Tuesday night at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati ended with a Redbird win, however, what was on most fans minds was the image of of our superstar, Albert Pujols, being carried off the field.  Despite rumors of elbow trouble at the start of the season, Pujols was quietly having the best start to a season in his incredible career.  Now that season will be stalled by a strain in his left calf suffered while running out a grounder to first in the seventh inning of last night’s game.

To be honest, from the look on his face when he fell to the ground, I thought it was a tear.  After aggravating his left calf muscle last week against the Nationals, I think we are all lucky that this time it is only a strain and not a tear.  A tear would mean months, maybe the rest of the season, with Albert landed on the disabled list.  A strain means that he can probably recover and rejoin the lineup in a couple of weeks.

At the beginning of the season, Prince Albert stood alone as the one glimmer of consistency that we could count on.  No one could have predicted how well our starting pitching has done thus far, and thanks to our rotation and Ryan Ludwick’s breakout season, we find ourselves tied for the fourth best record in baseball.

Albert’s absence means that Ludwick, Troy Glaus, and Rick Ankiel are going to have to start picking up the offensive slack.  Glaus has started to play better in the warm weather, having hit five home runs in eight games just recently.  Ankiel will likely hit just as he has for the rest of the season with lots of strikeouts and moments of power.  Ludwick has been absolutely incredible for our team, and if he can continue to produce like he has been, there is no reason why anyone else should see the three spot while Pujols is on the DL.  Our post-Izzy bullpen has shown that they are ready to regain our trust on the mound, and with Yadier Molina and Skip Schumaker having stellar offensive seasons, I don’t see any reason to panic with Albert out of the lineup for a few weeks.

The likely call-up to replace Pujols on the roster will unfortunetaly be Chris Duncan.  After struggling during the start of the season, Duncan was sent down to Triple-A in order to find his swing, which apparently he still has not found.  Since being sent down, Duncan is hitting .190 with no home runs.  I wish that our farm team had someone that was ready to step up instead of Duncan, but Chris seems to be our only option.

Last night was a great game to watch as we saw Mitchell Boggs make his first start as a Cardinal. Boggs had a great start pitching 5 innings with only two runs on four hits.  The runs came from Joey Votto’s fourth inning two-run homer.  With Wellemeyer, Piniero, and Wainwright all on the DL, it is good to see we can rely on our rookies while they recover.  Our bullpen also shined as they only gave up one hit and one walk in 4 innings of work, highlighted by a three strikeout ninth inning by Russ Springer.

Ludwick (15), Ankiel(9), Pujols(16) all hit longballs.  It’s good see our power break out like this, but it is also nice that the teams knows that we can win without it.  We have accumulated a lot of wins this season by simply executing small ball and smart baserunning.  Brendan Ryan also had a great night as he went 2-3 with three runs scored and two stolen bases.

The Performance of the game goes to Ludwick.  Ryan went 4-5 with 4 RBI’s, two doubles, and a home run.  He is the first cardinal of the season to reach the 50-RBI mark.  He has been absolutely incredible for the Cardinals this year, basically doing everything we expected out of Glaus plus hitting for average.  He is now slugging .667 with a .388 OBP raising his OPS to 1.055, which is good for fifth best in the Majors behind Lance Berkman, Chipper Jones, Albert Pujols and Milton Bradley.   The Cardinals are now 39-27 and 2.5 games behind the cubbies.

We are 3-1 so far on this road trip, and hopefully we can take at least one more game in this series to go back home 4-2 or even 5-1.  As hot as the Cubs have been, the Cardinals have no let them gain much ground.

Remember to vote your Cardinals into the All-star game.  Ludwick really deserves a spot on the roster.  Right now Pujols is third in first-baseman voting behind Derrek Lee!?!?!, thats ridiculous, get your votes in so we can see some red at Yankee Stadium in July!

