Adron Chambers and Shane Robinson are battling hard for spots on the St. Louis Cardinals roster this Spring Training.

Up until now, Robinson is leading that charge, putting up much better offensive numbers and playing solid defense.  Chambers had been his normal self, showing great speed in the field and on the base paths.

It was his speed that allowed Chambers to show off a flashy defensive play Friday as the Cardinals played the Astros.  Chambers chased a fly ball into the left field corner, eventually sliding and producing a stellar grab on the warning track.  Courtesy of MLB.com, here’s the video:

Adron brought a part of his game Friday that most had not seen real well until now, however.  His 3-for-3 performance was capped off by a three-run home run in the sixth inning.  Again, courtesy of MLB.com:

Chambers has long been intriguing to the makeup of the roster due to his speed and athletic ability.  If he can start to find his stroke at the plate, he may just find himself in St. Louis instead of Memphis.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
Follow him on Twitter here.

One of the best infographic artists has an amazing book out there called Flip Flop Fly Ball.

We have talked with and about Craig Robinson in this space before.  This time, we bring your attention to a recent project that Craig undertook – building famous baseball players out of Legos.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I know we are supposed to talk about Royals and Cardinals baseball here at i70, but sometimes you reach out and find something fun and baseball related and you just have to share.  There are no Royals or Cardinals players in the images below, but there are nine pretty awesome Lego creations of some great players.

Keep an eye over at Flip Flop Flying to track down any more that Craig makes.

Use the controls below to look through the nine images of Pete Rose, Dennis Eckersley, Jose Bautista, Sergio Romo, Randy Johnson, Mark Fidrych, Andre Dawson, Barry Bonds, and Fernando Valenzuela.  Please note: all images are the property of Craig Robinson.

Fernando Valenzuela

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Fernando Valenzuela - He finished his career with the Cardinals, but he was most famous as a Dodger.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
Follow him on Twitter here.

Editor’s Note: Game Six of the 2011 World Series may end up being one of the moments that people talk about for generations. “Where were you when….?” So, here at i70baseball, I ask you: Where were you when Game Six happened? Do you have a unique story about how you witnessed history? Share with us and we will draw one random entry. That winner will receive this World Series DVD. Just send your submission to: bill@i70baseball.com

Like virtually every other Cardinals fan old enough to watch and appreciate Game 6 of the World Series, October 27^th, 2011 is a night I’ll never forget. It’s a game that thousands of Cardinals fans turned off before it was over and a game hundreds of fans left the stands early. I was almost one of those fans who gave up on the Cardinals that night… and was this close to missing the most exciting finish in World Series history. Then, a little bit of fate kicked in…

To refresh your memory a little bit, Game 6 was not exactly the most cleanly-played baseball game. As the 6^th inning ended, I remember looking up towards the high ceilings of Buffalo Wild Wings and thinking to myself that this had to be the ugliest World Series game ever played. Cardinals left fielder, Matt Holliday, dropped a fly ball that directly led to a Rangers run, third baseman, David Freese, dropped a pop up the led to another unearned run, and now Matt Holliday had just gotten picked off 3^rd base with the bases loaded, one out, and the score tied. You have GOT to be kidding me! Although the Cardinals had just “dramatically” rallied to tie the game on a bases loaded walk, it sure felt like the game was going to go the Rangers way. You just cannot make mistake after little-league mistake and expect to win the World Series. The score was tied, but it felt like the Rangers were in cruise-control.

And in the top of the 7^th, Texas had appeared to seize control of the game for good. Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz hit back-to-back home runs to put the Rangers on top 6-4. The whole stadium was deflated. You just knew it was over. The Cardinals had their chance and gave it away, and now Texas would make team president Nolan Ryan’s prediction of “Rangers in 6” come true. At that moment, I was thinking that the Cardinals had played so poorly they didn’t deserve to win… and my frustration level was so high that I wouldn’t even be happy if they did come back and win.

Now as the Cardinals came to bat in the bottom of the 7^th, I get a text message from my wife: “Out of diapers. Is the game almost over?” At the time, it was already 30 minutes past my son’s bedtime, and there was no way any respectable father, World Series on the line or not, would make his wife and toddler get in the car and make a late-night run to the store to get diapers. So while part of me was thinking “just let him wet the bed tonight, it’s the freakin’ World Series” I decided to go run to the store myself. When the Cardinals went down with a whimper in the bottom of the 7^th, I told my buddy who was with me that I wouldn’t be back if the game got any uglier. Just as I arrived at my house to drop of a new package of diapers, the Rangers tacked on another run to make it 7-4 in the 8^th, the proverbial nail in the coffin. Staying with the theme of the game, the Cardinals once again gift-wrapped the run for the Rangers thanks to a wild pitch that Yadier Molina should have handled, allowing a runner to move into scoring position who would eventually score.

