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Mid-Season Review, UCB Style

Stick around after the jump for thoughts on last night's Home Run Derby, but right now, it's the next installment of the United Cardinal Bloggers franchise!

Last week, the UCB members started a roundtable discussion on how things had gone so far and what was coming next.  Each person tossed out a question for comment.  Today, each blog--CardinalsGM, The Cardinal Virtue, Fungoes, Redbird Ramblings and Mike on the Cards--will be posting the transcript of answers to their questions.  (Links will change from the general blog to the specific entry when they go up.)

My question was "Which player or players is/are the most likely not to be a Cardinal come August?"  It probably won't surprise you that one name dominated the discussion.

C70: I still have to think Anthony Reyes is at the top of Mozeliak's move list.  There's really not a spot for him in St. Louis going forward, at least under the current management, so why not give him a shot somewhere else?

Mike on the Cards: The trade market sure seems to be the hot topic right now, especially after the moves made by the Cubs and Brewers.  Tony wants help.  Mo wants to sit idle.  Fans want the world for nothing.  I think there might be a small move made at the deadline, involving Anthony Reyes and one or two middle tier prospects.

Redbird Ramblings: I think Reyes is the guy most likely to be traded.  He needs to go to get a change of scenery and he should be dealt for a guy that also needs a change of scenery; that's only fair.  I mean, no one is gonna take Reyes as a centerpiece to any kind of big trade; only probably as a throw in.  I also would like Mo to unload Duncan and, if they are out of the playoff picture, Lohse too because he is having a career year and will probably cost way too much come free agency.

The Cardinal Virtue: Duncan and Reyes are both out of option years.  If they are going to stay on the 40 man roster next year they'll have to be on the active roster as well or clear waivers--and neither of those are probably happening.  Don't be surprised if they are packaged for a reliever of some kind.

Fungoes: Iron Cap Reyes.  If the team was more willing to let Mike Parisi, Mitchell Boggs and Mark Mulder start games than Reyes, they'll never have a need for him again.

There was a report that Pedro Gomez said that A.J. Burnett could be moved for a package including Reyes and Chris Duncan.  I don't know if that's valid or a joke (probably the latter), though I could imagine that being reasonable since Burnett is going to opt out of his deal at the end of the year.  Whatever the deal winds up being, most of us would be very surprised to see Reyes still wearing the birds on the bat after the deadline.

Now, for the HR derby..............
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Big Win in Philly

The Cardinals showed last night that the road doesn't intimidate them this year.  They've struggled away from Busch the last couple of years, but this year they can beat people anywhere.  In fact, they have the best road record in the National League, one of only two NL teams (Philadelphia is the other) with a winning record on the road.

You can't say enough about the job Joel Pineiro did last night.  He had a tough draw, going up against Cole Hamels in a launching pad, but he kept the powerful Phils off the board.  The Cards really needed a win after the weekend and all the trading activity in the division and he provided.

Tough to give anyone a Goat tag when they go up against someone like Hamels, but Troy Glaus gets it not only for his 0-4 but his double play he hit into in the ninth against Lidge.  An insurance run there would have made me feel a lot better about Ryan Franklin facing Utley, Howard and Burrell in the ninth, though it turns out it wasn't necessary.

The Cubs called the Brewers' raise in the pitching department, getting Rich Harden to add to their stable.  We all know the caveats on Harden, but if he is healthy, that gives the Cubs the 1-2 punch they've been lacking.  I've always thought that Zambrano was basically the only pitcher on that staff and they were getting by with the rest of them.  Adding Harden makes me a lot more concerned about their postseason life--they may have enough to go deeper in October, if they get there.

So what do the Cardinals do now?  Both of the top competitors have added aces.  I know Mozeliak is going to say things like "no need to do anything," "nothing on the burners", "the calvery will be like a trade," but is that really true?  I know that Wainwright will be back sometime in August, which does give a boost, but that's just getting the team back to health.  If Carpenter does make it back this year, he's not going to be able to provide significant innings, so as nice as it'll be to see him on the mound, will he really be the difference maker if he's going two times a week out of the pen?

