The St. Louis Cardinals entered the final two series of the 2012 regular season with something to play for: the Second Wild Card, which would assure them a one game playoff—the winner of which goes on to play in the NLDS against the playoff team with the best record. But what if the game was still being played under last year’s rules? What would the Cardinals be playing for in these final six games?

A whole lot of nothing, that’s what.

The Atlanta Braves clinched a playoff spot on September 25. The reason it’s only a playoff spot and not the Wild Card is because the Washington Nationals have not yet closed out the National League East Championship. Regardless, without the Second Wild Card, both teams would be in the postseason already no matter how they finish in the regular season standings. Aside from some seeding still to be determined, the playoff brackets would be full and the Cardinals would be on the outside looking in. Ironically, the one thing the Cardinals could do this weekend is help the Braves keep the door open to winning the NL East by beating the Nationals. That’s actually true with or without the Second Wild Card, but this season the Cardinals need the wins. Otherwise they would be relegated to the role of spoiler at best. And after what transpired at the end of the 2011 regular season, what an interesting discussion that would spark.

Imagine the questions that would surround the team without the opportunity in front of them: Was Mike Matheny the right guy for the job? How much can injuries be blamed for the Cards’ shortcomings? Did they need to spend the money on Carlos Beltran? Are they regretting letting Albert Pujols get away? Do you think Tony La Russa and/or Dave Duncan would come back? Should other coaches on the staff be let go? What does John Mozeliak need to do in the offseason to right the ship? When a champion comes back and falls woefully short the next year, these are the types of things people talk about. Some of those questions may get asked of the Cards in the offseason anyway. But the perspective and, consequently, the answers are so different between a playoff year and a non-playoff year.

Even the roster can be drastically affected. Perhaps the Cardinals would have shut down ailing players like Carlos Beltran or Matt Holliday for the season by now. Perhaps Chris Carpenter would not have come back at all, or the Cards would have taken a page from the Stephen Strasburg files and backed Adam Wainwright off in the interest of the long-term. After all, what would be the rationale for pushing these guys after elimination, knowing they are under contract for 2013? There would be none. And we’d probably be seeing even more players from the Cards’ system up with the big club.

Last year, one of the rallying cries was “11 in ‘11,” and the Cardinals did indeed win their 11th World Championship in 2011. It also took 11 wins to get there: three Division Series wins, four National League Championship Series wins, and four World Series wins. Naturally, the fan base turned their attention to longing for “12 in ‘12” before the confetti had even been swept up from the parade through downtown St. Louis last October. The funny thing is, without the need to win a 12th postseason game created by the Second Wild Card, the Cardinals would have no shot to fulfill that longing this season. And that would really trigger some what ifs.

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

St Louis Cardinals fans rejoice in Ozzie Smith’s return to the spring training fold.  Seeing the older but still fit Wizard in uniform brings back fond memories of his 15 seasons in the St Louis infield.  Twenty-five years ago, during the last of Whitey Herzog’s runs to the World Series, Ozzie enjoyed his finest season along the banks of the Mississippi.

The Cardinals entered the 1987 season as a question mark.  For the second time in the decade they had followed up a World Series appearance with a sub-.500 season.  No one expected them to challenge the New York Mets for NL East supremancy; the 1986 World Champs were coming off an 108-win season and looked like a budding dynasty.  Over the first week of the 1987 season, that future appeared to be today, as the Mets won six of their first 8 while St Louis stumbled out of the blocks.  The Cardinals were two games back of New York when the Mets came to town for an early 3-game series.

New York did not roll over the Cardinals on their way to the post-season.  Instead, St Louis swept the Mets, and rarely looked back.  They never trailed by more than a game in April and early May, took sole possession of first place permanently on 22 May, led by 9 games at the All-Star Break, and won their third NL East title in 6 years.

In the middle of this Cardinal resurrection was Ozzie, who had the best offensive year of his career.  It was the only year he hit over .300 (.303).  He set career highs in OBP (.392), hits (182), doubles (40), RBI (75), runs scored (104), stolen bases (43), walks (89), and total bases (230).

