NLDS Game 2 Recap - Dodgers Get Early Holliday Present

It's been a number of hours since the ninth inning unfolded, which is enough time to reflect. It looked, on the replay, like Holliday lost the ball as it descended. He said as much after the game. I haven't played a lot of baseball recently, but I still play a LOT of softball, and I can completely understand what Holliday went through. When a ball gets lost in the lights or in the sun, you put your glove up where you think the ball is going to come down and hope it lands in your glove.

Most of the post game reaction around the Cardinal blogs and sites I frequent focused in on Holliday's failure to catch that ball. And make no mistake, it was a big play. But it wasn't the only play that led to the 3-2 loss.

- After Holliday's HR, Ludwick and Molina singled. But DeRosa struck out and Rasmus hit into a double play to end the threat.

- Again numerous runners left on base. St Louis was oh for nine with runners in scoring position.

- Rasmus getting thrown out at third in the seventh. Yes, he was being aggressive, and yes Loney made a great play to cut the throw off and nail Rasmus at third. But there was no one out when Rasmus rapped the double - why try to take the extra base, with Wainwright on deck? One, Adam would probably be asked to sacrifice and get Rasmus to third. Two, even if he can't get Rasmus over, Rasmus is one of the fastest men on the roster; I still feel good about my chances.

Now, it's impossible to predict how the rest of that inning would have played out, but just for argument's sake. Wainwright sacrifices Rasmus to third. Torre, who's watched Wainwright manhandle his lineup, brings the infield in. Lugo's single scores Rasmus to give St Louis a 3-1 lead. Inning develops from there.

- Then we get to the ninth. Even after Holliday muffed the ball, there were still 2 outs, and the Cardinals still had the lead. But the Cardinals self-destructed. Give Blake credit for the nine-pitch at bat that turned into a walk. Franklin lays a pitch in to Belliard who sends it back up the middle. The passed ball. The walk to Martin. The Loretta jam job hit. Ball Game.

St Louis had, arguably, two of the best 3 pitchers in the NL this season. They lost both games with those guys on the mound. It's a huge hill they have to climb now.

Let me leave you with some hope. On October 11, 1985, the Cardinals flew back to St Louis down 0-2 to the Dodgers. They had played poorly in the first two games, and looked dead in the water. They came back to win all their home games and the series. That's what this team needs to do.

Colleen Dominguez reported on SportsCenter (at 2214 Thursday night) that Adam Wainwright said, "If anyone thinks this series is over - think again." Enough said.

NLDS Game 1 Recap - Gridlock

One of the biggest concerns I had going into the playoffs was the Cardinals' offense, in that as a team they had trouble getting guys on base. Well, much like the traffic in Southern California streaming onto the highway, St Louis really had no issues getting guys on last night. Bringing them around became another matter; again just like traffic in So Cal during rush hour, Cardinal baserunners just sat there. Fourteen baserunners left on. Ouch.

On a night when Chris Carpenter clearly did not have his best stuff - I can't remember him recently leaving as many pitches over the middle of the plate as he did in the first inning - a lift from the offense would have really helped. Didn't happen.

Some thoughts from last night:

1. Four. Hours. Post-season baseball, everybody!

2. St Louis had two early chances to hammer Randy Wolf, and let them slip away. The first three Cardinal hitters reached to start the game and only one scored. Molina's DP was a killer, although Holliday striking out looking was the out that turned that inning for the Dodgers. Then the Dodgers assisted by helping St Louis load the bases in the fourth (AP intentional walk, Holliday hit by pitch). But Ludwick let that get away with a weak tap to the pitcher. I know he's down 0-2 and needed to protect, but from my living room Weaver's pitch looked clearly outside; why offer at it?

3. I evaluated the Cardinal bullpen as better than the Dodger pen based on IP and % of inherited runners scoring. Last night:

Dodger bullpen: 5 1/3 IP, 2 hits, 5 K. They would have held the Cardinals scoreless except for a horrendous decision by Matt Kemp on DeRosa's ball in the ninth.

Cardinal bullpen: 3 IP, 3 H, 4 BB, 3 K. High wire act. The fact they only gave up 1 run was something of a miracle.

Advantage Dodgers.

4. Why pinch hit Glaus for Rasmus with 2 on and 2 out in the seventh? Consider this:

Rasmus vs Kuo (career): 0-2, 2K
Glaus vs Kuo (career, before last night's AB): 0-3, K, BB.

Rasmus vs LH (career): .160/.219/.255 in 115 PA
Glaus vs LH (2009): 4 PA, 0-3. Career: .277/.399/.578 (1523 PA).

Yes Kuo is a lefty and Glaus a righty. However, IMHO, Glaus hitting there was more of a genuflection at the altar of 'The Book' then a smart baseball move. Why do I think it wasn't a smart substitution? Because Glaus' been hurt all year and has faced virtually no LH pitching in 2009. He couldn't get around on the high gas, and the one pitch he had to hit he fouled straight back. Rust. Oh, well.

5. On that note, how short handed the Cardinals are on the bench was never more evident than watching Glaus hit in the seventh, then waiting for the inevitable Ankiel strikeout to end the game.

6. Did DeRosa air mail that throw to second in the third inning or what? It was so bad a throw it was funny. Too bad, because he made a great play to get to Blake's ball in the first place.

7. You know it's not your night when Pierre screws up the sac bunt, but Molina can't field it cleanly and then can't get Belliard at third. Molina's frustration was clear on the replay.

8. One final reason for renewing your Maalox prescription. This is LaRussa's eighth NLDS as Cardinal manager. How did he fare in the previous 7 Game 1's?

1996 - Beat San Diego (home), won series 3-0
2000 - Beat Atlanta (home), won series 3-0
2001 - Lost to Arizona (road), lost series 2-3
2002 - Beat Arizona (home), won series 3-0
2004 - Beat Los Angeles (home), won series 3-0
2005 - Beat San Diego (home), won series 3-1
2006 - Beat San Diego (road), won series 3-1

Yep - the only NLDS LaRussa's lost as the Cardinals manager started with a loss on the road in Game 1. Granted they lost that NLDS largely because the Cardinal bullpen collapsed in the seventh inning of Game 3, and the Cardinals provided 1 run of support in Matt Morris' two spectacular starts, but still.

Most prognosticators, myself included, looked at last night's starters and penciled Carpenter in for a win. Didn't happen. Now, we have the best pitching matchup of the series - Wainwright vs Kershaw - and need to win. Make no mistake, tonight is a must win for St Louis. Wainwright better bring his A+ game. If he's the best pitcher this season, we need him now.

Otherwise, the Cardinals will turn to Pineiro and Lohse to save their season. I think we're all pretty OK with Pineiro starting Game 3 in St Louis, but given the physical issues Lohse has fought all year, sending this series back to LA would be a tall order indeed.

