The bad news is, the Cardinals are going nowhere. The good news, so is the rest of the National League Central. The Brewers remain the only team with a winning record and while the Cardinals sit six games below .500, they’re a winning streak away from making a run at the Brewers because they’re just 5 1/2 games back.
Albert Pujols has looked like Albert Pujols in June. He already has more homeruns (7) and RBIs (17) then in either of the two other months and his 1.154 OPS in June is about what you’d expect from the MVP. Probably the most odd thing about Pujols is his lack of doubles. While 13 puts him place for around 30-35 and on pace for what he had last year, I guess I miss the seasons where he had 50 doubles to go with his 40 homeruns. Regardless, he still has to pick things up because his .943 OPS would be a career low if this is where he finished the season.
Braden Looper has hit a rough stretch here with three straight losses and three rough outings in his past four starts. When Looper gets his next start, he’ll probably pass his career high in innings pitched. He has 83 and his career high was 86 which he set back in 2002. Sadly, Looper’s 4.66 ERA still leads the team, which kind of shows you the state the pitching staff. The Cardinals 5.16 ERA is third worst in the baseball and worst in the National League. They’re also third from last in pitcher strikeouts which also isn’t encouraging. Regardless, Mulder and Carpenter could be back down the stretch and that could give the team a huge boost.
This weeks series is a big one because it’s against the hapless Royals. This is the kind of series where the Cardinals should be picking up some ground and Adam Wainwright will get the start tonight and he’ll try to help the Cardinals win their third straight game.
