After a big weekend, winning 3 of 4 from the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cardinals now head to the road for 6, against two of the National League’s three worst teams. First, the Cardinals travel to Pittsburgh, who currently sport a .408 win percentage, which is last in the National League, and only ahead of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for a three game set. After Pittsburgh the Cardinals travel to Washington, to face the Nationals in a three game series over the weekend. The Nationals come in with a win percentage of .429, which rates only ahead of the Pirates, and the Cincinnati Reds.

On Tuesday, Adam Wainwright will throw for the Cardinals against the Pirates lefthanded Paul Maholm. Wainwright is 9-8 with a 4.45 era, but is coming off one of his worst outings in a long time. On July 25th, Wainwright was torched for 9 hits, and 6 runs in just 5 innings, in a 7-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs. Maholm comes into the ballgame 7-12 on the year, with a 4.57 ERA. He has won his last two starts, going 6.2 against the Astros and 6 innings against the Mets in 7-3 and 8-4 wins. Maholm is 1-1 with a 2.04era in his career against the Cardinals. Albert is 3-7 in his career against Maholm with a double, a homerun, 2 rbi’s, walking twice and never striking out.

Wednesday matches Braden Looper 8-8, 4.85 against Tony Armas 0-3, 6.93. Looper was strong in his last outing over the Cubs, going 7 innings, allowing just 5 hits and 1 run in a 11-1 win over the Cubs. His outing before that was poor only going 2.2 innings giving up 10 hits and 7 runs. Armas has not win in 2007 yet. He has been out of the bullpen most of the season for the Pirates and his numbers are not good. His last outing on Friday, he went 1.2 innings, giving up 3 hits, 1 run in a no decision game in which the Pirates lost 8-1. The Pirates have lost the last 10 times he has been in the ballgame. Pujols has faced Armas once in his career, going 0-1.

Thursday in a 11:35 game, Mike Maroth looks to get his first Cardinal win, against the Pirates Shane Youman. Maroth is 0-4 with a 9.20ERA, while Youman is 2-3 with a 4.66ERA. Maroth has lost his last four starts going only 4 and 5 innings, getting blasted for hits and runs in all his starts. Youman has lost his last three starts for the Pirates, only going 4 innings in his last start in a 10-5 loss to the Phillies. He gave up 8 hits, and 7 runs. His start before that Shane went 8 strong innings giving up 4 hits, and 1 run, but coming away with a 1-0 loss to the Astros. Youman has never faced the Cardinals in his young career.

Albert is only hitting .219 this season against the Pirates, going just 7 of 32 with just 3 doubles, no homeruns or rbi’s. That is very rare of Albert who typically torches Bucs pitching. Albert went 3-12 in his last trip to PNC Park.

Hopefully Albert and the Cardinals can torch the Pirates in Pittsburgh this week!

Sure, Albert Pujols probably will NOT win the 2007 MVP, but, his numbers are rounding up alot like another MVP. Here are Albert’s current numbers and where he stands.

Batting Average: .319(12th in the National League, .22 behind the leader, Hanley Ramirez(.341).

Homeruns: 23(6th in the National League, 7 behind the leader, Prince Fielder(30).

Rbi’s: 71(7th in the National League, 15 behind the leader, Carlos Lee(86).

Runs: 65(12th in the National League, 23 behind the leader, Jimmy Rollins(88).

After a huge 6 run comeback on Saturday afternoon, Anthony Reyes picked up his first win Saturday night, then the comeback kids came back from down 5-0 to beat the Brewers 9-5 Sunday to move to within 6 games of the Brewers, and 5.5 of the Cubs. With the huge weekend, the Cardinals feel they are not out of it yet! Look for the Cardinals to add a player or two in the next day or two before the deadline. GO CARDINALS!

St. Louis Cardinals/Chicago Cubs

Albert Pujols/ Derrek Lee

Jim Edmonds/ Carlos Zambrano

Tony LaRussa/ Lou Pinella

The best rivalry in ALL of SPORTS is set to kick off tomorrow night in Baseball Heaven. The second place Chicago Cubs will invade St. Louis, to take on the third place St. Louis Cardinals. All three games are set to kick off at 7:10pm CST. Wednesday night’s game will be broadcasted nationally on ESPN2. These games are always important, and always heated, but as the season winds down the importance increases. The Cardinals MUST win to stay alive, the Cubs are trying to win, to take over first place.