Translation: it had gotten uglier, and I had just arrived at my house. My wife asked how the Cardinals were doing and I told her they were playing horribly and were basically giving away the World Series. She said she was sorry and thanks for dropping of the diapers and that I could go back to the bar if I wanted to, but I was pretty sure it was going to be a waste of my time and only add to the frustration. I had to work the next morning, and was about to call it a night when I realized Albert Pujols might have one final at bat. With his contract uncertainty, how could I not watch his final at-bat in a Cardinals uniform?

So with that and only that in mind, I headed back to the bar. While I was driving, I heard Allen Craig’s home run on the radio. 7-5. At that point, I still thought the Cardinals had no chance. In fact, it only infuriated me more because I felt like Matt Holliday should’ve been benched and Allen Craig should’ve been in the lineup to begin with. Craig wouldn’t have botched that fly ball and gotten picked off 3^rd, would he? And now here’s Craig, filling in for the now injured Holliday (he jammed his hand/wrist sliding back into 3^rd base on the pickoff play) and hitting a home run. Just great.

When I walked back into Buffalo Wild Wings, the table I had been sitting at and several others around it were empty. My friend had left… as had several other people. Many people had come to the same grim conclusion that I did, but I went ahead and decided to sit by myself and watch the end of the game anyway. The Cardinals ended up loading the bases but failed to score in the 8^th.

Certainly it was over now. Certainly.

In the 9^th, Albert Pujols came to the plate with the bases empty and 1 out. Any hopes of him hitting a dramatic, game-tying home run were lost. This was not officially a final farewell send-off. The crowd rose to its feet, flashbulbs were popping, and wouldn’t you know it – Albert laced one into the gap in left center. It was a nice way to end his hall of fame career in St. Louis if this was indeed the last time he was going to take a swing as a Cardinal. Lance Berkman followed Pujols to the plate and drew a walk, making Allen Craig the winning run at the plate. But his heroics were done (at least for Game 6) and he struck out.

Up walked David Freese. Since I only text my mom when the Cardinals win games, I decided to do a desperate, pre-emptive strike on fate and sent a “good luck/here’s hoping” text. The Red Birds were going to need it. Texas closer, Neftali Feliz, was pumping heat all night… and was pounding fastballs in the upper 90s on the Cardinals 3^rd baseman. Freese fell behind 1-2 in the count, the Cardinals were down to their final strike… and the rest… is history.

Triple. Tie-game. Rangers take the lead back in the 10^th. The Cardinals again come down to their final strike. RBI Single by Lance Berkman. Tie-game. And Freese hits a walk-off bomb in the 11^th. Unbelievable.

In the 3 ½ weeks since Allen Craig squeezed the final out of Game 7, the clock and calendar have slowed to a crawl. It feels like an eternity since the Cardinals won their 11^th championship, but with the managerial change out of the way and the Pujols talks likely on hold during Thanksgiving week, fans have another chance to relive the magic. Tonight, Cardinal Nation is invited to sit back, relax, and relive all those wonderful memories at Major League Baseball and the Cardinals release the official 2011 World Series Movie. There’s a Red Carpet Event at the Peabody Opera House in downtown St. Louis. Cardinals VIPs including World Series MVP David Freese will be on hand as actor and St. Louis native, Jon Hamm, narrates us through 90 minutes of magic.

I will not be in attendance and will have to settle for watching the movie on a TV just as I watched the live drama play out on, but that’s OK by me. I just want to soak it all in again. The other day I caught myself daydreaming about Game 6 at work. I have the Springfield News-Leader’s sports page from October 28^th at my desk, and the headline “Cards Win Instant Classic” caught my eye as I was going through my daily routine.

How did the Cardinals win that game?

Fortunately, I went back to the sports bar that night… and was able to see it for myself.

While hanging out at a local bookstore recently, I discovered an entertaining book that had somehow slipped under my radar. I spent the next half an hour flipping through the pages of Flip Fl0p Fly Ball and enjoying the endless infographics they provide.

