The Gas House Gang

Kyle Lohse got off to a rough start, giving up 4 runs in the 1st inning, while the St. Louis offense was never really able to get it going against Jorge DeLaRosa in the Cards’ 9-3 loss to the Rockies this afternoon.

Lohse could only get through 4 innings today, giving up 7 runs on 8 hits and pushing his ERA to 4.87. Ryan Ludwick, who has cemented himself in the Cardinals’ starting outfield, was the lone bright spot on offense, blasting 2 solo home runs to put him at 7 on the year. Yadier Molina was the only other Cardinal to collect multiple hits, going 2-4 and pushing his average to .302 on the year after a horrid start at the plate.

Todd Wellemeyer (3-1, 4.07 ERA) and the Cardinals will head to Milwaukee to face the Brewers and lefty Manny Parra (1-2, 5.86 ERA). On a side note, Mark Mulder has been shut down for at least 10 days on his minor league rehab tour as he experienced some shoulder soreness after his last start with AAA Memphis. He has been diagnosed with a mild rotator cuff strain and will be re-evaluated after his 10-day rest. Walt Jocketty didn’t guess wrong on a lot of his trades during his tenure in St. Louis (and here’s hoping that Mulder comes back, pitches well, and leads the Cards to the World Series or at least provides quality trade bait at the deadline), but it’s hard not to look at what Danny Haren is doing these days and shake your head. I suppose you can’t win them all.

No one in the organization is saying it publicly, but there has got to be some growing concern about the performance of closer Jason Isrinhausen after his 4th blown save of the season ended in a 4-3 loss to the Rockies last night.

The blown save overshadowed a fantastic effort by starter Adam Wainwright, who pitched 7 shutout innings before handing a 3-0 lead to the bullpen. Ryan Ludwick continued his torrid pace at the plate, going 2-4 and knocking in 2 runs on a sac fly and a solo h run. But when Isringhausen was called on to appear in the 8th inning, everything unravelled as he wound up with his 4th blown save and 3rd loss of the year, both well beyond his normal numbers this time of year. While it is too early in the year to be sounding the alarms, it is definately something to be keeping an eye on. You want to give a veteran like Isringhuasen the benefit of the doubt, but you also don’t want to be blowing winnable games when the NL Central may very well come down to the wire.

The Cards will try and pull it together in a few hours at Coors Field, sending Kyle Lohse (3-1, 3.79 ERA) to the hill against Rockies’ lefty Jorge DeLaRosa (0-1, 20,25 ERA).

Braden Looper was the hero on several fronts last night as the Cardinals beat the Colorado Rockies 6-5 at Busch Stadium. With the bullpen exhausted, Looper pitched into the 9th inning, allowing 4 runs on 10 hits over 8 1/3 innings pitched. He also came through at the plate, going 2-3 with a walk, run scored, and an RBI.

Cesar Izturis chipped in at the plate, going 2-4 with a run and an RBI while Ryan Ludwick had a monster game, going 4-4 with a walk, a run scored, and an RBI of his own. Rick Ankiel was 2-5 on the day with a run and an RBI, but his real contribution came in the field, where he collected his first 2 outfield assists of the year. The 2nd of those was an absolute cannon shot from right field to 3rd base which left everyone in attendance in total awe.

The Cards will try to continue their winning ways tonight at 7:35pm (Central time) as Adam Wainwright (3-1, 2.60 ERA) faces Rockies’ lefty Jeff Francis (0-3, 5.26 ERA).

No one expected much out of the Cardinals this year, their starting rotation was a joke, their bullpen was left depleted after being picked clean by the starting staff, and the only hope their offense had was a banged up Albert Pujols. Despite all of this the Cardinals had the most April wins in franchise history and are the surprise story of the early MLB season because they are one of those teams that seems to play outside themselves, never relying on one person to do one thing, and refuses to lose.

Never was this more apparent than in the Cards’ 6-5 win over the Colorado Rockies last night. Joel Pineiro ended a 10-pitch at-bat in the 4th inning with a double, only his 3rd career hit, while journeyman Ron Villone and brand-spanking-new rookie Mike Parisi shut the Rockies down after Pineiro had to come out in the 4th. Oh, and the hero was a guy you might expect: Albert Pujols. His double in the top of the 9th put the go-ahead runner on base. He then proceeded to take off for 3rd and, after seeing that batter Rick Ankiel had hit a soft grounder to 2nd base, round the bag and head for home. The gutsy move paid off as Pujols scored what would be the winning run. Jason Isringhausen seemed to be the only guy doing what he is supposed to do (although not necessarily what you would expect him to do lately) by  down Colorado in the bottom half of the inning for his 11th save of the year.

