Brewer fans, I've heard speculation that the Crew press and have an oddly worse record when the Cubs win in the afternoon, and they play a night game. Any thoughts? I think its a lot of goofballs.

/shrug

After stumbling out of the gate the first two months, they've got the best record in the majors since the end of May - they can't be pressing too much these days.

Tonight's a win-win situation for Cardinal fans. A victory means that the faintest glimmer of playoff hopes stays alive for at least the next few days; a loss means that we can begin talking up Wallace and Rasmus a month early.

I don't think Rasmus will be up this year, and Wallace definitely won't be. There's no reason for Rasmus not to start next year, though.

Phelps is evidently up - that probably took too long.

Glaus not having the greatest first inning with the glove. That throw almost went into the OF.

I like Wainwright way better than Wellemeyer.

Talking up, not calling up.

Barring disaster, Rasmus and Wallace will both be starters by 2010. As exciting as Rasmus is, Wallace is looking like Berkman-lite in his first couple of stops in the minors.

Parra looking a little Ankiel-ish with those first few pitches.

Don't get me wrong, I am pretty excited about Wallace. I really hope he can stick at 3d though - any mention of him taking over 1st in 2012 is blasphemy in my book.

He could just be a LaPorta pick, too.

Parra got things together in a hurry. Whiffed Mather and Pujols.

He could just be a LaPorta pick, too.

Very possible. The other extremely exciting MiLer right now is Vasquez, who plays a position of much higher need and looks awesome so far. Also, I wouldn't object to bringing along Kozma by 2010 either.

A much more efficient inning there.

Stavinohva (sp.) is no Mather, but he comes through there.

They'll do everything they can to keep Wallace at third, as he'll fit in perfectly when Glaus becomes a FA after 2009. Given that, JM's reluctance to trade prospects this season, and the fact that Wallace is as close to a sure thing as the Cards have in the minor league system (with respect to Rasmus), I don't see him going anywhere. After all the SP flameouts the Cards have had in the draft over the past few years, it's exciting to see them finally snag a legitimate hitter with their first-round pick.

And don't forget Jess Todd. This is the first time in a long time I've been this excited about the Cards' minor league system. It feels like eons since they developed a legitimate ML hitter, El Hombre excepted.

Fyi, Vasquez went to the same high school as Ludwick.

Yeah, I didn't even mention the pitchers, who are also pretty exciting. Or Daryl Jones!

Um, not the best play there, Adam.

Wainwright should have ate it.

Two straight oopsies by Wainwright fielding?!?!

That's one. DP time.

I left the room for three minutes and come back to this...

Cheap hits and fielding goofs, but it's still 1-0 Brewers...

Ouch. This is a pretty weak rally.

This must be how the Tigers felt in 2006.

Apparently mlb.tv hates this series as much as I do.

That could have been a lot worse for STL.

That could have been a lot worse for STL.

You could say that about this entire season, really.

2-0 Brew Crew... that ball just kind of died after hitting the LF corner wall.

The Cards have had a couple of pleasant surprises, but the team's utter disappearance during the late innings of ballgames makes it difficult to view this season as anything other than bad luck.

Broadcasters just noted that Motte was added to the 40-man last week. The day he's called up will be another exciting moment for the 2009 team.

Awful breaks this inning. Feels like a replay of last night.

3-0, courtesy of the drawn-in infield.

Portia:

That's absurd. Pretty much every guy on the field and the starters have excelled.

Good golly man. Kyle Loshe and Braden Looper are highly competent! What more do you want?

Some Cards fans have unrealistic expectations possibly created by previous success.

And this is all Tony with a helping of Pujols. Lose either and this organization goes KERSPLAT.

What's Glaus complaining about? That actually was a bad pitch by Parra - a hanging splitter down the middle.

Hart! Nice sliding catch. WHEW.

I had visions of that hitting the ground and cruising to the wall.

The improved outfield defense cannot be overstated.

Every drip on BBTF who suggested the Brewers should have moved Hart to center and play LaPorta in right should have to watche 100 hours of Kevin Mench playing the outfield.

There it is! Braun finally getting hit in the side.

I take it that it's been a long day for you, Harvey.

Neither Looper nor Lohse have "excelled"; they have provided league-average pitching thanks to one of baseball's best defenses and a pretty significant pitchers' park. The best that can be said about either is that they don't walk people and take the mound every fifth day, but that's been true of both of them their entire careers. The Cards' surprises don't come in the middling pitching staff minus Carpenter and Wainwright, but in Ludwick, Schumaker, and Ankiel. The offense as a whole has been a pleasant surprise, from the OF to the empty .300s of Miles and Molina.