We need you Adam.

Well That Was Fun

Nothing like a mid-morning romp to lift your spirits. Nothing like scoring a baker's dozen to make you forget about offensive struggles.

Chris Carpenter's team record for RBIs in a game by a pitcher (6) was only 3 off the major league record. Tony Cloninger holds the record, with 9, set on 3 July 1966. That day he hit not one but TWO grand slams against the San Francisco Giants. Atlanta won 17-3.

Some other random thoughts:

- Carpenter is the seventh Cardinal hurler to win an ERA title. He's the first since Joe Magrane in 1988 (2.18), and the first right-hander since John Denny in 1977 (2.34). Here are the other winners:

Gibson (1968) - 1.12
Harry 'the Cat' Breechen (1948) - 2.24
Howie Pollet (1946) - 2.10
Max Lanier (1943) - 1.90
Mort Cooper (1942) - 1.78
Bill Doak (1921, 1914) - 2.59 and 1.72, respectively

- Molina left the game with a strained quadricep, but it's being reported as not serious. I would expect him to miss tonight but play Saturday and Sunday.

- The Cardinal rotation is set for the NLDS - Carpenter/Wainwright/Pineiro. Now all we need is an opponent.

- St Louis pulled within a game of Philadelphia for second best record. They trail LA by 2 games. Cardinals and Rockies have the same won/loss record at 91-68. By my read of the standings, should LA win tonight they clinch both the NL West and best record in the league. They could only be 2 up on Philly with 2 to play, but LA won the season series from Philadelphia 4-3 so they hold that tiebreaker.

Everyone stay healthy this weekend. The real season starts Wednesday.

Good For Your Soul

I guess after enduring a tough homestand, the best thing is to go visit a team who's season has fallen apart. No one would argue this visit to Houston hasn't been a tonic for Cardinal hitters. They hung 6 runs on Wandy and 6 more on last night's starter Bazardo en route to easy wins both nights.

Their offense getting in gear is going to be important for their next series, as Colorado is playing well and is also putting up runs. Yes, they're currently playing San Diego, and hung 11 on the Padres last night, but San Diego has played better overall since the All Star break (33-31) than the .409 pace they were on before July 12. Also that series could be a preview of the NLDS, so best foot forward, as they say.

Before we all breathe a collective sigh of relief that the offense has returned - let's not forget the Cardinals have beaten up on teams under .500 (currently 62-33 against them, or a .652 pace), but are under .500 themselves against teams with winning records (27-30; they were 26-25 heading into the last homestand). So while the offensive resurgence is encouraging, I'd really like to see it continue this weekend against a playoff-caliber team.

I predicted the Cardinals would clinch in Houston, and that can still happen. However, it will require them to beat a guy (Bud Norris) who mystified them in August, and get some help from a Milwaukee team that's been beaten up as badly by the Cubs the last two days as St Louis has mauled Houston. Former Notre Dame WR Jeff Samardzija will start today for the Cubs against Chris Narveson. Samardzija got killed by the Phillies on August 12 (3 1/3, 7 ER) in his only other start of 2009. Former Cardinal farmhand Narveson has been better - in his 2 previous starts, he's thrown 8 innings allowing 3 ER. Milwaukee won both those games, although he didn't figure in either decision.

So, the magic number stands at 2. Another easy one - #2 is retired, last worn by Red Schoendienst. Back in the day, major league organizations would hold open try-outs for aspiring baseball players in the local area of the team. Red was discovered at one of these events, and debuted with the Cardinals in 1945. He eventually played 19 seasons in the Majors, most with St Louis, but he spent some time with the NY Giants and Milwaukee Braves towards the end of his career. Bob Keely wore 2 before Schoendienst. He appeared in one game in 1944 and one in 1945; he had one at bat in the majors (1945), and didn't reach base. He died in 2001.


The big news yesterday was the voiding of Wagner Mateo's contract by the Cardinals. His signing had been a big deal, both because he was a high-value prospect, and because it represented a splashy entry by the Cardinals into the Carribean player market. A $3.1 million contract to a 19-year old will turn some heads, to be sure. Not sure what voiding the contract will do, but most of it will probably be negative. Not that I fault the Cardinals for doing this; part of the conditions was that Mateo had to pass a physical, and he didn't. I'm going to assume the results of his physical (apparently taken in July) were known to the organization before now, and they've been trying to decide what to do since.

One other thing: The Post-Dispatch report implies the injury wasn't disclosed prior to Mateo signing the contract. It's always bad policy to withhold information from an employer, especially if it has large potential to come out anyway. In a physical game, why would you try to hide an injury? Makes no sense. The USN has a cute little saying, "never be the senior man with bad news". The idea is to pass the data up the chain of command so the leadership knows about problems early and can work to fix them. When something bad happens and someone tries to cover it up, it invariably blows up much worse than it would have had that individual come clean to start.

Sometimes you just don't have it

We all were shocked recently when Carp gave up 6 runs with 2 outs to Atlanta - something he hadn't done since his early years in Toronto. Last night something similar happened to Wandy Rodriguez. He couldn't control his breaking ball, and the Cardinals were able to hammer him.

The three first inning runs all came after Rodriguez retired the first 2 Cardinals. AP won't admit it - he's too much of a professional - but I'm sure he's aware of how Wandy's handcuffed him through the years (also because knuckleheads like me keep pointing it out), and the double had to be somewhat satisfying (Pujols finished 1-3 off Wandy). By the time Houston put a runner on the game was essentially over.

Two other big things out of this game:

- Mark DeRosa looked comfortable at the plate. Then again, DeRosa loves hitting at Minute Maid Park. He's hit more HR there than any ballpark he hasn't called home. If I was in the Astro front office, I might consider trying to sign him in the off-season. I thought during the Sunday night game that DeRosa had found his stroke (as I mentioned yesterday, and also why I thought the sac bunt in the ninth was a dumb play); this line in Derrick Goold's post game wrap seems to confirm that:

As Lohse altered his mechanics to compensate for his forearm, so too did DeRosa adjust his swing to protect the wrist. He tripled Friday and said that was the breakthrough swing.

If he's re-discovered his stroke, this truly becomes a fearsome lineup.

- The other is Lohse's good outing. He's been fighting his mechanics ever since getting hit by a pitch waaaay back in April. I didn't realize going into this game he hadn't won a start on the road. Lohse appeared to get both monkeys off his back in this start. Now, the Astros are not very good, so a dose of caution is still in order; if Kyle can continue making strong starts like last night's from now until the end of the season, Cardinals pitching picks up some much needed flexibility and depth. Again, they become much more dangerous in the playoffs.

