on a ball that got away from the Nats catcher. The only problem was, the ball didn't get that far away; maybe a foot, if that, the catcher basically stooping down, picking up the ball, and gunning down Kennedy at second with ease.

Those two foul-ups created a six-run turnaround, and the Cardinals could've easily been up 3-0 or or 3-1. Instead, 7-0 Nats after the defensive lapse and baserunning mistake.

The entry filed mid-game.

The Cardinals chose thirteenth in the MLB draft today, selecting an Arizona State University junior, Brett Wallace.

Wallace is a 6'2", 235 lbs, right-handed throwing, left-handed batting, corner man with considerable power. It is thought by many sportswriters that Wallace is one of the better hitters in the draft. At ASU this season, he hit 21 home runs with a .414 batting average, 81 RBIs. Though he lacks foot speed, he has great baserunning instincts, tallying 16 stolen bases.

The only knock on Wallace is his lack of foot speed, but he is still considered a good athlete with an above-average throwing arm. He can play either infield corner, however, it is already almost a forgone conclusion that he would be best suited to play first base at the major league level.

Forgive the barrage of stats. They are presented here because of a lack of background on this player. Feel free to post comments on anything of import regarding Wallace, the first selection of the St. Louis Cardinals in the MLB draft.

After the Cards win in the make-up game versus Washington, manager Tony La Russa spoke of Todd Wellemeyer's pitching arsenal, at one point, stating Wellemeyer had a great "change-up or something."

Not to worry that you couldn't quite identify the mystery sub-genre of change-up, Tony, because the opposing hitters don't seem to be able to indentify it either, verbally, or by speaking with their bats.

Wellemeyer has Cards fans excited with his continued success. But he had plenty of bullpen help today as well, TLR using no less than five relief pitchers to shut down the Nats, namely, Villone, Springer, Perez, Flores, and Franklin. The Nats did manage to squeeze out a run, and having only scored a couple runs over the course of their last four games, gave the Cards some added security, as the Redbirds aren't always capable to increasing their lead into a safer zone, so to speak.

Pujols got his his first-ever pinch-hit home run, which is a stat interesting enough to include. Rookie Joe Mather added an RBI a few batters later, scoring the Cardinals fourth and final run of the game.

In a more general note, the Cards have already secured the series with this afternoon victory, creating the possibility of a sweep in the scheduled night game only hours from the end of this game. The Nationals have myriad problems right now, and the Redbirds need to take advantage of that, making sure to stay hungry in the nightcap. 

Couldn't help but notice the Troy Glaus home run in the early innings of the Cards/Nats make-up game, and it wasn't because the crack of his bat echoes for a half-hour in the empty Nationals Park.

Just happened to be at Busch Stadium last Sunday, and from the Bank of American Club seating, witnessed a Troy Glaus round-tripper almost identical to today's. Both bashed the back wall of the bullpens in these two ballparks. But while the sights and sounds of a Redbirds' homer are the most enjoyable aspect for a fan, a closer look at the Glaus swing might reveal just how he has hit three of his current total of five within the last week or so.

Given the chance to see the home run swing, notice how he somehow turns what appears to be a long swing of full extension into a short-travelled swing. Of course, the man is quite tall, about six-five, so most of his swing might have the illusion of being long and looping.

Watch again, if you get the chance, and see how strong his really is, to wait-wait-wait, then explode with, not a long swing, but a short, fast swing. This is bat speed hitters strive for, and when they're hitting well, they usually possess this. By comparison, and not to pick on Chris Duncan, you might recall how his swings seemed to get longer and longer, starting too early, travelling in humongous loops, and finding very little of the baseball. Glaus was hitting in much the same way early on in the season, and they may have been due to poor pitch selection. Too many variable to know for sure, and to re-focus on the point at hand, this recent "compact" swing has served Glaus and the Cardinals lineup (whatever it might be on a particular day) quite well.

And another thing that makes Glaus especially tough these days: he hits the low and inside pitch extremely well, usually something only left-handed swingers seem to accomplish.

Extra note: Another Cardinal that can hit this style (including the lo-in) is newcomer Joe Mather.

We'll see if the pitchers adjust. As this is written, the first game of the make-up DH has a few innings remaining. I don't expect anyone is going to hang on the moment when it comes to this blog, but I would like to see some observations on Glaus's recent "power-tripping" around the bases.

Let's do this free-form, shall we? Subjective entries regarding the St. Louis Cardinals, because, well, we like the team.

And let's not get too heavy on the stats, huh? Stats have become the full-time crutch of writers, posters, bloggers, announcers. How about we discuss the ballgame for a change, and examine statistics when they actually have something worth analyzing.

Now, this is an "in-game" entry, the Cards in Washington playing that afternoon make-up game. We can do that whenever we feel like it, because MLB has made this blogging feature so user-friendly, but maybe more so, because this blog is a few months late in getting starting.

There's always something to discuss, and feel free to to do so. These MLB blogs have a nice comment feature, making it easy for Redbirds fans to speak. Entries may not be in the usual style of complete game-entry, complete game-entry, etc. We can get down to the nitty gritty if we like, or remain in generalities.

Enough already! Let's blog the Redbirds!