Continuing to Falter

Last night's game was one the Cardinals really needed to win, in my opinion.  Fresh start, home game, opponent the Cards usually beat, everything was in their favor.  And when Albert Pujols ties it up with a long ball, you have to feel the tide has turned.

Instead, they leave the bases loaded in the ninth and the bullpen implodes in the tenth.  The latter is not that surprising, given the way the relievers have gone about their business this year.  A lot of the good fortune from last year is evening out this year.  Ron Villone had been pretty good most of this year, but he got the Goat label from last night.  When you face 8 batters, six of them reach base and four score, that's a rough night.

I thought Pujols would probably get the Hero tag, but after reading more about the game (I didn't get to see it), it's pretty obvious that Troy Glaus should get it.  Hitting one of those rare three-run home runs and going 2-5 is a good sign out of him.  Hopefully he'll have a few more home runs by this time next month.

The Cards have to shake that off and get back at it tonight.  If Joel Pineiro is on like he was last time, there's a solid chance they'll make a game of it.  Pineiro pitched six strong innings against the Brewers before faltering in the seventh.  Still, it was more the bullpen's fault he didn't get a win than his own.  Unfortunately, a number of Pirate hitters have had good success off of him in the past.  However, he did defeat the Bucs back on April 24, when he threw seven innings of one-run ball.

Paul Maholm goes for the Cardinals, meaning the Redbirds face yet another lefty.  Albert Pujols and Jason LaRue have had the most success against him, which may mean Tony sits Yadier Molina tonight and has him ready for the afternoon game tomorrow.  Maholm hasn't gone against the Cardinals this year.

Just taking a guess at the lineup.........

Barton
Miles
Pujols
Ludwick
Glaus
Ankiel
LaRue
Pineiro
Izturis

Check with Bernie's forum or the CardsClubhouse game thread later to see if I come at all close.

A few things to hit around the horn:

*John Mozeliak apparently is willing to be accessible.  He recently had a chat on MLB.com and today he'll go for his second chat at the PD website.  Somebody ask him when he's getting a blog.  He can join us in the United Cardinal Bloggers!

*It's a chat doubleheader at the PD, with Cardinal writer Joe Strauss taking his weekly turn in the tank after Mozeliak's done.

*Apparently the Cubs may sign Jim Edmonds.  I think Will Leitch summed it up quite well:  "It is rare to find anything that Cubs fans and Cardinals fans agree on. The horror of Jim Edmonds in a Cubs uniform is one of them."  Along with the Cub blogs in that Deadspin story, you can also see what fellow Blogs by Fans member Cobra Brigade thinks about it by following this link.  It does beg the question, though: Will Jim still get a standing O when he comes to St. Louis in a Cub uniform?  I think probably so.  John Mabry always was welcomed warmly, even when in Cub blue.

*I don't think anyone's really shocked that Tyler Johnson needs surgery.  I definitely wasn't.

If I get a chance, I'll do another version of Around the Blogs this afternoon, see what people are saying much better than me.


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