The Cardinals will look for yet another way to pull off a win tomorrow night at 7:15pm (Central time) as Braden Looper (4-1, 3.86 ERA) faces Colorado lefty Mark Redman (2-2, 6.99 ERA).

Before their game with the Chicago Cubs yesterday the Cards called up righthanded pitcher Mike Parisi from AAA Memphis and sent down Anthony Reyes. Reyes had been decent on the year, going 1-1 with 1 save and a 5.27 ERA in 9 appearances. His inconsistency seems to have been his downfall and the Cards decided to give the long relief spot to Parisi, who went 2-1 with a 4.44 ERA as a satrter for the Redbirds.

Jason Isringhausen has been struggling a bit early in the year, but with what has become a rare sellout crowd in St. Louis on-hand and a national TV audience watching, Izzy came through big to secure his 10^th save of the year in the Cardinals’ 5-3 win over the Cubs last night.

The Cubs got the early lead on starter Todd Wellemeyer, scoring 2 runs in the top of the 2^nd inning only to see the Cards tie the game in the bottom half of the frame on RBI singles by Skip Shumaker and Adam Kennedy. Albert Pujols’ 2-run double in the 4^th would put St. Louis up 4-2 and Kennedy would add another RBI in the 6^th before the Cubs added a run in the 7^th to put the score at 5-3. Isringhausen pitched a perfect 9^th inning to secure the win and Central Division lead for the Cardinals.

St. Louis will open its series at Colorado today at 7:15pm (Central time), sending Joel Pineiro (2-2, 3.75 ERA) to the mound against Rockies righty Ubaldo Jimenez (1-2, 5.90 ERA).

Kyle Lohse had his first rough outing of the year, struggling through a 6-run 4^th inning in the Cardinals’ 9-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs this afternoon. Lohse gave up 8 runs on 9 hits over 6 innings, pushing his ERA to 3.79 on the year. The Cards scored their 2 of their 3 runs on home runs by Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols. Molina was the only St. Louis hitter to muster up multiple hits off Cubs lefty Ted Lilly, going 2-3 on the day. They will try to get back on the winning track tomorrow night at 7:15pm (Central time) as Todd Wellemeyer (2-1, 4.14 ERA) takes the hill against Cubs righty and former Cardinal Jason Marquis (1-1, 4.45 ERA).

Ok, the title is a little bit lame…but who knows? Maybe it will catch on. Skip Shumaker was the extra-innings hero with a 2-run shot in the 11th inning to mask Jason Isrinhausen’s 3rd blown save of the year and send the Cards home winners in the 1st game of their series against division-rival Chicago, 5-3.

Oddly enough, the only St. Louis hitters to have multiple hits on the day were Yadier Molina and Brendan Ryan, who each went 2-4. Ryan had an RBI and Molina knocked home 2 runs. Albert Pujols was 1-3 with 2 walks (1 intentional) and leads baseball with 32 walks and 9 intentional walks on the year. Pujols has reached safely in all 30 games this year. Adam Wainwright pitched well, giving up only 1 run on 4 hits through 6 1/3 innings. Cubs starter Rich Hill, on the other hand, walked 4 batters and allowed a run before getting yanked 2 outs into the 1st inning. Cubs manager Lou Piniella said he would probably be replaced in the Cubs’ rotation.

These two teams will get back at it this afternoon at 2:45 pm (Central time). Kyle Lohse (3-0, 2.36 ERA) will try to keep his perfect record rolling against another soft-tossing Chicago lefty, Ted Lilly (1-4, 6.46 ERA).

SI.com’s John Donovan has an interesting article about crowded MLB outfields and mentions Tony LaRussa and his 5-man St. Louis outfield rotation:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/john_donovan/04/30/donovan.outfields/index.html

The Cardinals put the finishing touches on a fantastic month of April this afternoon with a 5-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds to put their record at 18-11. Braden Looper pitched a great game en route to his 4^th win of the year and Aaron Miles and Rick Ankiel anchored the offense, each knocking home 2 RBI on the game.