I'd like to see the Cards make a run at Erik Bedard, if they can get him at a reasonable price.  These last couple of trades may make that unlikely, since both the Brewers and the Cubs gave up some good talent and, more notably, a good number of bodies, but the flip side of that is that two of the teams most likely to be in any Bedard derby are now out.  I'm not sure any AL team will be that excited to get him after his Seattle showing, which may mean the Cards just need to compete with Philadelphia, the Mets, or teams like that to get him if Seattle puts him on the market (and they'd probably be crazy not to.)

If a package that didn't really damage the farm system (i.e., no Colby Rasmus, Jamie Garcia, Jess Todd) was put together, I'd be in favor of it.  A couple of days ago Larry at VEB mentioned moving Mitchell Boggs or Clayton Mortenson would not be a bad thing if they could get value.  If Anthony Reyes or Chris Duncan had value, I'd suggest some sort of modification on the Santana deal I proposed last winter, but that's wishful thinking.  If the price is dropped because of the reduction of teams, I'd think the Cardinals might be able to be in contention for someone like Bedard.  If it hasn't, though, then they should go ahead and pass.  Anything that happens this year is gravy, since this team is really designed for 2009 and beyond.

Of course, tonight's game might go a long way toward showing whether any kind of deal is really necessary.  Mark Mulder takes the mound against rookie J.A. Happ.  If Mulder can be somewhat effective, it might lead to hope that he can be a part of a second half surge.  I don't expect he'll get past the fifth, just because he's not thrown that much lately, but if he could give five innings and just a couple of runs, there'd be a lot more optimism in Cardinal Nation.  Whether that'll happen or not is a different story.

And, before I forget, it's XM Radio ad time!  XM will be all over the All-Star stuff.  Shows will be hosted from New York, the Futures Game (featuring four Cardinals, don't forget!) will be on XM 175 on Sunday, then the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game itself will be on XM 176 on their respective days.  If you want to stay up on what's going on with the All-Stars, tune in to your XM!

Speaking of the All-Stars, I see where AP is saying he'll do the Home Run Derby if asked.  Last time it didn't affect his swing (I think he hit more homers after the break!) so I'm all for that.  I love seeing Cardinals do anything during the All-Star festivities.  Seeing all the different jerseys (well, that's only in the game now, so they can make more money on All-Star sales) on the same field is really neat.

Just keep an eye on Philadelphia tonight.  A big part of the rest of the season could be riding on it.

A Little Early On the Fireworks

Stop me if you've heard this before.  The Cards jump out to an early lead, posting a crooked number in the first.  However, they don't score again and the other team comes back to take the lead.

Last night's game matched that script again, but it was the later innings that deviated from the norm and made for an exciting win for the Cardinals.

I know Troy Glaus had two home runs, including the walkoff winner.  You have to like how he's heated up in the last month or so.  I checked the stats back in May and he and Rolen were almost in a statistical dead heat.  Not so much any more.

But the Hero isn't always about the best player in the game.  Chris Duncan pinch-hits the two-run, game-tying home run off of a lefty.  For everything that Duncan's been through, this Hero's for you.

If I didn't have a firm rule about keeping the Goat tag on a player, Tony LaRussa would probably get the tag for last night's game.  What was he thinking bringing Mark Mulder into that situation?  I know Mulder had thrown a good inning last time out.  But it was just one inning.  Let's not just dump him straight into a high-leverage situation, OK?  Especially when the guys coming up had good career numbers against him.

Kyle McClellan was looking sharp.  He'd faced five batters and retired four of them.  Granted, his splits show that righties have done pretty well against him this year, but he owns lefties.  Church (L), Delgado (L) and Easley (R) are coming up.  Is it really worth playing the percentages and bringing in a untested lefty in that situation?

Mulder actually didn't look quite as bad as you'd think.  It seemed to be watching that he had little control of his pitches.  The movement was great, but he didn't know exactly where he was going with it.  The first pitch to Church was a nasty one and Mulder got burned on that AB with a bloop single.  The hit by Delgado, though, was as solid as they come.  A sac fly and then, representative of his control problem, a HBP and he was done.  It's not a huge setback, but it's not exactly what you want to see out of the bullpen either.