Those career highs compared favorably with the rest of the league.  He finished eighth in batting average, eighth in runs, third in hits, second in doubles, sixth in walks, seventh in stolen bases, and was fourth in at bats per strikeout. He was the only player in the top 10 of all those categories.   By Baseball Reference’s calculations, his WAR of 7.1 was fifth-best in the NL, behind Tony Gwynn, Eric Davis, Dale Murphy, and Orel Hershiser.  Broken into categories, his offensive WAR was seventh, his defensive WAR third.

As seemed to be the trend with those 1980s Cardinals teams, they quit hitting in the post-season.  In years past Smith had hit in the NLCS but struggled in the World Series, but in 1987 he struggled in both.  Ozzie hit only .207  combined (11 for 53) that October, and although St Louis rode home-field advantage and superior starting pitching to the NL pennant, they were bested by Minnesota in the Fall Classic.

Ozzie had some good years after that, and some years with better power numbers, but he never quite reached the heights he had in 1987.

It’s a shame he and Tony LaRussa could never find common ground, and that LaRussa had to retire before Ozzie was willing to come back to Spring Training.  Although it’s not the same without Don Tony, the team is better with Ozzie teaching the finer points of middle infield defense to a new generation of Cardinal players.

Welcome back, Ozzie.

Thanks to an improbable come-from-behind victory in Game 2 of the NLDS, the Cardinals now arguably have the upper-hand in this best-of-five series against the team that helped get the Redbirds into the playoffs to begin with. It’s an ironic twist of fate that everyone knew was possible when the Phillies went toe to toe with the Atlanta Braves during the last three games of the regular season, who the Cardinals were desperately trying to catch in the National League Wild Card race.

The Phillies had a couple of things to consider that series: 1) Do we want to rest our star players for the playoff run? 2) Do we want to knock the struggling Braves out of the playoffs and face the red hot Cardinals in the 1^st round? We could just keep the Braves in and play the Arizona Diamondbacks. 3) Do we need to step it up and right the ship before the playoffs begin (Phillies had lost 8 of 9 games since clinching the NL East title)?

Fortunately for the Cardinals, the Phillies chose No, Yes, and Yes… and the Cardinals squeaked into the playoffs on the last day of the season. Ironically, the Cardinals now have a chance to come back to Busch Stadium with a chance to knock Philadelphia out. But the ironies don’t end there.

Rematch with Milwaukee

Raise your hand if you’d like to see the Cardinals get another shot at their division rivals to the north? The Brewers played a role helping the Cardinals back into the playoffs, too… going 1-5 against St. Louis down the stretch run when they had all but locked up the division title. When the Brew Crew last played St. Louis September 7^th, the Cardinals were still 7 ½ games out of a playoff spot with 19 games to go. Resident pest, Nyjer Morgan, lit a fire under the Cardinals, apparently yelling and taunting them so much that ace Chris Carpenter finally decided to yell back after striking him out. Morgan then threw chewing tobacco in Carp’s direction, leading to a benches-clearing situation. After the brief encounter, Morgan called Albert Pujols “Alberta” and Cardinals’ Manager Tony La Russa said Morgan needed to “Get a clue.” Much of the trash talk from Morgan, one would think, came with the assumption that it would be the last time the Brewers played the Cardinals this season. But now, who knows.

In early August, you might recall LaRussa going off at the Brewers, accusing them of pitching dangerously to Albert Pujols after he was hit in the hand with a pitch high and tight. Later in the game, Ryan Braun was thrown at twice by Jason Motte, who drilled the Brewers slugger square in the back with his second pitch.

Overall, the Brewers and Cardinals split a season series of 18 games with 9 wins apiece? Who wouldn’t want to see this epic battle between two division rivals continue for another 7 games to settle the score once and for all?

World Series Possibilities

There would also be an number of storylines worth following no matter who the Cardinals face in the World Series, should the team get that far. The most ironic matchup would be with the Texas Rangers, who had a chance to add a huge bat to their lineup and give the Cardinals a knockout punch once and for all. I’m talking, of course, about the Lance Berkman trade that wasn’t. Berkman was the talk of the Major League Baseball trade rumors in late August. Texas was looking to add an impact bat, and the Cardinals were seemingly sellers who were out of the race and would be willing to deal a soon-to-be free agent. The Cardinals put Berkman on waivers at the 11^th hour, but Texas wouldn’t up the ante enough and the deal never happened. The trade would’ve almost certainly kept the Cardinals out of the playoffs, and obviously would’ve kept Texas pitchers from facing Berkman in the World Series.

