St. Louis swept Cincinnati in an early August series and it looked like the more experienced favorite would take control. But the Cards went into a free fall and the Reds caught fire. The streak to end August left St. Louis far behind in the division race. After the Cards beat the Reds 4-2 Sunday, they still trailed by seven games in the NL Central and five and a half in the Wild Card.

The Cardinals handled good teams all season, but couldn’t stay focused day in and day out. The Spring Training words of manager Tony La Russa have rung loud during the team’s struggles. The message will haunt this season’s memory for years to come.

La Russa drilled into his team the need to have an “edge” and to “finish strong.” He demanded their focus and told them division titles and championships weren’t won in preseason predictions. Every team starts at “zero” and every team must prove its worth consistently over 162 games.

While La Russa tried to get his point across, it melted in the summer heat. The Cards could still learn a few of these lessons, but time is running out. They may have to wait ’til next year to make a difference.

And next year may be too late for La Russa and this version of the Cards. His preaching before the season requires team chemistry and trust. it requires everyone to buy into the plan. It appears the team never found the cohesion needed to survive the rigors of the baseball season. Albert Pujols let out frustration early on in the season. Chris Carpenter lost his head twice in as many days — once attacking a teammate and once stirring up a brawl with Cincinnati. Now, Tony La Russa and Colby Rasmus are feuding and Pujols has given his straight opinion on the matter. Whether La Russa or Rasmus is right is hard to tell right now, but it only adds another black mark to a disappointing, even embarrassing season. La Russa added to the trouble with some shots directed at general manager John Mozeliak by praising former Cards and current Reds GM Walt Jocketty.

It’s only fitting that the latest scene in the Cards drama unfolded with the Reds in the background. Cincinnati has been a big part of the Cards season — the brawl, the division, the Triple Crown — and Sunday was the final chapter in the new rivalry for 2010.

Series Recap

Game 1: Cardinals 3 Reds 2

The Cards jumped out of the gates with three runs in the first two innings, which proved to be enough for a big win. Winning the opener kept hope alive for another day. Crazier things have happened in baseball. St. Louis needs to win a whole lot of games and this one was a nice and needed start. St. Louis was on a five-game losing streak entering the game. Jaime Garcia continued his stellar campaign, throwing 6 2/3 innings and allowing just two runs for the win. Jon Jay’s triple in the first scored Skip Schumaker who led things off with a single. Jay later scored on a sac fly by Albert Pujols. Brendan Ryan came around in the next inning on a groundout by Schumaker to get the third run. The Cards hung on the rest of the way for the 3-2 win.

Game 2: Reds 6 Cardinals 1

The optimism stemming from one win was tempered by a loss in the second game of the series. Before the game, there was the sentiment that maybe if the Cards could pull put another sweep and then ride the momentum, they could get back in the race. With Adam Wainwright on the mound, the team had plenty to be optimistic about. But Wainwright continued his struggles after dominating baseball much of the year. After he shaved his ERA under 2.00, the right-hander lost his magic touch and the Redbirds started to tumble. The loss Saturday was Waino’s fourth straight, moving his record to 17-10 and making his quest for 20 wins and a Cy Young award a little less likely. A few weeks ago, he was the favorite and 20 wins seemed inevitable. Now, it’s a battle. He pitched five innings and gave up two runs and seven hits. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t sharp either. Wainwright wasn’t pleased.

“I don’t like losing one game, much less four in a row,” Wainwright said. “I won’t lose again.”

The Cards can only hope he makes good on his promise and then hope the rest of the staff adopts that attitude. It’s St. Louis’ only chance for fall baseball this year.

*The Cardinals also got their first look at Aroldis Chapman and his already legendary heater. The lefty from Cuba has been clocked at 105 mph and can consistently hit 100 mph on the gun. The ball seems to explode out of his hand. He’ll be causing problems for years to come if that arm holds up. Chapman faced Albert Pujols during his inning of work and got the slugger to ground out. He blew a fastball by him during the at bat — something that doesn’t happen often to Pujols.

Game 3: Cardinals 4 Reds 2

The series finale went the Cards way thanks to Chris Carpenter and Matt Holliday. Carpenter went 7 1/3 innings and fanned 11, while giving up two runs. After five innings, the Cards trailed 2-1 and it looked like Carpenter’s gem might go to waste. Matt Holliday came through in the sixth with a three-run homer after Cincinnati intentionally walked Pujols to get to him. Holliday earned some respect with a mammoth blast that went 418 feet. The game ended that way, a 4-2 victory for the Cardinals.

Unfortunately, reality has made any win hard to celebrate. The Cardinals would need to finish the year 22-6 and have the Reds go .500 to catch them. Let’s just say odds aren’t on their side. In the Wild Card, Philadelphia has been playing outstanding ball and has the playoff experience that makes them hard to pick against.

Chris Carpenter has been dominant for the Cardinals all season long, posting a 15-5 record with a 2.90 ERA.

Although the Cardinals season has taken a turn for the worse and they are now on the outside looking in, Chris Carpenter has continued to produce incredible numbers all year long. Carpenter, along with Triple Crown contender Albert Pujols, has truly been the anchor that holds this team together with his consistent pitching.

