.....................4thebirds...

There's no better way for a player who was "shown the door" by those who mistakenly believed he was no longer of value than to "show them a pair," of home runs that is, but either way, Jim Edmonds was two parts of a three-count that pinned a loss on the Cards in extra innings at Wrigley Field.

Upon hitting his first home run, Edmonds made it a point to give the bat a bit of flip in the direction of Tony La Russa in the Cards' dugouts. Read into it what you will.

Cardinal Nation should be proud of the former Cardinals' standout, not because he did so much to beat the Redbirds on Friday, but because he is playing us just as hard as he played when he played for St. Louis.

Now, how do the Cards beat the Cubs on Saturday?

No easy answer there, except to do what the Cards always do: play hard every game as it comes.

The positive in Friday's loss is that the Cardinals found out they can play with the division's--and the league's--best. Now they have to take the disappointment of an extra-inning 3-2 loss and use it to motivate themselves to play that much harder in Saturday's game. There's really not a whole lot more to analyze.

Plenty to worry about, though, if that's your thing. Seven games behind the Cubs now looks like a cross-country trip on a tricycle, considering how tough the Chicago team is this year. How critical is this series? At this time of the season? Should the Cubs sweep, the Cards would fall to nine games out. Shudder to think it.

A split or a series win, on the other hand, keeps the Cards a lot closer to contention, at least from a momentum point of view.

And things won't get any easier, considering where the next leg of the road trip takes the St. Louis ballplayers. Yet by the time the Florida trip ends, the Cards will have a good idea whether they're going to be able to compete with the high-caliber teams they'll have to play better than in order to go anywhere in post season.

As for the actual game, it was one of those grudge matches, the best kind for true fans of baseball, as well as their favorite team(s). Low-scoring, pitcher's dueling, Ted Lilly for the Cubs, Braden Looper for the Cardinals. It would be Bob Howry (5-4) picking up the victory for the Cubs, however, the game having been knotted at 2-each.

Ryan Franklin (4-5) was saddled with the loss, in his second inning of relief, giving up a walk, then a single, then intentionally walking a batter because the Cubs had base runners on the corners. With the bases loaded and no out, the strategy enacted a force out at any base.

The Cubs next hitter, however, Henry Blanco, beat the strategy with a walk-off single to left center field.

On the day, the aforementioned Jim Edmonds had his pair of solo home runs. The Cards two runs were produced by a Joe Mather home run in the third and an Adam Kennedy ground ball that scored Skip Schumaker.

NOTE: There was no LIVEcast today due to an important meeting in Paris, Illinois. Saturday's LIVEcast is in limbo for the same reason, but if there is any way we can get it going, even a little late, we will, of course. Sunday's series finale is on our schedule.

Something good happened to the Cards today.

Izzy.

Oh, how the throngs have eased away from him, during a time when he needed Cardinal Nation the most. But Izzy has kept at it, as he always has, because, basically, if you don't give up completely, there's nothing else to do but keep at it.

And today, a glimmer of hope, because Izzy threw a tons of strikes in a variety of speeds and slants and curves and cuts and straights and locations. In other words, Izzy really looked as if he was in command and had his stuff.

Certainly, Tony La Russa isn't going to toss Izzy right back into the closer's role, but then again, if the game conditions dictate, don't be surprised if there Izzy stands, on the hill, in the next dicey situation.

It's just baseball, ever-changing, and on a daily basis. Today, it was bullpen up, offense down, and Lohse didn't do all that bad. Not his greatest day, either, but a starter getting through seven innings for the second day in a row is certainly promising for the team.

And today, Izzy gave up nothing but headaches to Dodgers' batters that were swinging at a "returned from the dead repertoire." There wasn't a zombie pitch in the bunch.

Yes, a glimmer, and an important one. It's things like Izzy's performance today that can be one of several subtle actions that lead to more subtle actions, and before you realize it, you have a team that has fought long and hard enough to have put it together and are ready to make a better run for a win, a series, a playoff spot, and so on.

