Recently in Brendan Ryan Category

Let's Go Out And Beat The Mets

It's always nice to beat the Mets.  Whether it's because you remember the '80s (where's the sports version of VH1's show?  Imagine talking about Mets/Cardinals, Hershiser's scoreless streak, the split season strike stuff.  Maybe when MLB gets their own channel off the ground we'll see things like this), because there's always something good about beating the "big city", or because you are friends with Met fans, taking down the team from New York puts a spring in your step.  (Sorry, Loge13!)

Last night's game (and, as a side note, it was good to finally see the Redbirds on TV again!) reminded me of that old quote about the owner whose idea of a good season was when his team was up 10 games at Memorial Day and slowly pulled away.  The Cards scored early and then, in a reversal of basically their whole season, continued to add on.

I wanted to give the Hero to Chris Duncan for finally showing some pop.  You could also give it to Mark Mulder for a scoreless inning (more on him later).  But seven innings, 0 ER against a potent offense that has given you fits before?  How do you go against Kyle Lohse?  A great performance and hopefully one that sets the tone for the rest of the series.

The Goat is between two 0-4 batters (the only two position players not to get a hit), but since Schumaker did get a walk and score a run, Brendan Ryan takes the title again.

So Mulder finally got into a game and showed that, perhaps, the new arm slot hype has some basis.  Sure, it was about as low-leverage as innings come, but he didn't give up a run, threw strikes, had good velocity.  It'll be interesting to see how he's used in the days and weeks to come and how long his success holds up.  If he continues to get people out, do they start to stretch him out some to take over a starting role later in the season?

Looks like Wainwright is aiming for a mid-July return.  Hard to get too excited, though, with the way injuries work with the Cardinals.

And apparently the Cards are looking at Holliday and Fuentes from the Rockies.  I wouldn't mind them, especially Holliday.  I can't imagine St. Louis will be able to pull it off, though, without damaging the minors, something they need to be careful about doing.

Today's starters: Todd Wellemeyer (vs. Mets here) against Tony Armas Jr. (vs. Cardinals here).

Always Good To Be Back

Before I do anything, I've got to give major thanks/props/kudos/whatever the kids are saying these days to Mike for filling in for me.  I really appreciate him filling in and keeping things running while I was up in Reds country.  It was great yesterday to get into Arkansas and be able to easily find Mike and John on the radio.  I listened to the last couple of innings and knew I was home again.

I'll catch up the Hero/Goat leaderboard soon with Mike's selections, but let's take a look at the last two wins by the Cardinals, insuring a winning homestand.

Saturday, looks like the hero was Rick Ankiel with a two-run homer.  Mitchell Boggs was in the discussion, though four walks was a little on the high side.  Good to see him get a solid game in, though, especially with the state of the pitching staff.  Goatishly, you'd probably look at Brendon Ryan, who went 0-4 and left four on base.

Sunday, it's a surprise hero in Jason LaRue.  A home run, a triple, and four RBI, plus getting the best of a collision at the plate?  Gotta give him the award (wind-aided), even with an AP two-for-five, HR day.  (Sounds like he would have had two homers on a different day, with the wind holding one up at the track.)  In my mind, the goat has to go to Braden Looper, because when you know the bullpen needs some rest, to go out there and not get through the fourth is a terrible thing.

Last year it was a little busy during my Ohio trip.  Sorting through, it looks like there were a few things that happened the last 10 days as well:

• Jason Isringhausen looks like he's going on the DL, then doesn't.  Pretty decent outing yesterday against the Royals, save the back-to-back doubles.
• Yadier Molina returned from his concussion.
  
• Cesar Izturis goes on the DL, exposing the weakness of the middle infield.
  
• Mark Mulder gets activated and put in the bullpen, but doesn't pitch.  And, apparently, there's not a lot of confidence in him since apparently Brad Thompson is returning because "we need innings."
  