The author of that book, Craig Robinson, also likes to blog and share new graphics along the way. It seems that the player on everyone’s mind around Cardinal Nation and Major League Baseball is Albert Pujols.

During the stretch run, there were many moments that were acknowledged as potential last appearances for Pujols, whether it be at Busch Stadium or simply as a Cardinal. Robinson has captured those in a way that is very true to his style and agreed to let i70baseball share it with you here:

Clicking on the graphic below will take you to the original posting on Robinson’s site.

Follow Craig Robinson on Twitter.

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.

Throughout the post-season, Tony LaRussa has been praised for his in-game strategy, and rightly so – on multiple occasions, his aggressiveness turned a game in St Louis’ favor. Every now and then, however, his moves backfire. Call it the law of averages catching up to him. It happened during the season, and it happened in Game 2.

Last night, the decision to remove Jason Motte with second and third and no out is the one that doomed the Cardinals. With Josh Hamilton due, LaRussa opted to go with Arthur Rhodes. Hamilton is suffering from a groin injury even he admitted would have placed him on the DL if it was earlier in the season. Hamilton is not a threat to drive the ball, and if he can’t turn his lower body he likely can’t catch up to a good fastball.

Rhodes faced him in Game 1, and after falling behind him 2-0 and 3-1, retired the 201o AL MVP on a fly ball to center. That fact alone should have given LaRussa pause. In Game 2, all the Rangers needed was a fly ball to tie the game. What the Cardinals really needed in that situation was a strikeout. Motte possesses the necessary hard stuff to get that strike out. And, with runners already in scoring position (having advanced as far as they could without scoring), Motte would just have to worry about the hitter and no baserunning. Motte seemed the better choice in that situation.

Obviously that’s not how it happened. Rhodes allowed a sacrifice fly to Hamilton, and the runner on second (Elvis Andrus) advanced to third. Lance Lynn came in and allowed a sacrifice fly to Michael Young, scoring Andrus. The Rangers won 2-1. Given that the Cardinals were three outs away from a 2-0 lead in the series, this was a tough loss to take.

But all is not lost. This series is far from over. If this Cardinals team has proven anything over their past eight weeks, it is that they are resilient. The last devastating, season-ending loss St Louis suffered happened on 22 September against the Mets. I’m sure you remember – St Louis blew a 4-run lead in the ninth and lost that day 8-6. The lost the next day too; then won four of their last five to finish the season.

If they close like that over the next 5 games they win the World Series.

One other thing to consider. Perhaps this World Series had to go this way. St Louis has hosted the first two games of the Fall Classic seven times (including this year). In every other year – 1982, 1964, 1946, 1944, 1942, and 1931 – they split the first two games at home. Every other year they had home field advantage, they eventually won the World Series.

Tony LaRussa will learn from his Game 2 mistakes. The team will rebound. There are at least three games left, and anything can happen.

Mike Metzger is an I-70 contributor and life-long Cardinals fan watching the Fall Classic from the edge of his couch. He writes Padres Trail, a San Diego Padres blog. Follow Mike on Twitter @metzgermg.

The Cardinals have plenty of heroes to thank for their late charge into playoff contention. Albert Pujols‘ .388/.463/.626 slash line since August 11th. Jamie Garcia’s dominance since August 25th. And so on. One of the unsung heroes of this season has been Yadier Molina. Molina has had a down year defensively but has made up for it with a career year at the plate.

During Thursday’s game Molina knocked in his 62nd and 63rd runs on the year, the latter setting a new personal best for RBI in a season. Since RBI are more a measure of how well the hitters ahead of you in the order get themselves into scoring position, let’s also look at his OPS+. Molina has posted a 121 OPS+ this season, his best by 21 points, and fourth on the club among those with 450+ PA, behind the usual subjects (Lance Berkman (169), Pujols (156), Matt Holliday (154)). A big part of that has been newfound power – his 13 HR this season is almost double his previous high (7, in 2008).

His batting average is also up, sitting right at .300 going into yesterday. That is a bounce-back from the .263 he posted in 2010, and in line with the two seasons before that (.293 and .300, respectively, for 2009/2008). Sometimes when a player’s batting average ticks up we see a corresponding increase in Batting Average on Balls In Play, indicating the player is having a little better luck than other hitters. Not so with Molina – his BABIP in 2011 is .307. Yes that is the second highest he’s ever posted, but not out of line with his last 5 seasons, where it hovered between .281 and .310.

