Cards vs. Reds

April 28, 2008
Cincinnati 4, St. Louis 3
Losing pitcher - Todd Wellemeyer (2-1)
STL HR - Rick Ankiel (5)

April 29, 2008
Cincinnati 2, St. Louis 7
Winning pitcher - Joel Pineiro (2-2)

April 30, 2008
Cincinnati 2, St. Louis 5
Winning pitcher - Braden Looper (4-1)
SV - Jason Isringhausen (9)

The Cards now stand on top of the division at 18-11. The 18 wins in April are a club record for wins in the month of April.

Some things to note...

It's been a year since the death of Josh Hancock and things have changed in the St. Louis clubhouse for the better.

Dean Hancock made some comments.

Dean Hancock, father of Cardinals reliever Josh Hancock, said he looks forward to the day he will visit Busch Stadium and see the memorials to his son.

On the anniversary of Hancock's death in an alcohol-related traffic accident, his father said he "couldn't imagine an organization and a city being more supportive in an unfortunate situation, and that has meant a lot."

"Not a day goes by that I don't think of him and remember something about him that I miss so much," Hancock said Tuesday from his office in Tupelo, Miss.[...]

The club's marking of the anniversary was subdued.

Dean Hancock said that in the weeks after his son's death more than $50,000 was donated in his son's name to the Children's Health Education Center in Tupelo, a $6 million project that Dean has spearheaded as president of the Health Care Foundation of North Mississippi. Dean said there may be something to memorialize Josh at the center.

"He was one of the guys you came to the park looking forward to see," said reliever Brad Thompson. "He had that effect on people. He was one of the guys, and I miss that."

Cards vs. Astros

April 25, 2008
Houston 3, St. Louis 2
Losing pitcher - Jason Isringhausen (1-2)

April 26, 2008
Houston 3, St. Louis 4
Winning pitcher - Adam Wainwright (3-1)

April 27, 2008
Houston 1, St. Louis 5
Winning pitcher - Kyle Lohse (3-0)
SV - Kyle McClellan (1)
STL HR - Troy Glaus (1), Albert Pujols (5)

The Cards are now 16-10 on the season.

An End of an Era: Matt Morris will likely retire

ESPN:

Matt Morris, the veteran right-hander added by the Pittsburgh Pirates late last season to stabilize a young rotation, was released Sunday after failing to pitch past the second inning in his latest start.[...]

Morris is 121-92 with a 3.98 ERA in 11 seasons, mostly with the Cardinals. He was a career-best 22-8 with a 3.16 ERA in 2001 and averaged nearly 16 wins per season with St. Louis from 2001-05.

The 33-year-old Morris was ineffective in all five starts this season, unable to throw with much velocity or to locate his breaking pitches. He was chased early in each of his final three starts, surrendering 22 hits and 20 runs, 17 earned, in 10 1/3 innings against the Dodgers, Marlins and Phillies.

"It's been difficult," Morris said. "I could feel it all coming to an end in a hurry. It's not what I planned, but it's best for the organization, best for the team. I've been a burden on the bullpen. It's been hard to deal with mentally."

In slightly less than three months with the Pirates, including the final two months of last season, Morris was 3-8 in 16 starts with a 7.04 ERA.

Morris is aware the decision likely ends his career.

"I've accepted it," he said. "It was a great segment of my life. I really can't wait to move on and be with my family. It's a sad day, but it's also a joyful day. ... I'm proud of my career. I didn't mean or want for it to end this way. I've always said the other team will let you know when you're done."

Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said, "Matt is, on and off the field, what we want our guys to be."

Cards vs. Pirates

April 23, 2008
St. Louis 4, Pittsburgh
Losing pitcher - Anthony Reyes (1-1)

Todd Wellemeyer and the bullpen blew a nice 4-0 lead in the 4th inning.

April 24, 2008
St. Louis 6, Pittsburgh 2
Winning pitcher - Joel Pineiro (1-2)
SV - Jason Isringhausen (8)

We're 14-9 on the season now.

Rasmus signs with Louisville Slugger

Colby Rasmus signed a bat contract with Louisville Slugger.

Venerable bat-maker Louisville Slugger announced this morning the signing of 10 players to bat contracts, and there listed among the likes of rookie of the year Dustin Pedroia, (should have been rookie of the year) Troy Tulowitzki, and Chris Duncan’s brother Shelley Duncan is the Cardinals’ own Triple-A center fielder, Rasmus.

Cards vs. Brewers

St. Louis 4, Milwaukee 3
Winning pitcher - Ryan Franklin (1-1)
SV - Jason Isringhausen (7)

April 22, 2008
St. Louis 8, Milwaukee 9
Losing pitcher - Jason Isringhausen (1-1)

St. Louis is now at 13-8 on the season.