One other thing - the CBS Sports game recap headline refers to the Astros as the 'fading Astros'. Are they really fading at this point? They'd been completely eliminated from the playoff chase before this series started. Wouldn't 'faded' be more accurate? 'Sunk'? 'Imploded'?


Chicago clobbered Braden Looper and the Brewers last night, 10-5, so St Louis was only able to lower their magic number by one. Magic Number Watch now stands at 3. #3 has recently been a middle infielder number, much like #4 was. As you know, currently Khalil Greene wears the number. I doubt Khalil will look back fondly at his time in St Louis from a baseball perspective, but the team seems to be giving him all the support he needs to deal with his anxiety disorder, so he should remember the team as one that tried to help. Recent past wearers of 3 include Cesar Izturis (2008), Miguel Cairo (2007), and Edgar Renteria (1999-2004).

Not the way it could have ended

Ended up watching the last 6 innings or so of last night's Cardinal/Cub game after getting home. Didn't quite end like we wanted it to.

- The Cardinal ninth baffled me. Not the Holliday call - he was clearly out of the base line and that was the correct call by the second base umpire. But after Schumaker reaches on a single, why use DeRosa to bunt him over? DeRosa had tagged the ball his previous 2 at bats (an RBI double to tie the score, and a flyball to left that Scales had to jump up to catch). Everyone knew if Lugo made it to second with one out the Cubs would walk Pujols (which they did), so that play effectively removed AP from the game.

Now folks will argue that, with Holliday on deck, this isn't as serious a tactical error as it was before the end of July, and there may be some truth to that; but for as well as Holliday has played since joining the Cardinals, he isn't the best hitter on the club. Pujols still is. I want Pujols swinging the bat in that situation.

As it turned out, Holliday got hit by a pitch, so the bases were loaded for Ludwick. Who promptly grounded into the double play. I don't know who Dan selected a the goat (I haven't looked at his post yet today), but he probably gave Goat to Mitchell Boggs; Ludwick deserves it more.

- I didn't know So Taguchi was in the Cub chain. I thought he retired after last season. Nice to see you, So.

In Memoriam of Fire Joe Morgan, some dumb things said last night during the broadcast:

- JM, when LaRussa pulled Adam Wainwright from the game: I'm disappointed he took him out there. I think you have to let him try to get the win and get to 20 wins.

Couple of things here. (a) Wainwright had already thrown 102 pitches on a hot night. Seemed appropriate to take him out after 7. (b) I know it would be nice from a milestone perspective to see Adam win 20, and I know lots of people put too much weight in the wins statistic that clearly doesn't measure pitching performance as it once did. Not to mention the fact that the Cardinals are going to the playoffs. Wainwright's now thrown 219 innings and faced 909 hitters, most in the NL. THE POINT IS TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES, NOT REACH SOME MEANINGLESS MILESTONE. LaRussa made the right decision.

- Jon Miller, in the eighth, when the Cubs had runners on with 1 out: The Cardinals can't afford to give up more runs here if they want to win.

To this my wife responded 'That is the point stupid!'. I got nothing to add there.

- JM, in the eighth, referring to Skip Schumaker: Why is he hitting leadoff? He only has 2 stolen bases all year.

He's right, Schu has only 2 steals this year (and has been caught twice). This is classic Joe Morgan. In his day the leadoff hitter was a stolen base threat, no matter what his success rate. There can't be any possible other measuring stick for selecting a leadoff hitter, can there Joe? Except the whole point of leading off the game is to get on base so your #2-5 hitters can drive you in. Scoring runs is the object of the game, right? Score more than the other guy? Then the goal is to get on base. Schumaker has the highest OBP of any Cardinal not named Pujols. Perhaps THAT'S why LaRussa has him hitting leadoff.

At any rate, the Cardinals magic number remains at 4 going into Houston. There'll be a preview up later, but with the back end of the Cub rotation starting the first 2 games in Milwaukee, I'm hopeful the Brewers can take the first two; if St Louis wins 2 of 3 from Houston, that'll do it.

Well those two games have lived up to their billing

What a way to start the weekend. Two tense games decided in the last at bat. Chicago led in one and tied the other in the top of the ninth, only to lose both.

I'm reminded of the climatic scene in The Patriot, after the Continental Army turns to flee:

Cornwallis: "Reserve into the Center."
Brit Lieutenant (quizzically): "But Sir, you've taken the field."
Cornwallis: "Now we shall take their spirits. Send the entire army over that hill and crush them. It ends today!"

Unfortunately it won't end today. Even if Wainwright beats Zambrano, the magic number will still be 2, so the Cardinals will have to clinch on the road. However, sweeping the Cubs, well, that would be a nice way to put a cherry on what's been a lousy homestand.

Magic Number Watch:

Clinch Division: 4

Eliminate Rivals:
- Milwaukee: 1 (beat Houston 7-2)
- Houston: ELIMINATED (lost to Milwaukee)
- Cincinnati, Pittsburgh: ELIMINATED

This will be the last 'eliminate rivals' item, seeing as they're all out as of today.

Who wore the number last: After Friday's win, the number stood at 6.

#6 - Do I really need to remind you, readers of THIS SITE, who wore that number last? The last guy to wear 6 before Musial? Stu Martin (1940). He was a reserve infielder who played 6 seasons for St Louis (1936-1940), then was sold by the Cardinals to the Pirates after the 1940 season. He played 2 years for Pittsburgh, then one for the Cubs. He died in 1997.

#4 - For a while, it seemed 4 would be worn by the Cardinal second basemen. However, currently Yadier Molina wears the number, and has since 2006. Before him Einar Diaz had it (2005), then Tony Womack (2004), then Fernando Vina.

Hair on Fire Wednesday

Busy today, so we'll keep it short. If time permits, I'll post again later today.

Cards lost 2-1 to the rookie lefty. Figures. Lots of LOB again.

Magic Number Watch.

Clinch Division: 10 (Cubs won 12-5)

Eliminate Rivals:
- Houston: 3 (lost to Philly 5-4)
- Milwaukee: 3 (lost to Cubs 12-5)
- Cincinnati: ELIMINATED
- Pittsburgh: ELIMINATED

Finally, my turn to host the UCB radio hour comes up again tonight. Dan and I will discuss all things Cardinal. Also, we hope to play portions or all of an interview I did with Larry Boroswky (formerly of Viva El Birdos) this weekend. Should be good! Look forward to hearing from you!

If you have any questions you'd like to ask us, and can't make the show, just leave them in the comments. We'll get to them.

Cards win despite Wellemeyer

We didn't learn anything new last night. Wellemeyer v.2008 is merely a passing memory, replaced by Wellemeyer v. 2009, who sucks. I didn't think it would be possible to see Todd's ERA go up last night, but he exceeded expectations and did just that.