• To make room for Thompson, Nick Stavinoha goes back down after being promoted during the week.  Wish I could have seen him play.
• And, last but not least, El Hombre returns, with Randy Flores going on the DL.  And obviously Pujols didn't forget how to hit in his time off.

The Cards return to Busch today (their road trip just perfectly coincided with mine) and take on the so-far disappointing New York Mets for the first time this year.  The Mets sit a game under .500 and in third place in the NL East, though that's only 3 games out of the top spot.  The Cards continue their run of missing ace pitchers as they won't see Santana in this four game series. 

Kyle Lohse goes for the Redbirds, looking for his tenth win of the season.  There are a couple of Mets that are excited about renewing acquaintances.  Walk Beltran every time up, Kyle.  And as hot as Delgado has been, think about it with him as well.

John Maine goes for the Metropolitians.  The Cards haven't seen a lot of him, though Pujols has liked what he has seen.  (Both of those home runs were in a game in 2006, though.)  Maine's most famous game against St. Louis was probably Game 6 of the 2006 NLCS, where he kept the Mets alive and set the stage for a classic.

This is a big series for the Cards.  Winning this one against a quality (if scuffling) opponent would give them a lot of momentum for the weekend series against the Cubs. 

Not Quite "Lonborg and Champagne", but We'll Take It

This blog's title is a reference to the famous Boston Globe headline before Game 7 of the 1967 World Series.  Jim Lonborg had already beaten the Cardinals twice in that series, throwing 2 complete games, allowing a total of 4 hits and a run.  Of course, allowing his opponent, Bob Gibson, to see that headline before the game was probably the worst thing the Red Sox could have done; Gibby dominated, and the Cardinals tasted the bubbly.

I was reminded of that when Mickey Lolich trotted out to throw out the first pitch, especially considering the Cardinals had one only once at Comerica since 2000 (but what a once - Game 1 of the '06 World Series).

The result?  The boys won their third game of the road trip, 8-4 over them Tigers.  The game had chills (Cabrera's home run that wasn't), thrills (Schumaker's pinch hit 2-RBI single in the sixth) and head scratchers (how did Barton get caught off third in the first?).  But what matters is the Redbirds FINALLY picked up a game on the Cubs.  It's been 3 weeks (since June 7, specifically) since they gained ground on Chicago.  Let's hope they don't have to wait another 3 weeks to pick up another game.

Heroes and Goats:  it's tough today.  Since LaRussa pegged Brendan Ryan "the star of the game" I won't disagree with him.  Brendan had a nice multi-hit game, and his two-RBI double in the seventh iced the game.  Goat:  We'll go with Brian Barton (tough call) and Rick Ankiel (not so tough) for getting caught off/picked off, respectively, on the basepaths.

Other news/notes:  Albert Pujols' rehab is going well, and he may return as DH in this series.  Otherwise we'll see him in the KC series this weekend.  LaRussa thinks any infielder can play first, an interesting opinion I don't agree with (there's a lot of footwork required around the bag that most people don't think about), although you can't argue with the results (Kennedy played well last night).  Mark Mulder's next rehab step is uncertain. 

One final thing:  Get out and VOTE for our all-stars.  25 votes per email address and as many as you can fill out at the ballpark.  Ryan Ludwick, Albert, and Yadier should be all-stars this season; don't leave it up to Clint Hurdle to have them added to the roster.

You Can't Win If You Don't Score - Cardinal70 Version

Well hello everyone.  Perhaps some of you have perused my blog at one time or another; if not, I'm Mike, and I'll be minding the store while Dan takes some much deserved vacation time over the next week.