Cardinals Blog

Talk about a bad way to lose a baseball game.  The St. Louis Cardinals had just tied up the game in the top of the ninth inning, and then took the lead in the top of the 10th inning, but ended up giving up a two run walk off home run and lost to the game to the Washingtion Nationals 10-9.

Ryan Franklin gave up a two run home run to Elijah Dukes in the bottom of the 10th inning.  Franklin took the loss and is now 2-2 on the season.  Franklin simply didn’t get his job done.  Mike Parisi the Cardinals starting pitcher pitched terrible as he only lasted four innings after giving up ten hits and eight runs.

Mark Worrell, Kyle McClellan, Ron Villone, and Randy Flores all pitched alteast one inning after Parisi left the game and before Franklin blew the game.  All four of those relief pitchers did a great job of not giving up any more runs to the Nationals.

Worrell actually led the Cardinals at the plate with three rbi as he hit a three run home run in the sixth inning.  Troy Glaus and Joe Mather both hit solo home runs.  Mather’s home run was what put the Cardinals ahead by one in the top of the tenth inning.  Parisi had two rbi while Skip Schumaker and Aaron Miles finished with one rbi each.

Tough way to split a double header.  Hopefully the Cardinals will get a decent nights of sleep so they can come out and play good against the Houston Astros on Friday.

Cardinals Blog

After being rained out on Wednesday night, the St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals will be playing a double header on Thursday.  In the first game of the double header, it was the Cardinals coming out on top with a 4-1 victory.

Troy Glaus had a two run home run and Albert Pujols also hit a solo home run to lead the Cardinals.  Joe Mather had a rbi doulble in the seventh inning after the Pujols solo home run.

Todd Wellemeyer tossed six innings and gave up five hits while picking up the win.  It was a good performance by Wellemeyer who improved to 7-1 on the season.  Chris Perez did give up one run in the eighth inning but Ron Villone, Russ Springer, Randy Flores, and Ryan Franklin all pitched good.  Franklin picked up his seventh save of the season.

The Cardinals will go for the double header sweep this evening so check back after the game for a recap!

Cardinals Blog

The St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Nationals played through a rain delays but the rain couldn’t even slow the Cardinals down as they came away with a 6-1 victory over the Nationals.  Four runs in the first inning and then single runs in the fourth and fifth innings ended up being enough for the Cardinals.

Bengie Monlina hit a three run home run in the first inning for the big hit of the game.  The Cardinals also got a run in the first inning off of a Ryan Ludwick single.  In the fourth inning of the game, Cesar Izturis stole home to score and then the fifth inning Kyle Lohse had a rbi single.

Lohse ended up getting the win in the game as he tossed five innings and allowed four hits and one run.  Good outing by Lohse who improved to 6-2 on the season.  Kyle McClellan, Russ Springer, Ron Villone, and Mark Worrell all pitched a scoreless inning in relief.

It was a good win for the Cardinals as they were 3.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs.  The Cubs are up three right now against the Padres so it looks like the Cards will remain 3.5 games back if the score stands.

Cardinals Blog

The St. Louis Cardinals fell to the Pittsburgh Pirates by the score of 5-4 on Monday night as the Cardinals dropped to 34-25 on the season.  The Cardinals shouldn’t be loosing these kinds of games, but that is exactly what happened as the Pirates pushed across four runs in the seventh inning to get the victory.

Adam Wainwright tossed eight innings and gave up seven hits and five runs.  Wainwright took the loss and is now 5-3.  The big mistake by Wainwright was in the seventh inning when Jason Michaels hit a grand slam.  Jason Bay then went onto add another run off of Wainwright in the eighth inning.

Ryan Ludwick and Albert Pujols were the only two at the plate to do anything for the Cardinals.  Both Ludwick and Pujols finished the game with two rbi.  They need some other players to step up and help out however.

The Cardinals can’t lose these games as the Cubs are really playing good baseball right now.

