With one week to go, 7 games, suddenly the National League Central is extremely close. After the Astros beating the Cardinals 7-3 on Sunday, and finishing a four game sweep of the Cardinals, the Astros are back in the race. Our man Albert went 2-3, and raised his batting average to .329, but it was not enough.

Remember, if needed the Cardinals will host the San Fransisco Giants next Monday, if the Astros are within 1/2 game of the Cardinals after next Sunday, as part of a make up game.

Here is how the Cardinals and Astros week looks:

Cardinals: Monday w/ San Diego(83-72)- Jeff Suppan(12-7, 4.07) v. David Wells(0-2, 4.43). Tuesday w/ San Diego- Chris Carpenter(15-7, 2.93) v. Woody Williams(10-5, 3.53). Wednesday w/ San Diego- Anthony Reyes(5-7, 4.92) v. Chris Young(11-5, 3.55). Thursday w/ Milwaukee(73-83)- Jason Marquis(14-15, 5.80) v. Doug Davis(10-11, 5.02). Friday w/ Milwaukee, Saturday w/ Milwaukee, Sunday w/ Milwaukee.

Astros: Monday @ Philadelphia(82-73)- Matt Albers(0-2, 6.00) v. Randy Wolf(4-0, 5.47). Tuesday @ Pittsburgh(65-91)- Andy Pettitte(13-13, 4.31) v. Ian Snell(14-10, 4.67). Wednesday @ Pittsburgh. Thursday @ Pittsburgh. Friday @ Atlanta. Saturday @ Atlanta. Sunday @ Atlanta

Albert had 2 hits, and drove home 2 as the Cardinals smoked the Brewers 12-2 Tuesday night. The Cardinals magic number is now down to 6!!

Rain beat both the Cardinals and the Giants on Sunday. The Cardinals will start a four game set with the Brewers on Monday. Albert and the boys will face Brewers lefty Chris Capuano.

The Cardinals did get good news with the Cubs beating the Reds Sunday to drop the magic number down to 8..

The St. Louis Cardinals hit their former teammate Matt Morris early on Saturday, and were able to come away with a 6-1 victory over the Giants. Our man Albert was red hot and went 4-4, with three singles, a double, an rbi, and three runs scored. His numbers just continue to be that of an MVP. He is currently 4th in batting, but only .13 behind the leader. Tied in 2nd in homeruns, 2nd in rbi's, and creeping into the top 5 in runs scored.

The Cardinals lowered their magic number down to 9, and increase their lead in the Central to 6.5 over the Reds, and 8 on the Astros.

Sunday, Albert and the Birds look for the three game sweep before the Brew Crew come to town Monday.

Roy Oswalt tossed 8 1/3, and gave up only one run as the Astros beat the Cardinals 5-1 on Wednesday. Albert, and the Cardinals will now take Thursday off, and get ready to face the San Fransisco Giants over the weekend. The Cardinals lead the Reds by 5 games, and Astros by 6 games with 17 to play. The magic number over the Reds is 13, Astros 12.

This weekend the Cardinals will face Jason Schmidt, Matt Morris, and Johnathan Sanchez. The Cardinals will come with Jeff Suppan, Chris Carpenter, and Jeff Weaver. After the Giants leave town, next week the Cardinals will be on the road for three in Milwaukee, and four in Houston, before finishing the season with San Diego and Milwaukee in town.

Let's hope Albert has a huge weekend series against the Giants, and the Cardinals close in on that third straight NL Central title.

-APCman

Albert hits a walkoff, game winning double to drive home two runs as the Cardinals win 6-5 over the Astros!!!!!! More to come later!!!

 -APCman

Make or Break is the best phrase to call it. This week, the Cardinals host the Houston Astros for a three game set. The Cardinals come in with a record of 75-67, the Astros sit at 70-72. They both have 20 games remaining. The Cardinals lead the Astros by 5 full games. Now before I go on, let's not forget about the Reds who sit at 71-72 and 4.5 games out. Currently the Cardinals magic numbers on the Reds is 16, the Astros 15. The Reds sit idle on Monday before facing the Padres for three starting Tuesday.