Continuing a running thought from over at the Stance, the Cardinals again managed one measly run and got swept out of Busch by the Royals, 4-1.  KC scored as many runs in this game as they allowed St Louis in the series, and that's just not going to get the job done.  Heroes and Goats for this game are pretty simple.  For driving in the lone Cardinal Run, Rick Ankiel gets the nod as Hero; and the Anemic Offense is the Goat.  I suppose I could saddle Brad Thompson or Chris Perez with the goat label, but since Brad came up on short notice and worked 5 solid innings, and since the Cardinals would still have lost 2-1 if Perez hadn't served up that gopher ball to Mark Teahen, it just didn't seem fair.

We all knew the offense would struggle without AP in the #3 slot.  There's no way you can adequately fill the shoes of a future HOF.  But to hit .154 against KC with RISP?  To not get anyone to second today?  Albert would have raised those figures a little bit, but it still points to some major problems surfacing offensively.  The same Post-Dispatch article I linked to above points out the Cardinals aren't taking walks like they were at the beginning of the season. Viva El Birdos took it a step further, showing the Cardinals are a lot less disciplined at the plate since the calendar flipped over into May, a trend that has become worse recently (see lboros post from Thursday; that site is down as I write this at 11:18 PDT, so I don't have a link to it).  You would think that plate discipline and patience would be things they really need to focus on now that the NL's second leading hitter is out of the lineup, as opposed to trying to do too much, which appears to be what they're doing.

One other thing:  Bernie Miklasz suggests the Cardinals should utilize the speed they have on the roster while they struggle to score runs, as a way to generate some offense.  It's a good suggestion.  Brendan Ryan and Brian Barton are two guys worth plugging into the lineup to see what they can create; it's not as if second base has been a font of offensive prowess this season, and the OF has really cooled off recently (witness Ankiel's 2 RBI on the homestand as an example).

Because I'm obligated to disagree with at least one thing in every article/post Bernie writes, sitting Chris Duncan really isn't an option, as he's the first baseman.  The two guys he suggests bringing up to help the offense wouldn't displace Chris at first.

We limp into Boston next.  They have the best home record in the majors (28-7), and will send Wakefield, Dice-K, and Lester to the hill to face our boys.  Might be a loooong weekend; keep your fingers crossed.

A Weekend In Houston

The Cards kept a couple of their trends alive this weekend.  They won a series after dropping the first game, something they've done five times this season.  And they had another game where early scoring was only scoring, though this time the cushion held up.  Let's do the traditional CATB wrap here.

Friday
Hero: Well, it's pretty much either Adam Kennedy or Skip Schumaker, since they are the only ones that got hits in the game.  I've given him the Goat before because he didn't produce in the leadoff slot, so it's only fair to give him the Hero nod when Skip gets two hits in that role.
Goat: Braden Looper.  He wasn't helped by his defense, true, but he really helped dig the big hole.

Saturday
Hero: Ryan Ludwick.  Not only was he 2-4 with what turned out to be a very big three-run home run, but he hit that home run after Pujols was intentionally walked.  He's going to have to continue to do that so Pujols can have pitches to hit.
Goat: Kyle McClellan. I know he was pressed into service with Adam Wainwright's finger injury, so maybe allowing the runner on second to score would be understandable.  But to allow two others and get the game into an area that allowed Houston to think they had a chance was not a good thing at all.

Sunday
Hero: Brendan Ryan.  Coming up with that game-winning hit was big, especially after Wandy Rodriguez had shut the Cards down until that inning. 
Goat: Albert Pujols.  This is more of a series-award than just particularly this game.  When was the last time Albert went hitless in a series?  (Apparently it was 7 years, at least in Houston.)

Cards get an off day today, then get another chance to be part of a Ken Griffey history celebration this week.

Reading the T-Shirts

I have a lot of Cardinal red in my closet.  In fact, it's pretty rare not to see me in some sort of St. Louis regalia.  And, in the last few years, I've started accumulating a number of the T-shirt jerseys.  You know what I'm talking about, the shirts with the Cardinal logo on the front and the player name and number on the back.

