Every streak must end...

Every streak must come to an end. But the streak in question is not one that us Cardinal fans wanted to see ending. Unfortunately, it did. Friday was not a good day for St. Louis.

The NL Cy Young winner, who threw 16 shutout innings in his first four exhibition outings, did well to minimize the damage in the New York Mets’ 12-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday. He allowed the first four batters to reach, threw a wild pitch, made a throwing error and blew a squeeze bunt.

"My location wasn’t as good as I would like," Carpenter said. "My stuff was fine, so I’m not concerned."

I would like to offer my condolences to trainer Barry Weinberg on the loss of his mother.

Matthew Leach's notes on the Cardinals mention the return of Rick Ankiel. Ankiel is one of my favorites and it really pained me when he lost control of his pitches. I hope we find him in the outfield or somewhere in the field regularly.

Cardinals assistant general manager John Mozeliak said Friday that Ankiel could play in a game within the next week. Ankiel sustained a grade 2 strain of his left patellar tendon on Feb. 27 and hasn't played in a game since.

"I think that (situation) has become encouraging," Mozeliak told reporters, following the Cardinals' 12-2 loss to the Mets. "I don't know the exact date that we're going to try to really test it 100 percent, but I think it's sooner than later. If I were going to define that, I'd say probably this week."

That doesn't necessarily mean Ankiel will play in a Grapefruit League game. Instead, the Cardinals might choose to play him in a Minor League game somewhere on the back fields at the Roger Dean Stadium complex.

Jerry Crasnick believes that the Cardinals are the team to beat in the National League.

Sidney Ponson led the Cardinals over the Dodgers with a score of 5-1. The victory moves the Cardinals to 13-9-1.

Mark Mulder starts against the Marlins later today.