In fairness, he hasn't pitched at all really since 30 July, so I was expecting a lack of command and early fatigue, figuring he'd be out of the game after 5 at the most. But Wellemeyer didn't really walk anyone (1 in his 4 innings), and his first pitch command better than expected (21 batters faced, 5 1-0 counts, 13 0-1 counts (10 of those were strike one looking), 3 hitters put the first pitch in play). He also only had four 3-ball counts last night, and all four were within the first 6 hitters he faced.

Not pitching from behind early in the count, not a lot of deep counts - what happened? Sounds like he was wild in the strike zone, or in other words, left a lot of pitches up and out over the plate. Wellemeyer had 4 swinging strikes all night - by the same two hitters (1 in each of Uggla's at bats, 2 in the same Cameron Maybin at bat). Other pitches Marlins swung at were either fouled off or put in play. That's wild in the strike zone.

LaRussa refused to speculate as to when Wellemeyer's next appearance would be, which based on his performance is a valid position.

The problem is, now the Cardinals are showing some cracks at the back end of the rotation. Wellemeyer hasn't been right all year, Lohse hasn't been right since getting hit by a pitch, Smoltz has shoulder tendinitis. So where does the team go from here? Hawksworth has nailed down a slot in the bullpen as the 6th/7th inning guy, so he's not an option. Boggs? Possible as the #4 guy, but that still leaves a hole at #5.

Do we dare give a start to Thompson?

I will say this, having a 9.5 game lead is a huge luxury right now. I'd not want to face these kinds of decisions only leading by 2 or 3 games.

And a quick word about Lohse. The PD is reporting today he had discomfort during and after his Saturday start, although an MRI he had Sunday was 'unexceptional'. Lohse still has 3 years remaining on a $41 million contract. Here's a radical thought: shut down Lohse for the season. He's ineffective and hasn't been able to heal - why risk more damage?

The Cardinals face a rookie left-hander today. Let's hope the offensive explosion from yesterday keeps going.

Magic Number Watch:

Clinch Division: 10 (Cubs beat Milwaukee 2-0)

Eliminate Rivals:
- Houston: 4 (lost to Cincinnati 3-1)
- Milwaukee: 4 (lost to Cubs)
- Cincinnati: ELIMINATED
- Pittsburgh: ELIMINATED

That Was Less Fun Than Expected

Going into the Atlanta series, I thought their pitching could cause the Cardinals some trouble. I even went pessimistic with my predictions, saying Atlanta could win 2 of 3. But I didn't expect to get swept.

Not much to say about Friday's game. Pineiro was good, but Jurrjens was better. I remember thinking when Detroit decided to traid Jurrjens away for Renteria that the Braves had done quite well; Jurrjens looked good as a rookie in 2007, and was going to improve. He hasn't become the #2 starter I expected, yet, but he's only 23 years old, so it's not like he's over the hill or anything.

Saturday? Just frustrating. I've become so inured to the Cardinals not being on the Fox game of the week that I don't even look at the listings anymore, I just assume we'll get to watch the Mets or Yankees or Red Sox or some lousy game pitting two west coast teams. So I was somewhat surprised to turn the game on in the bottom of the fourth and see the Cardinals on. They were down 4-2 at that point.

Not seeing that it was a lazy Saturday afternoon, and that the kids had decided to take a nap (or at least remain in their respective rooms being quiet), I dozed for most of the next hour. Somehow I managed to wake up for the bottom half of each inning and watch the Cardinals strand 10000 runners on base through 8 innings.

And what a bizarre bottom of the eighth. Notwithstanding Franklin's blown save in the ninth, the Cardinals should have blown the game open in the eighth - Atlanta tried to hand them that game. First, though, proper kudos need to be given to Mark DeRosa. He caught a break on the passed ball, because McCann had a play on him at second if he doesn't double clutch the throw. The steal of third was genius. It also led the the rest of the inning; because of the steal, Bobby Cox brought the infield in, which meant that Molina's line drive was too hot for Escobar instead of an out and DeRosa was able to score the tying run.

Then the ridiculous started. Jones let's a ball get through the 5-hole. A blown flip on a double play grounder from Schumaker. A flat out miss of a tag on Schumaker going down the line, followed by LaRoche not throwing back down to second to try and get the out, giving the Cardinals the lead. AP walked intentionally. Too bad Holliday couldn't drive the final nail home, especially in light of how the ninth inning went.

I think we should be concerned about Franklin. I know he said all the right things about the extended layoff and he wasn't sharp, and he did buckle down after McCann's double gave Atlanta the lead again. Franklin not being right reshuffles the entire bullpen, and makes our shaky right-handed set-up problem that much worse. Let's hope his renewed concentration after the double is a sign of how he will pitch the rest of the season.

I have no idea what happened to Carpenter yesterday, but oof - that hurt. And Vasquez was as tough as expected on the Cardinals. Let's just move on.

I'll have a preview up later today on the Florida series (although it's already posted over at CardsClubhouse). Their pitching isn't quite the caliber of Atlanta's over the weekend, but they are starting Nolasco, a lefty rookie (first-time lefties typically make life difficult for St Louis), and Josh Johnson, so it won't get that much easier.

On to other news:

Magic Number Watch

Clinch Division: 11 (Cubs won 2 of 3 from Cincinnati)

Eliminate Rivals:
- Houston: 6 (took 2 of 3 from Pittsburgh)
- Milwaukee: 6 (swept Arizona)
- Cincinnati: ELIMINATED (lost 2 of 3 to Chicago)
- Pittsburgh: ELIMINATED

UCB Fantasy Baseball Playoffs:

You may remember me, a long time ago, mentioning that several Cardinal bloggers had bandied together to form a Head-to-head fantasy baseball league. I haven't talked much about it, because my draft was soo bad I ended up with no power at all to speak of from the 5 outfielders I was playing, and I spent most of the first half of the year fighting to get out of 1oth place in a 12-team league. But, since week 9, something changed with the team; I don't know if it was Derrek Lee remembering he doesn't suck, or the acquisitions of Michael Cuddyer and the Melky Cabrera, or the fact that my pitching staff (Oswalt, Carpenter, Lackey, Greinke, Blanton) have pitched their butts off. But I haven't lost a week since Week 8 (with 2 ties). It doesn't hurt having 2 Cy Young candidates in the rotation.

Also, I got smoked by the two best teams in the league the first time through, and returned the favor the second time; I was the first team in the league to hang a loss on the best team in the division (capably managed by Pip over at Fungoes), which led to a flurry of activity by him on the waiver wire (at least, that's the story I'm sticking with).

Anyway, I didn't want to jinx it. But I managed to climb out of the second division and finish third overall in the league, behind the aforementioned Fungoes and Matt Leach, who blogs for mlb.com. Not too shabby.

