Cards vs. Brewers

September 7, 2009
St. Louis 3, Milwaukee 0
Winning pitcher - Chris Carpenter (16-3)

September 8, 2009
St. Louis 4, Milwaukee 3
Winning pitcher - Blake Hawksworth (3-0)
SV - Kyle McClellan (3)

September 9, 2009
St. Louis 5, Milwaukee 1
Winning pitcher - Adam Wainwright (18-7)

The Cards finished the series with a 84-57 record.

All the recaps in one post

Things will go quicker this way...

DODGERS
July 27, 2009
Los Angeles 1, St. Louis 6
Winning pitcher - Chris Carpenter (9-3)
SV - Ryan Franklin (23)

July 28, 2009
Los Angeles 0, St. Louis 10
Winning pitcher - Adam Wainwright (12-6)

July 29, 2009
Los Angeles 2, St. Louis 3
Winning pitcher - Blake Hawksworth (1-0)

July 30, 2009
Los Angeles 5, St. Louis 3
Losing pitcher - Dennys Reyes (0-2)

The Cards take three games out of four, and finish the series with a 56-49 record.

ASTROS
July 31, 2009
Houston 3, St. Louis 4
Winning pitcher - Trever Miller (3-0)
SV - Ryan Franklin (24)

August 1, 2009
Houston 1, St. Louis 3
Winning pitcher - Chris Carpenter (10-3)

August 2, 2009
Houston 2, St. Louis 0
Losing pitcher - Adam Wainwright (12-7)

The Cards win two and move on to 58-50.

METS
August 4, 2009
St. Louis 12, N.Y. Mets 7
Winning pitcher - Kyle McClellan (3-2)

August 5, 2009
St. Louis 0, N.Y. Mets 9
Losing pitcher - Kyle Lohse (4-7)

The Cards split the series and move to 59-51.

PIRATES
August 7, 2009
St. Louis 6, Pittsburgh 4
Winning pitcher - Chris Carpenter (11-3)
SV - Ryan Franklin (25)

August 8, 2009
St. Louis 5, Pittsburgh 3
Winning pitcher - Adam Wainwright (13-7)
SV - Ryan Franklin (26)

August 9, 2009
St. Louis 7, Pittsburgh 3
Winning pitcher - Joel Pineiro (10-9)
SV - Kyle McClellan (2)

The Cards take 3 and move to 62-51 on the year.

REDS
August 10, 2009
Cincinnati 1, St. Louis 4
Winning pitcher - Kyle Lohse (5-7)
SV - Ryan Franklin (27)

August 11, 2009
Cincinnati 5, St. Louis 4
Losing pitcher - Mitchell Boggs (1-1)

August 12, 2009
Cincinnati 2, St. Louis 5
Winning pitcher - Chris Carpenter (12-3)
SV - Ryan Franklin (28)

The Cards move to 64-52 on the year.

PADRES
August 14, 2009
San Diego 2, St. Louis 9
Winning pitcher - Adam Wainwright (14-7)

August 15, 2009
San Diego 4, St. Louis 7
Winning pitcher - Joel Pineiro (11-9)
SV - Ryan Franklin (29)

August 16, 2009
San Diego 5, St. Louis 7
Winning pitcher - Trever Miller (4-0)

The Cards move to 67-52 on the season.

DODGERS
August 17, 2009
St. Louis 3, Los Angeles 2
Winning pitcher - Chris Carpenter (13-3)
SV - Ryan Franklin (30)

August 18, 2009
St. Louis 3, Los Angeles 7
Losing pitcher - Mitchell Boggs (1-2)

August 19, 2009
St. Louis 3, Los Angeles 2
Winning pitcher - Kyle McClellan (4-2)
SV - Ryan Franklin (31)

The Cards move to 69-53 on the year.

PADRES
August 20, 2009
St. Louis 5, San Diego 1
Winning pitcher - Joel Pineiro (12-9)

August 21, 2009
St. Louis 0, San Diego 4
Losing pitcher - Kyle Lohse (5-8)

August 23, 2009
St. Louis 5, San Diego 2
Winning pitcher - John Smoltz (3-5)
SV - Ryan Franklin (32)

The Cards move on to 72-54 on the season.