So what has changed? Well, his ground ball rate is down and his fly ball rate is up as compared to his two previous seasons. He is getting more loft on the ball, meaning he is driving the ball better. Both rates are right where they were in 2007, his previous best season. It appears he has re-discovered what he did well at the plate 4 years ago, with excellent results.

Molina’s year also puts him on the short list of current catchers who can hit. His wRC+ 0f 117 is almost identical to Miguel Montero‘s (119), the cleanup hitter for the pending NL West champion Arizona Diamondbacks. His fWAR of 3.7 places him in a virtual dead heat with Carlos Santana of Minnesota (3.7), Brian McCann (3.8), and Matt Weiters of Baltimore (4.0), three guys who came into the league with well-deserved reputations for superior offense.

It’s been a long time since St Louis had a catcher who put up this kind of offensive season. Since 1901, only 6 Cardinals have played 130 games or more at catcher and posted an OPS+ of 110 0r better. Molina is the first to do it since Darrell Porter in 1983. The other 4 names are a who’s who of great Cardinal Catchers: Ted Simmons, who did it six times; Tim McCarver, Bob O’Farrell, and Frank Snyder.

A lineup featuring Berkman, Pujols, and Holliday is imposing enough. Having a threat from behind the plate is a welcome luxury. Yadier Molina is having a fantastic year with the stick. We would be remiss if we did not acknowledge it.

Mike Metzger is a life-long Cardinals fan still with his fingers crossed in San Diego. He also blogs about the Padres. Follow him on Twitter.

Even as resilient as this Cardinals team had proven to be over the past three months, it’s hard not to wonder whether this past weekend may have been a critical turning point in the season. We all know the stories of the Cardinals’ injuries by now, but up until Friday night, the team still held a share of first place in the NL Central.

Once again, the Cardinals had rallied to overcome a deficit and had knotted the game at 4-4. With closer Fernando Salas on the mound for the top of the 9th, the Cardinals seemed to have the upper hand in the game. But with 1 out, Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista sent a long fly ball towards the Cardinals bullpen. Jon Jay tracked it all the way to the wall, leaped high in the air, but missed the ball by inches. The Blue Jays took the game, and Milwaukee took over the division lead.

Twenty-four hours later, it was the 3rd inning (and the men in blue) that did the Red Birds in. With the score tied 1-1, the Blue Jays had runners at the corners and 2 outs when catcher J.P. Arencibia hit a hot-shot to 3rd base. Daniel Descalso made a diving stop, but his throw pulled Lance Berkman off the bag. Berkman was able to make it back in time, but the 1st base umpire called Arencibia safe, allowing the runner from third to score and the inning to continue. The next batter jacked a 3-run homerun, and in the blink of an eye it was 5-1 and the Jays were on their way to a 6-3 victory. The Brewers, meanwhile, pulled 2 games ahead of the Cardinals in the division.

Sunday afternoon, the Cardinals were locked in another tight ballgame in the 6th until a chopper to first base resulted in an errant throw home and opened the flood gates for another big inning. In 48 hours, the Cardinals lost 3 winnable games; and 3 important games in the standings to the Brewers.

As difficult as a home-sweep would normally be, it’s twice as hard for the Cardinals under their current set of circumstances. If you want to sum up the first half of the Cardinals’ season with one number, one telling statistic, it might be 77. That’s the number of games reserve right fielder Jon Jay has played in, leading the team in that category.

Not a single opening day starter has missed fewer than 5 games this season. David Freese, Matt Holliday, and Skip Schumaker alone have missed a combined 102 games thus far. Three-time MVP Albert Pujols will have missed 4-6 weeks by the time he returns to the lineup, and ace Adam Wainwright will not throw a single pitch for the 2011 squad.

With this recent sweep, the Cardinals have now lost 12 of their last 15 games. While it’s nearly impossible to say that a sweep in June was the knock-out punch for the Red Birds, it has certainly knocked them down in a big way.

The Cardinals have 13 games left before the All-Star Break against the Orioles, Rays, Reds, and Diamondbacks. They’re also getting David Freese back. Mid-to-late July will bring the return of Allen Craig, Albert Pujols, and Eduardo Sanchez. The rest of the team has to get back off the mat and roll with the punches until then, or postseason chances could be lost by the time the Cardinals are back at full strength.