I faced off against Dan over at C70 at the bat, and despite a horrendous week from my pitching, I managed to survive, winning 5-3-2. Next up? Leach's team. I got him the last time when my team was hot, so we'll see how things go this time around. No matter what, however, I won't finish worse than 4th in the playoffs, and that's cool. We came a long way, baby.

Albert Rides Shotgun For The Wagonmaker

Busy day today - AM loaded with meetings, awards and evaluations to finalize, so this will be short. I present the first ever Stan Musial's Stance haiku game summary:

Pujols twice
Wainwright resurgent
Closing on Autumn

Magic Number Watch

Clinch Division: 12 (Cubs beat Pittsburgh 8-5)

Eliminate Rivals:
- Houston : 8 (beat Atlanta 2-1)
- Milwaukee: 6
- Cincinnati: 3 (lost to Colorado 4-3)
- Pittsburgh: ELIMINATED

Other news: Holliday has an owie, DeRosa to have off-season surgery on his wrist. From the sound of it, Holliday won't miss any time, although he will be investing in bacitracin and dance lessons. DeRosa's off-season surgery has been hinted at for a while, so that's no surprise. Let's hope he gets the procedure done early in the off-season so he's ready to go come spring training (in other words, don't pull a Glaus).

Off-day today, Atlanta over the weekend.

How Badly Did We Need a Holliday?

Apparently, pretty badly.

Statistics are interesting because they can highlight trends or factoids not normally made plain to the casual fan (i.e., me). Here's my current favorite one: St Louis is 31-11 since acquiring Holliday from the A's. Here's a close second, although it qualifies more as a factoid: the Cardinals have not lost ground in the Central since taking over the outright lead in the division on August 7. Of course, it hasn't hurt they've gone 24-6 over that stretch (.800 baseball).

Trevor Hoffman is one of the best closers in baseball who, as a mostly San Diego resident, I've had the pleasure of watching pitch for most of his career. His fastball isn't what it once was (most forget he used to routinely hit 92-95 with it before the arm surgery), but that change up is still devastating. That said, he is susceptible to the long ball, which Holliday provided last night. The loss won't affect Hoffman - one doesn't accumulate 584 saves without knowing how to put a bad outing behind one - but the win will affect the Cardinals, who rightfully believe they are never out of a game, and are becoming more and more comfortable with the idea they don't need to rely solely on AP to deliver in high-leverage situations.

I'm hope the Cardinals don't face Manny Parra again this season. I may have to create the Manny Parra Effect to describe what happens to Redbird bats when he pitches or is scheduled to pitch. How else to explain a guy who's 2-1, sub-2.4 ERA against STL and 8-9, 7.49 against everyone else? Even when he leaves the game early (neck spasms, day-to-day), the Cardinals can't solve Brewer pitching.

Cardinals look to win the series today.

Magic Number Watch:

Clinch Division: 13 (Cubs beat Pirates 9-4)

Eliminate Rivals:
- Milwaukee - 8
- Houston - 8 (Lost to Atlanta 2-1)
- Cincinnati - 5 (Lost to Colorado 3-1)
- Pittsburgh - ELIMINATED

Current Cardinal Brendan Ryan sports #13. Before him the immortal Sidney Ponson stretched the number across his prodigious backside (2006).

Other news:

- Cardinals are reportedly very interested in bringing Mark DeRosa back for next year. Money quote:

"Recognizing where we are, the thought is we'll talk about it and that we're still hopeful that he's someone we could sign and bring back," Mozeliak said. "He's a very valuable person to this club."

Given his reputation as a leader on whatever club he plays for (as reported in various media stories about what's wrong with the Cubs, as well as ancedotal conversations with people having insight into the Cubs locker room), I view this as a good move.

- Rasmus is suffering from a sore heel/achillies tendon. This sounds like plantar fascitis to me. Granted, I'm not a doctor, and the media reporting on his injury is probably purposefully vague, but left heel/foot pain and a sore achillies plagued me earlier this year; when I went to the podiatrist, he diagnosed plantar fascitis, and prescribed shoe inserts (which, incidentally, have helped). So I'm willing to bet that's Rasmus' problem too. It didn't bother me when I was hitting, but it did when I pushed off to chase flyballs, etc, in the OF.

- Lohse to rotation, Boggs to bullpen. Came up in the comments yesterday. Boggs pitched much better his last time out against Pittsburgh, and was serviceable in his previous start vs Milwaukee, so he's not being shifted due to a lack of performance. I think LaRussa wants to see Lohse pitch to determine his availability and effectiveness going into the playoffs. This is a sensible and rational move. A healthy Lohse, pitching like he did last season and in April 09, is a big asset and a dangerous #3/4 starter - more so than anyone else the Cardinals can run out there, including Smoltz (more on him in a moment). The team needs to know what they've got with Lohse going forward in 2009. I think Lohse will make 4 starts the rest of the year and then we'll see what the team does in the playoffs.

- Smoltz's line yesterday - 5 IP, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 K. We talked earlier about his first two starts being aided by the weak lineups he was facing. Against a good hitting team his last 2 starts, he's given up 3 ER in each start (it just happened to be the same team). This is the level of performance we should expect to get from a John Smoltz start at this point in his career. The problem is each of his starts taxes the bullpen, in that they need to get up to 12 outs.

Now granted, the Cardinals have thrown the fewest relief innings in the NL this season (372.0 -next lowest is San Francisco at 386.2), so bullpen burnout isn't as serious an issue as it may be for the Dodgers, but in the short series playoff format, burning out the pen in one game can hamstring LaRussa for subsequent games, and potentially bring on unfavorable matchups or cost the team a game. So I believe Smoltz will be used exclusively in relief once the post season starts, even if Lohse remains lousy these next 3 weeks.

Masterful

I remember, not so long ago, ESPN broadcast baseball games all day on Labor Day. In fact, I remember watching the Cardinals/Astros game on Labor Day 1996, which was (a) a great game, (b) a game the Cardinals won, and (c) when I knew the Cardinals would win the NL Central that year.

Thanks to the first weekend of CollegeFootball now extending from Friday to Monday, as sponsors continue to grovel at the altar of Ba'al - WHOOPS, I mean The Almighty Dollar - there was no baseball on TV today locally. Except Padres/Giants. Whoopee.

So I'm limited to seeing the score crawl across the screen. 3-0 Cardinals doesn't tell one much, other than the Cards won. Then the line comes up - 'Carpenter - CG, H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 K' - and I think, wow. That's fantastic, and will certainly help my UCB Fantasy League team in the playoffs (sorry Dan, it's not your year).

In an unrelated story, Carlos Pena breaking two fingers today pretty much ends my chances of winning my work rotisserie league. I was in second, and closing, going into today. CC Sabathia pitches for the team I'm chasing. Coincidence? I think not!