Adding to the ironies, the New York Yankees, who as you might recall can buy pretty much any baseball free-agent they want, elected not to resign Berkman in the offseason after Lance had a disappointing stretch run with the club. Meeting New York in the World Series would give Berkman a chance for some payback, and to prove himself, against his former team.

Should the Tampa Bay Rays square off with the Cardinals, it would be a matchup of the two miracle teams from the regular season. These teams have already become the teams with the biggest (Rays) and second biggest (Cardinals) September comebacks in baseball history, so why not become the first 2 wildcard teams ever to meet in the Fall Classic?

And the Detroit Tigers, of course, would provide a rematch of the 2006 World Series… a year in which, like this season, nearly everyone gave up on the Cardinals’ chances.

Pujols’ Prime

Much has been written over the past couple months about how the Cardinals’ have essentially “wasted” the Prime Years of the best player in baseball. “How,” they asked, “could the Cardinals only make the playoffs once in 5 years and not win a playoff game with Albert Pujols anchoring their lineup?”

The Cardinals, who are locked in a 1-1 series tie with the Phillies, obviously have a long way to go in the playoffs before they reach the World Series, but image how the tune would change if they pulled off the unthinkable and made it back to the Fall Classic. What was just months ago considered a “wasted opportunity” suddenly sounds like this:

“The Cardinals are back in the World Series for the 3^rd time in 8 seasons.”

“Pujols and the Cardinals have won their second World Championship in 6 seasons.”

Funny how one miraculous 5-week playoff run could change everyone’s perspective on the past half-decade.

Winning Streaks

Like the “Pujols’ Prime” discussion, the Cardinals inability to win games in bunches has also been highlighted time and time again. The team put together just one 5-game winning streak all season, and swept only 4 series all season long (not including two 2-game sweeps). But with the way this team is playing right now, I don’t know, it just feels like a 6-game winning streak is coming. Maybe they were just saving it for the playoffs all along? Maybe not. Time will tell.

Got Rings?

Colby Rasmus, Ryan Franklin, Trevor Miller. These names are among those who would be eligible for championship rings. Yes, really.

Injuries and Champions

Injuries to the Cardinals have been a story since virtually Day 1. From Adam Wainwright to David Freese to Matt Holliday to Albert Pujols to Matt Holliday again and about a dozen other key players in between, this Cardinals team had found a way to will itself into the playoffs. It reminds me of another team that did they exact same thing earlier this year, the Green Bay Packers, who won the Super Bowl despite having 19 players on injured reserve (more than a third of the opening day roster).

I’m pretty sure you all have the idea by now. The Cardinals’ playoff run and potential road to the World Series features more irony than the work of William Shakespeare.

As we head into Games 3 and 4 at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals will be looking for their first home playoff win since clinching the team’s last World Series Championship in October of 2006. Jaime Garcia will take on Philadelphia’s former #1 and now #3 ace, Cole Hamel’s, who was roughed up in his final appearance of the season vs the Atlanta Braves. Game 4, Edwin Jackson will take the hill vs I’m assuming Roy Halladay if the Cardinals lead 2-1 and Roy Oswalt if the Phillies lead 2-1.

It should be another heart-stopping, nerve-wracking week of baseball for Cardinals fans as St. Louis continues its series with the National League’s best team. Of course, if the Cardinals go out and breeze by the Phillies, that would just be another thing we could add to our list of ironies.

Philadelphia has four outstanding pitchers forming the core of their 2011 rotation – can the Cardinals quartet compete?

Most prognosticators have already ceded the Philadelphia Phillies the NL East, NL Pennant, and World Series Championship in 2011. This is based on the team being able to send a formidable foursome of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels to the hill on a recurring basis. No other team, as the logic goes, can match that rotation for quality and depth.

Well, perhaps Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Baumgarner, and Jonathan Sanchez. But let’s not sell Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Jake Westbrook, and Jamie Garcia short – they can pitch too. How close are these Cardinal hurlers to the new National League gold standard?

Looking at Wins Above Replacement for each pitcher over the past three years, one is amazed at how durable the Phillie starters are. Consider:

• Roy Halladay WAR (2010-2008): 6.8, 6.6, 7.3
• Cliff Lee WAR : 6.7, 7.1, 6.6
• Roy Oswalt WAR: 4.2, 4.7, 3.0
• Cole Hamels WAR: 4.2, 3.8, 3.6

Now compare that to the Cardinal starters over the same period.

