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[Swoosh]

I agree with that -- Brewers are coming to town and I would like nothing more than to sweep them.

[sdcforever]

I agree with that -- Brewers are coming to town and I would like nothing more than to sweep them.

Me too.  I thought the whole shirt untucking routine would end with the new manager, but it hasn't.  If I was the manager stunts like that would not happen with my team.

[Zephon]

Darnit.  The weather rooks us out of a game in which we had the lead, Colby gets a HR taken away.  And then we can't score against Suppon.  That guy really has our number.  Might have been a mistake to let him get away as he's been pretty decent for the Brewers.  I can't wait til we get our team back from the DL.

[sdcforever]

Darnit.  The weather rooks us out of a game in which we had the lead, Colby gets a HR taken away.  And then we can't score against Suppon.  That guy really has our number.  Might have been a mistake to let him get away as he's been pretty decent for the Brewers.  I can't wait til we get our team back from the DL.

No, he's not even been decent for the Brewers.  The only team he pitches remotely well against is us.  Suppan's ERA vs. the Cards is 1.66.  Against every other team it's 5.12.  What do they know that we don't?

[sdcforever]

Man, this Cardinal team is hard to watch right now.  We need some players off the DL to inject some energy into the clubhouse.  The joy of snapping a nearly 16 inning scoreless streak by putting up 2 runs is dampened by an 8-2 loss.  Hard to believe we started off the month with a win to bring our record to 17-7.  We've gone 4-9 since then and have alternated one win with two losses for the last week and a half for our current record of 21-16.  Last year we could never get 11 games over .500.  I wonder if we can reach, perhaps even surpass, that mark this year once we're healthy?

[sdcforever]

Well, that was a demoralizing series.  It was hard to watch, and this is not the time for the Cubs to come to town.  Our bats can't find the baseball and our pitchers can't find the strike zone.  It seems like we walked 100 batters the past 3 games.  It was bad enough watching the Brewers walk all over us; I'm not sure I can watch this series if the Cubs are going to do the same.  GM Mozeliak says we need to weather the storm.  He finds courage in Carp starting tomorrow and the fact that Ludwick will not be gone more than the 15 days.  I've been waiting for Carp to save us for too long.  Exactly how long will he pitch before he goes down again?  And it will take a while for Ludwick to heat up.  The same goes for Ankiel once he comes back.  What if we're struggling nearly this much after all three of them come back?  If I'm Mozeliak and I see that happening, then I start looking outside the organization for help.

[KBCraig]

It's a crazy year over in the AL. Who would have thought the division leaders would be Toronto, Detroit, and Texas. Texas?!?

[sdcforever]

What, exactly, got into Joel Pineiro last night?  He pitched a whale of a game, giving the bullpen much needed rest.  Wanna guess what Carp's line will be tonight?  My guess is 6 and 2/3 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, 5 K, 2 BB, and a win.  (Pretty optimistic, I know, but I think the club is going to be pretty pumped and positive tonight after last night's win).

[KBCraig]

Wow, Piñeiro was en fuego! He only faced 28 batters and threw 92 pitches for the complete game.

[Swoosh]

2-in-a-row!!!

Thanks Cubbies 

[KBCraig]

We've got a weekend series hosting KC, which should be good for at least a couple more victories.

[KBCraig]

It was a bad night for Chicago, both North Side and South Side. 

[Swoosh]

We've got a weekend series hosting KC, which should be good for at least a couple more victories.

Who knows.  When the Royals play the Cardinals, for some reason the Royals think they are playing in the World Series (well in a way it IS their World Series).  I get rather tired of hearing "85" yelled by the lame KC fans when the Royals pull one off.

[Zephon]

Boy, these last 4 games have been great.  We're not exactly lighting up the board with runs, but the pitching has been awesome.  Even Welly pitched well tonight.  And Motte, finishing out the 7th and 8th, well...he couldn't have done a better job.  It's strange how they can go from horrible to excellent in the space of a couple of games.  Course, we caught the Cubs with some injuries, but we've got some too.  And not having to face Greinke this series helps a lot.  Tonight's win brings us up to only 1 game out!  Let's Go Cardinals!

[sdcforever]

Thanks to the Brew Crew's loss yesterday we remain tied with them for 1st.  It's too bad we wasted another solid start from Pineiro.  It's become pretty obvious that we will need some upgrades to stay in contention into September. 

I believe Glaus will not be back this year.  Who replaces him?  Barden and Thurston have been okay so far, but they're streaky at best.  That tandem at 3B will not be the answer, I don't think.  Brett Wallace is playing well down in Memphis, and the Cards don't want to rush him.  The problem is both Freese and Mather are recovering from injuries and cannot step in right now.  If Barden/Thurston don't hold up, and the Cards don't want to promote Wallace yet, Mozeliak may have to look elsewhere for short-term help at 3B.  I'd rather they find the solution in-house but, if not, Mark DeRosa, Melvin Mora, Garrett Atkins, Adrian Beltre and Hank Blalock are all possible solutions.

Who plays SS?  I can't mince words; Khalil Greene has been horrendous so far this year (he was great in spring training, however).  He's been downgraded to a part-time role and is trying to straighten out some anxiety issues.  Brendan Ryan and Tyler Greene have been great filling in this year, but Tyler Greene was just sent down (for now) to make room for Ankiel.  Will Khalil right his ship?  If not will the Cards just shut him down or can they find another team to take him (the Red Sox might be interested)?  I think Tyler Greene is the most attractive option at SS.

Beefing up the bench.  Nick Stavinoha could provide some pop off the bench.  I also think the Cards need to cut down their pitching staff to the best 12.  That means Blaine Boyer and Brad Thompson should not only compete with each other, but also with Jess Todd and Josh Kinney who are pitching lights out down in Memphis, for that 12th spot.  Ludwick comes off the DL on Friday, and I think the Cards need to move a pitcher to make room for him.

With Carp back in the rotation and Ankiel and Ludwick coming off the DL the Cards are in good shape to stay in contention for a while.  But I think some changes need to be made at 3B, SS, and the bench/pitching staff to remain in contention into September.