A few days ago, while trying to decide which one to wear, I started thinking about what the player on the back says about the person wearing it.  I'm not much good at this, but I'll give it a try.  (Oh, and the starred ones?  Those are the ones I have hanging in my closet right now!  I wouldn't necessarily lay claim that the descriptions fit me, though.)

Albert Pujols #5*: Having Pujols on your back could say a number of things.  It could say that you appreciate greatness.  It could say you know that he is this generation's Stan Musial.  Or it could say you are a front-runner who only knows Pujols on the current roster.  If you see this guy talking on the phone at the ballpark during the sixth with runners on and the game in the balance, count it as front-runner.

Rick Ankiel #24*: You are big on redemption.  You love the Hollywood movies.  You know, the one where the hero is knocked down but eventually makes a dramatic return and earns the standing ovation.  You teared up when he hit his home run in his first game back.  It's OK, you can admit it.

Rick Ankiel #66: You still pine for what could have been.  You remember the devastating curveball and the blazing fastball.  You get a little sick when you think of the 2000 playoffs.  Make that a lot sick.  And, also, you need to update your wardrobe just a bit.

Jim Edmonds #15: You are a little flashy.  You appreciate diving catches and dramatics on the field.  You tend to rush into the bank at 4:59 just ahead of the closing doors, even though you probably could have been there five minutes earlier if you wanted to.

Jim Edmonds #15 (Cubs): You are either obsessed with Jimmy Radio or just mentally deranged.  Either way, please seek professional help.

J.D. Drew #7*: You always thought J.D. was the whipping boy in St. Louis, that he was more productive than most gave him credit for and not quite as injury-prone as everyone made him out to be.  You also have sprained your shoulder patting yourself on the back and must miss a couple of days of work.

Chris Carpenter #29*:  You love seeing gambles pay off.  You'll put down $5 to win $500.  You remember 2005 and figure if a guy can be mentioned with Bob Gibson, he's good enough for your back.

Scott Rolen #27*:  There are a couple of options here.  You either love defense, remembering the leather Rolen flashed fondly, or you are one of those who formerly took LaRussa to task about most everything (though less loudly since 2006) and you wear 27 as a silent protest.

Yadier Molina #4: Defense is your passion.  You love seeing runners thrown out or picked off.  You love testing your reflexes by having people toss you items, just to see if you can catch them. (Usually, you can't.)  Or, perhaps, you just like to say Yadier Molina (which, I believe, is why my three-year-old son is so fond of him.)

Adam Wainwright #50*: You believe that pitching wins pennants.  You remember the curveball to Beltran more fondly than your wedding day.  You think the trade with Atlanta was just as good as the trade with Oakland was bad.

Jason Isringhausen #44: You live life on the edge.  You drink milk two days past the expiration date.  You renew your car tags on the second of the next month.  Adventure, excitement, these are your companions.  Unfortunately, they often leave you at the ER waiting for the on-call doctor.

Brendan Ryan #13: You love the scrappy guy.  This is the latest in a long line of shirts for you, starting with Joe McEwing and then Bo Hart, which you still break out occasionally.  Whether they have talent or not, it doesn't matter.  You also don't feel like it's a good day until you've gotten your clothes dirty in some form of exertion, even if it's just diving off the couch for a loose chip.

Colby Rasmus #?: You are always looking ahead.  As Yoda said, "All his life has he looked away... to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was."  The present is nice and all, but you continue to plan and hope for a better day.

Jamie Garcia #?: You are actually Erik Manning.

Mark Mulder #30: You believe in miracles and you think the best bandwagons are the ones with plenty of room.

Of course, these are in all the traditional team colors.  You hate to see people of the female persuasion decked out like this.

Any more suggestions?  Post them in the comments!

A Step Toward Recovery

The Cardinals took a good first step yesterday, riding Todd Wellemeyer to a solid win over the Pirates.  It's too early to say that the slump is over, but it's nice to break it up a little bit.