• Chris Carpenter WAR (2010-2008): 3.7, 5.6, 0.4
• Adam Wainwright: 6.7, 6.1, 5.7
• Jake Westbrook: 2.3, missed all of 2009, 0.4
• Jamie Garcia, 3.2 (rookie season).

Wainwright is as good as any pitcher in the league, and was every bit as good as both Halladay and Lee in 2010. After him there is a significant drop-off. Carpenter was hurt in 2008, Westbrook missed most of 2008 and all of 2009 to injury, and Garcia just completed his first full season in the bigs (after missing 2009 to arm surgery). And let’s not get into Kyle Lohse’s injury history since his bit 2008 season.

Carpenter is certainly still capable of putting up another season close to his 2009 effort, but will probably be in the 3.7-4.2 WAR region for 2011. He is a warrior, but he will also turn 36 next season and has a lot of miles on his right arm (not to mention injuries). Garcia will improve in his second season and will probably be close to Carpenter, perhaps 3.5-4.0 WAR. Westbrook is 33; his best years were 2004-2006, and his best WAR was 4.5 (2006). If he is able to stay healthy all season, he’s probably a Carpenter-level guy (3.7-4.2 WAR). Wainwright will remain one of the best pitchers in the league (6.4-7.2 WAR).

Figure Halladay and Lee to post between 6.3-7.0 WAR, and Oswalt/Hamels to post similar numbers (somewhere in the 4.0-4.7 range).

What does it all mean? It means pitching-wise, this team is still good enough to win the NL Central and make a run in the post-season. It means Cardinal pitchers are pretty good too – perhaps not quite as vaunted a rotation as the Phillies have, but certainly good enough to win 90+ games.

Granted, should they make it to the NLCS, having to face Halladay, Lee, and Oswalt twice each in a 7-game series is a tough task. If the 2006 post-season taught us anything, however, it’s that the playoffs are a crapshoot. In 2010, that lesson was reinforced – who seriously thought the Giants would beat Cliff Lee twice in the World Series?

So let’s not mail Ruben Amaro Jr the National League pennant for 2011 just yet. There’s a pretty good staff working alongside the banks of the Mississippi too.

The Cardinals finished up a 4-2 home stand Wednesday, and travel to South Florida for a 3-game set with the Marlins. The Cardinals split two with Florida in May.

Current Snapshot:

St Louis: 60-48, 2nd place NL Central, 0.5 games behind Cincinnati. Am I the only one happy to see Houston leave town? Didn’t think so. After allowing Pittsburgh 2 runs in 3 games, they surrendered 31 runs to Houston. The team added Jake Westbrook, sent Ryan Ludwick to San Diego, lost David Freese for the year, and ceded right field to Jon Jay. It’s been an exhausting week.

Florida: 53-54, 4th place NL East, 8 games behind Atlanta. The Marlins boast some of the best young players in the league with Josh Johnson, Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, and Michael Stanton on the roster. That they sit a game under .500 is somewhat of a surprise. Florida is 5-5 over their last ten games, and followed taking two of three from San Diego in San Diego by getting swept at home by the Phillies.

Pitching Matchups

6 August: Jeff Suppan (1-4, 5.15 xFIP) vs Rickey Nolasco (12-7, 3.64 xFIP). Suppan got his first win of the season against Pittsburgh last Saturday, so he’s on a major roll right now. Jeff has started 8 career games in Florida, never losing as a Cardinal, never winning as a Brewer. His last win down there was 5 may 06. He has never faced Rickey Nolasco.

Dan Uggla (.267/.429/.600, 1 HR) and Mike Lamb (.158/.200/.211) are the only Marlins with more than 20 career PA’s against him (Hanley Ramirez has 19). I doubt Lamb will suit up against Suppan Friday.

Rickey Nolasco is a right-handed pitcher currently tied for fourth in the NL in wins and tenth in xFIP. By most advanced metrics this is his best season in the majors. Nolasco features a fastball averaging 91 MPH, which he throws about half the time. He complements that with a split-finger (85MPH, 12%), slider (85, 23%) and curveball (75, 16%). According to Fangraphs, his off-speed pitches are plus pitches.