I read the game summary, and was floored. 99 pitches? Two balls hit OUT OF THE INFIELD the entire game against him? My gosh, that's incredible. Carpenter has thrown only one other 1-hitter, a memorable game against his original team, the Blue Jays. He had a certain motivation in that game - he was healthy, Toronto kinda gave up on him - and he dominated them. This game? Carpenter proved, again, how good he is this season.

I just wish I could have seen it.

And again, people who think Lincecum is a slam-dunk to win the Cy Young in 2009 aren't really paying attention. That's no disrespect to Tim Lincecum, but an acknowledgement of how good Chris Carpenter has been this year.

So, the Cards inch closer to their first playoff appearance since winning the whole thing 3 years ago. Let's go to the tote board:

Magic Number Watch:

Clinch Division: 14 (Cubs beat Pittsburgh 4-2)

Eliminate Rivals:
- Milwaukee: 10
- Houston: 10 (Beat Philadelphia 4-3)
- Cincinnati: 7 (Lost to Colorado 4-3)
- Pittsburgh: ELIMINATED

I've adjusted my numbers from the last post due to a math error on my part. Based on these new numbers, the Cubs victory over Pittsburgh eliminates the Pirates from the divisional race. But, we have a nice parting gift: they're still alive for the Wild Card.

Smoltz vs Manny Parra tomorrow. Parra's pitched better against St Louis then he has vs the rest of the league, and the Brewers beat Smoltz in his last start.

Cardinals rest everybody, push Pirates to the brink

You know LaRussa sat everyone when AP is available to pinch hit in the tenth inning. And AP said all the right things at the post-game conference after launching the winning HR deep into the Pittsburgh night. But you know that blast came with an extra amount of satisfaction for him, given that Capps had hit him with a pitch the last time they faced each other.

Although the Cardinals rested most of their regulars, that shouldn't take away from the effort 'Der' Olhendorf turned in yesterday. Without the error in the sixth inning, he might have won this game 1-0. Four hits and 11 K's over eight innings is a fantastic effort. I knew he had pitched well in his previous 2 starts at home, but I didn't go far enough back to realize how dominant he'd been at home this season.

And give Mitchell Boggs credit. For a guy most talking heads (and the Cardinals in-dugout staff, from all indications) thought didn't have it to get deep into games, Boggs' seven inning effort was at least an indication he may have what it takes to stay at the ML level in the rotation. His Washington start was servicable, this one was better.

Cards go for the sweep today. LA won last night, so St Louis also remains tied for best record in the league (81-56).

Magic Number Watch:

Clinch Division: 17 (Cubs won yesterday 5-3).

Eliminate Rivals:
- Milwaukee - 13 (lost 3-2 to San Francisco)
- Houston - 13 (beat Philadelphia 5-4)
- Cincinnati - 10 (beat Atlanta 3-1)
- Pittsburgh - 2

17 is Dizzy Dean's number. View his statistics here. His HOF plaque can be seen here.

Cardinals swamp Pirates, tie for best record in NL

Well Adam Wainwright didn't burnish his Cy Young credentials last night, but given his sustained superior performance these past 2 months, I think he's due a hiccup, don't you?

He did notch his ML leading 17th win which, given the way the voting tends to go, may have helped his case out anyway.

Thanks to the Padres shutting out LA 2-0, and the Phillies being shut out by Houston 7-0, St Louis passed Philadelphia and is even with LA for best record in the league, with 26 games to go.

Magic Number Watch:

Clinch Division: 18

Eliminate Rivals:
- Milwaukee - 15
- Houston - 14
- Cincinnati - 11
- Pittsburgh - 4

New feature: I will highlight the last Cardinal to wear the uniform number of their magic number each day. Would you believe no Cardinal has worn #18 in 13 years? The last - Luis Alicea, for the 1996 NL Central Champs. It was his last year as a Cardinal. He played for another six years, all in the AL (1 with the Angels, 3 with Texas, the last 2 with KC). Alicea is currently the first base coach for the NY Mets.

Finally, my long month of travel is over, so I should be at the computer more often as the season winds up to the 2009 Playoffs. If you've missed my distinctive writing style, fear not: the nonsense and sarcasm will be front and center these next few weeks.

Series Preview - Pittsburgh

Three items before we get into the preview:

1. Congratulations to Chris Carpenter on being named NL Pitcher of the Month for August. In 6 starts he averaged just over 7 innings a start, had a WHIP of 1.000, a SO/BB ratio of 5.40, and an OPS against of .591. Truly dominant.

How does that compare to the Wagonmaker? 6 starts, averaged just under 7 innings a start, WHIP 0.9113, SO/BB ratio of 7.25, OPS against of .548.

What about Lincecum? 6 starts, just over 7 innings a start, WHIP of 1.007, SO/BB ratio of 2.79, OPS against of .513.

Anyone telling you the NL Cy Young award is a slam-dunk for Lincecum just isn't paying attention to how well Carpenter/Wainwright are pitching right now.

2. The AP wire report on today's Cardinal game says Manny Parra is 3-1 against St Louis this season. Here's what's true: Parra has started 4 games against the Cardinals. Here's what's not: He was 1-1 (with a ND that the Brewers lost) in the previous 3 starts. So he's now 2-1 against St Louis. AP regrets the error.

3. Smoltz went 6 today and gave up 4 ER. I saw that crawl across the ticker and thought, well, that's about what we should have expected. I didn't realize until reading the game summary he was a botched double play, and then one bad pitch, away from winning that game. So perhaps Smoltz is back as a starter. That's great news.

On to the preview:

The Cardinals return to Pittsburgh for a three-game set. St Louis has won 8 of the 12 meetings this season, taking 4 of 6 at home and at PNC Park. Should the Redbirds sweep this series, they will (a) assure Pittsburgh of yet another losing season (their 18th straight), and (b) eliminate the Pirates from the NL Central race.

Mostly well-known tidbit: Pittsburgh has been horrendous on the road (18-48 going into Wednesday night’s action) but pretty good at home (35-29). In fact, their home record is 6th best in the League, behind SF, STL, LA, the Cubs, and Colorado.

Also, when did teams quit playing 4-game series over Labor Day? Is this a memory from a previous life, or was the Sunday before Labor Day always a travel day?

Finally, the Pirates must hate when the Cardinals come calling; this is the third time this year they’ll play the Cardinals while in the middle of a long losing streak (currently at 7 and counting).

Current snapshot

St Louis: 78-56, 1st in NL Central, 10.5 games ahead of Chicago (9 on the loss side). St Louis just finished a 7-2 homestand, they own the biggest divisional lead in baseball, and only the Yankees have a higher probability of making the playoffs at this point (99.8 to 99.1), and that Holliday trade? Yeah that’s worked out pretty well.