The nice thing about baseball, as well, is that you get to keep trying, and that's something that Izzy has never quit doing. While some were busy booing, Izzy was busy trying. Period.

The Cards may have enjoyed a couple big hitting games during the three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but it was Manny Ramirez who kept plugging away, hitting home runs with consistency, today's two-run shot enough to down the Cards all by itself.

Taking the rubber match, 4-1, on getaway day, the Dodgers got some quality innings out of their 20-year-old starter, Clayton Kershaw. Allowing only one run on three hits in seven full innings, Kershaw threw a boatload of pitches early, then settled down. His innings finished with four walks and seven strikeouts.

Lohse pitched well, but gave up all four runs early. Down one run in the third, Ramirez took Lohse for 412 feet worth of fly ball that, unfortunately, was much farther then the left field wall. The two-run blast put the Dodgers out in front by three.

Jaun Pierre would triple home a run in the next inning, the Dodgers going up 4-0.

The Cardinals wouldn't get on the scoreboard until the fifth inning, Cesar Izturis singling home Aaron Miles for the Redbirds' only run.

Lohse admitted after the game that he made two pitches he'd want back, one to Pierre and one to Ramirez.

Lohse also stated that it would've been nice to travel to Chicago on a sweep.

Manager Tony La Russa stated that sweeping series is hard to do, and that the Cardinals ran into a good pitcher [Kershaw] today.

All focus now swings over to the upcoming three-game series with the Chicago Cubs, at Wrigley Field. Division momentum will ride on the next three games.

On-deck: The Cards will attempt a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers today at 1:15 p.m. at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The game ends the current Cards' home stand.

Probables: LAD: Clayton Kershaw LHP (1-3, 4.02) vs. STL-Kyle Lohse RHP (13-3, 3.73)

Birds' Perch: Third place is a familiar setting for the Redbirds these days as they keep winning, but just to keep pace with the NL Central Division leading Chicago Cubs. The Brewers continued to hover slightly over the Cardinals in second place, by a half-game. The Cards trail the Cubs by 5 1/2 games.

Wainwright bumped up: Rehabbing Adam Wainwright was supposed to get a rehab start on Saturday, the likely location, Memphis. Now that rehab start has moved up a day to Friday, also in Memphis, the home of the Class AAA affiliate Memphis Redbirds.

Homer a dirty word to Pujols: Or so it seems, reporters can hardly talk to Albert Pujols these days about ...shhish, home runs. The slugger star gets real testy whenever the subject comes up, accusing the media of "stupid" reporting. Hate to say it, Albert, but when you hit a grand slam in front of 40-thousand-plus fans, a granny becomes the sort of thing folks want to read about in the papers. At the same time, Albert should know that most fans and reporters realize he is out there working his tail feathers off to contribute to the team, and we all know a lot of the perpetual questions get tiring. Hey, we get tired of hearing the same-ole, same-ole, too. So how about we ask you about the ball you hit hard?

Lopez contributes right off the bat: In his first at bat as a Cardinal, newcomer Felipe Lopez singled. He was 1-for-3 on the night, having played left field in his St. Louis debut.

Perez looks faster: Possibly the new closer for the Cards, relief pitcher Chris Perez showed up to Busch Stadium, just activated from Triple-A Memphis, and had to come into last night's game a bit earlier than a closer normally does. Manager Tony La Russa called upon Perez with four outs remaining, and the rookie reliever responded well, running into no trouble he couldn't pitch through.

Perez's fastball seemed more lively, but that may have been due to a slider he threw that he never seemed to get to the last time he did a stint with the major league club. One thing was for sure, however: those two pitches used in random patterns played havoc on Dodgers hitters last night.

3 Ps 4 U: Huh? Simply put, we've noticed that Pineiro, Pujols, and Perez made for quite a trio of impact, an unlikely but effective combination. Bet the statmasters never put that one together.