Albert Pujols almost got the Goat tag, not only for his 0-5, but his anxiousness in the ninth.  Everyone hitting in that inning seemed to want to end the ballgame with one swing.  I'm sure AP thought the first pitch would be his best chance of doing that, but I'd have rather seen him draw the walk and have something going than popping out like that.

Tonight the Cards could get the series win.  A couple of young pitchers head to the mound as Mitchell Boggs, who of course hasn't ever faced the Mets, goes up against former top prospect Mike Pelfrey.  The only Cardinal Pelfrey has faced is Jason LaRue (twice).  He's got a 4.47 ERA but has been pitching pretty well of late.  Could be a low-scoring affair, or it could be a wild one.  As the philosopher said, "Youneverknow."

The World Series Reprise Continues

Before we get to the upcoming series with Detroit, lets pause for a moment and remember Sunday's game.  From all accounts, it was a doozy.  Piniero pitched great; Lester was slightly better.  Paplebon was proven human.  There were clutch hits (Kennedy in the ninth off the Sox closer), timely pitching (see McClellan in the 10th and Izzy in the eleventh), and off your seat drama (Duncan cut down at home).  I only wish I could have seen it.

Congrats to Nick Stavinoha, who got his first ML hit on Sunday in the sixth.

I'll award the Hero for this game to 2 folks:  Joel Piniero, who shook off my dire predictions of doom to throw 7+ innings and allow only 2 runs, and Aaron Miles, for his 5-hit effort.  Anytime your name is linked to Don Mattingly's (the last visiting player to have 5 hits in a game at Fenway) that's good.  Goat?  Mike Parisi.  Sorry, Mike.

Although the sting of losing that 2004 world series will always remain (granted, the sting will eventually fade to almost nothing as time passes), the Cardinals have won both regular season series from Boston since (in 2005 and this past weekend).  We haven't been so lucky with the Tigers, getting swept in Detroit last year.  Looper, Reyes, and Thompson were the victims during that May Series at Comerica.  Looper gets another crack at them today, facing Kenny Rogers.  The best pitching matchup of the series, however, is tomorrow, as Kyle Lohse meets rookie wunderkind Armando (don't call me Andres) Galarraga.  Wellemeyer's balky elbow will face hit or miss Nate Robertson in the finale Thursday.

The Cardinals, a team that has not shown much plate discipline lately, would be well served to be deliberate at the plate and run up the pitch counts early.  That would get the starter out and get us to their bullpen; other than Zumaya (who's just back off the DL), it is one of the worst in the AL.

One other item worth discussing today:  Mark Mulder's name has been bandied about for a possible start in Kansas City this weekend.  He was scratched from his rehab tune-up last night.  Despite two surgeries and countless hours rehabbing his shoulder, Mark's never gotten his arm back to the form he displayed as one of the Oakland A's anchors in the first part of this decade; whether it's a loss of velocity due to diminished strength in the arm following the surgeries, or his elusive arm slot issues, he isn't the same pitcher he was in 2004.  Also, as he progresses higher in the minors he's gotten slapped around pretty good by AA/AAA hitters.  I don't see how he's even an option at this point for a spot start with the big club.  Mark deserves all the credit in the world for his determination to get back on the field and resurrect his career.  I just don't think it's going to happen.

Frankly if Mulder's name appears as a better option for a spot start than Anthony Reyes from here on out (once Reyes returns from the DL), there's something seriously wrong with the thinking in the front office.

(PS - There was no Mitchell Boggs on the 1970s A's teams; the guy I was thinking of is Mitchell Page.)

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.

First the Ace, Then the King

The Cards won a game last night.  But they lost so much more.

This rag-tag group has been surprising people, sticking around in a race people said they had no business being in.  2.5 games made them better than preseason favorite Milwaukee and, if the Cubs weren't playing out of their mind at home, they could easily be on top of the NL Central.

That all got a lot more difficult last night when Number Five crashed to the ground, screaming in pain.  Knowing that he had to sit out a couple of days when he just tweaked it, it was immediately obvious this was going to be a DL trip.  How long, we don't know.  Dr. Paletta is seeing Pujols today, which of course brings trepidation to the hearts of many a Cardinal fan.  We know it'll be at least two weeks.  Hopefully it won't extend past that.