There's no doubt that Wellemeyer was the Hero of last night's game.  The Cardinal offense came through some (though they could have scored much more) but it would have possibly been moot if Wellemeyer hadn't pitched as well as he did.  I think we'd take one run and two hits in seven innings every time out!  There's a good blog post on Wellemeyer by Bernie on the PD site today.  He's definitely been much more than we expected when the Cards picked him up last year.

That catch by Ankiel last night, robbing the home run, was "Edmonds-esque", as Rick himself said after the game.  I remember Jim taking one away from a Cincinnati batter (maybe even Jason LaRue?) almost exactly like that at Great American Ballpark.  Perhaps it was fitting being that Edmonds had been in the news so much yesterday.

You also had to like Pujols's solid game (41 on the On Base Streak counter), Cesar Izturis having an all-around offensively charged night and Jason Isringhausen coming out of the pen for a one-two-three outing.  Don't tell me "yeah, but it wasn't a save situation".  Izzy seems to struggle more in those slots than he does in actual close saves at times.  A good number of his blown saves weren't one run games when he came in.

With 15 hits and only one run allowed, it's hard to come up with a Goat for that game.  It's tough, but I think I'll give it to Brendan Ryan if for the most subjective of reasons.  I saw some of the game, not all of it, and was hoping the Cardinals would score some runs when they had runners at first and second, nobody out.  Wellemeyer bunts the runners over.  Now all Ryan really needs to do is put the ball in play and a good chance a run will score.  However, he strikes out there, which was the last thing the Cards wanted to see.  Yeah, it's small, but there wasn't a lot of Goatiness to go around last night.

It's also nice to know that no one actually reads this blog, since I did yesterday's preview and had Pineiro starting instead of Wellemeyer.  Let me know when I mess up this bad, people!  (Speaking of, I need to resolve never to try to guess a lineup again.  That was terrible!)  It's especially bad since I got it right when I did the CCH preview of the series.

What I said about Pineiro yesterday still holds.  The Pirates have done OK against him.  It could be a tough game, but it's really one the Cards need to win.

Pittsburgh counters with Ian Snell.  The Cardinals have faced Snell already this year and got a nice 4-0 lead on him in the first inning.  Problem was, that's all they got and the Pirates came back to win 7-4.  Snell's history against the Cardinal batters is a little ragged.  He's never figured out Pujols (which seems to help AP's quest for 42) and Molina's done pretty well against him.  Chris Duncan, not so much, though he does have a home run against him.

Early start today with the businessman's special, so it should be a good afternoon for baseball!

Rebounding

If there's one thing the Cards have figured out how to do this year, it's to come back from a loss and get a win.  There have been six three-game series this month (counting the current one with the Reds) and three times they've lost the first game, only to come back and win the series.  They are in position to do that for a fourth time with a win today after last night's big win.

When I first heard that Joel Pineiro through seven innings of one-hit ball, I didn't figure there was any way he wouldn't be the Hero of the Game.  I'm still going to go that way, but a 4/3 K ratio isn't necessarily great.  Then again, he wasn't looking for the strikeouts with a 7-0 lead.  There were numerous others that could have been considered as well, including Skip Schumaker for his 4-5 and Rick Ankiel for his 3-5, 2 RBI day.  Of course, you could also give a special Hero award to Cincinnati's base running and fielding, as well!

There are really only two considerations for Goat.  Anthony Reyes gave up the two-run homer in the ninth, ruining the shutout.  But, on a night when the team piled up 15 hits, only one starter went 0-4.  It's a rare one, but we'll give the Goat to Albert Pujols.  Glad to see he got his walk, though, and extended his on-base streak.

Reyes continues to be as frustrating as ever, though.  Just when you think he is turning a corner, he blows up again.  14 hits and 8 earned runs in 11.2 innings is not what the Cardinals want to see.  Then again, it's not like he's getting regular work.