Miles, playing 2^nd base and batting 2^nd in the lineup, went 2-4 on the day with the 2 RBI and 2 runs scored, while Ankiel was 3-3 with 2 RBI and a walk. Chris Duncan had a nice day at the plate, going 1-2 with a run scored and 2 walks. Meanwhile, Looper allowed 2 runs on 7 hits over 6 innings to put his record at 4-1 on the year with a 3.86 ERA, continuing the trend of surprising starting pitching from Dave Duncan’s staff. 4 pitchers combined to shut down the Reds’ bats from that point on, including a perfect inning from Jason Isringhausen, who secured his 9^th save of the year.

The Cards will get a day off tomorrow before welcoming the Chicago Cubs to Busch Stadium for the first really big series of the young year as the two teams battle for 1^st place in the NL Central. St. Louis sends ace Adam Wainwright (3-1, 2.79 ERA) to the hill against Cubs lefty Rich Hill (1-0, 3.79 ERA) Friday night at 7:15pm (Central time).

Joel Pineiro was stellar and the Cardinals’ offense jumped all over Cincinnati starter Johnny Cueto in the first 2 innings to take the second game of their series with the Reds 7-2 tonight.

Skip Shumaker, who has been up and down all year, hopefully pulled himself out of a recent slump with a great performance setting the table for the middle of the St. Louis lineup. Shumaker was 4-5 on the game with 2 runs scored and threw out a runner at 3^rd base. Adam Kennedy also contributed to the table-setting, going 2-4 with a walk and 2 runs batting from the two spot in the lineup for the first time this year. Albert Pujols did not have a banner game, but 4 and 5 hitters Rick Ankiel and Troy Glaus picked up the slack. Ankiel went 3-5 with 2 runs and 2 RBI while Glaus went 2-4 with a run scored and 3 RBI. Cesar Izturis also chipped in from the bottom of the lineup with a 2-4 day.

The 7 runs was more than enough for Pineiro, who gave up only 1 hit over 7 innings to secure his second win of the year and drop his ERA to 3.75. The two runs were given up by Anthony Reyes on an Adam Dunn home run in the 9^th.

These two teams will get right back at it tomorrow afternoon at 12:15pm (Central time), with Braden Looper (4-1, 4.05 ERA) taking on Reds righty Aaron Harang (1-3, 2.76 ERA).

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of the death of Cardinals relief pitcher Josh Hancock. Hancock was killed in a car accident in St. Louis last year in which it was found he was intoxicated at the time of the crash. As sad as his passing was, it lead to the Cardinals (and several other teams around the league) to change their clubhouse alcohol policies and, if nothing else, brought drunk driving into perspective for a lot of people both in and out of baseball. It is always a shame when someone dies too young, but there was some good to come out of the aftermath of this tragedy. R.I.P., Josh Hancock (1978-2007).

With former Cardinals’ General Manager Walt Jocketty in the house, the Cards could not complete a comeback after falling behind by 4 runs early and lost to the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 last night.

Todd Wellemeyer did not have his best start of the year but pitched well enough to win, giving up 4 runs-all by the 3^rd inning-on 7 hits over 6 innings. St. Louis was done in by their offense, however, as the Cardinals’ hitters stranded 10 runners on the game. Troy Glaus walked with the bases loaded to bring home the first run of the game, Rick Ankiel blasted a solo homer in the 5^th, and Cesar Izturis knocked home an RBI single in the 6^th to pull the Cards close, but they could never close the deal.

Ankiel was 2-5 on the game with a double and his 5^th home run of the year, while Albert Pujols went 2-4 with a walk to push his average to .382 on the year. Chris Duncan was also 2-5 on the game but committed a costly error with 2 outs in the 3^rd that allowed what ended up being the winning run to score.

Despite dropping their 3^rd straight series opener, the Cards have won the previous 2 series and look to get back on track tonight at 7:15pm (Central time), sending Joel Pineiro (1-2, 5.29 ERA) to the hill against Reds righty Johnny Cueto (1-2, 4.05 ERA).

There may not have been any fireworks between Brandon Backe and Albert Pujols, but the Cardinals’ offense did show some life against the Houston starter in the 4-1 win this afternoon as Kyle Lohse continued to show that he may have been the biggest steal of the off-season.

Lohse, who got off to an incredible start but slowed down a bit over his last two starts, got himself back on track, giving up only a run on 4 hits and a walk over 6 innings. The Cardinals did most of their offensive damage in the 5^th inning, where Ryan Ludwick knocked in 2 runs with a double and Troy Glaus added 2 more on his first home run as a St. Louis Cardinal. The Cards added a run in the 7^th as Pujols managed to push a run across on solo home run. Pujols was 1-2 with 2 walks and got an RBI and one of his 2 runs scored on his 5^th homer of the year. Aaron Miles was the only St. Louis hitter to get multiple hits, going 2-4 on the game. Kyle McClellan pitched all 3 innings of relief to earn his first save of the year.

