Lohse gets the win, Cards one closer to wildcard

St. Louis Cardinals' Albert Pujols, right, rounds the bases in front of Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Ronny Cedeno after hitting a three-run homer, the 399th of his career, in the first inning of the baseball game in Pittsburgh, Monday, Aug. 23, 2010.

Cardinals win, St. Louis back on track with a three game winning streak. After destroying Pittsburg 10-2 at home pitcher Kyle Lohse picks up his first win since May 17th, this being only his second start since being on the disabled list for almost three months. I actually though he pitched a pretty good game even though it was against the Pirates, but he needed a win on his belt to get started. Despite the two run bomb in the sixth  by Garret Jones, Lohse pitched five solid shutout innings before being hooked in the 6th.

The Cardinals rallied in the first to set the tone of the game, something St. Louis does well. Pujols with another big game going 3 for 5 with a big three run blast in the first off Sean Gallagher's first pitch in relief for injured 1-11 Pittsburg starter Ross Ohlendorf. After a 7-0 lead the Larussa's bench started to kick in, two or the last 3 Cardinals runs were scored by bench players.

The Good:

Rookies: John Jay, when St. Louis first started him in the lineup I thought we were done, but he has shown me more than enough to accept him for someone on the team. He isn't a big power hitter but that .363 batting average over 66 games definitely sets him on the top of this lineup. Colby Rasmus, rookie of the year is in sight for this superstar, but does his ability have a limit? Colby needs to avoid injury. Jaime Garcia, 11-6 Era under three, he is everything you want in a rookie pitcher. If not for Wainwright and Carpenter he might be considered the star of the central.

Schedule: With not many games left to lose in the race for October, the cards have pretty fair schedule to end it out, with nine out of the twelve series they play being under the .500 radar it seems to me like the Cardinals should be able to catch the red hot Reds for the division title.

Big 3: The unbeatable power punch of Carpenter, Wainwright, and Garcia is 57-27 when starting for St. Louis and only 18-27 without these heros on the rubber. The cards would be the best team in the playoffs because you only need three decent starters to make it a long way, but Dave Duncan's big three rotation isn't good its so great its unbelievable.

Additions: Two great players were added this year, veterans Jake Westbrook and Houston's Pedro Feliz. Westbrook 3-0 Era under three. Feliz batting over .400 under the roof of Busch Stadium. Done.

P.S. no need to talk about Pujols, 33 homers, leading the league in rbi's, they speak for themselves.

The Bad:

Shortstop: St. Louis has no starting day in day out ss. Brendan Ryan batting under .240 now Larussa has Lopez playing short since the addition of Feliz and he only has 3 hits in the last seven games. Larussa will need to short this out if they want there lineup to be aces.

5 spot: Injury, this should not be a problem for a rookie, not a good sign. Colby Rasmus St. Louis's number five hitter is on the DL with a strained calf and will likely miss a handful of games before returning to this young gun lineup. The cards have no natural number five hitter without him they are lost with him, unstoppable.

Other 5 spot: Hawksworth, Suppan, Penny, Lohse all with a losing record and Era over five when starting in the five spot. Cause for concern Mr. Duncan?

Bullpen: Hopefully the Cardinals all-star rotation will be enough to put Franklin on the spot without breaking into the banged up bullpen. With all the injuries out in that spot past the left field fence, St. Louis no longer can rely on just Miller, Boggs, Macdougel, and Franklin. Can they heal in time or will they have the entire offseason to rebut?

Lets see if Albert Pujols can keep the thunder in his bat the rest of the series having ten homers in the Cards last nineteen and eight homers in twenty two games against the Pirates. "Alberts good everywhere," manager Tony Larussa said. "If he's not good in a series or two, he will be. It isn't anything about this ballpark or this pitching."

Tomorrow St. Louis will face off against Pirates ace Paul Maholm while sending there Cy Young candidate Adam Wainwright to the hill, Wainwright is 4-0 against can he stay undefeated? After Philadelphia's 3-2 loss to Houston tomorrow is the night for Cardinals to take control of the wildcard. Just a sidenote, but the Cardinals are 6-1 while facing the Pirates this year.

Thanks for Reading. Go Cards!!!!