The Cardinals get their work in early today with a 12:15 businessman's special.  On paper, the pitching matchup isi pretty heavily tilted toward the Reds, as Aaron Harang takes on Braden Looper.

Since Harang's been an NL Central pitcher for some time now, he's faced all the Cardinals and had pretty good success against them.  Pujols has done well against him, including a home run, but other than that, not much at all.  Cesar Izturis is a nice 0-17 against him, which would tend to indicate Brendan Ryan should be playing shortstop today, especially since he's got a 1-2 mark against the Reds hurler.

Thankfully, the Reds haven't done much better against Looper.  In fact, he's probably been harder on them than Harang has been on the Redbirds.  Adam Dunn's two hits off of him are home runs, but he sports a .154 average.  Not a lot of plate appearances against Looper by the Red hitters, but it's encouraging.

If Looper pitches like he did last time versus Houston, the Cards have a great chance.  If he pitches like he did the time before against the Giants, they are sunk.  Removing that Giants game, though, he has a 1.90 ERA, so it does look so far like that game was a hiccup.

Lineup Creativity

I don't think very many people have accused Tony LaRussa of not being creative and open to new ideas.  I mean, we've got the pitcher batting eighth, redefining the way relief pitchers are used, stuff like that.  And now, he's showing that he's not bound by convention with his leadoff man.  Tonight's lineup, via Bernie:

Ludwick 9
Ankiel 8
Pujols 3
Duncan 9
Glaus 5
Molina 2
Kennedy 4
Wellemeyer 1
Izturis 6

Now, when I think of Ryan Ludwick, "leadoff" is not exactly what comes to mind.  Like I pointed out in my main post today, he's got good numbers against Arroyo so I figured he'd be in the lineup, but wow.  I'd almost have thought TLR would have sat Ankiel and let Skip lead off, but Rick has shown a little life lately with a hit on Saturday and two walks yesterday.

And apparently Glaus is going to wear some special glasses tonight.  Hopefully they'll work, but if not, don't be surprised if he comes out after an at-bat or two and Ryan replaces him.

Just when you think you've got it all figured out, surprises can still come your way.  Let's see if this revamped lineup can get some runs on the board early.

The Wildest Times of the World

Lohse blowing a 2-0 lead.  Cards trailing 8-3.  Rallying for four, then scoring the tying run off a missed double play in the ninth.  12 innings.  Albert Pujols playing second.  And then the Brewer who scored the game winning run is traded to Tampa Bay.  (They couldn't do that just a little earlier?)  What's next, cats and dogs, living together?

It was a crazy game, made a little more so because it was a day game and I was following along at the CardsClubhouse game thread.  One of the great things about the internet and the rise of game threads (almost every forum has them now!) is that you can "watch" the game together.  As close as sitting with a bunch of people in the stands as you can get without spending money.

Anyway, it was a very unorthodox game.  Lots of what ifs.  Most people will dwell on the missed call by the umpire on Pujols's slide home.  I didn't see it, but it sure sounded like he was safe.  Obviously, that run plus the fact that it made first and third two outs instead of one out could have made a difference in the game.

The one I want to talk about, however, is one of LaRussa's questionable moves, at least in my mind.  As soon as a right hander came into the game, LaRussa pinch hit Rick Ankiel for Brian Barton.  This seemed a little bit of a knee-jerk reaction.  At the time, the Cards were down by 5, which seemed like a perfect opportunity to see what Barton could do.  I realize that TLR always goes all out for a win and the team did rally, but it didn't have much to do with Mr. Ankiel, who is really slumping right now.  Besides, if he'd kept Ankiel on the bench, he could have used him at a more strategic time.

Many people say that TLR doesn't like the youngsters, that he'll do anything not to play them.  A theory I've come up with in the last week or so is not that he doesn't like the young players.  I mean, look at his use of Kyle McClellan, the way he used the bullpen in 2006, his four ROYs under his watch, stuff like that.  No, I think what TLR's bias relates to is first impressions.