Following yet another series win, the Cardinals will welcome the Cincinnati Reds to town tomorrow night at 7:15pm (Central time). St. Louis will send Todd Wellemeyer (2-0, 3.77 ERA) to the hill against struggling Reds righty Bronson Arroyo (0-3, 7.56 ERA).

Clearly there is no love lost between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Houston Astros. Flaring tempers between the two briefly interrupted a dynamite game between the team’s two ace pitchers which was decided in the bottom of the 9^th, with Skip Shumaker coming through big to give the Cards a 4-3 win this afternoon.

Adam Wainwright had an odd but solid day, getting the complete game win yet giving up 3 runs on 3 solo home runs. He allowed only 5 hits and struck out 6 on the day. With the game tied in the 9^th, Wainwright was unable to advance Brian Barton with the bunt, reaching on a fielder’s choice, instead. Cesar Izturis, pinch running for Wainwright, reached 3^rd on a Brendan Ryan single and scored on Skip Shumaker’s first hit of the game.

For the second straight game, no Cardinal hitters were able to collect multiple hits. The Cardinals early offense seemed to be fueled by an incident between Adam Wainwright and Astros catcher Brad Ausmus in the top of the 3^rd. After Cardinals’ catcher Jason LaRue was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the 2^nd, Wainwright threw behind Ausmus, clearing the benches. The altercation never turned physical but the Cardinals responded in the bottom half of the inning as Albert Pujols started the scoring with a 2-run double and scored on a Troy Glaus sacrifice fly.

The 15-10 Cardinals will send Kyle Lohse (2-0, 2.54 ERA) to the mound tomorrow afternoon at 1:15pm (Central time) to face Astros rightly Brandon Backe (1-2, 4.45 ERA). If Backe is willing to pitch to Albert Pujols, the fans in the left field stands might want to bring their gloves. There is some history between the two and King Albert tends to come out on top in those types of situations. Then again, not many people have been willing to pitch to Pujols this year, so we will see.

A great outing by starter Braden Looper was wasted last night as closer Jason Isringhausen continued to struggle early in the year, blowing a save opportunity and coming up with a 3-2 loss to the Houston Astros last night.

Looper was phenomenal, allowing no runs, 2 hits, and only 1 walk over 7 innings. Unfortunately, Isringhausen came undone in the 9^th, giving up 3 runs to allow the Astros to steal game 1 of the series in St. Louis. No Cardinal hitters were able to connect on multiple hits, and Adam Kennedy was the only hitter credited with an RBI.

Joel Pineiro bounced back from rough outings in his first two starts of the year to help lead the Cardinals to a 6-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates and salvage a split in their short series.

Pineiro allowed just 1 run on 4 hits over 7 innings to pick up his first win of the year. That one run came in the bottom of the 4^th inning, but the Cardinals immediately responded as Pirates lefty Tom Gorzelanny walked the bases loaded and gave up back-to-back singles to Brian Barton and Albert Pujols to make it a 3-1 game. The Cards would score 2 more off the Pittsburgh bullpen in the 6^th, as Brendan Ryan (fresh off the disabled list) knocked home an RBI single and Skip Shumaker added and RBI double. Both teams would add a run in the 9^th inning to make it a 6-2 final.

Barton, who got the start in right field, was 2-4 with a walk and 2 RBI on the day. Albert Pujols was 2-2 with 2 walks and an RBI, Troy Glaus was 2-5, Yadier Molina went 3-5, and Ryan, filling in for the injured Cesar Izturis, came in at 2-3 with 2 runs scored, a walk, and an RBI. Jason Isringhausen came in after Russ Springer gave up a run in the 9^th to get the final 2 outs and secure his 8^th save of the year.

The Cards will return to St. Louis tonight at 7:15pm (Central time) to take on the Houston Astros. St. Louis will send Braden Looper (3-1, 5.49 ERA) to the hill against Astros righty Shawn Chacon (0-0, 2.77 ERA).

The Cardinals came out firing, but the offense flamed out and the Pittsburgh Pirates came on late to win the game 7-4 last night.