Chris Duncan has been recalled from Memphis, touching off a lot of the kind of angst only he can provide.  It's true he's not shown the Memphis trip was a success, hitting .160 in his time down there.  I'm not sure what he's shown to get the recall.  Maybe he's getting good swings down there, I don't know.  I would expect, however, that the fact he is on the 40-man roster played a large part in his selection.  Most of the other options, including Josh Phelps, would have to be added, which means someone would have to be taken off.  That's going to be a tough enough call once Colby Rasmus is ready to come up, something that is getting closer to being an option with his rebound from his slow start.  The only thing that troubles me about Duncan was the statement I read at CCH where Al Hrbrosky said Duncan would have come back up this week anyway.  I'd love to know the reasoning behind that.

If this is a short-term thing, the Cards should be able to weather the storm.  They are well ahead of the third place team in the division and have a three game lead in the wild-card standings over Florida.  Even without Pujols, they could probably tread water for the next couple of weeks if the pitching can stay strong.  They have two more with Cincy, a three game set with the Phillies, then series with KC, Boston, and Detroit.  Philly and Boston would be the toughest of the matchups.  At least Philadelphia would be at home.

If he's out until, say, the All-Star Break, things get a lot more uncertain.  The beginning of July sees the Cards host the Mets and Cubs, two series that they really need to be able to compete in.  There's only so long Ludwick and Ankiel can hold the offense together, especially since they'll be pitched to a lot differently now with the big thumper out of the lineup.

Losing Pujols and Wainwright on back to back days is a tough thing to deal with.  How the Cardinals respond will be interesting to watch.  Imagine taking Santana and Wright off the Mets or Ramirez and Beckett off the Red Sox.  Of course, those teams have a deeper supporting cast, but they'd still feel the impact.  What will happen when the supporting cast is a little less proven?

The only positives are that Joel Pineiro will be back, taking the hill on Thursday, and Todd Wellemeyer will be able to make his start against the Phillies.  Pitching will be even more important while Pujols is on the DL.

Speaking of, Braden Looper and Johnny Cueto tangle tonight.  Looper had a good start against the Reds in April, throwing six innings and allowing two runs.   He's got good career numbers against the Red hitters as well.  Cueto was bombed in the first series between these two teams, not making it out of the second.  He's struggled since then, the hype that surrounded him in the spring fairly dissipated by now.

Cards need to shake off having a different first baseman and continue this improbable run.  Of course, that's easier said than done.

Oh, and before I forget, let's give Ryan Ludwick the Hero title for his 4-5 outing, including a home run and four RBI.  I'd give Mitchell Boggs runner-up status, because that was a pretty solid first start, especially in that bandbox.  Goat would be Cesar Izturis, just because he was the only one with a hitless night.  It was a good game all around, save the injury to Pujols, which meant it was a terrible night.

Duncan Down, Mather Up

Per Bernie, who should know, it appears that Chris Duncan is heading down to Memphis and Joe Mather will be replacing him on the Cardinal roster for a time.  (EDIT: It's up on the PD main site as well.)

Mather's had a fairly successful season at Memphis and we all probably remember how well he looked in spring training.  It was definitely time for him to get a shot at the bigs, and it probably would have come sooner if the Cardinal outfield had performed as many thought it would.  With the relative success of most all the outfielders, though, it was going to take some kind of break for him to get up to St. Louis.

It's interesting that there didn't seem to be this drumbeat to send Duncan down until the last couple of days, then all of the sudden it happened.  Maybe it was because I was out of the loop last week.

As Bernie shows in his post, getting Duncan on track could provide huge benefits for the Cardinals.  When we looked at this season, I think most of us expected the production that Ryan Ludwick is having coming from Duncan instead, that he'd be the extra power source behind Pujols and Troy Glaus.  That hasn't happened, for whatever reason.  If it's because he needs reps after the injury last year, then sending him to AAA to get into the lineup basically every day could be of great use.

But what if it's not?  VEB has shown that everyone tends to pitch Duncan inside more this year.  If he can't make that adjustment, the Cardinals may regret not actively trying to move him last offseason.