Rick Ankiel made a heck of a first impression as a pitcher and Tony immediately liked him.  Now, he'll go almost out of his way to give Ankiel shots.  Brian Barton started off the spring slow and didn't make the best of first impressions on the field.  That seems to be what LaRussa remembers and possibly part of why he starts on the bench.

It's not really a personality thing--I mean, he probably likes Barton as a person, just like he likes Brendan Ryan--but being that his first impression of Barton as a baseball player was negative, that keeps factoring into his decisions.

It's just a theory, but it seems to fit some of the decisions he's made over the last few years.

Anyway, back to the game.  It's a rare decision, but I think the Hero of the game has to be Aaron Miles, who went 4 for 5 with a run and an RBI while playing two different positions without an error.

The Goat is Jason Isringhausen, who quickly ruined the afternoon by allowing a walk, a stolen base and a hit.  You can't be walking people in the 12th if at all possible, especially when your first baseman is playing second and would have to cover on the steal.  (Though, to be fair, it sounded like Molina's throw was on the wrong side of the bag.)

While Izzy gets his third Goat of the year, it was one of the first and few times where you could actually consider Albert Pujols for the role.  Sure, AP had a nice game (2-6, 2 RBI, a run--should have been 2--scored) but look at his last two at-bats, when the game was on the line.  In the ninth, he impatiently swung at pitches with the game on the line and would have ended the game on a double play if not for Rickie Weeks' bad throw.  Then, in extras, he strikes out.  The Goat is not always about who had the worst game.

Still, I love his attitude about playing second.  (And also like the fact that he lobbied to play shortstop.  Like that was going to happen with his bad elbow, but the man wants to do anything he can to help the team.)  When he was given instructions about not turning a double play and to be careful, he said he would.  But later.....

"What do you think, that I wasn't going to turn a double play?" scoffed Pujols. "I was. I was going to turn a double play. I'd be careful. First of all, I'd make sure I catch the ball and not try to get too fancy and drop it. But I was going to try to turn it."

There's a reason he's the best.

So on to Pittsburgh, a land that has been favorable to the Cardinals in the past.  Last year, they went 12-6 against the Pirates and are 88-41 (.682) against them this century.  The last time the Cardinals had a losing record against the Bucs was 1999, when they went 5-7.

Tonight, Ian Snell tries to shut down the St. Louis machine.  El Hombre is really looking forward to this one.  He has four homers (and a .563 average) in 16 ABs against Snell.  There's a strong likelihood that Pujols will get his third three walk game of the season tonight.  The rest of the lineup looks pretty good against him as well.

Todd Wellemeyer is on the hill for the Cardinals.  Most of the Pirates haven't seen him much, but what they have seen, they've not liked.  Ronny Paulino does have two hits against him, however.

Finally, a couple of small notes.  If you've not heard, Brendan Ryan will be joining the team in Pittsburgh.  Brad Thompson is going down to Memphis for a bit, which is probably good because he's had some struggles in the bullpen in two of his three outings.

We've gotten one more blog to join our May 3rd game blogging project.  The Cardinal Virtue will be taking the second inning.  We still need one more volunteer and then the game will be set. (EDIT: We got it!  Fungoes is going to take an inning as well!)

Also, if for some reason you want these headlines on your site, check out the widget I created at WidgetBox.

Also on the Network: √ Yanks Beat A Lefty? [Depressed Fan] √ Yanks Start Second Half With "W" [Green Pinstripes] √ All-Star Breather: The Giants Catchers [El Lefty Malo] √ Rock Is Dead; Shea Stadium July 18, 2008 [Loge 13] √ Citi Field Revealed (FYI: No Loge Here) [Loge 13] √ My Rifle, My Pony and Me [Beantown West] √ Quick Chicago roundup [Tremendous Upside Potential] √ Giants Reveal New Stadium Ticket Plans [Loge 13]