ASTROS
August 25, 2009
Houston 0, St. Louis 1
Winning pitcher - Adam Wainwright (15-7)
SV - Ryan Franklin (33)

August 26, 2009
Houston 2, St. Louis 3
Winning pitcher - Joel Pineiro (13-9)
SV - Ryan Franklin (34)

August 27, 2009
Houston 4, St. Louis 3
Losing pitcher - Kyle McClellan (4-3)

The Cards move to 74-55.

NATIONALS
August 28, 2009
Washington 2, St. Louis 3
Winning pitcher - Jason Motte (4-4)

August 29, 2009
Washington 4, St. Louis 9
Winning pitcher - Mitchell Boggs (2-2)

August 30, 2009
Washington 1, St. Louis 2
Winning pitcher - Adam Wainwright (16-7)
SV - Ryan Franklin (35)

The Cards move to 77-55.

BREWERS
September 1, 2009
Milwaukee 6, St. Louis 7
Winning pitcher - Joel Pineiro (14-9)
SV - Ryan Franklin (36)

September 2, 2009
Milwaukee 3, St. Louis 10
Winning pitcher - Chris Carpenter (15-3)

September 3, 2009
Milwaukee 4, St. Louis 3
Losing pitcher - John Smoltz (3-6)

The Cards move to 79-56.

PIRATES
September 4, 2009
St. Louis 14, Pittsburgh 7
Winning pitcher - Adam Wainwright (17-7)

September 5, 2009
St. Louis 2, Pittsburgh 1
Winning pitcher - Blake Hawksworth (2-0)
SV - Ryan Franklin (37)

September 6, 2009
St. Louis 5, Pittsburgh 6
Losing pitcher - Ryan Franklin (2-2)

The Cards finish the series with a season record of 81-57.

I know I'm slacking...

It's been a busy month and a half.

I'll get things up soon.

I promise.

Stark picks Pujols for MVP

Some highlights from Jayson Stark's column:

Is it too soon to mail Albert Pujols his National League MVP trophy right now?

Seriously. With all due respect to the fabulous work of Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval, Troy Tulowitzki, Chase Utley and many other upstanding NL citizens, what would have to happen in September for Pujols not to win another MVP award? Would he have to go 0-for-112? Hit into a double play every time up? Defect to Kyrgyzstan?

OK, maybe all of the above. And he'd still probably win this thing. So that concludes our discussion of the one major awards race with a clear-cut favorite as September looms. As for those other races?

Hoo boy. We'd have a better shot at predicting Michelle Wie's score in the Canadian Women's Open.[...]

If the season ended right now …: We'd still vote for Tim Lincecum. Barely. But boy is this tough, because Chris Carpenter now has more wins (14 to 12) and a lower ERA (2.16 to 2.43). On the other hand, Lincecum has the best opponent OPS in baseball (.559, to Carpenter's .582), more double-figure strikeout games (6-2), more quality starts (21-17) and 40 more innings pitched. He also has had more "dominating starts" -- six starts of seven innings or more with no runs allowed (to Carpenter's three) and nine starts with a game score of 75 or more (to Carpenter's three). "Lincecum has been ridiculous," one NL scout said. "He just keeps them in game after game where the score's 1-0 or 2-0. As great as Carpenter has been, Lincecum's stuff is like Wiffleball-in-the-back-yard filthy." So that's our vote. This week.

But …: Carpenter has nine wins in his past 10 starts (with a blown save in the 10th), so there's no indication he's planning to ever lose again. And not only could he win this thing with a ferocious September, this could turn into about a six-man scrum if Lincecum and Carpenter come back to the pack at all. Cliff Lee won't get enough NL starts to make it into the argument. But Dan Haren, Matt Cain, Adam Wainwright and Josh Johnson have all had Cy Young-ish years. Now it's up to September to determine whether that wins them any Cy Young trophies.[...]