Ha! Get it? Because they are playing in…Kansas City…

Anyway, the St. Louis Cardinals have a 26-20 record after Friday night’s loss to the Royals. They are still in first place in the NL Central, because the Cincinnati Reds dropped the game to their cross-state rivals, the Cleveland Indians. But the Redbirds have utilized a number of specific losing formulas this year. The starting pitching has been lacking in a few games. The biggest problem has been bullpen failure. But the other two glaring hiccups have been defensive lapses and not getting timely hits and those were the ones that cost the Cards in their first Interleague game of 2011.

Chris Carpenter was sharp through the first six innings Friday night. Through the first five innings, he only gave up three hits—one of which was erased on a double play. In the sixth he gave up two hits, but got out of the inning unscathed. In the seventh, the Royals got a leadoff hit from Billy Butler, and Wilson Betemit followed with a deep fly ball to left-centerfield. Rasmus gave chase but hesitated before diving for the ball and missed it. That opened the floodgates and the Royals tacked on three runs on four hits and a couple of sacrifice flies. Carpenter, again bitten by bad luck after pitching a heck of a game most of the way through, was on the hook for the loss.

The Cardinals had a few offensive opportunities they just could not cash in on. In the second inning, Tyler Greene came up to bat with the bases loaded and one out and grounded into a double play. In the sixth, Allen Craig came up to bat with runners at first and second and one out and—you guessed it—grounded into a double play. Greene and Craig are bench players, of course, starting because of a) injuries and b) the great Jeff Francis starting with his baffling left-handedness and blazing mid-80s fastball. Though the Cards had played better against lefties this season, Friday’s performance was a bit of a regression. Colby Rasmus, for instance, went 0 for 4 on the night and struck out three times. The Cards managed to get a couple on in the eighth, but again could not come through. And with the Royals having a closer the caliber of Joakim Soria, you either score in the first eight innings or you don’t score at all.

Carpenter’s performances this season have begun to raise questions about his health and effectiveness, but this loss is not all his fault. Rasmus certainly could have caught the Betemit ball, and probably should have. It may not have kept the Royals from scoring later in the inning, but the cliché about giving Major League teams extra outs certainly applies. Rasmus also rainbowed a couple of throws back to the infield, which made him look even more out of place. I am starting to wonder if Rasmus truly is a centerfielder. I realize Jim Edmonds spoiled St. Louis for a lot of years, but Rasmus seems to lapse at some of the worst times. Running catches don’t seem to be a problem; diving catches, however, always end up being an adventure. Getting the ball back in when there is no threat of advancement doesn’t seem to be a problem; if Rasmus has to keep a runner from advancing or has a play on an advancement, he spikes it or airmails it. Rasmus has a lot of great potential and I am glad he is a Cardinal. But the team needs more in center. Unfortunately, the only other person on the team capable of playing better centerfield is Jon Jay, and all the other guys’ offense is too valuable to have Jay playing every day.

So Rasmus had a bad night, and a banged-up Cardinal offense struggled to get hits and runs. The pitching was good—even Ryan Franklin managed a perfect inning, his first of the season—but has nothing to show for it. A four-game winning streak was snapped, but it did not cost the Cards in the standings.

Such is the mystique of Interleague Play. The Royals are a young team on the rise, and the Cardinals are the stalwart trying to get healthy and keep their slim lead in the division. Like it or not, the rest of this series just became very important. And the Cards can afford no more mistakes.

Chris Reed also writes for InsideSTL Mondays and Bird Brained whenever he wants. Follow him on Twitter @birdbrained

Luck.

That is the official explanation from the Cardinals’ manager, pitching coach, and relief pitcher as it pertains to the struggles of Ryan Franklin. More specifically, they are citing “bad luck”.

Now, I remember playing some video games as a kid that would have a statistical category for luck, but I do not recall being able to find this on the back of a baseball card, on baseball-reference, or through any number of Sabermetric type research sites. I find myself confused as to why three professional baseball men, one who is highly regarded for his work with pitchers, cannot pinpoint anything other than luck when it comes to the struggles of a pitcher that is attempting to close down games and provide the team with some reassurance late in the game.

Perhaps, just maybe, the problem is not luck. Those who follow my many exploits on the web, writing or making radio appearances, know that I am far from impressed with Ryan Franklin as a whole. I have always struggled with the concept of a closer being a pitcher that is not dominant, pitches to contact, and is not a ground ball pitcher. It seems to me, on a basic level, that this combination threatens the ability to close ball games.

