Around the NL Central: June 10 Edition

• Brewer fans would be well advised to show some RESPECT to Cards manager Tony LaRussa when St. Louis takes the field tonight against the Crew: LaRussa becomes the second manager to manage 5000 games when he hands in St. Louis' lineup card tonight.
• Reds third baseman Scott Rolen was on the shelf for four days with a tickle in his throat (fine, it was a little more serious than that), but he was back in his familiar station last night in Cincinnati's game vs. San Francisco.
• The Pirates, already missing regular catcher Ryan Doumit, lost backup Chris Snyder on Thursday, as Snyder underwent surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back. The Bucs summoned AAA catcher Wyatt Toregas to take Snyder's place on the roster.
• For a minute, it looked as if Cub outfielder Tyler Colvin hit a go-ahead, ninth-inning homer in last night's game vs. the Phillies. But the umps went to the replay booth and saw that a Fightin' Phan reached over the wall to grab the ball, and Colvin was sent back to second base. After the game, Colvin agreed it was the correct call.
• Injured Astro starter Wandy Rodriguez had a successful rehab start at AA Corpus Christi on Wednesday and is on track to rejoin Houston's rotation on Monday, in the finale of a four-game set vs. Atlanta.

Yesterday's action:

• A night after being held in check by Astro right-hander Bud Norris, St. Louis had its way with J.A. Happ, nickel-and-diming the left-hander for six runs in 5.1 innings en route to an easy 9-2 victory over Houston at Minute Maid Park. The game was decided in a five-run St. Louis sixth, when the Cards sent nine hitters to the plate and used three singles, three walks, and a double from Daniel Descalso to chase Happ from the game. Meanwhile, the 'Stros put plenty of runners on base against Cards rookie Lance Lynn (5 IP, six hits, three walks), but they couldn't cash those chances in, and four Cardinal relievers limited the Astros to one hit and one run over the last four innings.
• Milwaukee couldn't overcome a bad start from Yovani Gallardo, who lasted just four innings and gave up ten hits and four runs, and hideous days from Casey McGehee (0-4, 4 LOB, plus two errors) and Yuni Betancourt (generally terrible), in a 4-1 loss to the Mets. Our recap is here.
• Johnny Cueto held the Giants scoreless for seven innings, scattering four hits and striking out eight, and Francisco Cordero slammed the door in the ninth as Cincinnati claimed a 3-0 decision over San Francisco last night at AT&T Park. The Reds got all the offense they needed in the fourth innings, when Jonny Gomes (3-4 on the night) singled in Scott Rolen, and they tacked on two runs for good measure in the eighth and ninth innings to give CoCo some breathing room in the ninth.
• Chicago clawed its way back from a 3-0 hole to nip the Phillies, 4-3, in 11 innings in the City of Brotherly Love. Jimmy Rollins' three-run homer in the second staked the Phils to an early lead, but the Cubs scrapped together two runs to draw within one, and Geovany Soto tied the game in the top of the ninth with his fourth homer of the year. The Baby Bears scored the winning run on a throwing error by Placido Polanco, who threw low on Darwin Barney's grounder to third to hand the Cubs the victory.
• The Pirates couldn't quite get over the hump in their quest to move a game over .500, as Pittsburgh got blanked by Arizona, 2-0, last night at PNC Park. This game was scoreless heading into the top of the eighth, but the Snakes got on the board thanks to a two-run homer from Chris Young. The Bucs made D-backs starter Josh Collmenter throw 102 pitches in just five innings of work, but they failed to score against Collmenter and three Arizona relievers, scratching out just five singles and four walks, and dropped to 30-31 on the season.