However, as has been pointed out time after time, the Cardinals have a close & late ERA of 4.76, worst in baseball and almost a full run worse than anyone else in the league. Given that C&L;performance isn't a skill (as witnessed by the fact that the Cards led baseball in that stat in 2007 with virtually the same pen), you'd be ignorant to attribute that performance to anything other than bad luck.

TLR waits until the last game of the season series to go after Braun for the watch & trot.

Portia:

Keep telling that story. I am sure the simple-minded will nod in agreement.

Especially since you conveniently omit the position players mentioned who en masse have ALL been solid or better. That is highly uncommon.

Nobody gets everyone playing well in all facets save every so often. This year is the Cubs turn.

To grouse that the Cards season is anything but a blessing is a truly out of kilter perspective.

Too many walk away divisional titles has impacted the judgement.

And Portia's comment about Braun makes me snicker since I was verbally mauled by Cards fans for stating that TLR's teams play the game with an edgy approach. Meaning above average Hits batsmen totals every year with Tony.

No complaining. Just pointing it out.

Tony wants his team to be tough. They play hard and they give no quarter.

It works...

If you fail to present evidence for your argument, you can't expect to be taken seriously.

The Cards finally end the Brewers 18-0 run against them, going back to the prior series.

Troy Glaus, our very own Paul O'Neill.

Portia:

Good golly, the Cards position players performing well as a group has been discussed all season. Dayn Perry has had kittens about it. Not everyone is still at their upper reaches but the whole crew has been rolling along with a lot more good than bad.

Or did Miles, Kennedy. Glaus, Ludwick and Molina's body of work escape your notice?

If the claim is that those were "givens" coming into 2008 then you are correct that little can be discussed.

You're fighting a straw man, Harvey. Reread my posts and then we can begin to talk.

Your contention is that the season is lost due to "bad luck".

My contention is that the luck is "even".

Which it is.

LAST YEARS Cards team had bad luck when the lineup was gutted.

2008? Even steven.

Sorry if facts get in the way.

Weeks calling time on that delivery by KMac reminds me of Warhorse Hentgen's short stint with the Cards. Each time the hitter got time called while Pat was in the middle of his delivery, he'd throw the (now dead) ball at the batter's ribs.

He fit in well with TLR's strategy of acquiring an army of gritty misfits supplemented by two or three superstars.

Well, I'm done with this game, and officially declare the season dead. Let the Jason Motte Era begin!

If it's any consolation save for Torres and Shouse the Crew's bullpen has issues. Mota stinks. Gagne stinks. Riske is erratic. Villanueva has more bad days than good.

And Torres results don't mesh with his numbers. He keeps the ball down. That's about it.

Let me try to clear up what I mean when I talk about luck.

In post 25, Guts wrote "You could say that about this entire season, really" in reference to NTN's post that the season could've been a lot worse.

I responded with the following: "The Cards have had a couple of pleasant surprises, but the team's utter disappearance during the late innings of ballgames makes it difficult to view this season as anything other than bad luck."

Ludwick's performance isn't "good luck" any more than David Ortiz's development with Boston was "good luck"; he's a good ML hitter having a great year. But it's not like Ludwick's hit .500 on balls in play; the luck factor here is very low, and it's likely that he performs at around this same level next year, give or take .100 points of OPS. A breakout season is not luck if the player is capable of sustaining it. The bullpen, OTOH, has been far and away the worst in baseball in close and late situations. As is the case with clutch hitting stats that differ markedly from the team or batter's average performance, the difference between the average performance of the pen and its performance in C&L;situations is bad luck, not the result of a deficiency in personnel.

If the Cards as a team had a C&L;OPS far higher than their usual performance, I'd agree that their luck has balanced out. They haven't, and as a result I find it hard to believe that the Cardinals have been lucky. Surprising, yes. Lucky, no.

Skip! was not his usual Ichiro!-minus-the-exoticism self there. Ugly swing.

The Josh Phelps Era is exciting me already.

Always nice to have a rally rely on Cesar Izturis.

Izturis better not get resigned.

Time for the next stage of the Mather Experiment.

That was kind of awesome, Izzy.

And as Yankee castoffs go, I'll take Phelps over Tino any day.

Well, he showed me.

#### Tino, that bum stole money for too long.

Well, so much for that.

Pujols started jawing at Villanueva?

Dan's voice is replete with disgust.

