LaRussa Works His Magic

Sometimes Tony LaRussa can be a little too aggressive when it comes to moving runners, but last night, his decision to send Albert Pujols on a 3-0 count against Broxton and the Dodgers ended up to be pure brilliance. Russell Martin threw his attempt to catch Pujols stealing in the dirt, which allowed Pujols to move to third, and all it took was a Matt Holliday sac fly to bring in Pujols. In two batters, the Cardinals didn't even get a hit (Pujols walked), but still went up on the Dodgers in the ninth 3-2.

Ryan Franklin came in and saved the game for the Cardinals, his 31st and although Wainwright pitched 7 great innings, Kyle McClellan gets the win to improve his record to 4-2.

The Cardinals keep their 6 game lead over the Cubs who defeated San Diego, and the Cardinals improve their record to 69-53.

Pineiro's Quality Start and Strong Offensive Output Leads Cardinals to 7-4 Win Over Padres

Joel Pineiro (11-9) went 6 and 2/3 innings and gave up 3 runs, while Matt Holliday hit his 16th home run of the year to lead the Cardinals (66-52) past the San Diego Padres (49-69) to remain 4.5 games over the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central.

Pineiro started off a little shaky, giving up a run in the first inning, but the Cardinals were able to score 3 in the bottom half of the first to give Pineiro a 3-1 lead. Colby Rasmus singled with one out, Albert Pujols doubled and Matt Holliday homered to give the Cards a quick 3-1 lead.

Adrian Gonzalez closed the gap in the third inning when he hit a lead-off solo shot to make it 3-2.

Skip Schumaker made it 4-2 when he drove in Julio Lugo from 2nd with two outs in the fourth. Schumaker did the same in the 6th to extend the Cardinals lead to 5-2. Each time, Pineiro helped his cause, first with a walk in the 4th to push Lugo to second, and then with a sac bunt in the 6th to do the same.

The Padres once again made a comeback bid when they scored 2 in the 7th, but the Cardinals answered with two of their own in the bottom of the seventh.

Ryan Ludwick doubled off reliever Luke Gregerson, who had just entered the game. Mark DeRosa then singled to drive Ludwick in, and Yadier Molina hit a ground rule double. Then Brendan Ryan grounded out to score DeRosa.

Ryan Franklin picked up his 29th save to seal the Cardinals win and keep the Cardinals 4.5 games over the Chicago Cubs, who beat the Pirates today 3-1.

The Cardinals will look to sweep the series behind Kyle Lohse tomorrow afternoon.

Wainwright First NL Pitcher to Reach 14 Wins, Cards Defeat Padres 9-2

Adam Wainwright, although not the ace of the Cardinals staff, is the first National League pitcher to reach 14 wins in 2009, and ties Josh Beckett of the Boston Red Sox as the only two pitchers to have 14 wins so far this season. The 6 foot 7 inch, 205 pounder from Brunswick, Georgia is becoming one of the most consistent starters in the National League and always gives the Cardinals a good chance of winning. In his fourth full season as a Cardinal, Wainwright is now a very impressive 41-23 in his career. Wainwright also has 1 win, 4 saves and a 0.00 ERA in 9 and 2/3 innings in the postseason, all coming in 2006 when the Cardinals won the World Series. So Wainwright can do it in the clutch as well, although those innings came as a reliever.

Tonight against the Padres, Wainwright (14-7) went 7 scoreless innings and got 3 strikeouts, while giving up 8 hits and no walks. Wainwright also got the only Cardinals home run of the evening, his second of the year, a solo shot off Padres starter Mat Latos (4-2).

The Cardinals scored early and often against Latos, who gave up 7 runs over just 4 innings. Colby Rasmus went 3 for 5 with a run scored, and Matt Holliday went 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI's to lead the Cardinals offense.

The second place Chicago Cubs put a whooping on the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates 17-2, so the Cardinals (65-52) still lead the Cubs (59-55) by 4.5 games.

Cardinals Go 4 Up on Cubs with Strong Performance from Carpenter

So what else is new? Chris Carpenter takes the mound and the Cardinals win. Tonight, Carpenter, who improved his record to 12-3, pitched seven innings, gave up 2 runs on 8 hits and 0 walks, and struck out 10 Reds batters. The three runs that the Cardinals got off Homer Bailey in the first inning were all they needed, as the Cardinals beat the Reds 5-2 and won the rubber match of their three game series. Albert Pujols hit his 38th homer, Matt Holliday went 3 for 4, and Ryan Franklin picked up his 28th save.

The Cubs, who entered the evening three games back of the Cardinals, got killed 12-5 by the Philadelphia Phillies. Jeff Samardzija (1-2) only was able to go 3 1/3 innings, and gave up 7 runs on 8 hits in his first start of his career. He was clearly no match for the vaunted Phillies lineup which hit him early and often. Pedro Martinez, who made his first comeback start for the Phillies, gave up 3 runs on 7 hits but struck out 5 and only walked one batter to get the win.

The Cardinals improved their record to 64-52, which ties their season high of 12 games over .500. They now hold a 4 game lead over the Chicago Cubs who with the loss fell to 58-54. The Cubs do not get a break as they go up against red-hot Cliff Lee tomorrow against the Phillies in a day game at Wrigley, while the Cardinals have Thursday off and will rest for their weekend series against the Padres at Busch Stadium.

Cards, Cubs both lose one-run games, Cards Stay 3 Up on Cubs

Mitchell Boggs (1-1) gave up 4 runs on nine hits over 6 innings and the Cardinals were never able to come back as they lost to the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday 5-4. Down 5-3, the Cardinals were able to score one in the ninth and had Albert Pujols on second when Matt Holliday struck out looking to end the game.

The Cubs meanwhile, in a bizarre game where the Phillies had more runs (4) than hits (3), had an amazing outing from Rich Harden who was perfect through five innings. but then gave up a walk to Carlos Ruiz and a homer to Jimmy Rollins and the game was then tied at 2. The Phillies were able to score one in the eighth, but Brad Lidge blew a save to allow the Cubs to tie the game at 3-3 after nine innings. In the twelfth, Ben Francisco of the Phillies opeed the frame with a home run off Kevin Gregg and the Phillies hung on to win in 12 innings 4-3.

the Cardinals (63-52) still lead the Chicago Cubs (58-53) by 3 full games in the NL Central.

Can the Cardinals win the NL Central?

With two months to go, the Cardinals are leading the second place and red-hot Chicago Cubs by a half game, but are two back in the loss column. Do the Cardinals have what it takes to win the NL Central? The rotation is very top heavy, with Carpenter, Wainwright and Pineiro doing great work, but Kyle Lohse is just back off the DL and Wellemeyer has been relegated to the bullpen. Can the Cardinals win with just 3 solid starters? The Cubs rotation is much stronger all around, but their bullpen has given up games, as they did to the Marlins Sunday (a big thank you to Kevin Gregg for blowing the save!).

My prediction is that Tony LaRussa will get the Cardinals into the playoffs - whether they win the division or not I'm not sure, but both the Cubs and the Cardinals will be very good in August and September and both might make the playoffs. The Giants, Rockies and Marlins are all getting hot too, so I am not sure the Cardinals can count on the wild card.

One thing is for sure, Albert Pujols needs to get hot again. Matt Holliday can't keep this pace up for much longer! Go Cards!