As ever, the Cardinals are coming off controversy.

St. Louis is coming off of Houston series in which star Albert Pujols barreled into Astros catcher J.R. Towles late in Tuesday’s game.  That followed Towles was involved in another collision at home plate with third baseman Troy Glaus on Monday.

Although Pujols called the Astros clubhouse to apologize about the collision, Astros reliever Brandon Backe confronted Pujols on Wednesday before the game during batting practice, where words but nothing else were exchanged.

That’s not the only excitement around the St. Louis Cardinals this season.  The team is markedly different than the 2006 World Series championship team.  Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen are gone, and only Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina (Bengie’s brother), and Adam Kennedy remain as the cornerstones of that team.  The team is being restructured with young outfielders Chris Duncan and Skip Schumaker, and free agent infielders Glaus and Cesar Izturis.

 But the rotation has been the biggest overhaul.  Of the five starters on the championship team, none are left.  The team has three starters who were on that team, but all were working as relievers.  But the team has a 2.41 ERA, 2nd best in the majors, and that’s powering the team’s division lead.

However, the Cards have only faced two last place teams (The Washington Nationals and Houston Astros) and a team that’d be in last place if it weren’t for the Giants (the Colorado Rockies), so they have a lot to prove.


The Giants, at least, are coming off the high point of their young season so far.

They won two walk-off games in the exact manner the team claimed they would start doing so.  Bengie Molina had two home runs Tuesday, including the 11th inning walk off.  On Wednesday, the pitching staff pulled out a shutout, with a 9th inning walk off double to win the game 1-0.

The team has a long ways to go, however, before things are really good.

The Giants 20 runs are dead last in the majors.  As is their batting average, their on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.  Simply put, their offensive prognosis does not look good.  And the team’s 5.30 ERA is 28th in the league, although sometimes it seems to be better than that.

Still, the Giants two-game win streak has them out of last place in the National League.  The Astros have dropped to 3-7, behind the Giants 3-6.

Okay, so as far as silver linings on the clouds go, that’s like the silver lining peeling off ten-year old silverware from the marriage that broke up eight years ago.  But its something.



Wainwright started things off right against Washington, pitching eight strong innings, giving up just two runs.  The 26-year old is emerging as one of the brighter stars on the St. Louis rotation after moving into the role last season before being a reliever.  Wainwright had a 3.70 ERA in 2007, and a 3.12 ERA as a reliever in 2006.

Correia really stepped up last season to make a claim for a rotation spot, but had some problems in his last start.  He’ll come home, where he’s been historically been somewhat better.  With Sanchez’s sharp start on Wednesday, now Correia will have to pick things up to keep his rotation spot when Lowry comes back.


Lohse will be making his third start, and he hasn’t yet given up a run.  It’s a big change for Lohse, who has a career ERA of 4.78, and he’s spent each of the past two seasons split between two teams.  He’s been particularly effective against left-handers, which has been key for his success.

Zito’s been the opposite.  His 6.30 ERA prompted a round of strong boos from the home crowd as he was introduced for the home opener.  The reasons for the poor performance remain mysterious, but the result is the same.  Zito’s first home start will be important for him to turn around the boos, and if he can’t now, he may not be able to for a long time.


Wellemeyer joined the Cardinals last season, and the Caridnals moved him to starting.  He has responded well, and after two starts, he has a 2.25 ERA this season.  Wellemeyer has been one of the swing performers for St. Louis, and his continued success will be key to theirs.

Cain has been anointed by the fans as the team’s ace, even if the team hasn’t quite gone there.  However, Cain struggled against San Diego, giving up four earned runs, five in all, in 4 1/3 innings.  The way the Giants have played might help push Cain to a quick rebound.


Thompson pitched a scoreless 6 2/3 innings in his season debut.  However, he went just four innings in his next and most recent start, giving up three innings.  If there’s a pitcher the Giants could exploit and hit hard, it could be Thompson, who just converted to starting last season, with a 4.66 ERA as one.

Each of the Giants’ first two wins came with Lincecum on the mound, which should be no surprise.  Lincecum hasn’t been a shutout pitcher, giving up one run in each of his first two outings.  But he has been strong none-the-less, and has energized the team.


Note: SFDugout.com will be simulating the Giants using MLB 2K8 and a popular console all season long.  These games are simulations, and do not involve any people playing the games at any point.  Reasonable care has been taken to match roster moves and injuries, but these simulations may not be 100% accurate with the big league team’s play at any time.

Correia led a pitcher's duel into the 8th inning to start the series., when the Cardinals finally pulled off a run off the bat of Brandon Barker, but the Giants came back in the bottom of the 9th to tie it on a home run by Jose Castillo.  The game went into the 14th, but it was Troy Glaus hitting a home run off of Brian Wilson to take the win 2-1.

Rajai Davis led the team in hitting going 3-for-6, and nearly half the team's hits.  Correia gave up 11 hits and one walk in eight innings, allowing just one run and striking out seve.  Tyler Walker had a good outing, pitching scoreless three innings, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out four, and remains unscored upon.  Brian Wilson gave up the home run, his only hit allowed, in two innings of work.

The followup saw Zito gave up a double and a double to lead off the first, giving up a run, but Ludwick was caught stealing third base to clear the bases, which was lucky since Glaus hit a home run to make it 2-0.  Albert Pujols added a three run homer in the 3rd to make it 5-0.

Clay Timpner hit an RBI single with the bases loaded in the 4th for his first cyber-hit, and his first cyber RBI.  But Pujols hit a single home run in the 8th, his second of the game, to give the Cardinals the final 6-1 margin.

Three Giants went 1-4, Tiimpner, Rajai Davis and Aaron Rowand, but SF managed just five hits total in the game.  Zito finished with five runs scored on seven hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings, bumping his ERA to 5.89.  Keiichi Yabu worked 2 2/3 innings of relief, giving up just one run on Pujols' homer, one of four hits he allowed.

In the third game of the series, Cain cruised with five strikeouts until the 5th inning, when he gave up a two run homer to Cesar Izturis followed by a solo shot to pitcher Todd Wellemeyer, giving the Cards a 3-0 lead.

Things looked bleak with a 3-0 deficit until the 8th inning.  With Joel Pineiro coming in from the bullpen, Brian Bocock hit his first career cyber-homer, followed by a Lewis cyber-homer, and it was suddenly 3-2.  But the team couldn't get over that last run, and fell 3-2 to the Cards.

Aaron Rowand went 2-4 on the day, in addition to Lewis and Bocock who were each 1-4 with their respective home runs.  Cain had a decent line, with seven innings pitched, four hits and no walks with five strikeouts.  But the three runs gave him his first loss of the cyber-year.  Jack Taschner remained unscored upon with two innings of relief, though he did give up three hits and a walk.

In the final game of the series, Lincecum also cruised until the fifth, when a Troy Glaus double turned into a single run.  It would be enough to defeat a depleted Giants offense.  Brandon Barker added a 9th inning home run, which led to a 3-run rally for St. Louis.  St. Louis won 4-0.

Bengie Molina remained warm with a 2-4 day, but neither Winn nor Rowand ahead of him were on base to take advantage.  Lincecum was allowed to go eight innings, and he struck out eight.  But he also gave up eight hits and two walks to lead to the three runs.

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