News:
Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan has gone home to be with his wife, who recently had brain surgery done to remove a tumor. Best of wishes to the Duncans in what, I'm sure, is a tough time.
Here's a shocker: Both Cardinals' Manager Tony La Russa and Reds' manager Dusty Baker say they still haven't given up on 2011.
Park Ridge officials are looking to remove Honorary Jim Hendry signs on Northwest Highway. I liked Mayor Dave Schmidt's comments which I won't repost here because they are literally 2/3 of the short article.
Yesterday's Games:
The Brewers beat the Cubs 5-2. You can find our recap here.
The Reds beat the Nationals, 4-3. Washington had been winning 3-1 going into the sixth, but scored a run in that frame, as well as the seventh to tie it up. Then, in the ninth, Miguel Cairo singled in Drew Stubbs for a walkoff victory. Brandon Phillips went 2-4 with two RBI, Todd Frazier was 2-5 with a run and an RBI, and Dontrelle Willis picked up a hit in all three of his plate appearances. Willis also gave up just three runs on six hits and five walks in seven innings.
The Cardinals beat the Pirates, 5-4. The Pirates scored three runs in the first inning before Yadier Molina tied the game in the second with a three run home run. The Pirates would again take the lead in the fourth with Jose Tabata doubling in Ronny Cedeno, but this was another game decided late as Lance Berkman hit a two run homerun--his thirtieth HR on the season--in the bottom of the eighth to give St. Louis the lead back. Kyle McClellan, who also pitched the eighth inning, shut down Pittsburgh in the ninth to close out the victory.
The Astro's lost to the Giants, 2-1. Not much scoring in this one as San Francisco scored both their runs in the fifth while the Astros' got one in the seventh on an RBI groundout from Clint Barmes. J.A. Happ had a good outing, giving up four hits and two runs (one earned) in six innings while striking out four.
Updated Standings:
| W | L | GB | Last 10 | Streak | Elimination # |
|
|
Brewers |
79 | 54 | -- | 7-3 | W1 | -- |
| Cardinals | 69 | 63 | 9.5 | 4-6 | W2 |
21 |
| Reds | 65 | 66 | 13.0 |
6-4 | W2 | 18 |
| Pirates | 61 |
70 | 17.0 | 3-7 | L2 |
14 |
| Cubs | 57 | 75 | 21.5 | 3-7 | L2 | 9 |
| Astros | 43 | 89 | 35.5 | 5-5 | L1 | Done |
The Wild Card race looks like this right now:
| W | L | GB | Last 10 | Streak | |
|
Braves |
79 | 54 | -- | 7-3 | L1 |
|
Brewers* |
79 | 54 | -- | 7-3 | W1 |
| Giants | 70 | 62 | 8.5 | 4-6 | W1 |
| Cardinals | 69 | 63 | 9.5 |
4-6 | W2 |
| Reds | 65 |
66 | 13.0 | 6-4 | W2 |
And here are the playoff participants, if the season ended today:
| W | L | GB | Last 10 | Streak | |
| Phillies (East) | 83 | 46 | -- | 5-5 | L2 |
|
Brewers (Central) |
79 | 54 | -- | 7-3 | W1 |
|
D-backs (West) |
73 | 59 | -- | 4-6 | W4 |
|
Braves (Wild Card) |
79 | 54 | -- |
7-3 | L1 |
Today's Matchups:
Chris Carpenter (8-8, 3.57) and the Cardinals face off against Jeff Karstens (9-7, 3.09) and the Pirates.
Mike Leake (10-8, 4.09) gets the call for the Reds against the Nationals, who will have Ross Detwiler (2-3, 2.61) pitching.
Brett Myers (3-13, 4.95) takes the mound for the Astros as they take on the Giants and the always intimidating To Be Announced (---, -.--).
Yovani Gallardo (14-8, 3.51) is starting for the Brewers against the Cubs and not-as-bad-as-his-ERA Ryan Dempster (10-9, 4.60).