Cards vs. Giants

April 18, 2008
San Francisco 1, St. Louis 11
Winning pitcher - Todd Wellemeyer (2-0)
STL HR - Chris Duncan (2), Albert Pujols (4)

April 19, 2008
San Francisco 3, St. Louis 0
Losing pitcher - Joel Pineiro (0-2)

April 20, 2008
San Francisco 8, St. Louis 2
Losing pitcher - Braden Looper (3-1)

St. Louis marches on to 12-7 on the season, much to the experts' dismay.

You'll have to forgive me for delayed postings, Pesach started this past weekend.

Cards vs. Brewers

April 15, 2008
Milwaukee 1, St. Louis 6
Winning pitcher - Braden Looper (3-0)

April 16, 2008
Milwaukee 4, St. Louis 5
Winning pitcher - Adam Wainwright (2-1)
SV - Jason Isringhausen (6)
STL HR - Skip Schumaker (1), Adam Wainwright (1)

April 17, 2008
Milwaukee 5, St. Louis 3
Losing pitcher - Brad Thompson (1-1)
MIL HR - P. Fielder (1)
STL HR - Ryan Ludwick (4)

Following the Cardinal or career milestones is looking doubtful this season. MLB has somehow discontinued the Press Pass subscriptions despite what the website says.

St. Louis moves their record to 11-5.

Cards vs. Giants

April 10, 2008
St. Louis 1, San Francisco 5
Losing pitcher - Adam Wainwright (1-1)

April 11, 2008
St. Louis 8, San Francisco 2
Winning pitcher - Kyle Lohse (2-0)
STL HR - Ryan Ludwick (1), Albert Pujols (3)

April 12, 2008
St. Louis 8, San Francisco 7
Winning pitcher - Jason Isringhausen (1-0)
SV - Anthony Reyes (1)
STL HR - Rick Ankiel (4), Chris Duncan (1), Ryan Ludwick (2)

April 13, 2008
St. Louis 4, San Francisco 7
Losing pitcher - Joel Pineiro (0-1)
STL HR - Ryan Ludwick (3)

The St. Louis Cardinals move to 9-4 on the season and take the day off today as they travel home to host Milwaukee and San Francisco.

It's clear that Ryan Ludwick is starting to heat up, going yard in three games this past weekend.

Cards vs. Astros

April 7, 2008
St. Louis 3, Houston 5
Losing pitcher - Kyle McClellan (0-1)

April 8, 2008
St. Louis 5, Houston 3
Winning pitcher - Anthony Reyes (1-0)
SV - Jason Isringhausen (4)

St. Louis 6, Houston 4
Winning pitcher - Braden Looper (2-0)
SV - Jason Isringhausen (5)
STL HR - Albert Pujols 2 (2)

The most surprising thing is that the Cardinals are now 7-2 on the season considering how everyone was saying that we didn't have pitching. What happened? The Cardinals signed Kyle Lohse, who has not given up a run in two starts. Todd Wellemeyer and Brad Thompson lead the team in strikeouts with 13 and 11 K's respectively. Amazing, isn't it?

As far as the power goes, Albert Pujols went yard twice during Wednesday's game, thus making up for the home run that got washed out on the first opening day. Rick Ankiel is leading the club with three home runs. Molina has even gone yard and he's started out with a batting average of .308. I would suspect that will drop through the season but I hope I am wrong on that.

Skip Schumaker had a very slow start but it looks as if he is breaking out of that slump now.

As far as game notes go, I have not been recieving my Press Pass subscription at all this year. What's up with that?

MILESTONE WATCH
Adam Kennedy needs 5 doubles for 200 career doubles.

Cards vs. Nationals

April 4, 2008
Washington 4, St. Louis 5
Winning pitcher - Braden Looper (1-0)
SV - Jason Isringhausen (2)
STL HR - Rick Ankiel (2)

April 5, 2008
Washington 4, St. Louis 5
Winning pitcher - Adam Wainwright (1-0)
SV - Randy Flores (1)

April 6, 2008
Washington 0, St. Louis 3
Winning pitcher - Kyle Lohse (1-0)
SV - Jason Isringhausen (3)
STL HR - R. Ankiel (3)

The Cardinals have gotten off to one of their best starts in years despite not really having a top of the line rotation. They swept the Nats to move to 5-1 in the standings.

Some things to note: Rick Ankiel can hit and Kyle Lohse is better than your average pitcher. Albert Pujols has yet to have a home run this season but remember that he did hit one on the first opening day but his statistics from that game were washed out due to the game being postponed.

Cards vs. Rockies

The home opener was not so fun.

April 1, 2008
Colorado 2, St. Louis 1
Losing pitcher - Ryan Franklin (0-1)
STL HR - Yadier Molina (1)

April 2, 2008
Colorado 3, St. Louis 8
Winning pitcher - Todd Wellemeyer (1-0)
STL HR - Rick Ankiel (1)

April 3, 2008
Colorado 0, St. Louis 3
Winning pitcher - Brad Thompson (1-0)
SV - Jason Isringhausen (1)

At the end of the series, St. Louis is 2-1 this season.