Pittsburgh: 53-79, last in NL Central, 25 games back. Hey, at least this time around their lineup hasn’t undergone a drastic makeover since the last time the Cardinals played them. Not much to celebrate in Pittsburgh these days, but they did look positively frisky against the Phillies last week. Must have been a maximum effort, since they’ve lost 7 straight since…

Pitching match-ups

4 September: Wainwright vs Kevin “Don’t Call Me Bo” Hart (4-4, 4.34). Hart was acquired by the Pirates in the Grabow/Gorzelanny trade. He was 3-1 when the Pirates got him, and then, possibly depressed by going from a team with a legendary record of futility to a team taking a dump on its proud legacy, forgot how to pitch. Hart has been awful as a Pirate. ERA of 6.04, people reach base against him 40% of the time, OPS of .917, 4 HR allowed in 5 games (after allowing 3 in his 8 with the Cubs), and so on. He’s thrown a total of 4 innings against the Cardinals in his career; 4 hits, 2 BB, 5 K’s, and 1 ER overall. No starts against St Louis, and his most recent appearance was in a mop-up role during a 12-6 Cardinal beat-down of Chicago last 19 September (that was Zambrano getting the early shower).

5 September: Boggs vs Ross ”Der” Ohlendorf (11-9, 4.17). The name Ohlendorf is definitely German, but I have no idea what it means. Ohlendorf leads the Pirates in wins, but is 7th in the NL allowing HR (23 this season). He has 3 starts against St Louis this season, and is 1-2, but his lone win was at home on May 13 by a 5-2 count. Those are also the sum total of appearances against the Redbirds he’s made in his career. He allows about 1 in every 3 baserunners to reach, and teams are slugging .788 against him.

Even Mitchell Boggs couldn’t derail the current Cardinal hot streak. He beat Washington on Saturday 9-4, thanks to the Cardinals staking him to an early 7-2 lead. Boggs has started twice against Pittsburgh this season; he didn’t get out of the fifth in either appearance, but the Cardinals won both games.

Statistical Oddity: In each start against the Pirates he faced exactly 21 hitters and left with a 2-run lead. He had the same number of pitches called strikes (13) in each start. Spooky.

6 September: Pineiro vs Paul “Mahalo” Maholm (7-8, 4.67). Maholm is 1-1 against St Louis this year, pitching into the seventh both starts, so he should pitch better than his statistics say he will. His last two starts at home against the NL were superlative, allowing 1 ER in each (7 2/3 and 7 innings respectively), but got hit hard his last road start in Cincinnati (4 ER in 5 IP, loss). However, he’s become prone to the long ball, allowing at least 1 HR in 6 of his 9 starts since the All-Star Break (or put another way, he’s allowed 14 HR this season but 9 since the break). So he might be competitive, but I’d expect some Cardinal to find the seats against him.

I thought Pineiro was due for a bad start, and expected it to be against the Brewers; he did allow 4 runs, but got the win anyway. His season has been one of streaks; 4 wins to start, then lost 9 of 11 decisions, and has now won 8 straight decisions (including his last 5 starts). Can he continue to win? Against this team, probably. He lost to a completely different Pirates team on May 17 (5-2), but beat this version 7-3 on August 9th.

Prognosis/prediction. We are better than this AAAA team. Cardinals should sweep.

Magic Number for Division Title: 20.

Go Cards!

AFTERMATH - Annual Trek to Petco

Oh man, a lot has happened since my last post. We'll stick to Sunday's game, but first some background.

I returned from a business trip last Thursday to find . . . my Mom waiting for me at the airport. This might seem normal until I tell you she lives 1500 miles from me. But that was just the beginning. Several other members of my extended family had also flown in.

Seems my wife had planned a big shindig to celebrate a milestone birthday of mine. Never mind which milestone birthday that is.

Anywho, she had told me we had tickets to Sunday's game at Petco, as I mentioned. She never told me where we were sitting, however.

I wrote last week that if readers of this blog were at that game and saw a guy walking around the ballpark in a Taguchi jersey, to say hello because it was me. Well you may have seen a guy walking around in a red Taguchi t-shirt, but that wasn't me (I have a white home jersey with his name on the back), because my wife...

...had purchased a luxury suite for the occasion. And filled it with friends and family.

Needless to say, I made it to the railing in the suite and no further.

There are pictures - oh, there are pictures - but they're on a different computer and I haven't had a chance to peruse them fully. I'll probably post them at some other time. Some thoughts on the game, if you care to go back in time four days:

Item: They have pre-printed scorecards in these suites. Complete with the starting lineup filled in and all traditional statistics included (AVG, HR, RBI). On the back of the sheet media information was listed (who's hot, head-to-head record between the two, 'this date in Padres history'), and so on. Here's a good statistic: the Padres are 71-141 all time in St Louis.

Item (Part 1): There was a left over score sheet from TUESDAY's game against the Cubs in the suite. Remember, we were there on Sunday - 5 days later. Do the Padres suffer from 'inattention to detail' syndrome? More on this later.

Item: After the Cardinals acquired John Smoltz, and it became evident he'd start this game, I was looking forward to seeing him pitch, if for no other reason than I would have an in-person seat to evaluate him. Some of my relatives are dyed-in-the-wool Red Sox Fans (including my Mother, which made Christmas 2004 an interesting event). As you might expect, no opportunity to heckle was lost by these folks:

"Hey Mike, over/under on how many innings Smoltz throws today is 3."
"Second time through the lineup he'll get lit up."
"If he was facing the Orioles, they'd have knocked him out by now." This was after he had stuck out the seven consecutive hitters.
"Wow, National League baseball. Wow."

For my zealous relatives:
- The NL might be a weaker league right now, but please don't form an opinion on the caliber of play in the league based on watching the PADRES play.
- I thought the Red Sox led the world in savvy employees looking for any edge, including color of contact lenses and length of chest hair; so if Smoltz was tipping his pitches, how did they not see it?

Item (Part 2): Around the sixth inning, the Padre staff stopped by with a birthday gift and cake (which was a Nestle Tollhouse Cookie Ice Cream Bar, one of the many reasons Western Civilization rocks). The gift bag included a Padres pin (with Most Valuable Padre written on it, a nice touch for the Padre fan), a 'Padres beisbol' shirt with the word Padres covering South America (actually, a pretty cool shirt), and:

A Khalil Greene hat. I am not kidding. I burst out laughing.