Nolasco has appeared in two games vs St Louis in Miami (one start). He’s not beaten the Cardinals at home; in fact, he’s never beaten the Cardinals, and the Marlins have only won one of the 5 games he’s appeared in (4 starts). His lone home start was almost exactly two years ago.

No Cardinal has 20 plate appearances against Nolasco. Matt Holliday and Felipe Lopez have hit two home runs off him. Holliday, in fact, is 7 for 11 all-time against Nolasco.

7 August: Adam Wainwright (15-6, 3.22 xFIP) vs Josh Johnson (10-4, 3.10 xFIP). Two of the best young pitchers in baseball, and two contenders for the 2010 NL Cy Young award, square off on Saturday. If this is not the Fox Game of the Week something is seriously wrong. What? Boston is playing the Yankees this weekend too? So much for that.

Wainwright was masterful in his 7 innings against Pittsburgh on Sunday and looks to keep that going. He’s started one game in Florida against the Marlins, winning last June 6th. In his career he’s 4-1 against Florida, and he won on 20 May this year 4-2. Only Hanley Ramirez has 20 PA versus Adam, and Wainwright has completely handcuffed him (.167/.260/.167). Uggla has the only HR on the roster off Wainwright, but has been similarly frustrated (.125/.167/.313).

The right-handed Johnson was roughed up in San Diego on Sunday, allowing a season high 5 earned runs, but the Padres are the only team to beat him since May (5-2 over that span). Johnson throws a fastball, slider, and changeup; his fastball averages 95 MPH and he throws it 60% of the time. All three pitches are above average, which makes sense given his success this season. Johnson has started 3 career games against St Louis, one in Miami. He’s 1-1, with a no decision in the home start although the Marlins won the game (9 June 09). Cardinals on the roster have hit .321/.346/.436 career off Johnson (82 PA). Albert Pujols has hit the only HR among the current Redbirds off Johnson.

He and Wainwright have hooked up once before, on 7 Sept 08. Wainwright won the game 3-1.

8 August: Jake Westbrook (0-0, 2.01 xFIP) vs Sean West (0-1, 4.84 xFIP). Westbrook made his first start as a Cardinal Monday against Houston, and would have gotten the win if the bullpen could have held the lead. In a relative oddity of the Interleague Era, Jake has never faced Florida. Of the current Marlins only Mike Lamb (1 for 7, walk) and Donnie Murphy (1 for 2) have any at bats against him.

Westbrook has five pitches but hardly ever throws his curveball. His fastball averages 92 MPH, his slider 80, his change-up 79, and his cutter 86. Of those his best pitch appears to be his slider, which makes sense given his ground ball/fly ball ratio (1.87 in 2010). He strikes out a tick over 5 hitters a game, making him a pitch-to-contact guy that Dave Duncan loves.

Sean West was recalled to the Marlins on 3 August, and lost his first start of the 2010 season Tuesday to Philadelphia. West started 20 games a year ago for Florida, posting an 8-6 record. He has not faced the Cardinals in South Florida, but he has beaten the Cardinals in his career, 2-1 on 15 September of last year. West features a fastball/slider/changeup and is a bit of a fly ball pitcher (0.70 GB/FB ratio). His fastball averages about 91 MPH.

No Cardinal has more than 3 PA’s against him, so it’s not really worth discussing those numbers.

Prognosis. The Cardinals have struggled on the road this season, while the Marlins have been exactly average at home. Florida will be favored on Friday, St Louis on Sunday. Saturday’s game will be epic and most likely become a battle of bullpens. St Louis has the ability to take 2 of these 3 games but it won’t be easy. Cincinnati is in Chicago this weekend, so it may take 2 of 3 to keep pace with the Reds.

UPDATE: The Cardinals shifted their rotation for this weekend. Adam Wainwright pitched Friday night, Jake Westrbook will pitch Saturday and Jeff Suppan shifts to Sunday.

On the heels of a hot streak, the Cardinals rolled into Chicago to the tune of one of baseball’s most celebrated rivalries. The trip to the Windy City did not go the way the Cardinals had hoped, as they dropped the opening two and had to salvage Sunday night in front of the ESPN national audience to avoid the sweep. Even that took extra innings.