The Cardinals jumped all over Pittsburgh starter Ian Snell in the 1^st inning, with Troy Glaus knocking in 2 runs on a double and Adam Kennedy following him up with a 2-run single. The way Todd Wellemeyer has pitched so far this year you might have thought that would be enough, but the Pirates strung together 3 straight hits and a sacrifice fly in the 4^th inning to cut the lead to 4-2, then Jason Bay blasted a 2-run homer off Wellemeyer in the 5^th to tie the game. The Pirates put the game away in the 8^th, as Jose Bautista knocked in an RBI single off Anthony Reyes after an errant throw by Reyes earlier in the inning prevented the Cards from turning an inning-ending double play. The Pirates would tack on 2 more runs in the inning to put the Cardinals away.

Wellemeyer, while not bad, was not at his sharpest, giving up 4 earned runs on 7 hits over 6 innings. Reyes took the loss on the game after giving up 3 earned runs in his 1 inning of work. Skip Shumaker continued to solidify his spot as the St. Louis leadoff man, going 2-5 with a run scored. Albert Pujols was 2-4 with a run scored, pushing his batting average to .360 on the year, and Adam Kennedy continued to come back strong from a rough start with a 2-4, 2 RBI game.

The Cardinals will try to kick it back into gear tonight at 6:05pm (Central time), with Joel Pineiro (0-2, 8.20 ERA) trying to put his post-injury struggles behind him against Pirates lefty Tom Gorzelanny (1-2, 9.35 ERA).

Came across and interesting blog comparing the Cardinals’ lineup to characters from the movie The Sandlot:

 http://charz2k.blogspot.com/2008/04/why-cardinals-are-best-team-in-baseball.html

The Cardinals lost another opportunity to sweep the Milwaukee Brewers, despite coming back from a late 5-run lead, losing in 13 innings 9-8 to close out the series at Miller Park.

Kyle Lohse struggled for the first time this season, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits over just 4 innings, leaving the game down 4-2. The Cardinals scored a run to cut the lead to 1 in the 5^th, but Brad Thompson struggled again in relief and left the 6^th inning down 8-3. St. Louis mounted a furious comeback over the 8^th and 9^th innings, tying the game and sending it into extra frames, only to see Gabe Kapler, who was managing the Boston Red Sox Class A affiliate at this time last year, hit a line shot off Jason Isringhausen to knock in the winning run in the bottom half of the 13^th.

This was a strange game, indeed, with two St. Louis pitchers coming through with and RBI-Kyle Lohse helping his own cause with and RBI single and Adam Wainwright knocking in a run as a pinch hitter (Wainwright did not pitch in the game). Leadoff man Skip Shumaker was 3-6 with a walk to raise his average to .324 on the year. Troy Glaus was 3-7 with and RBI and Aaron Miles was 4-5 with a walk, run scored, and an RBI and ended the game as the shortstop after Cesar Izturis was injured after being hit by a pitch in the 9^th. With Yadier Molina the only man left on the bench, Tony LaRussa was forced to put Molina behind the plate and move catcher Jason LaRue to 1^st base, bumping Albert Pujols, who was 2-6 on the game with a walk, 2 RBI, and a run scored, over to second base to finish the game. Pujols came up to the Cardinals as a 3^rd baseman and spent time in left field before permanently making the move to 1^st.

St. Louis will try to get back to normalcy against the Pittsburgh Pirates tomorrow night at 6:05pm (Central time). The Cards will send Todd Wellemeyer (2-0, 3.24 ERA) to the mound against Pirates righty Ian Snell (2-1, 4.07 ERA).

The Cardinals pulled out a tight one tonight 4-3 to open up their series against the Milwaukee Brewers with a win. Adam Wainwright had another solid start, allowing only 2 runs over 7 innings, giving up 4 hits and striking out 6 in the no decision. The game was tied 3-3 in the 9^th when Skip Shumaker doubled to right-center, scoring Brian Barton to put St. Louis on top. Jason Isringhausen came in in the bottom of the inning to secure his 7^th save of the year. Ryan Franklin got the win in relief after giving up the lead in the bottom of the 8^th, while Milwaukee pitcher Derrick Turnbow picked up the loss. No St. Louis hitters were able to secure multiple hits, though Troy Glaus plated the first 2 runs of the game on an early RBI double. Adam Kennedy added another RBI in the top of the 8^th to briefly put the Cards ahead. These two teams will go back at it tomorrow afternoon at 12:05pm (Central time), with the Cardinals sending arguably their best pitcher so far, Spring Training acquisition Kyle Lohse (2-0, 1.48 ERA), to the hill against Brewers lefty Manny Parra (1-1, 5.40 ERA).