I expect that the Cards were hoping he'd have a positive game like last night's to ease the sting of being sent down.  So they could legitimately tell him, "Look, we know you can do it.  See what you did against Oswalt?  You just need more playing time, and we don't have that here right now.  Go down, get straightened out, you'll be back up here before you know it."

It's interesting that the first outfielder called up this year is Mather and not Colby Rasmus, but there are obvious reasons for that.  Besides the fact that Rasmus is only hitting .202 (though coming on--reading the daily reports at Future Redbirds made me see that was happening and now I see he's hitting .303 over his last ten games), the idea is that this is a stop-gap, fill-in measure.  The Cards have said they don't want to bring Rasmus up until he can play every day.  Right now, that's not happening.  Mather is going to be more of a bench guy than they want Rasmus to be.

I wonder if Mather will get the start tonight.  Lefty on the mound, a home game, and the fact that LaRussa has thrown the pitchers called up into their first game to get their feet wet makes me think that he might be.  It could be a lineup like:

Barton
Mather
Pujols
Ludwick
Glaus
Molina
Izturis
Wellemeyer
Ryan

I was way off the last time I tried to guess a lineup, so I probably will be again, but that could be an interesting one to throw out there.

It's been fun seeing young players come up to contribute so far this year, hasn't it?  Much better than bringing up retreads or signing DFAs to fill gaps.

Oh, and in case you wanted to know, the CCH Pittsburgh series preview is up.

Continuing the Trend

The Cardinals, after last night's victory, have won four series in a row, all by a 2 games to one count.  They've at least mixed up the game they lost, though, losing the first one twice, the second once and the third once.  That's winning baseball for almost two weeks, which was very good to see after the mini-meltdown (3-7) in the middle of the month.

Lots of people going on about Chris Duncan's at-bat last night.  It was a good sign to see Duncan battle back and drive the runs in.  However, I'm still giving the Hero tag to Albert Pujols.  First off, it was his two-out single that kept the first alive, leading to Duncan coming up (after a couple of walks).  Second, his home run proved to be the difference in the game.  If he doesn't hit that and Berkman ties it up in the ninth, you think as much talk about the first inning is going on?  You also have to fit Kyle Lohse into the Hero conversation, but no strikeouts is something that can come back to bite you eventually.

With not a lot of offense going on, it's a little tougher to find a Goat.  Ryan Franklin could have gotten consideration if he'd struggled after the home run to Berkman, but getting three straight outs after that soothed things.  So I think I'll go with Rick Ankiel, who went 0-4 including a strikeout hitting ahead of Pujols.  This shouldn't have been too unexpected, however.  He's hitting .232 in the #2 hole.

The Cards now face the last team they lost a series too.  Pittsburgh came into Busch May 13-15 and won the first and last game of the series.  Now, they come in for a four game set having settled back into the cellar that they are accustomed to.  As far as I can tell, this is the last series against the Pirates in St. Louis for the year.

Tonight's matchup is Todd Wellemeyer against Zach Duke.  Wellemeyer, as we say every time he comes around in the rotation, has been the pleasant surprise of the pitching staff.  He's solid proof that Dave Duncan does know what he was doing.  The last couple of years of Walt Jocketty's reign, he tended to grab anyone on the scrap heap and let Duncan tinker.  It didn't always work, but when it did, it worked big.

Wellemeyer has faced the Pirates twice this year.  The first outing, in Pittsburgh, was one of his worst of the year.  He had an almost identical line his next time out, then did not give up more than two earned runs again until his last time out against the Dodgers.  That included facing Pittsburgh in Busch, where he gave up one run in seven innings in a win.  He's got good career numbers against most of the hitters as well.

Duke, on the other hand, has never really fulfilled the promise he showed in 2005 as a rookie.  His ERA has always been high and he's only one five games in the last two years.  He's actually pitched much better on the road than at home this year, with an ERA under four.  However, no matter where he's at, his K/BB ratio is close to one and he gives up over a hit an inning.  If the Cardinals are patient against him, they may be able to continue their good numbers against him.

The YNOT for this series is up at the Clubhouse and the series preview will be soon as well.

