El Hombre is locked in.  Pujols hit his 4th homer on Monday night against the D-backs.  This was another rocket, not quite like the grand slam from the other night, but still a bomb.  A solo shot that gave the Redbirds a 1-0 lead in the 4th inning.  This helped the Cardinals hold on to a 2-1 victory and move them to 6-2 on the young season.  Albert Pujols is now batting close to .400 and he continues to torch pitching.  Is he really a machine like his new ESPN commercial implies?  I think so!

The Cardinals will take on the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday for the second of a three game series in St. Louis. The Phillies will have new comer Joe Blanton on the mound. Blanton, a 6′3, 5.13 righthander is 0-0 in his career as a Phillie, and has never faced the Cardinals!

Albert has never faced Blanton in his career.

Chalk me up as one that is okay with making no trade deadline deals. This team can make the playoffs without a deadline deal. 50 games to go, and tie for the wildcard. The Brewers have the Ned Yost factor, the Mets are too bi-polar, the Phillies have Charlie Manuel, and the Marlins are too young.. Albert will lead the Cardinals to the NL Wildcard in 2008, and I will go as far as to say, the Cardinals and Cubs will meet in the 2008 NLCS!

What a stud. How many times do we have to say it? He is semi-ridiculous. In the top of the 14th inning on Saturday night, Albert pounded a 2 run home run to give the Redbirds a 10-8 lead and the win! STUD. Pujols finished the game with:

• 5-8 from the plate
• 3 runs
• 3 RBI
• 1 HR

Not to shabby huh? This shot his average up to .351 on the year and gave him 59 RBI’s. Hopefully it proves to be a shot in the Cardinals arms as well and gets them back on the winning track. Was a huge win with the Cubs losing earlier.

After winning 4-3 yesterday the Cardinals look to continue their 8 game home stand with winning ways. Tonight, Greg Maddux, the future hall of famer will throw for the Padres, and be opposed by Cardinals righthander Braden Looper.

Maddux has struggled in 2008, going 3-8, with a 3.90 era. But he gets zero run support, which is part of his 3-8 record. Maddux, earlier in the year pitched against the Cardinals and got a no decision pitching 5 innings, allowing 5 hits and 2 runs. He is 26-20 with a 2.74 era in his career against the Cardinals. Maddux is 0-4 with 6 no decisions in his last start, and has not won a game in his last 12.

Our boy Albert Pujols is 12-38 for a .316 average lifetime against Maddux. In those 12 hits, he has 3 homeruns, and 6 rbi’s.

Looper, for the Cardinals is looking for his 10th win of the season. He is 9-7 on the year with a 4.25 era. Braden has lost his last two starts, and has not won since June 24th at Detroit. Earlier in the year Looper beat the Padres pitching five solid innings. He is 4-3 with a 2.91 era lifetime against San Diego.

Let’s go Albert and the Cardinals tonight! Keep winning!

The Cardinals will begin their second half march to the postseason tonight at home against the San Diego Padres. The Cardinals start the second half with a 53-43 record, and are 26-21 at home. The Padres have struggled this season, going 37-58, and 14-28 on the road.

Jake Peavy will pitch for the Padres. He is 7-5 with a 2.47. He is 3-2 with a 2.89 era in his career against the Cardinals.

Kyle Lohse throws for the Cardinals, and he is 11-2 with a 3.39 era. Lohse is 0-2 with a 7.04 era in 3 career starts against San Diego.

Albert Pujols has faced Peavy 17 times in his career. Albert is 6-17 for a .353 batting average. In those six hits 1 was a double, and 2 were homeruns, with 6rbi’s. Pujols has struck out six times, while walking three times against Peavy.

Good luck to Albert and the Cardinals tonight!

Good luck to our boy Albert Pujols, as starting DH for the NL tomorrow night!!!

Albert has never faced Cliff Lee in his career…

Finally! Clint Hurdle made the right decision! Albert Pujols will be playing, and starting in the 2008 All Star Game. Pujols, who is hitting .350, will be the starting DH for the NL Tuesday night in New York. Albert will bat  fourth.