Braden Looper struggled for the second straight start, only this time instead of missing the strike zone and narrowly avoiding a disaster, he had trouble avoiding the bats of the San Francisco Giants in an 8-2 loss this afternoon.

Looper was undone by a rough 3^rd inning, where the Giants put together 6 straight hits during a 6 run explosion in the inning, and his day ended with 7 earned runs and 10 hits over only 3 innings of work. Jonathan Sanchez left the St. Louis batters baffled for the second straight game, allowing only 2 hits over 5 innings. The Cards would only be able to put up 8 hits on the game, and Troy Glaus was the only Cardinal with multiple hits, going 2-3 with a walk, 1 run and an RBI. Rico Washington picked up the other St. Louis RBI in pinch-hitting duty, although both runs were scored in the bottom of the 9^th and the damage had already been done.

The Cardinals will try to shake off their first losing streak of the season tomorrow night at Miller Park against the Milwaukee Brewers, sending Adam Wainwright (2-1, 2.78 ERA) to the hill against Brewers righty Carlos Villanueva (1-2, 6.19 ERA) at 7:15pm (Central time).

The Cardinals’ offense was shut down by Giants starter Tim Lincecum for the second time in a week and, despite a solid outing by Joel Pineiro in his second start back from the disabled list, San Francisco pulled out a 3-0 win today.

Lincecum allowed only 6 hits over his 7 scoreless innings and was supported by Aaron Rowand, who hit a solo homerun and an RBI single, and Jose Castillo, who knocked in a run on a double. 3 runs were not much but they were all the Giants needed with Lincecum on the hill. Pineiro pitched well, going 6 1/3 innings and allowing 8 hits and 3 earned runs, but fell to 0-2 on the year with an 8.40 ERA. Brad Thompson pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, but the damage was done.

Leadoff hitter Skip Shumaker continued his strong play, going 2-4 to push his average to .333 on the year. Adam Kennedy, who has bounced back from a rough start to the season, was the only other St. Louis hitter to get multiple hits, going 2-4 and putting his average at .326.

These two teams will close out their series tomorrow afternoon at 1:15pm (Central time), with Braden Looper (3-0, 2.70 ERA) trying to rebound from a rough outing in his previous start against San Francisco lefty Jonathan Sanchez (0-1, 6.00 ERA).

The Cardinals’ offense came alive in their 11-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants tonight at Busch Stadium, overshadowing another fantastic outing from starting pitcher Todd Wellemeyer. Wellemeyer is the poster boy for the Cardinals’ pitching staff, another former reliever who has joined Dave Duncan’s Land of Misfit Toys to absolutely shut down opponents as the team waits for its actual starting pitching staff to get off the disabled list.

Wellemeyer allowed only 1 run over 7 innings on 4 hits, striking out 6 and walking only 2 to push his record to 2-0 on the year. The offense was clicking all game but really got rolling in the 6 run 4^th inning. Already holding a 3-1 lead, St. Louis scored 2 more on a 2 run, 2 out single by Skip Shumaker. After a Chris Duncan walk, Albert Pujols came to the plate and absolutely crushed the Matt Cain offering into Big Mac Land. Adam Kennedy would knock in Rick Ankiel a few batters later to put the finishing touches on the devastating inning.

The top of the Cardinals’ order was a regular murders’ row for Matt Cain as leadoff man Shumaker was 2-4 with 3 runs and 2 RBI, while 2 hitter Chris Duncan went 2-3 with 3 runs and 2 RBI, including a 2 run homer in the 3^rd. Albert Pujols had another strong performance, going 2-4 with a run and 4 RBI. Wellemeyer was the only St. Louis regular not to get a hit on the game.

Joel Pineiro (0-1, 14.73 ERA) will try to work out the kinks in his second start after coming off the DL, facing Giants righty Tim Lincecum (2-0, 2.25 ERA) tomorrow afternoon at 12:10 pm (Central time).

Kyle Lohse had another strong outing, but the Cardinals fell apart late and blew a 3 run lead to lose the final game of their series against the Brewers, 5-3 in 10 innings this afternoon.