Tuesday night looks like a blowout on paper. The Chicago Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano is set to take the mound against the struggling Cardinals righthander Kip Wells. Zambrano is 12-7 with a 3.69 on the season, while Wells is 4-12, with a 5.75. Obviously, this looks like a game the Cubs should win. I mean 12 wins, against 12 losses. They are the lovable losers, and the Cardinals ARE the CHAMPS, so who knows. Zambrano has won his last two starts, and 7 of his last 10. His last start against the Giants, he only went 5 innings, giving up 2 hits, 2 walks, no runs, while striking out 3 in a 12-1 blowout win. His start before that he went 6.2 against the Astros, allowing only 3 hits, walking 3, striking out 7 in a 6-0 shutout win. Carlos is vieing to get into contention of the National League Cy Young after a rough start to his season. Zambrano is 6-4 with a 2.53 in his career against the Cardinals. Kip Wells on the other hand, is looking to avoid being the losingiest pitcher in Baseball. His last outing was fantastic, going 8 innings, giving up just 2 hits, no runs, walking 2 and striking out 4 in a 6-0 win over the Marlins. That was Kip’s first win since June 20, a bullpen win over the Kansas City Royals. Kip has not been good for most of 2007. Our guy, Albert Pujols is 1-3 on the season against Zambrano, with that hit being a solo homerun. For his career, Albert is 9 of 41, for a .220 batting average, with 3 homeruns, 7 rbi’s and walking 4 times in his career.

On Wednesday, the Cardinals will be forced to face the Cubs tough lefthander, Ted Lilly. Lilly is 10-4 on the season, with a 3.58 era. The Cardinals will throw big tall righthander Adam Wainwright, who is 9-7 with a 4.18 era during 2007. Lilly is 0-1 on the season against the Cardinals, as he went 7 innings, giving up 4 hits and 2 runs in his last start. Wainwright is 0-1 on the season, and 0-1 in his career against the Cubs. Wainwright has won his last three starts, all three games he was able to pitch 7 strong innings, allowing 6, 6 and 5 hits, and just 1,0, and 2 runs. Lilly has won his last 6 decisions, and has not lost since June 5th, to the Brewers. Albert Pujols is 1-3 on the season against Lilly with a strikeout. For his career, Pujols is 2-6, striking out twice.

On Thursday, former Cardinals Jason Marquis will take the mound, and take on Cardinals hurler Braden Looper. Marquis is 7-5, with a 3.92 ERA, while Looper is 7-8 with a 5.09 ERA. Marquis is 1-0 on the season against the Cardinals, going 7 strong innings, while Looper has not faced the Cubs this year, but is 2-2 lifetime against the Cubs. Pujols is 1-6 on the season against Marquis, and is 4-9 in his career. Good luck Albert!

GO CARDINALS!

Albert Pujols, and the St. Louis Cardinals are getting ready to start the most important seven game stretch of the entire 2007 season. The Cardinals currently sit at 45-50, and 8.5 games out of first place, 5 games behind second place- Chicago Cubs. This week, the Cardinals will take on the Cubs for three, and the Brewers(front runners), for four, including a day/night doubleheader on Saturday.

Albert, has done his share of the work for the Cardinals since the All Star Break. In his last ten games, Albert is batting .430, with 6 homeruns, and 8 rbi’s. On Sunday, Albert homered in the top of the 8th, with two outs to tie the game, a game in which the Cardinals eventually won 7-2 in 10 innings. Albert, on the season is hitting .322, with 22 homeruns, 60 rbi’s, and 61 runs scored, all categories lead the team. In the National League, Albert sits at 11th in batting average, .23 behind the leader, Chipper Jones, of the Atlanta Braves. In the Homeruns department, Albert is in 6th place, 8 homeruns behind Phillies slugger Ryan Howard. In rbi’s, Albert is tied in 18th, 5 back of creeping into the top 10, and 21 back of both Phillie sluggers Ryan Howard and Chase Utley. In runs scored he sits in 11th, 23 back of Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins.

We wish Albert and the Cardinals good luck this week. The Cardinals need 5 wins or more, as they creep closer to .500, then can look at catching the teams in front of them. We all know the Cubs will fold, so it’s the Brewers the Cardinals need to aim to catch!

Check back with us very soon for a preview of the Cardinals/Cubs series!

After getting blown out the first two games in Philadelphia, the Cardinals have come back strong with a big win Sunday over the Phillies, and a nice win Monday over the Marlins, to improve to 2-2 on this long road trip. The Cardinals finish two more against the Marlins tonight and tomorrow, before heading to Atlanta for four, starting on Thursday. This road trip is coming right ahead of what will be the biggest week of the season, next week, as the Cardinals will host the second place Chicago Cubs, and the first place Milwaukee Brewers.

Tonight’s starting pitching matchup includes Cardinals righthander Brad Thompson 6-3, 5.10 v. Rick Vanden Hurk 2-2, 8.38. Thompson’s last outing on July 13th at Philadelphia was not impressive as he went 2 innings, allowing 8 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned, giving up 2 homeruns in a relief outing, as the Phillies blasted the Cardinals 13-3. His last start, Thompson threw 7 innings against the Diamondbacks on July 4th, giving up only 4 runs on 7 hits, in a game in which the Cardinals came from behind to win 5-4. Thompson’s last win came on June 26th against the Mets. Vanden Hurk has not started in the major leagues in a month. His last outing was June 16th against the Royals. In that game, he went 6 innings, giving up 7 hits, 6 runs, 5 earned, in a game in which he was the winner 9-8 over the Royals. Rick has never faced the Cardinals in his career.