NL

1. Ramirez, SS- Florida
2. Utley, 2B- Philadelphia
3. Berkman, 1B- Houston
4. Pujols, DH- St. Louis
5. Jones, 3B- Atlanta
6. Holliday- RF- Colorado
7. Braun- LF- Milwaukee
8. Fukudome- CF- Chicago
9. Soto- C- Chicago

AL:

1. Ichiro- RF- Seattle
2. Jeter- SS- New York
3. Hamilton- CF- Texas
4. Rodriguez- 3B- New York
5. Ramirez- LF
6. Bradley- DH- Texas
7. Youkilis- 1B- Boston
8. Mauer- C- Minnesota
9. Pedroira- 2B- Boston

For the NL, Ben Sheets will be on the mound. For the AL, Cliff Lee will make the first pitch.

The St. Louis Cardinals, 47-36 have now survived Albert Pujols’ injury. Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Mark Mulder, Cezar Izturis, and many others(15 to be exact) have also been on the DL, are still are on the DL. The Cardinals have had nine players make their major league debutes THIS season.  With all that said, the Cardinals are only 2.5 games out of first place, two weeks from the all star break. This is a big week for the Cardinals. The New York Mets, 40-41, come into St. Louis for four games, before the Cubs come in for three over the weekend. The Cubs lead the Cardinals in the NL Central by 2.5 games, but the Cubs have struggled mightily on the road. The Cubs are continuing their three city road trip, for four games in San Fransisco starting tonight.

Kyle Lohse will pitch tonight for the Cardinals. A few months ago the Mets could have signed Lohse for the same deal the Cardinals got him at in March, but Mets GM Omar M. turned down the deal, sighting he felt that was too much for Lohse. Lohse would love to stick it to him and the Mets, like he has the rest of the NL so far this season. Kyle is 9-2 with a 3.94 era so far this season. Lohse has not lost a game since May 8th, where he pitched 4 innings in Colorado. He took a no decision his last time out against Detroit, but before that won his last 6 starts.

John Maine is on the mound for the Mets. Maine has been solid once again with a 8-5 record, and a 3.73 era. Maine has won his last two starts going 6+ innings in each. In his last ten starts, Maine is 5-3. He has pitched well against the Cardinals in his career, making two starts and going 1-0.

The Man, El Hombre, Albert Pujols is 2-6, with 2 homeruns, and 7 rbis in his career off John Maine.

We look for more mash city tonight in St. Louis. The Cardinals are hot, and are ready to have a huge home stand. Go El Hombre! Go Cardinals!

The best news is Albert Pujols is set to return on Thursday. That should give the Cardinals a little hop in their step for the remaining three weeks before the All Star break. First things first though. The St. Louis Cardinals, 44-33, and 4.5 games out in the NL Central will take on the Detroit Tigers, 36-39, 5 games out in the AL Central this week at Comerica Park. This series will be the first time these two teams have played since the 2006 World Series, in which the Cardinals won in five games.

On Tuesday, Braden Looper gets the call for the Cardinals. Looper is 8-5 on the season with a 4.10 era. He has pitched well his last two starts, throwing a complete game shutout against the Reds, and most recently pitching seven solid innings in a no decision against Kansas City. Looper is 2-1 in his career against Detroit, and has made one start. His career era is a hefty 7.45. A few g uys that have decent numbers off Looper are Miguel Cabrera, .273- Magglio Ordonez is 2-3 with a homerun, Placido Polanco, .286, and Edgar Renteria .300. This should be a good test for Looper.

Kenny Rogers, the lefthander has pitched well lately for Detroit. He is 5-4 on the season with a 4.36 era. He has went 7 or more in his last five outings, only garnering one win in that time. His last time out, Rogers threw 7 innings, allowing just one run on five hits in a win over San Fransisco. Kenny is 0-0 with 2 career regular season starts against St. Louis. He threw really well in the 2006 World Series, against St. Louis.

Wednesday features nine game winner, Kyle Lohse for St. Louis, who has won six straight starts, and has not lost since May 8. He will take on the youngster for Detroit, Armando Galarraga. Galarraga is 7-2 with a 3.03 era. Armando has never faced St. Louis is his career.

The last game of the series on Thursday features Todd Wellemeyer, who was roughed up in his last start against Philadelphia, but hasn’t pitched since. He will face another lefthander for the Tigers in Nate Robertson. Robertson is 6-6, while Wellemeyer comes in 7-2.

Good luck to the Cardinals! We cannot wait to see Albert back in the lineup!

Go Cardinals!