Ryan Ludwick ripped an early homerun to put the Cardinals up 1-0, and Lohse made an early contribution at the plate, himself, hitting a 2-run single in the 4^th to put the Cards up 3-0. Lohse had the Brewers shut down through 7 innings, but things came apart in the 8^th. Lohse allowed consecutive doubles to put Milwaukee on the board. The Brewers used some small ball to move a hit batter around the bases against Ryan Franklin and Randy Flores allowed Prince Fielder to hit a bloop double to tie the game in the 8^th. Fielder, who had been quiet this far in the series, came through with the game-winning 2 run homer in the 10^th.

Ryan Ludwick was the only Cardinals hitter to muster up multiple hits, going 4-5 with the homerun, a double, 2 runs and an RBI. Kyle Lohse allowed only the 2 runs over 7+ innings pitched, pushing his ERA to 1.48 on the year. The Cardinals will welcome the San Francisco Giants to Busch tomorrow night at 7:15pm (Central time). St. Louis will send Todd Wellemeyer (1-0, 4.00 ERA) to the hill against Giants righty Matt Cain (0-1, 3.24 ERA)

Adam Wainwright came up big for the Cardinals both on the mound and at the plate as St. Louis took the second game of their series against the Brewers 5-4 last night. Wainwright earned his second win of the year by allowing 2 runs (1 earned) over 7 2/3 innings, allowing 5 hits and striking out 6 to go along with a solo homerun in the 2^nd inning.

The Cards took the early lead on a 2 run double by Albert Pujols, then Wainwright extended the lead with his solo shot in the 2^nd. The Brewers were able to get 2 runs on the board only to have Skip Shumaker rip his first homerun of the year on a solo shot in the 5^th. Wainwright got into a jam in the 8^th and handed the ball to Randy Flores, who struck out Milwaukee slugger Prince Fielder with 2 on in a 5-2 game. Jason Isringhausen allowed 2 runs in the 9^th but was able to hold on to preserve the 5-4 victory and lock up his 6^th save of the year.

Skip Shumaker was 2-4 on the day with an RBI, 2 runs scored, and a stolen base. Catcher Yadier Molina and Adam Kennedy were each 2-4, while Wainwright was 2-3 with an RBI. Albert Pujols continued his strong start with a 1-4, 2 RBI day, putting his average at .367 on the year.

The Cards will try to sweep the series against their Central Division foes today at 1:15pm (Central time), as they send Kyle Lohse (2-0, 1.04 ERA) to face Brewers’ lefty Manny Parra (1-1, 4.82 ERA).

With the entire team wearing #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson, it was the Cardinals’ own second baseman, Adam Kennedy, who stole the show en route to a 6-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers to take the first game of the series at Busch Stadium.

Kennedy was 3-4 on the day with all 3 hits being singles. He scored 2 runs and knocked in another from the 7^thspot in the order. The batting order didn’t matter much on this night, however, as the Cardinals got 12 hits (11 singles) from 8 different players. Skip Shumaker had another solid showing at the leadoff spot, going 2-4 with a walk, a run scored, and 2 RBI. Rick Ankiel was the only other St. Louisbatter with multiple hits, going 2-4. Starter Braden Looper moved to 3-0 on the year, although not on his strongest performance. He gave up only 1 run on 3 hits through 5 innings, but walked 5 and found himself in trouble on a couple of occasions. He made it through, though, and the bullpen pitched 4 shutout innings to finish off the potent Brewers offense.

These two division rivals will get back after each other tonight, with the Cards sending Adam Wainwright (1-1, 3.60 ERA) to the mound against Brewers righty Carlos Villanueva (1-1, 4.76) at 7:15 pm (Central time). As an interesting side note, the Cardinals and Brewers are the only two teams in the league that bat their pitchers 8^thto get a “second leadoff hitter” in front of their big sluggers. This is a practice that St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa first employed as a way to bat Mark McGwire 3^rd in the order, but get a chance to put more runners on base in front of him after the 1^st time through the order. Another side note: Mark Mulder allowed 2 runs on 60 pitches through 5 innings in his first rehab start for Class A Palm Beach and on Monday Chris Carpenter will report to the team’s spring training complex to throw batting practice to actual hitters for the first time in his rehabilitation following off-season shoulder surgery.

Joel Pineiro’s return to the rotation got off to a solid start, but went south in the 4^th inning, leaving Brad Thompson-the man whose spot he took-to come in and stop the bleeding. Despite the bullpen’s best efforts, the damage was done and the Cardinals leave San Francisco with a split after a 7-4 loss to the Giants this afternoon, falling to 9-4 on the year.