Get away for the Hollidays: Much as he clearly loves St. Louis, Matt Holliday continues to give the Cardinals no indication he's amenable to signing any discounted deals to stick around beyond this year. And if the Cardinals have to pay him free-agent-market dollars to hang onto him, let's sound the alarm right here: They might be putting the franchise in economic peril.

"The worst thing they could do is re-sign him," one American League exec said. "If you start thinking about their long-term payroll, what's the biggest payroll a city like St. Louis could absorb? Let's say it's $100 million. Now you have to give Holliday $15-16 million a year. Then you have to give Albert [Pujols] $25-30 million, and probably $30 million. So now you're paying two guys $45-50 million? That's a lot of money in that market.

"In 2010, it might not matter. In 2011, it might not matter. But when you get to 2014 and you've got half your payroll wrapped up in two 34-year-old guys, that's not a good place to be. … Those are the kinds of contracts you can't get out of."

Tying up Holliday at market dollars, and then re-signing Pujols, would almost assure the Cardinals of not being able to keep Chris Carpenter and/or Adam Wainwright when their next big paydays roll around. While it seemed so logical, at the time they traded for Holliday, to forecast that they'd swoop in and sign him, it's not so logical when you start punching in all those dollar signs.

Redbird Roundup

How do the Cards do it? Beats me...

Piece by piece, the Cardinals have built an enduring, winning team nucleus around Albert Pujols.

Adam Wainwright developed into a front-line starting pitcher to ride shotgun with Chris Carpenter. Yadier Molina blossomed into an All-Star catcher who handles pitchers, shuts down the running game and adds some offense.

Brendan Ryan is becoming a spectacular everyday defensive shortstop with a lively bat. Leadoff hitter Skip Schumaker is making a seamless transition to second base.

Rookie Colby Rasmus is breaking in as a strong defensive center fielder with huge offensive potential. Kyle McClellan has become a durable and reliable set-up man in the bullpen.

All these players, groomed within this organization, are pieces the team can build upon. Cardinal Nation takes strong player development for granted -– given this team’s perennial contention -- but building such a winning nucleus is difficult.[...]

The key, Tony La Russa believes, is to break in young players a few at a time and surround them with veterans playing the right way.

Mike Matheny helped groom Molina. Jason Isringhausen schooled Wainwright as a reliever and Chris Carpenter showed him the way as a starter.

Position players like Ryan, Schumaker and Rasmus can follow the lead of Albert Pujols, the sport’s best player.

It is too early to say that David Freese, Jaime Garcia, Tyler Greene or P.J. Walters will make the nucleus some day, but they have already benefited from their opportunity to play with this group.

CUBS...completely useless by September.

The Chicago Cubs are going, going . . . gone?

The Small Bears have lost six of their last seven games. This swoon coincided with a Cardinals surge, so suddenly the North Siders are four games off the National League Central pace.

Ace Cub pitchers Ted Lilly and Carlos Zambrano are on the disabled list. So is outfielder Reed Johnson.

Third baseman Aramis Ramirez, this team’s offensive catalyst, is trying to play through a chronic shoulder injury. There is no end to this team’s misery.

The team seems cursed, again, as Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey wrote:

“Chances are, if Ramirez has to dive for a grounder when he returns, he not only will reinjure his dislocated shoulder but break a leg in the process. That’s the theme of this season, isn’t it? Not necessarily that the Cubs have been done in by injuries, though you certainly could make that argument, but that bad things just happen to this club. If it’s not one thing, it’s the other, unless it’s both. A Ramirez injury become a Carlos Zambrano meltdown. A Milton Bradley meltdown becomes a Geovany Soto slump. If Ryan Dempster isn’t hurt, then Ted Lilly is.”

I didn't watch their game last night til late in the game but believe me, I heard about the Victorino beer incident. If that's not a lack of class by Cubs fans, then I don't know what is.

Chris Carpenter keeps throwing...

In improving his record to 12-3, Carpenter went seven innings, allowed two runs and struck out 10. In making a spectacular comeback from two seasons of arm miseries, Carpenter can't be ruled out of the National League Cy Young race. The same is true of teammate Adam Wainwright, who has 13 wins and a 2.73 ERA.

