Last Week in Cards

This past week was a week for Cards fans to want to forget and wipe out from the season. The Cards were swept in two series during interleague play. The Cardinals were outscored 34-11 during the series against the Chicago White Sox. The good news is that Albert Pujols has come back from the DL.

June 20:
Got creamed 20-6.
Losing pitcher - Mark Mulder (6-5)
HR: Chris Duncan (3)

June 21:
Lost 13-5
Losing pitcher - Jason Marquis (9-5)
HR: Jim Edmonds (7), Timo Perez (1), So Taguchi (2)

June 22:
Lost 1-0 after Anthony Reyes almost pitched a no-hitter. The only hit given up was a home run to Jim Thome as the White Sox swept the Cardinals. Pujols returned, Mulder DL'd. Reyes called up, Duncan sent down.
Losing pitcher - Anthony Reyes (1-1)

June 23:
Lost to Detroit 10-6
Losing pitcher - Chris Carpenter (6-4)
HR: Albert Pujols (26)

June 24:
Lost 7-6 in 11 innings after Jason Isringhausen blew the save.
Losing pitcher - Tyler Johnson (0-1)

June 25:
Lost 4-1 to lose another series in 6 games.
Losing pitcher - Sidney Ponson (4-3)

Gordo on the younger players.

FARM TEAM UPDATE:
Chris Perez signs with St. Louis.

The Cardinals plan is to send Perez to their Rookie Ball affiliate in Johnson City, Tenn. But Balelo is trying to convince St. Louis to send Perez to the club's Single-A team, the Palm Beach Cardinals.

Here's a Springfield Cardinals update.

What a present, then, for the Cardinals because Hawksworth tore through the FSL with Palm Beach by going 7-2 with a 2.47 earned run average. Most impressive were the 55 strikeouts and only 19 walks in his 83 2/3 innings of work.[...]

Meanwhile, many eyes will turn to Springfield's 21-year-old Stuart Pomeranz, who was 7-2 with a 3.71 ERA through his first 14 starts this year.

The State College Spikes already have an alumnus.

Left-hander Tyler Norrick became the first promoted player in the team's history when the St. Louis Cardinals sent the left-hander to full-season Quad Cities on Saturday.[...]

pitching spot at Quad Cities opened Friday after the Cardinals traded Double-A Springfield pitcher Rich Rundles to the New York Mets for a player to be named later. The Cardinals promoted Blake Hawksworth from High-A Palm Beach to take Rundles' spot at Springfield.

Left-hander Jamie Garcia was promoted from Quad Cities to take Hawksworth's spot in Palm Beach. Norrick will replace Garcia, a Futures Game selection, as a left-hander in the Quad Cities rotation.

The 22-year-old Norrick was the oldest pitcher in the Spikes rotation not involved in a rehabilitation assignment.[...]

First-rounder Adam Ottavino and third-rounder Gary Daley were involved in a piggyback Saturday against Batavia. The rotation also includes second-rounder Brad Furnish, and Manno said fourth-rounder Eddie Degerman, who went 13-1 with a 1.93 ERA for Rice University, is expected to join the rotation once he signs.

"We took a look at the number of starters here," Manno said, "and you can only piggyback for so long."

In a separate move, the Cardinals sent catcher Christian Reyes to rookie Johnson City. Reyes, a 27th round pick from Porterville College, started Thursday's suspended game at Williamsport. The move decreases the number of catchers on the roster to three -- David Carpenter, Scott Thomas and Steve Gonzalez.

Milestone Watch:
Albert Pujols needs 1 home run to tie Ray Lankford for 3rd on the Cardinals all-time home runs list with 228.
Pujols needs 17 total bases for his 2000th.
Jim Edmonds needs 3 home runs to tie Mark McGwire for 5th on the Cardinals all-time home runs list with 220.
Jeff Suppan needs 11 strikeouts for 1,000 career strikeouts.
Jason Isringhausen needs 10 saves for 250 career saves.