All of that aside, there is a lot of posturing going on today in defense of the closer. Some discussions about the lack of defense behind the pitcher having a major impact on his ability to close games. Thoughts like this have been coming up on Twitter:

If Rasmus doesn't drop Uribe's "2R Double" which should be an error. Franklin would have a 7.2 ERA vs 11.6 ERA; 1 less blown save. #stlcards

April 20, 2011 11:14 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@NLFantasyBB

Mark Kruger

First of all, some perspective here. One less blown save and an earned run average just above seven would not have me screaming support for a pitcher. In addition, before we hang our center fielder out to dry, keep in mind this was far from a routine play. The ball was hit some 370 feet to the warning track in left-center field. This is not to say that the ball was not catchable, but to make it sound like Colby Rasmus dropped a routine fly ball and the reliever should be excused for that is a bit extreme.

In addition, it would be nice to see the Cardinals employ a closer that would see balls hit that distance in a less than routine fashion. A closer that is relying on defense, a commodity the Cardinals felt was expendable during the off-season, is a recipe for disaster. A closer that relies on pitching to contact that results in a more fly balls than ground balls is asking to surrender home runs.

Franklin said after surrendering the walk off home run to Matt Kemp on Sunday that the pitch was exactly where he wanted it and it was not a mistake. The closing pitcher for the team just admitted that he threw the best pitch he had and it was hit over 400 feet. That is not bad luck, that is out played, out performed, and dominated.

John Mozeliak was quoted as saying “Right now we need to do whatever gives us the best chance to win.” It is a shame that it took the recent results for the team to realize that a change at the back end of the bullpen needed fixed. It is equally shameful to hear an executive say now is the time to worry about a win. Should that not be the the team’s objective constantly, not just right now?

Ryan Franklin is a solid person, a great teammate, and well respected as a player in St. Louis. I do not intend to take away from that. However, in the interest of winning, this team needs to make a change. Not a temporary one.

All due respect to Dave Duncan, Tony LaRussa, and Ryan Franklin, this is not “luck”. It is ability. Sadly, Ryan Franklin is lacking in that category.

Most Cardinals fans are still steaming over Ryan Franklin’s latest blown save and that’s understandable. What they should be is ecstatic about what’s to come during the remaining 5 ½ months of the 2011 season. Do they have issues at closer, yes. Ryan Franklin’s 11.57 ERA and 4 blown saves in 5 attempts have Cardinal Nation begging for Jason Isringhausen to make a comeback. But the closer issue will get worked out soon: Tony La Russa, stubborn as he can be, will make a change soon Franklin doesn’t turn things around. And with the closer issue behind them, the Cardinals will once again be the team to beat in the National League Central.

That may seem hard to believe, especially given all the doom and gloom hyped up prior to the season (yes, I’m guilty as well). The Cardinals, of course, do not have the services of ace Adam Wainwright, and most experts picked the Cardinals to finish third in the division. I picked them to finish 4^th. But let’s reflect back on the first 16 games of the 2011 season, essentially 10% of the season, to see what really lies ahead for this team.

A look back at the first 16 (10%) of the season:

-The team managed more than 3 runs just once in its first 8 games, compiling a record of 2-6

-The Cardinals are 2 games under .500 at home.

-Ryan Franklin has blown 4 saves in the 9^th inning, all of which resulted in losses.

-Matt Holliday missed 7 games after an emergency appendectomy.

-Albert Pujols’ average was down to .128 at one point, and is only at .239 currently.

-Colby Rasmus dropped a fly ball that would’ve won a game, instead he dropped it and the Cardinals lost.

-Chris Carpenter has no wins, including a game in which he got 8 runs of support.

…and despite all these things, the Cardinals are 8-8 and just 1 game out of first place. Now ask yourself: “Is Albert Pujols going to hit .239 all season?” Certainly not. “Is Chris Carpenter going to go winless?” Nope. I trust you follow where this is going. Bottom line, the Cardinals are playing some pretty ugly baseball, and yet they’re just a game behind the Reds, and assuming a closer does his job 80% of the time, the team should be no worse than 11-5 right now.

How have they done it? Colby Rasmus, Matt Holliday, and Lance Berkman are on fire at the plate. The starting pitching, save for one bad start by Carpenter and Jake Westbrook, has been lights out. And yes…Albert is beginning to be Albert again.

The Cardinals will finally return to Busch Stadium today… hosting the Washington Nationals, and then the division leading Cincinnati Reds. I fully expect to be writing about the first place St. Louis Cardinals come next Tuesday.