This isn't about one golden arm. Here's your stat of the day: Since July 1, the Cardinals are 20-3 in games started by Carpenter, Wainwright and Joel Piñeiro.

They're forming the most formidable top three in a St. Louis rotation since 1985. In a summer of speed and defense, John Tudor, Joaquin Andujar and Danny Cox combined for 60 wins, 16 shutouts and 34 complete games.

It's impossible to compare eras and statistics. Complete games and shutouts have given way to the late-inning toggling of matchup relievers, so the '09 Cardinals can't measure up to the '85 starters in iron-man numbers. Starting pitchers aren't built for durability. They aren't asked to go the distance.

But there is some common ground on that mound.

The 1985 Cardinals won 63 percent of the games started by Tudor, Andujar and Cox. And in 2009, the Cardinals have won 63 percent of the games started by Carpenter, Wainwright and Piñeiro.

And there's a relative match in ERAs. In Tudor (1.93), Cox (2.88) and Andujar (3.40) the '85 Cardinals had frontline starters ranked No. 2, No. 8 and No. 19 in the league in ERA. In Carpenter (2.29), Wainwright (2.73) and Piñeiro (3.22) the 2009 Cardinals have top-level starters ranked No. 2, No. 6 and No. 13 in league ERA.

NL GM: Cards to win World Series

I'm in complete agreement on this one.

Ken Rosenthal:

One Man's Bold Vision
An NL general manager made two surprising predictions Tuesday. He said that the Rockies would win the NL West and that the Cardinals would win the World Series.

The Rockies, the GM said, were not great in any one area, but very good in virtually every one. The Dodgers, meanwhile, are short on starting pitching and unlikely to make a significant addition to their rotation.

The Cardinals?

Their offense has been bolstered by the additions of Matt Holiday, Mark DeRosa and Julio Lugo, and their top three starting pitchers — Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright and Joel Pineiro — are as impressive as any in the league.

"I love (the Giants' Matt) Cain and (Tim) Lincecum," the GM said, "but are they really better than Carpenter and Wainwright?"

Cards vs. Phillies

Welcome to the Matt Holliday is a Cardinal era! Albert finally has a bat to protect him other than Ryan Ludwick!

July 24, 2009
St. Louis 8, Philadelphia 1
Winning pitcher - Joel Pineiro (9-9)
HR: Julio Lugo (2)

Matt Holliday had a fantastic debut with the Cardinals, going 4-5 with a run and RBI.

July 25, 2009
St. Louis 6, Philadelphia 14
Losing pitcher - Jason Motte (3-4)
HR: Ryan Ludwick (17), Rick Ankiel (7)

July 26, 2009
St. Louis 2, Philadelphia 9
Losing pitcher - Todd Wellemeyer (7-9)
HR: Mark DeRosa (17)

The Cards finish the series with a 53-48 record.

Cards trade for Matt Holliday

Making another trade, the Cardinals traded three minor leagues for 2007 NL Batting Champion and three-time All Star Matt Holliday.

The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that they have acquired three-time All-Star outfielder Matt Holliday and cash considerations from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for minor leaguers Brett Wallace, Shane Peterson and Clayton Mortensen.

"We are extremely excited to have acquired Matt Holliday," said Cardinals' Vice President/General Manager John Mozeliak. "Matt is an impact player who gives us an instant added threat in the middle of our lineup. These types of opportunities are rare. The price to complete this deal was steep, but our organization feels that it should greatly improve our chances to compete for a postseason berth. I want to thank both ownership and our scouting and player development staffs for enabling us to be in position to bring a player with the credentials of Matt Holliday to the St. Louis Cardinals."

Holliday, 29, owns a career .315 batting average with 139 home runs and 537 RBI in five-plus seasons with the Colorado Rockies (2004-08) and Oakland Athletics (2009). He was batting .286 with 11 homers and 54 RBI for the A's this season and was 16-for-41 (.390) with six doubles, three home runs, 11 RBI and 12 runs scored in his last 10 games. He is batting .337 (29-86) over his last 22 games.