Other news and links: Mark Mulder will retire rather than have another surgery.  It may come down to him retiring anyway, as neither he nor the team now thinks he'll be ready by the All-Star Break.  I was really hoping the Cards would get something out of him, especially after all the players were raving about him in the spring.  Now it really looks like his career is probably over.

And, if you are a big Lost fan like I am, you'll get a kick out of this one.  (And don't say a thing about the finale--I've still not watched the hour from a couple weeks back, much less last night's episode!)

Rays-ing Spirits

Let me get this out of the way: I'm no fan of interleague play.  I think of it as a cheap promotional gimmick that causes more controversy and issues than it's worth.  Listening and watching the games this weekend, it was hard to think of them as games that count.  It was more like the team was back in spring training, playing some exhibitions.

Still it's always good to win a series, no matter who you are playing against.  It wasn't easy, but the fact the Cards were able to take two of three from the then-first place Tampa Bay Rays should give them some confidence as they head on the yearly West Coast road trip.

There's not much point to recap--everyone's pretty familiar with the games by now, I'd figure--but we've got some hardware to hand out.

Friday, the only Rays win of the series, you'd have to go with Chris Duncan as the Hero, since he was pretty much the only bit of offense out there, capped off by his fourth homer.  Troy Glaus did have a couple of hits and Chris Perez was outstanding in his first outing.

For the Goat, you might choose a number of players, but with an 0-4 ending his 42-game on-base streak and an error to boot, it's one of those rare nights off for Albert Pujols.  I almost went with Skip Schumaker after his fourth-inning at bat resulted in a double play after two were on with none out, which was a big blow to the Cardinals' chances.

Saturday was a wild one, from what I can tell.  I was at the zoo with the family and missed most of it, but obviously when you have a two home-run day (including a walkoff) like Ryan Ludwick had, well, that's Hero material.  The Goat is a little up in the air.  Duncan had an 0-5 and left five men on base on a day where everyone was getting hits.  Another shaky outing by Adam Wainwright almost gives him the tag.  Thirteen baserunners in less than six innings is a recipe for disaster, though it's possible conditions affected him as well.  If not, the Cardinals have problems, because if Wainwright starts struggling, this team is in a lot of trouble.  But Randy Flores allowing three runs in a third of an inning really takes the cake.  The whole bullpen seemed to struggle on Saturday.

The last game was a pretty interesting one as well.  I got to watch most of it and didn't think the Cards were ever going to mount the rally they needed.  It would have been fitting if Pujols would have driven in a number of runs with the bases loaded in the sixth, being the closest thing to Stan Musial the team has, but that wasn't to be and I thought that'd be their last chance.  This team plays the hard nine, though, and it was good to see.

Obviously, Skip Schumaker could have gotten the Hero tag for his walk-off hit and Aaron Miles could have gotten it for his game-tying double.  But I want to go a different direction and give it to the newest Cardinal, Chris Perez.  In only his second game, he was given the ball after the team had tied it up in the eighth.  Not only was he able to keep the game tied, he didn't even make it that agonizing, throwing five strikes and turning it over to the offense.

Our final Goat would be Troy Glaus, who went 0-4 and had a big strikeout in the fifth, ending another potential rally.  That said, Glaus has been coming on of late and it's very good to see.

So the Cardinals head out to San Diego trailing the Cubs by two games.  And, as a gift, they miss Jake Peavy, who is out with an elbow issue.  Instead, they'll face Will Ledezma.  Ledezma has only started one game this year, usually working out of the pen, so it's not that likely he'll be around much past the fifth if the Cardinals are able to get the men on that they usually do.  However, the Cardinals seem to struggle against pitchers like this, especially when they've not seen them much before.  They'll possibly have to continue their patient at-bats, because that ballpark in Petco isn't usually that conducive to hitting.

The Cardinals throw Todd Wellemeyer at the Pads.  If you thought the Cardinals didn't know much about Ledezma, that's a wealth of first-hand knowledge compared to the Padres and Wellemeyer.  I don't think we'll be able to make many judgment calls there.

The Padres have definitely not had the season that people expected, as they have the worst record in baseball, but they still can be a dangerous team.  Hopefully the Cardinals will be able to extend their misery for a few more games.  And there's still time for the Padre YNOT!

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!

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]