Let’s go through some of Carp’s season stats after yesterday afternoon’s seven and a third inning, two run, eleven strikeout performance. Carpenter has compiled a 15-5 record in 30 starts, with 204 innings pitched. He has struck out 158 batters to go along with an ERA of 2.90 and a WHIP of 1.16. With these numbers, Carpenter is on pace for his second best win and strikeout totals and third best ERA in his career. There is no question that these are outstanding individual statistics, but just how have they impacted the team as a whole?

Well, Carpenter has posted a record of 5-0 against the division leader Cincinnati Reds and given up a remarkable seven earned runs in those five starts. In fact, Carp is 9-1 against teams with a winning record this season. Finally, he has not lost more than two games in a row at all this year, but has won two or more games in a row three times this year. Alright, I think I’m all out of stats for now.  The point is, Carpenter has been extremely effective, consistent, and clutch for the Redbirds from April to September.

As a manager, there is no better feeling than going into a game knowing that you are going to get a quality start from your pitcher. Carpenter puts the Cardinals in a position to win every time he takes the mound and because of that, manager Tony La Russa and Carp’s teammates have developed strong confidence in him.

Carpenter may never get the recognition that he deserves, especially considering that he is often overshadowed by Cards ace and Cy Young contender Adam Wainwright. However, Chris could definitely be the number one guy in the rotation for many teams around major league baseball. You could even make a strong case that he has been more important to St. Louis’s success this year than Wainwright has. For his talent level, I believe he is one of the most underrated pitchers in baseball. Whether Carp wants to be in the spotlight or not, he has earned it because the numbers just don’t lie.

Carpenter has been at his best against great teams in critical games when the stakes are raised. This speaks volumes as to his ability to perform under pressure when it matters most. Even during the Cards embarrassing August slump when many players were criticized for a lack of effort, Carpenter kept his competitive edge that Redbird fans have grown to love over the years.

With 28 games remaining on the schedule for the Cardinals, Carpenter figures to get about five more starts during the regular season, giving him a chance to win 20 games for the second time in his career. The first time, he won 21 games in 2005 and won the N.L. Cy Young award. This year, there is no reason that Carpenter shouldn’t get strong consideration for the ultimate pitching award, provided he finishes like he started.

As the MLB calendar flips from August to September, the pretenders are being separated from the contenders and the Cardinals are right on the fence. Only time will tell what direction the Cards will go in to finish the season, but I know for sure that they would not be in this position without superstar pitcher Chris Carpenter.

Coach Ozzie?

Ozzie Smith has denied any interest in coaching or managing as recently as this year’s All-Star break. The Wizard has been content staying busy with his family, charity commitments, speaking engagements, and working with the Hall of Fame’s Education program. Smith has stayed in the public eye since retiring from the game and he still has the same love for the game. Smith spoke in Iowa at the Cards Quad Cities affiliate Sunday and helped with a youth clinic. Coaching came up again and this time Ozzie was singing a different tune.

“I will never be able to escape this game. It is who I am,” Smith said.

“The happiest days of my life have been spent on the baseball field. I get asked a lot if I would like to coach, and typically I’ve said that hasn’t interested me. As I get older, that interest is starting to change.”

“For the first time since I retired in 1996, I’ve agreed to go to a Cardinals baseball fantasy camp, and I’m starting to think more about getting back into baseball and maybe coaching. The bug is coming back, and whenever I’m out on the field it feels like home.”

Smith had to fight for everything he got as a small, scrawny shortstop starting in the minors. If he was going to make it, he was going to work hard and earn it.

“I was never what they would call today a bonus baby,” Smith said, recalling that he signed with the Padres organization “for $5,000 and a bus ticket to Walla Walla, Washington, to start my minor-league career.”

“That maybe illustrates that I wasn’t a business major, but I was determined to earn my way to the big leagues. Blood, sweat and tears is what it takes, and that hasn’t changed,” Smith said.

“I was never the biggest, the fastest or the strongest player on the field, but I was able to approach every day like it could be my last chance to play, and I did that. I never took anything for granted, and that allowed me to achieve my goals.”

That attitude and his infectious personality would probably translate well in coaching. I say, go for it. Young players could learn a lot from the greatest shortstop of all-time.

Waino goes down

Adam Wainwright was cruising to another win Wednesday until something amazing happened — the Pirates scored two runs each in the sixth and seventh to beat the Cy Young favorite. Before the struggles late, Wainwright had a 2-0 lead through five and seemed destined for his 18th victory. Neil Walker handed Wainwright the 4-3 loss with his two-out two-run single in the seventh. His ERA rose to 2.18. Matt Holliday provided the offense early with a two-run shot in the first. St. Louis scored one in the ninth but couldn’t put together a comeback. The Cards fell to three games back of the Reds for the NL Central lead.

The ‘Pen

Jason Motte will begin his rehab assignment Wednesday and hopes to rejoin the big league club by the weekend. Motte, the Cards set-up man, was having an outstanding season for a surprisingly good Cards ‘pen. St. Louis has one of the best bullpens in the league and Motte has been a key to its success with a 2.70 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 43 1/3 innings.

While Motte works on his return from injury, Dennys Reyes was placed on the 15-day DL with elbow soreness. Fernando Salas who has been called up for a whole lot of short stints will once again join St. Louis to fill the void. Salas has a 2.51 ERA in 12 innings for the Redbirds but he hasn’t been able to stick. Here’s another chance for him to shine with the team in need.