Amid the confusion emanating from a lineup card snafu, catcher Yadier Molina‘s dramatic, game-tying two-run homer in the ninth inning Monday night was somewhat lost in the shuffle. But Molina wasn’t overlooked Tuesday as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Miami Marlins 5-2

Homering for the third game in succession, Molina put the finishing touches on a five-run first inning keyed by two Miami errors by smacking a 3-2 pitch from Carlos Zambrano for a three-run homer.

As the Cardinals extended their winning streak to a season-high five games, their strongest All-Star candidates all had leading roles.

Besides Molina, shortstop Rafael Furcal, in line for his first fans’ election as an All-Star, turned in a remarkable defensive play to take the Cardinals out of a tough spot in the sixth. Furcal snagged left fielder Logan Morrison‘s bad-hop, high-hop smash to his left and dashed to the bag to start an inning-ending double play to help right-hander Kyle Lohse to his seventh victory.

And right fielder Carlos Beltran, a sure All-Star starter, knocked in the Cardinals’ first run of the game with a single in the first inning.

Lohse (7-2) has had four straight starts of at least seven innings.

Molina, showing he is the best all-round catcher in the National League, is just two homers off his season high of 14, achieved last year. “I don’t think about that,” he said. “I think about winning games.”

Manager Mike Matheny said Molina’s offense added to his defense make him “the best in the game” at his position. Matheny said pitchers have so much trust in Molina that “you go into the meetings and some of the guys are snoozing because they know Yadi’s going to take care of them.” Lohse said, “A lot of people are paying attention to what he’s done at the plate. But I don’t remember the last time I shook him off.”

Items of note
–RHP Chris Carpenter, whose throwing session was canceled on Monday when his shoulder felt weak, said he felt stronger on Tuesday. He said that after a couple days of rest he could be cleared to resume throwing again. But he also said he still expected to consult with doctors when the club returns to St. Louis after Wednesday’s game.

–RF Carlos Beltran, who leads the National League in homers with 20, said he had not yet been approached about participating in the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game and didn’t know if he would accept such an invitation. Chances are that Beltran would accept, though, because he spent seven seasons playing with the Kansas City Royals, hosts of this year’s All-Star Game.

–RHP Kyle Lohse has beaten the Miami Marlins twice in two meetings at the new stadium in Miami. The Cardinals opened this season there with a one-game series. Lohse took a no-hitter into the seventh inning that night and scored a 4-1 victory. “People forget he led the team in wins and ERA last year,” said manager Mike Matheny. “People kind of overlook him a little bit, which is understandable because we’ve had some big-name pitchers who have had big years.”

–3B David Freese, riding a six-game hitting streak, got a scheduled day off. Freese will be back in the lineup on Wednesday night.

–LF Matt Holliday, who had hit .556 (20-for-36) over his last nine games, went hitless but drew two walks and also reached base on a Miami error. Holliday has a good chance of being named an All-Star reserve for the National League.

–SS Rafael Furcal, contributing his strong offensive play after a recent 2-for-39 nosedive, reached base on a single and a walk and scored the Cardinals’ first run. He also made the game’s best defensive play, a double play to end the sixth inning, after fielding Miami LF Logan Morrison’s angry, high-hop smash to his left. “He’s been playing at Gold Glove caliber,” said manager Mike Matheny. “It looked like he just threw his glove in the air, anticipating a high hop.” Said Furcal, “I didn’t have time to get in front of it … that ball was hit so hard.”

BY THE NUMBERS: 8 — Consecutive wins by the Cardinals over the Marlins in the last two seasons, including seven straight in Miami.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “Anytime you give up a ball hit that hard, you aren’t expecting anybody to catch it.” — RHP Kyle Lohse on a stellar double play turned by SS Rafael Furcal to end the sixth inning.

MEDICAL WATCH:

–LHP Jaime Garcia (left shoulder strain) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to June 6. After further examination, it was determined that he has tearing in his rotator cuff. He won’t throw until at least late July and is out until at least mid-August.

–1B Lance Berkman (torn meniscus in right knee) went on the 15-day disabled list May 20. He had arthroscopic surgery May 25, and no ACL damage was found. He might be able to resume baseball activity in late June

With the Hall Of Fame election announcement coming on January 9, 2012, it is time to review the ballot, go over the names, and decide who belongs in the Hall Of Fame.

There are twenty seven men on the ballot this year and we will take a look at each one individually prior to official announcements. You can find all of the profiles in the I-70 Baseball Exclusives: Cooperstown Choices 2012 menu at the top of the page.

Tune in Saturday, January 7, 2012 as I-70 Baseball Radio will host a panel of writers discussing the Hall Of Fame Ballot in a 2-hour special.

In this article, we take a look at Bill Mueller

Bill Mueller
The St. Louis native spent his 11 year career playing for four different franchises. His debut would come wearing the Giants uniform in 1996 and he would put the finishing touches on his career in 2006 as a member of their division rival Los Angeles Dodgers. This is his first year on the ballot.