Tomorrow, Albert and the Cardinals will face Marlins lefty Dontrelle Willis. Dontrelle is 1-2 in his career against the Cardinals, with a 4.01 ERA. DTrain has not faced the Cardinals in 2007. Albert Pujols is 3-12 in his career against Dontrelle, with a single and two doubles. Let’s hope Albert is 6-15 in his career against Willis after Wednesday nights game!

- Stay tuned!

Since the All Star game debacle, Albert has hit the ball real well. Homering in each of his first three games(twice on Sunday).

Albert’s numbers to date look pretty good. He is batting .315, which places him 12th in the National League, now just .24 behind the leaders Dmitry Young and Matt Holliday. With his four homers in four games, Albert has climbed to 6th in the NL in homeruns with 20. He trails the leader Prince Fielder by 10, Adam Dunn by 5, Ken Griffey Jr. by 4, and Miguel Cabrera and Ryan Howard by 2. In the rbi department, Albert currently sits at 16th place, with 57. He trails the leader, Chase Utley by 19, but is only 4 behind 10th place, in his effort to first get into the top 10 in each offensive category, before making a run for the top by the end of the year.

Even though us – and most other Cardinals fans – were enraged by Tony’s all star game antics.  Albert Pujols is moving on:

“I think people want to start World War III with me and Tony, and I think they are picking the wrong [people] because I have so much respect for Tony and he has so much respect for me,” Pujols said. “I don’t think anything is going to change. He’s my manager. Was I disappointed I didn’t get in the game? Of course. I’m a competitor. I want to help the National League win. Does that make it a big deal? No. It wasn’t a big deal to me. I guess it was a big deal to everyone else in the country.”

Amen Albert… Leave the ‘angriness’ to us fans and you take care of winning some games.

Why are we angry?  If you are asking that question – surely you did not see last night’s MLB All-Star Game.  Tony LaRussa decided to NOT play our man, Albert Pujols.  Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal.  But the NL lost and TLR had several spots that it just MADE sense to use El Hombre.

• How about in the 6th inning during a key NL rally against Justin Verlander (who AP dominates!).
• Or how about in the 9th inning, down 5-4, 1 out, men on 1st and 2nd, Orlando Hudson (who had already batted) coming to the plate.
• Or how about the bases loaded, 2 outs in the 9th, a career .280 hitter Aaron Rowand at the plate, a career .330 hitter Albert Pujols the ONLY guy left on the bench, a hit wins the game for the NL which hasn’t been done in 9 years.

Nah, Larussa decided against all of these.  So our first thought was – ok – this is fine.  I’m sure Larussa and Pujols had an agreement that he wouldn’t play unless extra innings came.  But no…

“Ask the manager,” Pujols said when asked about not playing. “He’s the one that you need to ask. I have no idea.”

“If I wasn’t expecting myself to play, I wouldn’t come up here,” he said. “Believe me, if I couldn’t play, I wouldn’t show up here. I’d rather stay home with my family. But that’s the way it is.”

So great work Tony.  Not only did the NL lose the game.  But now the best player in baseball is mad at his manager.  Imagine life without Albert Pujols?!?!?  Don’t make him mad.  So now Tony needs to explain himself and maybe explain the bad decision he made…. nope….

“Was I going to pinch-hit him for Rowand? Rowand is a good choice,” La Russa said. “He gave us a great at-bat. It’s not that tough. And if [Pujols] doesn’t understand, I’m disappointed. But I’m more disappointed we lost. He’ll figure it out sooner or later.”

“If he wants to get upset, he can get upset,” La Russa said. “Whatever he wants to do, he can do. It’s America. That wasn’t the most important thing tonight.”

YES… YES you were going to pinch hit him for Rowand… He is the most clutch player in the game.  Everyone, even Cub fans, wanted to see Albert Pujols come to the plate. Hudson already batted so hit Pujols and play him at 3rd if then move Sanchez to 2nd. It’s Easy. Or hit him for Rowand, stick him in LF and move Soriano to CF. How hard is that? Saving him for extra innings? You have to get there first.  Great work Larussa.  It could have been one of those momentum shifting moments for Albert and the Cardinals.  Instead – it turns into drama that was not needed.  If Tony was purely focused on winning that game – Albert would have been in the game!  He obviously was just looking out for his ego and not stepping on anyones feet.  But believe me – it has backfired.

Comments please?!?!  Are we wrong?  Was TLR right?