Cardinals Blog

The St. Louis Cardinals picked up a big win on Thursday night as they held on and defeated the Houston Astros by the score of 3-2.  It was a close game all game long and the Astros made things interesting with a Lance Berkman home run in the ninth inning but they still fell short by one run.

Kyle Lohse finally picked up his fifth win of the season in the game.  Lohse tossed six innings while allowing five hits and one run.  The one run he gave up was a solo home run to Carlos Lee in the seventh inning.  After Lohse was pulled from the game, Kyle McClellan, Ron Villone, Chris Perez, and Ryan Franklin all pitched in relief.  Franklin gave up the solo home run to Berkman but then was able to close out the game and get the save.

Chris Duncan had a two run single in the first inning that scored Albert Pujols and Ryan Ludwick.  Pujols also had a solo home run in the sixth inning that gave the Cardinals their third run in the game.

Cardinals Blog

The St. Louis Cardinals didnt’ have any problems with the Houston Astros on Wednesday night as they came away with a 6-1 victory.  The game was a huge win for the Cardinals as they are now one full game ahead of the Astros in the standings.

Adam Wainwright tossed eight strong innings as he gave up three hits and one run to pick up the win.  Wainwright is now 5-2 on the season.  Chris Perez threw the ninth inning for the Cardinals and allowed one hit but zero runs.

Yadier Molina and Cesar Izturis both had two rbi in the game to lead the Cardinals at the plate.  Ryan Ludwick also helped out with one rbi.

Cardinals Blog

Joel Pineiro made one bad pitch in the sixth inning as Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a three run home run and the San Diego Padres beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2.  That just goes to show that one pitch can cost a team a win at any time even if it is in the sixth inning.

Pineiro tossed 5 2/3 innings as his record dropped to 2-3.  He didn’t throw the ball that bad, just one mistake and the Padres took advantage of it.  Russ Springer, Kyle McClellan, and Chris Perez finished out the game for the Cardinals.

Troy Glaus had a rbi double and then Adam Kennedy grounded into a fielders choice that scored a run for the Cardinals.  Both of the runs came in the second inning, after that the Cardinals hitters didn’t have much luck at all.

The Cardinals remain two games back from the Cubs as the Cubs also lost on Tuesday night.  Cardinals Blog

The St. Louis Cardinals and Albert Pujols had no problems beating up on the San Diego Padres Monday night.  Pujols connected on two home runs to lead the Cardinals as they smashed the Padres by the score of 8-2.

Pujols wasn’t the only Cardinals hitter to go deep however.  Ryan Ludwick had a two run home run and Cesar Izturis had a solo home run.  Ludwick led the Cardinals with three rbi in the game.  Pujols finished the game with two rbi.  Yadier Molina, Todd Wellemeyer, and Izturis all had one rbi in the game.

Welleymeyer pitched six innings to pick up his fifth win of the season.  Welleymeyer allowed six hits and two runs as he improved his record to 5-1.  Randy Flores and Ron Villone pitched scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth innings before Russ Springer came in and pitched a scoreless ninth inning.

The Cardinals won and it was a good thing because the Cubs also won.  The Cardinals remain two games back in the division.  Cardinals Blog

The St. Louis Cardinals blew a big lead against the Pittsburgh Pirates as they lost 11-5 on Thursday.  Actually, I should say that Jason Isringhausen and Ron Villone blew the game for the Cardinals.  They combined to give up seven runs the final two innings of the game.

Isringhausen took the loss for the Cardinals as he dropped to 1-5 on the season.  Just a terrible performance by Izzy and Villone.  Starting pitcher Joel Pineiro only pitched five innings as he was taken out of the game after giving up six hits and four runs.

Chris Duncan had two rbi to lead the Cardinals at the plate.  Rick Ankiel, Troy Glaus, and Yadier Molina all had one rbi in the game.

All I can blog about is how bad of a series this ended up being for the Cardinals.  The Cubs won once again and now the Cards are down two games in the division.  Cardinals Blog