Why He Should Get In
Mueller was a defensive player that managed to show an offensive side to his game. In his short career, he would win a batting title in 2003 with the Red Sox and finish 12th in the Most Valuable Player voting that year as well. That season would also bring Mueller’s only Silver Slugger Award.

Why He Should Not Get In
Mueller’s career was shortened by injuries and therefore remained a bit lack luster. Though his career batting average was .291, that only equated to 1,229 hits and 493 runs batted in. A career that had a lot of promise, as often is the case, simply never materialized.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.

When a fan asks a question and we can find time to provide a in depth answer, we jump at the chance here on i70. Such an instance jumped out at me while on Twitter.

Shortly after the game ended Saturday night and the Cardinals had put the finishing touches on a two to one victory over the Florida Marlins, a tweet came across my screen that caught my eye.

I'd like to know how many times Albert has hit a home run and Carp has gotten a win in the same game over the years. Its a lot. #stlcards

August 6, 2011 9:09 pm via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite

@FishSTL

Michael Fisher

Michael, I am glad you asked. It is a valid question and caused a little digging into some stats.

The two superstars of the St. Louis Cardinals have played together in St. Louis since 2004. There have been injuries over that time but when you put two players of their caliber together, you expect some results. Those results are not disappointing.

Chris Carpenter has pitched in 184 Games for the St. Louis Cardinals and according to Baseball-Reference, posts an impressive record. The Cardinals veteran ace has won 91 games as a Cardinal while losing only 41. A 3.09 career earned run average since joining the team, 19 complete games, 8 shutouts, and 276 walks to 1003 strikeouts makes him one of the most dominant pitchers in recent memory for the Cardinals. As dominant as he can be, does it mean that a player like Albert Pujols performs at a higher level for him? Maybe not, but the team certainly benefits when the two are on the same page.

The simple answer here is 47. That would be the number of regular season games that Chris Carpenter has pitched in since joining the Cardinals that Albert Pujols has also hit a home run in. Slightly more than 25% of the time when Carpenter takes the mound, Pujols will leave the yard in the same game. What may be most impressive is a deeper look into the stats.

Albert seems to be on his “A Game” during these 47 games, for sure. Over the course of regular season games that Carpenter pitches and Albert homers, Pujols is hitting .460 with 54 home runs, 86 runs batted in, and 76 runs scored. Carpenter is no slouch, when the Cardinals first baseman puts one over the fences, Carpenter posts a 3.34 earned run average with 260 strikeouts, 31 wins and 5 losses.

The Cardinals as a whole enjoy it when Carpenter is pitching and Albert goes deep, they have won 39 games and only lost 8 when this occurs.

The post-season has only seen this occur twice, though one of them was memorable. Both times that Carpenter has pitched on a day when Albert homered in the post-season, the Cardinals would win. Carpenter would receive the win in the contest with the Padres on October 3, 2006. Perhaps the most memorable post-season game for this to occur would put a win in the Cardinals hands, if not their starting pitcher’s. That game happened on October 17, 2005 when Albert ruined Brad Lidge‘s night in Houston and quieted the home town crowd who thought they were witnessing their team reaching the World Series, just to see that postponed due to a long home run from the Cardinals’ Most Valuable Player.

There were a few notable games that popped up while digging through box scores for the information on the two superstars.

- April 9, 2004 - Carpenter would go six innings, giving up five runs, walking one and striking out three. Albert would hit a solo home run but go on to score three times on one hit and two walks. When the dust settled, the Cardinals would beat the Diamondbacks 13-6 and Chris Carpenter would gain his first victory while wearing the birds on the bat.
- June 14, 2005 - Pujols would hit a two run home run in the contest against the Blue Jays in Toronto. Carpenter would show his old team just how dominant he could be as he posted his first double-digit strikeout total in a game where Pujols would homer, striking out 10 Blue Jays. He would also grab his first shutout and throw his first complete game in such a game.
- June 25, 2005 - It would not take long for Carpenter to repeat that feat and do it one better as the Cardinals played the Pirates in front of the sea of red in Busch Stadium. Carpenter would once again throw a shutout, going the distance and striking out eleven while Pujols would hit a three run shot in the seventh inning of that contest, his 20th of the season.
- September 8, 2005 - The two superstars were well on their way to winning a Cy Young Award and a Most Valuable Player Award in the 2005 season when September rolled around. This time, the Busch fans would witness the first multi-home run game for Albert while Carpenter was on the mound. In addition to seeing Albert leave the yard twice, the fans would also see Carpenter throw seven shut out innings, striking out seven Mets, and winning his 21st game of the year.
- June 4, 2009 - Our final game to point out was one that seen Carpenter go toe-to-toe with Reds hurler Aaron Harang in a pitcher’s duel that would see both starters go the distance for their teams. Carpenter would only surrender one run and Harang would only struggle with one hitter. Albert would hit a two run home run in the bottom of the third and add another run batted in on a double in the sixth giving the Cardinals the only three runs they would get that day. It was the only three runs Carpenter would need.

With two top quality players on the field for their eighth season together, it seems it would do the team a lot of good if they could match up on a few more games down the stretch of the 2011 season.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.