Rock Bottom

The listlessness of the game actually makes it hard to find a Goat.  Brad Thompson was serviceable as the starter, even if Tony La Russa didn't let him linger around long.  Chris Perez allowed a run in his inning after the Cards had cut the lead to two, but it really was just window dressing.  As I've often pointed out, the Cards have rallied from three or more runs down only twice this year, so once it got to 4-1, you had to feel like it was about over, even with the extra run scored by the Birds.  Maybe that's why we should go with Jason Motte, who gave the Rockies their three run bulge.

Being a day game, I was actually able to follow the game on Fox Sports Midwest's live blog, via Twitter discussions, and on the CardsClubhouse game thread as well as listening to John Rooney and Mike Shannon on XM Radio.  Reading the comments and discussions, you can tell that Cardinal Nation is very frustrated.  The expectations for Chris Duncan and Rick Ankiel are about as low as possible.  People are worried about the pitching staff.  All in all, the natives are restless.

It may be one of the reasons that Bill DeWitt came out and said, yes, we can take on payroll if the situation is right.  While the cynics in Cardinal Nation will say something along the lines of talk is cheap, I think it's an encouraging thing.  Usually the talk is about containing payroll, being able to stretch just a bit.  I think that with attendance being so above what they had projected, there's a good chance a significant amount could be added.  Whether it will or not is a totally different topic, but I think that if a trade isn't made, it's because the two teams couldn't match up, not because the Cards wouldn't take on the contract.

I do hope that John Mozeliak is working the phones pretty hard, though.  The only reason the Cards are still in contention is the fact that the pitching staff had that amazing run in the latter part of May.  Lose a couple of those games, which could have easily happened given the lack of offense, and the Cards are closer to five games out now.  Resting on the "we're 2.5 games out" laurel isn't going to hack it much longer, because it doesn't take long for 2.5 to get to 6 to get to 10.

I think, more than anything, the team needs a mental boost, the knowledge that the club is working for them as well as them working for the club.  I know that a lot of teams are still counting themselves in contention and therefore aren't necessarily willing to part with much, but even a small deal now that leaves you bullets for one closer to the end of July might work from the reinforcement end of things.

Speaking of reinforcement, Khalil Greene is on his way to Memphis to start his rehab assignment.  I honestly didn't expect to see him back in the news so early and wonder if he's really ready for this.  He's saying the right things, the club's saying the right things, and maybe a few days away from the game, with counseling and potentially medication, really did get him on the road to recovery.  You have to hope so, if only for his sake.  Plus if he can get back to an average season for him, that'll help the offense right there.

Tonight, the big club takes the field in Florida while the front office looks to the future.  Chris Carpenter takes to the mound hoping to stop the losing that has gone on since his last outing.  The Marlins basically haven't seen Carpenter before, so they could be in for a long night.  (If, for some reason, Carpenter gets touched up, the wailing and gnashing of teeth in Cardinal Nation goes up 50% tonight.)  Josh Johnson has a touch more experience with the Cards, who have hit him in the limited exposure.  Albert Pujols even has a home run off of him, something that'd be great to see tonight as well.

My guess for the lineup tonight:

Schumaker 4
Ankiel 9
Pujols 3
Rasmus 8
Ludwick 7
Molina 2
Greene 5
Carpenter 1
Ryan 6

I was suggesting Colby Rasmus in that cleanup slot yesterday, and TLR has indicated that, while initially opposed to it, he's coming around to thinking it couldn't be any worse.  Expect to see Colby in that slot tonight.

The front office will be drafting tonight, with no real indications on who they will take.  I know little about the draft--though I hear that Strasburg kid is pretty good, wonder where he'll go--so check out Derrick Goold's wrapup on some possible picks and, of course, keep it tuned to Future Redbirds as they follow and discuss this evening.  I understand you can follow it on Twitter as well, which is pretty neat.  I'd check out some of the MLB Network coverage if I had the station, but you've heard that rant before.

You'd like to think that if the Cards could bust out in a game, maybe they'd get something going.  It'd just be nice to see some crooked numbers for once, though.