This series maybe the most important of the year for the Cardinals. They start a 6 game home stand with the Astros and Giants. Most Cardinal fans realize this team is just mediocre at best, but the one common denominator is, "let's see postseason baseball". If the Cardinals want to play in Mid October, they must send a message this week to the Astros(last years NL champs).. A sweep of the Astros would essentially bury them, at 8 games back with 17 to go. But, most importantly the Cardinals need to win 2 of 3 from the Astros, and the NL Central can be won for the third straight year.

If the Astros win 2 of 3, or sweep, they will have TON of momentum not only the rest of this week, but also next week when the Cardinals invade Houston for a big four game series.. 7 games against the next best team in the division, the Cardinals need to win 4 of those 7!!!

Let's break down the series.. On Monday, a pitchers duel looks to be in store. Chris Carpenter, the NL's leading ERA guy goes against the Astros lefty Andy Pettitte. We all know the Cardinals struggle against lefties. On Tuesday, Jeff Weaver faces Chris Sampson in what looks to be a game in which favors the Cardinals. And on Wednesday Jason Marquis will square off against Roy Oswalt- advantage Astros.

It could come down to this. Let's see what the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals are made of. It's time for Albert magic this week. A successful week in St. Louis and we, Cardinal fans, will be once again enjoy postseason baseball!

- APCman

After taking a 6-4 lead into the bottom of the 7th with two outs, the Cardinal bullpen did what they have done best all year, and blew another lead, and ultimately, the game. The Diamondbacks scored two runs to tie it in the 7th, and then 2 more to take the lead in the 9th, and the Cardinals blew a chance to score in the top of the 9th off Jose Valverde, leaving runners on 1st and 2nd with no body out to lose their third straight game.

Jorge Sosa took the loss, to fall to 3-11 on the season.

Josh Kinney went .1 of an inning giving up 1 hit, a walk, and 2 runs.

Randy Flores went .1 of an inning giving up 2 hits, a walk, and 1 run.

Then it was Sosa's turn, as he gave up back to back homers and finished with 2/3 of an inning.

Our man, Albert Pujols went 3-5 and hit his 45th homerun, and drove in his 118th run of the season. Albert is now tied in 2nd in homeruns, 3rd in rbi's, and 4th in batting average.

-APCman

Friday night was pretty ugly for the Cardinals. The Diamondbacks pounded out 16 hits, and 13 runs. It was arguably young Anthony Reyes' worst outing of the year, as he surrendered 7 hits, and 7 runs in 2.1 innings, giving up 2 homeruns- one to Eric Byrnes, and the other to Chad Tracy. Albert, our man was 0-4..

The Magic Number remained at 17, as the Cardinals dropped to 75-65, and the Reds won their game 9-1. The Reds are now 5.5 games back, and the Astros are 6 out. Tonight Jason Marquis will go for the Cardinals against the Diamondbacks Brandon Webb. Let's hope Albert and the boys can get another win, and he can pound out a few hits!!

- APCman

The Cardinals were 2 outs away from pushing their magic number to 17 and going 7 games up on the Reds on Wednesday. That was when Jason Isringhausen decided to continue to be the lackadasical, overpaid closer he is, and blow another game, and send his record to 4-8 on the season and a 7-6 Nationals win. Our man Albert went 2-5, with 2 singles, to push his batting average up a bit. He also remains tied with Soriano for 2nd in the NL in homeruns.

This weekend the Cardinals face the Arizona Diamondbacks, who were just no hit Wednesday night by Florida pitcher Anibal Sanchez. Overall the Diamondbacks have lost 8 of their last 10, and fallen out of contention for both the NL West and the NL wildcard. Here are the pitching matchups for the series:

Thursday: Jeff Weaver v. Miguel Batista

Friday: Anthony Reyes v. Livan Hernandez

Saturday: Jason Marquis v. Brandon Webb

Sunday: Jeff Suppan v. TBA

Let's hope Albert has a great weekend in the desert!

- APCman