Cardinals Win!  In game two of a three game series against Pittsburgh, Cardinal starter Todd Wellemeyer led the team to a much needed win.
Wellemeyer was excellent, leaving the game after allowing just the second Pirate hit in the eighth.  He officially went seven innings, striking out five.  The bullpen couldn’t keep the runner from coming around to score, so Wellemeyer was charged with a run.  His 108 pitches is a career high.  He’s now 4-1, with a 3.27 ERA, although he was deserving of at least one more win earlier this season.
It was the same old story for the Cardinal [...]

And it continues.  After last night’s loss to Pittsburgh, the Cardinals are now 22-18, and have won only one game in their last seven.  Chicago and Houston both lost last night too, so no ground was given up in the standings.
Remember during much of the first month, the Cardinals were playing tough, young, and with something to prove.  During this losing stretch, I don’t see any sign of that earlier club.  I thought the Tony La Russa ejection the other night was just what this club needed to get their intensity back.  I thought the Pirates were the perfect team [...]

After splitting the series with Colorado and losing the one to Milwaukee, the Cardinals head back home in second place.  Winning only 3 of 8 on the road trip drops their record to 23-17, and a game behind the Chicago Cubs.
Through much of the trip, we witnessed some bad baseball.  First it was the imploding bullpen, then the bad base running and more runners left stranded, and tonight we saw a bad outing from starter Adam Wainwright.
I remember thinking before the game started that Tony La Russa picked a good day to rest Albert Pujols.  It seemed like the odds favored [...]

To all the moms in Cardinal Nation, Happy Mother’s Day!  My mom loves the Cards just as much as I do.  I gave her one of my extra tickets to Opening Day this year, and as usual, she was the first one downtown, dressed in Cardinal red with a beer in her hand.  Cheers to you, Mom!
The pink bats will be out today.  Chris Duncan, Rick Ankiel, Cesar Izturis, Adam Kennedy, Jason Larue, Aaron Miles, and Skip Schumaker are all expected to use them in this afternoon’s game against Milwaukee.  Braden Looper and Jeff Suppan are scheduled to pitch.
After the win yesterday, the [...]

Here’s an old commercial featuring Jim Edmonds, arguably the greatest Cardinal center fielder.  Enjoy!

In the first of four games against Milwaukee, the Cardinals lose on a blown save by closer Jason Isringhausen.  With a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, Izzy was able to retire the first two batters on just two pitches.  Two singles, a walk, and a walk-off hit later, the Cards lost 4-3.
Overall, it was a sloppy game for the Cardinals.  Brendan Ryan, Todd Wellemeyer, and Yadier Molina each had an error.  Wellemeyer also balked and threw a wild pitch, although Molina probably should have blocked it.  Both runs allowed by Wellemeyer were unearned.
Aside from Albert Pujols [...]

After winning a pair of games to start the current road trip, the Cardinals lose both of the final two games against Colorado.  This marks only the third time this season that the club has lost back to back games.  They have yet to lose three in a row.  Still in first place in the Central, the Cards have the second best record in the league at 22-14.
Here’s the full recap from last night’s loss, and find today’s here.
Next, the Cardinals head to Milwaukee for a four game series.  They’ve beaten the Brewers three out of five times so far this year. [...]

Last night, the Cardinals used their old motto, “Play a hard nine” to win the first game of the series against Colorado.  Tonight, they held off a late comeback from a Rockies team that seemed to be living by the same slogan.
A few highlights from last night:

Ron Villone continued to impress with 2 scoreless innings.
Mike Parisi made his ML debut with 2 of his own.
Yadier Molina had a three hit night.
Albert Pujols scored from second on a ground out!

Some from tonight:

Braden Looper came within 2 outs of a complete game.
Rick Ankiel had 2 unbelievable outfield assists.
He also hit his 6th home run [...]

The Cardinals just finished a successful nine game home stand with last night’s win, taking 2 of 3 from the Cubs, and going 6-3 overall.  Now the Cards hit the road to a couple of beer towns, playing four games in Denver and then four in Milwaukee.  So far this season, the Cards got the better of both teams.  They hope to keep it that way during the road trip.  It’s nice to have both the King of Beers and the better baseball team.
Joel Pineiro is scheduled to make the start tonight.  Yesterday, upon hearing the news of the promotion of [...]

(Update 7:35):  Although some news has finally hit the wire, there’s still plenty of uncertainty surrounding the call-up of Mike Parisi.  According to an article by Nate Latsch of MLB.com, Parisi will assume Anthony Reyes’ role.  A different story, by R.B. Fallstrom, suggests that perhaps Joel Pineiro will miss tomorrow’s start in Denver.  I guess we’ll know more as the night progresses.
Tonight’s game against the Cubs is on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.  First pitch is about a half-hour away, so any updates on the Parisi/Reyes situation will be in my post-game wrap.
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(Update 6:00):  Rumor has it that Mike Parisi will start tomorrow in [...]