The bi-polar Cardinals will take their show further East on the road as they slide into another city that is inhabited by an old rival. The team that has become known as “Pond Scum” around the Gateway City will play host to the Redbirds this week for a three game set.

Current Snapshot

St. Louis: 55-44, First Place, NL Central, 1 Game ahead of Cincinnati. The Cards have gone 7-3 over their last 10 games and have been showing signs of life since the All Star break. At the same time, they floundered in Chicago to the extent of frustration against a team that they should perform better against if they are in fact the “team to beat” in this division.

New York: 50-49, Third Place, NL East, 7.5 Games back of division leader Atlanta. The Mets are 2-8 over their last 10 games and seem to be on the verge of losing their season. The manager is rumored to be on the hot seat and the players have not performed to the level necessary, causing the team to show up in trade rumors with our other I-70 team, the Royals.

Pitching Matchup

Tuesday, July 27, 6:10 P.M. CST: Adam Wainwright (14-5, 1.94 ERA) vs Jon Niese (6-4, 3.54 ERA)
Wainwright is doing everything in his power to ensure that he does not get left in the dark when it comes to the Cy Young award this season. He has been lights out lately, though many of his starts in the summer heat of St. Louis have been shortened to six innings or so. Wainwright has not surrendered an earned run in his last three starts and is one of the most prolific pitchers in his home ballpark. Jason Bay will look to find his stroke against a pitcher that he has posted a .353 average against in his career. Carlos Beltran, on the other hand, may look to seek revenge for being on the receiving end of one of the most famous pitches in St. Louis Cardinal history.

Niese does not have much of a history against the Redbirds, but what history he has, he would like to forget. In a short outing last season, he sustained an injury to his leg that required surgery to repair. He has been on of New York’s occasional bright spots this season, though not as sharp in his last start. Still, Niese matches up well for the Mets and should give them an opportunity to overcome the Cardinals’ ace and possibly pull out a win.

Wednesday, July 28, 6:10 P.M. CST: Jaime Garcia (9-4, 2.21 ERA) vs Mike Pelfrey (10-5, 4.00 ERA)
There may not be a better story than Jaime Garcia’s this season for the Cardinals. A pitcher that was overshadowed by other arms going into Spring Training, Jaime has claimed the third spot in the rotation and been dominant at times. At other times, he has been hittable, but he seems to work his way into and out of trouble with some grit.

Mike Pelfrey has been as up and down as the team he plays for this season. While his overall line does not look bad, his last few games have just about wrecked it. While his most recent start suggests that he may be back on track, he has suffered through some horrible pitching, giving up more base runners than innings pitched as of late. Matt Holliday is hitting 375 against Pelfrey in his career, but Randy Winn can only boast a .100 average despite facing him more times than any other St. Louis hitter.

Thursday, July 29, 11:10 A.M. CST: Blake Hawksworth (4-6, 5.23 ERA) vs Johan Santana (8-5, 2.79 ERA)
The Cardinals have survived through most of the season based on their pitching. Blake Hawksworth is the example of both the things that are going right for the team and the reason why the team desperately needs another arm. While the reliever-turned-starter has given the Cardinals serviceable outings and impressed fans beyond his ability this season, he has not been the dominant part of the rotation that the Cardinals need him to be. His last start did not last five innings and, thanks in large part to the bullpen, he did not leave the team in a position to win the game. He has very little experience against this Mets team and the Cardinals will hope that he can keep them in contention against one of New York’s best.

Johan Santana has not been his usual, dominant self in 2010, but you could not tell that over his last three starts. Posting an ERA under one (0.82) while striking out 14 batters over the course of 22 innings, Santana may be finding the proverbial “groove”. Santana always pitches the Cardinals tough, but the resident superstar, Albert Pujols, may be pretty happy to see him. Albert holds a .500 average and a pair of solo home runs against the Mets’ lefty. The middle infield for the Cardinals, however, may not find much solace in the assignment. Skip Schumaker, Felipe Lopez, Brendan Ryan and Aaron Miles have combined for one solitary hit against Santana in 25 at bats.

Prognosis
The Cardinals need to win this series to show that they are closer related to the team that showed up after the All Star Break than the team that went into it. With Wainwright and Garcia on the mound for the first two, they have that opportunity. The team needs to settle in and perform like it is capable of, or the Mets could find themselves sneaking a win or two out of a very tough series.