The St. Louis Cardinals lost another player today.

Before the season even started, they lost their best starter, Adam Wainwright, to Tommy John surgery. And now, they’ve lost Albert Pujols for 4-6 weeks due to a fractured left forearm.

Pujols was hurt on a play at first base in the sixth inning. He was fielding a long throw and Kansas City’s Wilson Betemit collided with his glove hand as Pujols was pulled toward home.
The Cards’ three-time MVP went down to the ground in pain.

Obviously, this greatly weakens the Cardinals. Sure, Pujols was having the worst year of his career, but even that’s still quite above average. Plus, he’s been warming up.

But there is one silver lining I can think of. Now manager Tony LaRussa the opportunity to meddle with the lineup on a daily basis. It’s been years since he got to play around with that third spot!

Boxscore

At long last, an interleague win.

The Cincinnati Reds won their first game against an American League opponent in 2011, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1. That makes the Reds 1-5 on the season, having been swept previously by the Cleveland Indians.

They narrowly escaped being swept by the Blue Jays, though, thanks to Bronson Arroyo’s best pitching performance of the season. He went 8 innings, striking out 5 and allowing one run on 5 hits and a walk. He also evened his record to 6-6.

The offense continued to have problems pushing runners across the plate. The team managed the bare minimum required for a victory, and it was all thanks to the bat of Miguel Cairo. After Joey Votto got a hit in the 6th, Cairo hit a two-run homer to give the Reds the lead.

Francisco Cordero closed the game out with a perfect 9th for his 15th save.

With two weeks remaining of All-Star voting, only he of the spectacular plays and active Twitter life, Brandon Phillips is leading the voting in his position. Now, while Phillips is all manner of spectacular, but this line-up ought to be loaded with deserving Reds starters. Consider Joey Votto; consider Jay Bruce; hell, consider Paul Janish. Credit where credit is due.

Of course, there is the part of me that wants Pujols to win to drive up his price for whatever sucker team signs him next season, especially since that will probably be the Cardinals.

But that’s consolation prize talk. There are still 2 weeks of voting to send our boys to the game properly. So get out there and vote! Your 25 ballots per email address do make a difference.

Boxscore

Two Sweeps in Two Days

A day after the Cincinnati Reds swept the Los Angeles Dodgers, the St. Louis Cardinals were swept by the Washington Nationals. It’s been a good few days to be a Reds fan.

What’s interesting is that the Cardinals failed to win in three different ways. In the first game against the Nationals, the bullpen was the culprit after a solid start. Then yesterday, the Cardinals pitching and offense both failed to show up at the park and they lost by the 10-run rule: 10-0.

Today, a third way to lose: the walk-off home run.

Kyle Lohse started and wasn’t very good, allowing 4 runs in 6 innings. But the offense was present enough to keep the game close. In the 9th, the Cardinals tied it on a solo shot by Yadier Molina to send the game into extras.

And in the very first extra inning–the 10th–current Cardinals closer Fernando Salas gave up a 3-run home run to Danny Espinosa for the Washington win.

St. Louis has now lost 6 games in a row and are 3-7 in their last 10. Their wonderful skid has seen them plummet from first place. They are one game behind the Milwaukee Brewers and one game ahead of the Reds.

Like I said, it’s been a good few days to be a Reds fan.

Boxscore

West Coast Sweep?

The Cincinnati Reds swept the Los Angeles Dodgers. On the road.

That’s right, the Reds traveled to the west coast–the coast that has derailed so many seasons in the past–and may just have re-railed their season.

Travis Wood started today, pitching 6 innings of 1-run baseball. He allowed 5 hits and walked one, but was good/lucky enough to keep the Dodgers from ever scoring more than once. I’d say that’s the power of good defense, right there.

The bullpen was more than up to the challenge after that, with Jose Arredondo, Bill Bray, and Nick Massett never letting the Dodgers creep closer.

The offense was represented primarily by something that’s been missing most of the season: Scott Rolen’s bat. Rolen went 3-5 and drove in 3 of the Reds’ 7 runs. Fred Lewis and Ryan Hanigan each drove in a pair, as well. Hopefully, manager Dusty Baker can keep Rolen healthy and sharp for the rest of the season.

And a defensive gold star has to be given to Jonny Gomes, who had his best defensive game of the season. You can view his impressive magic trick of turning a double into an out here.