Carlos hasn't had a clean effort in forever. Everything is laborious.....

Uh, I don't think Villanueva really wants a piece of Albert.

Pujols started jawing at Villanueva?

Pujols was clearly reacting to something.

The Brewers have come/gone a long way from the days of Oglive and Yount.

That was quite the "don't show up the ump" call.

Hector was flapping his arms at the Cardinal dugout, apparently upset about Braun getting drilled.

At this point, I'll consider this game enjoyable if no one gets seriously hurt.

short of knowing exactly what Carlos said, Pujols should be the one shutting his hole.

Pujols was clearly reacting to something.

Villanueva did a fist pump after getting out of the jam, and Pujols started yelling at him.

Fact of the hour:

Despite spending virtually his entire career in the moderate/severe pitching parks of new Busch and Safeco, Ryan Franklin sports a career SLG against of .444.

short of knowing exactly what Carlos said, Pujols should be the one shutting his hole.

Uh, why? It's Albert's house, the Brewers are already kicking ass, why should he put up with a RP jawing about getting out of a jam? By getting out Joe F. Mather?

This seems like a good time to try the hidden ball trick.

The Brewers never do well in the "macho man" sweepstakes. Guys end up losing focus and give the game away.

Like last September against this same team.

Albert remembers. He's counting Milwaukee reacting and forgetting what's important.

I don't know how he managed it, but somehow Counsell has made his batting stance even more ridiculous this season.

Uh, why? It's Albert's house, the Brewers are already kicking ass, why should he put up with a RP jawing about getting out of a jam? By getting out Joe F. Mather?

Kicking ass? Come on. It was 3-1, with the tying and go-ahead runs on base (and Pujols on deck). I'm thinking Villanueva was less pumped at getting out Joe Mather than at not having to face Pujols with a one-run lead (or less).

I like Albert's attitude, but Carlos should pump his fist, and while I agree with Harvey, this is not a team that should do any talking, he was thrilled that Pujols will come up with the bases empty in the 8th.

Kicking ass? Come on.

I'm still scarred from the game yesterday. Brewers have a 15-1 lead in this series...and counting.

Albert has a nasty streak in him. He is always aware of a slight, even if it's imagined or unintended. He has had issues with more than a couple of guys.

I'm still scarred from the game yesterday. Brewers have a 15-1 lead in this series...and counting.

Well, yes, but the Cards could be outscored 15-4 in the series and still get a split.

Yesterday was probably the closest 12-0 game I've ever seen. The Brewers nickle-and-dimed the Cards offensively with bloop hits and Cardinal errors while Sheets scraped out of trouble. An exhausted Wellemeyer then gave up a HR to Braun before the mop-up men coughed up seven runs after the game was already over.

people take out frustration in different ways. pujols just realized they missed their best chance to tie the game and he blew his top a little.

So....let's count that as a win for Albert.

damn, he's a bad bad man.

While the focus is usually on the superstar, it's hard to fault Pujols for responding to Villanueva's outburst there. Albert's known as a reactionary, not an instigator.

We're up to 15-2!

Glaus is really, really streaky and he is really, really cold right now.

Like I said......

Ludwick is unreal. The Steinbrenner children must be licking their chops at the thought of signing him at age 36.

Reverse jinx, baby!

Also, I believe Albert took over the batting title lead with that 2B.

I still hate Glaus.

Come the Walrus.

I step away for a bit and come back to THIS? Ah, well.

I still hate Glaus.

Come the Walrus.

I'm not going to cry when they don't resign Glaus, but he's been damn good this year, and will probably be damn good next year.

Everyone feeling better now? Now that the "luck" has been redistributed as needed?

And no, there was no "luck" in those hits. Just that I am amused that here, on this site, the notion of luck is such a catch-all.

Pujols wins indeed, but a Mather base hit and I don't think it would be tied 4-3 cards but much worse.

The Brewers really Botallicoed this frame.

Crap... the throw beat him home, but he was still safe.

Wow, Kendall really blew that.

Maybe he didn't blow it - that was a really awkward hop.

it still might get worse.

Give it a rest, Harvey. I've done all the accommodating of your ego that I'm going to do tonight. If you want to spout nonsense without being corrected, you can go somewhere I'm not.

Glaus is a fine ballplayer, but I dislike him for basically the same reasons that I dislike Josh Beckett: an underachieving HoF talent who is basically an unpleasant human being.

I am becoming more empathetic to Yost's challenge. When you have multiple relievers who are purely mop-up this season you are hamstrung......

Basically.