The Stillwater, Okla. native batted .300 or better in four of his first five seasons, with the lone exception being his rookie season of 2004 when he batted .290. A three-time (2006-08) N.L. All-Star and Silver Slugger award winner, Holliday enjoyed an MVP-caliber season in 2007 while helping the Rockies to their first-ever World Series appearance.

The right-handed hitting Holliday enjoyed career bests in batting (.340), hits (216), doubles (50), RBI (137) and extra-base hits (92) in 2007, leading the N.L. in each category. He finished a close runner-up to the Phillies' Jimmy Rollins for league MVP honors that year and was named the MVP of the N.L. Championship Series after the Rockies got by Arizona.

Entering 2009, Holliday had hit .300 or better and finished among the top seven in batting in the N.L. in each of his last four seasons, joining Albert Pujols as the only players who can make that claim. His .315 batting average since 2004 ranks 6th-best among active players in all of baseball (Suzuki - .335, Pujols - .334, Mauer - .322, V. Guerrero - .321, Helton - .316). Holliday is one of seven players since 2005 with at least 100 home runs and 50 stolen bases (Sizemore-CLE, Soriano-CHI, Wright-NY, Beltran-NY, Hunter-LAA and A. Rodriguez-NYY).

Holliday is wearing #15, which is considered blasphemy despite Jim Edmonds playing for the Cubs during the 2008 season.

The Cardinals also made some other roster moves.

They traded Chris Duncan and a player to be named later to the Boston Red Sox for Julio Lugo.

The St. Louis Cardinals announced this afternoon that they have acquired infielder Julio Lugo and cash considerations from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for outfielder Chris Duncan and a player-to-be-named-later or cash considerations.

"We felt that Julio could help our club by improving our middle infield depth," said Cardinals' Vice President/General Manager John Mozeliak. "He gives us another right-handed bat and provides Tony with additional flexibility. We're optimistic that he will respond positively to a fresh start here in St. Louis."

Lugo, 33, was batting .284 with a homer and 8 RBI in 37 games for the Red Sox this season, including a .333 average against left-handed pitching. Lugo made his last appearance on July 6 before being designated for assignment by the Red Sox last week.[...]

Duncan, 28, was optioned to Memphis (AAA) after last night's game. He was batting .227 with 5 home runs and 32 RBI for the Cardinals this season.

"Chris Duncan was drafted and developed by this organization, and in addition to being a talented player we all recognize him as a high-quality individual," said Mozeliak. "He was an important part of our World Championship club in 2006. I know I speak for our entire organization when I say that we are grateful to Chris for what he has given to the Cardinals and our fans."

I feel for Chris Duncan but he's been struggling this season.

Perhaps the saddest piece of transactional moves is this. Jess Todd was sent to Cleveland to complete the DeRosa deal.

Todd was 4-2 with 24 saves and a 2.20 ERA (49.0 IP / 12 ER) for Memphis. A 2nd-round selection (82nd overall) of the Cardinals in the 2007 draft, Todd appeared in one game for St. Louis this season. The 5'11", 210-pound right-hander out of the University of Arkansas allowed two runs on three hits while walking two and fanning two in 1.2 innings in his Major League debut on June 5 vs. Colorado. Todd was the Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2008.

The trade deadline is Friday afternoon so we shall see what else happens this week.

Cards vs. Nationals

Making up the rain delay

July 23, 2009
St. Louis 4, Washington 1
Winning pitcher - Adam Wainwright (11-6)
HR: Rick Ankiel (6)

The Cards finish the makeup with a 52-46 record.

Cards vs. Astros

Back to the Juice Box...

July 20, 2009
St. Louis 2, Houston 3
Losing pitcher - Kyle Lohse (4-6)

July 21, 2009
St. Louis 6, Houston 11
Losing pitcher - Todd Wellemeyer (7-8)
HR: Mark DeRosa 2 (14, 15), Ryan Ludwick (16)

July 22, 2009
St. Louis 3, Houston 4
Losing pitcher - Ryan Franklin (2-1)
HR: Mark DeRosa (16)

The Cards finish the series with a 51-46 record.