Pineiro held a 2-1 lead going into the 4^th, when everything seemed to go downhill. Already having scored 2 runs in the inning, the Giants got a lucky bounce when Brian Bocock’s 2 out grounder bounced off the glove of third baseman Rico Washington, who was making his first major league start. With the inning extended, the Giants would score 3 more runs to put the lead at 6-2, ending Pineiro’s day. In his first start of the year, Pineiro gave up 6 earned runs on 10 hits over 3 2/3 innings. Brad Thompson came in and shut the Giants down for the next 2 1/3 innings, but Ron Villone gave up a run in the bottom of the 7^th. The Cards would score 2 runs in the 8^th, one coming off a Ryan Ludwick homer, but it was too little too late as Giants starter Tim Lincecum had been able to hold an Albert Pujols and Troy Glaus-less Cardinals offense in check for most of the game.

The Cardinals will get a day off before returning to St. Louis to face Central Division foe Milwaukee Tuesday at 7:15pm (Central Time). The Cards will send Adam Wainwright (1-1, 3.60 ERA) to the hill against Brewers right-hander Dave Bush (0-2, 8.44 ERA).

Giants starter Matt Cain did just about everything in his power to beat the St. Louis Cardinals this afternoon in San Francisco, but the Cards’ offense woke up in time to pull off a 9-8 win in 10 innings.

Cardinals starter Todd Wellemeyer got off to a brilliant start, pitching a one-hit shutout through 5 innings. But in the 6^th, Cain, who was pitching a no-hitter of his own at the time, hit a solo homer to open the floodgates. By then end of the inning, the Giants were up 5-0 and looked to be in control of the game until Albert Pujols’ 7^th inning double broke up Cain’s attempt at history. Adam Kennedy and pinch hitter Rico Washington followed with RBI singles to put the Cards on the board 5-2, and in the next inning Chris Duncan blasted a solo homerun and Rick Ankiel added a 2-run shot to tie the game 5-5. Ryan Ludwick looked to be the hero in the 9^th with his go-ahead shot, putting St. Louis up 7-5, but Jason Isringhausen had a rough outing en route to blowing his first save of the year. Rich Aurilia cut the lead to one and Fred Lewis tied it up on an RBI double to send the game into extra innings. Chris Duncan came through in the top of the 10^th, however, with a 2-out RBI single to put the Cards ahead for good. Anthony Reyes came in to close out the game in the bottom of the frame and the Cardinals snuck away with possibly the most exciting win of the young MLB season.

Despite all of the late offense, Duncan and Pujols were the only Cardinals with multiple hits. Duncan was 3-5 with 2 RBI and Pujols was 2-4 with 2 walks and 4 runs scored, pushing his average to .390 on the year. All 5 of the runs scored off Wellemeyer were earned, putting his at ERA 4.00. The Cardinals will send Joel Piniero to the hill for the first time tomorrow in an attempt to secure win #10 on the year. They will be facing Giants righty Tim Lincecum (1-0, 1.80 ERA) tomorrow at 3:05 (Central time).

Albert Pujols seems to have found his power stroke, knocking in 4 on a double and home run to push his batting average to .378 in the Cardinals’ 8-2 win over the Giants in San Francisco tonight. Kyle Lohse gave up his first runs of the season but pitched well to push his record to 2-0.

The Cards were down 2-1 in the 5^th inning when Cesar Izturis singled to left and advanced as Skip Shumaker reached on an error by San Francisco second baseman Ray Durham. Albert Pujols took advantage of the mistake by blasting a Barry Zito offering to deep left field, giving St. Louis the 4-2 lead. Brian Barton also had a big day for the Cards, going 2-5 with a double and 2 RBI as the starting left fielder. Troy Glaus and Ryan Ludwick each added an RBI a piece, Ludwick’s on a solo homer in the 9^th inning to put the game on ice. Skip Shumaker continued his solid play from the leadoff spot, going 3-5 and scoring 4 runs while adding an outfield assist to help starting pitcher Kyle Lohse. Lohse saw his ERA rise to 1.04 after giving up the 2 runs on 8 hits over 5 1/3 innings, continuing the surprising trend of stellar starting pitching from the Cardinals staff.

Todd Wellemeyer (1-0, 2.25 ERA) will try to continue that trend as the Cardinals go for yet another series win Saturday at 3:05 (Central time) against Giants righty Matt Cain (0-1, 3.60 ERA).