This is funny mainly for two reasons. Obviously, one is that Greene's a Cardinal now, and I'm a Cardinal fan. I doubt the Padres staff was clever enough to give me a hat featuring a Padre who is now a Cardinal just because I am a Cardinal fan The other is there are Padres fans out there getting gift bags that also contain a Greene hat. Can you imagine being a die-hard Padre fan (assuming they exist) and receiving that? "Hey, guy, thanks for spending your special day with the San Diego Padres. Here's a memento for you: some merchandise bearing the likeness of a guy who was pretty popular but we got rid of because we can't afford to pay him, and now we're stuck with all this crap we can't sell. But we hope YOU like it. Go Padres!"

Yes, the Padres suffer from 'inattention to detail' syndrome.

Item: I was in the loo when Jason Motte took the hill. Good thing, too, because I missed his gopher ball to Hundley, and therefore was not tempted to scream at the top of my lungs the first curse word that came to mind. Which I'm pretty sure would rhyme with some variation of duck.

Item: Eleven pitchers makes for a very loooong game.

Item: John Smoltz had never struck out seven in a row. I saw that. I also saw AP hit his 40th HR. Not often you get to see that.

Item: Sunday was Padre backpack day, and a free Padres backpack was given to every kid 14 and under. We had made the decision to get a babysitter for our kids, so they didn't go to the game, but my wife was determined to get each of them a backpack. Only 27,435 people attended this event, so you know there were extra backpacks lying around. After protracted negotiations with the Padres staffers administering the suite for us, we finally received the backpacks. My thanks to Mark and Natalie for their efforts on our behalf.

And, the backpacks hold about 10 beers each.

Item: This suite was all you can eat. Hot Dogs, chicken tenders, well made bean dip lavished with extras like sour cream and olives, cookies, fudge, peanuts, crackerjacks, and so on. It also had a fridge stocked with Budweiser/Bud Light/Coors Light/Miller Lite, water, and soda. We paid for all the drinks as part of the suite price, but there was so much we couldn't hope to drink it all. We did give it the old college try, however.

Because we paid for them up front, we wanted to take the leftovers with us. Within reason, of course; we didn't shove bottles of beer down our pants or anything like that. So we put the kids backpacks to good use. All Coors Light was left behind, but a healthy sample of the rest came home with us. Good Times.


Ryan Franklin made the ninth inning more exciting than it needed to be, and I am thankful Oscar Salazar swung through a 3-2 fastball that was belt high right over the plate with the bases loaded and one out. But Franklin worked through it and finished the game. 5-2 Cardinals.

A fun day and a great day.

The only problem is the same milestone birthday for my wife is coming up soon. Now I have to top this. I am taking suggestions....

One more thing: apparently this was Brian Giles' suite. I can't imagine why he's not using it right now.

Annual Trek to Petco

Cardinals have just wrapped up a 5-1 victory over the Padres, with Pineiro fanning 7. Seven!

As this weekend marks the annual Cardinal appearance in San Diego, and just like the sparrows returning to San Juan Capistrano. your humble author will make his annual foray into the stands of PETCO. This year it will be Sunday's game, which will also afford me the opportunity to watch John Smoltz make his debut as a Cardinal.

I won't give out my seat location here, but, I will be wearing my mega-cool So Taguchi #99 jersey. Because any part-time fan can wear Pujols/Holliday/Carpenter. I doubt there will be a lot of people wearing Taguchi jersey's Sunday, so if you see one walk by say hello.

Cardinals 7, Padres 5

The Cardianls flat-out stole that game.

What an ugly day for St Louis. It started with Ryan getting picked off first. Then the blown suicide squeeze, which was a QUESTIONABLE decision by LaRussa at best. Then AP not hustling out of the box and getting cut down on the basepaths after knocking in the tying run. And they left 6 on through 4 innings against Richard, which would have been more if not for the aforementioned baserunning nonsense).

I wonder if the rains helped.

Lohse didn't have it. If he can't get it together against the Padres (even a Padres team that came in hot), we should all be concerned.

Most Sundays I won't get a chance to watch an afternoon game, because that's family time. So I taped it, then got the bright idea of trying to watch it anyway. Not the best decision I've ever made. However, I managed to get through the tape. When it ended I flipped the TIVO to 'Live TV'. Lo and behold, the game was still on! So I got to watch Molina drive in the tying run, and then Rasmus' bomb to win it.

Wow. For as poorly as they played, they never stopped battling and pulled it out. There's an old adage that says, you're going to win 40 and lose 40; it's the other 80 games that determine your season. This should have been one of the 40 they lost.

The fact they won is more evidence they have something special building in St Louis for 2009.

Cardinals 7, Padres 4

Considering that Piniero threw 53 pitches to get the first 6 outs, the fact he survived into the seventh is mighty impressive. Although, the Padres deciding to swing at everything he threw up there after Gonzalez's HR in the third helped. To wit:

3rd inning: 9 pitches
4th inning: 10 pitches
5th inning: 11 pitches
6th inning: 15 pitches
7th inning: 8 pitches

Yep, he threw 53 pitches over his last 4 2/3 after throwing 53 in his first 2 innings. Given the state of the Cardinal bullpen this season, and the fact they would most likely have gotten Thompson in long relief, turning into a bunch of hackers was a grave tactical error by the Padres.

Then, with one on and two out, the bullpen implosion started. Reyes - two hits, inherited runner scores. McClellan - hit, walk*, inherited runner scores.

*Hey Home Plate Umpire - how is the pitch you called strike 3 to Holliday in the fifth and Venable in the sixth suddenly a ball for Venable in the seventh? To load the bases? Thanks for not being consistent. We already knew you were bad.

I guess Will Venable didn't get the memo regarding Molina. Appreciate you getting picked off, guy; the Cardinals were on the ropes right there.

If I was a pitcher, Ryan Ludwick would never get a pitch that didn't sweep across the plate from right to left. Ludwick can't hit that pitch. Why would he get anything else? His seventh inning double on that pitch is an excellent example of 'even a blind squirrel sometimes gets a nut,' nothing more.

Is it just me, or does Matt Holliday swing at an awful lot of first pitches? Also, is it me or is Pujols pressing a little bit?

Quite a play to plate the seventh Cardinal run. I wonder if DeRosa went on his own there, or if that was what the dugout had told him to do.

Khalil Greene sighting!

Sure looked like Molina got in under the tag at home. The Padre broadcast team said, 'Well, I guess they don't trust Colby Rasmus!" after that play. Uh, Rasmus was 6 for 9 in this series when that play happened. Perhaps LaRussa called the double steal because he was bored? Because Thatcher wasn't paying attention to the runner on third? Because he wanted someone on in front of Pujols? Because he was swatting at a bee and the sign was misinterpreted by Oquendo? Whatever his reason, it wasn't due to a lack of confidence in Rasmus.

Motte pitched much better tonight than last night, retiring both hitters he faced. I still think he should be sent down, but at least he did his job tonight.

Can't complain about results. Cards stay 4.5 games up on Chicago, and look to sweep tomorrow.