Batavia Muckdogs' starting pitcher Arquimedes Nieto remained perfect at 5-0 as the A-short season affiliate team blanked the Auburn Doubledays yesterday.

Reliever Joshua Hester recorded his first hold while closer Adam Reifer notched his 13th save.

Chris Swauger went 2-for-2 with a double, scoring the Muckdogs' only run.

Brett Lilley also went 2-for-2.

Finest ballplayers, that is, not the those other, well ... bad enough we have to talk about a loss, but a 2-0 shutout probably didn't put anybody on the Low-A Quad-Cities River Bandits in a good mood.

Despite the blanking, Domnit Bolivar went 1-for-4 with a triple, and recent draft choice Brett Wallace had a 2-for-4 game.

Justin Fiske struck out five Missions as the Double-A Springfield Cardinals shut out the San Antonio squad 1-0 yesterday.

Relievers' Luke Gregerson and Luis Perdomo lent their hurling hands, Gregerson earning his sixth hold while Perdomo tallied his third.

Fernando Salas notched his 22nd save on the season, representing yet another pitcher in the St. Louis Cardinals organization who may one day make a bid for the role of closer with the parent club.

Each team had eight hits.

James Rapoport went 1-for-4, scoring the AA-Cards only run. Rapoport's hit was a double.

Mark Shorey had a 1-for-4 game, his hit a triple.

Home runs by Josh Phelps and David Freese were not quite enough help for the Triple-A affiliate Memphis Redbirds to overcome the Sacramento River Cats yesterday.

Phelps went 3-for-4 in the game. Freese went 2-for-4, also hitting a double.

Tyler Greene went 3-for-5 with a double, collecting two RBIs.

The Redbirds actually outhit the River Cats 11-10, but the 7-6 final was the "bottom line" in the contest.

The Johnson City Cardinals (rookie league affiliate) fell to the Pulaski Mariners yesterday, 5-2.

The Mariners outhit the R-Cardinals 11 to eight, but there were some plate standouts for the R-Cards.

High-A affiliate Palm Beach Cardinals' pitching can hold a team down, one pitcher after another, while their own squad scores, well, however many they want.

Sounds easy. Probably not. But that's the PB Cards rolled yesterday at Roger Dean Stadium in Florida, beating the Daytona Cubs 4-1.

Starting PB pitcher Shaun Garceau struck out for in his role, his record now reflecting seven wins against three losses. Reliever Pete Parise earned his first hold in the win, and no-doubt-about-it closer Francisco Samuel notched his 24th save.

One has to wonder when Samuel will move up in the minor league ranks, as closers are at a premium in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

Daniel Descalso has also become a familiar name due to his offensive production at the High-A lever. Descalso went 2-for-3. Brian Cartie went 2-for-4.

Doubling was Peter Kozma, which was his hit out of three at bats. Kozma was recently promoted to the High-A club.

The St. Louis Cardinals' Low-A affiliate Quad-Cities River Bandits were shut out by the Cedar Rapids Kernals last night.

With only four hits, there wasn't much Bandits' offense, but Domnit Bolivar did go 1-for-4 with a triple.

Brett Wallace went 2-for-4.

Albert Pujols went a perfect 4-for-4 with a double and a grand slam to help struggling starting pitcher Joel Pineiro and the team to a victory last night.


The St. Louis Cardinals took the three-game series as well, from the Los Angeles Dodgers, and have a chance to sweep today at 1:15 p.m., an afternoon game on "getaway day," before the Cards travel to Chicago for a three-game set in that city against the NL Central's leaders.


The Cards jumped on the board first, Adam Kennedy scoring on a wild pitch by Dodgers' starter Derek Lowe in the first inning.


Manny Ramirez would have none of it, however, blasting a solo home run in the next half-inning, teammate Angel Berrora tripling home a run in the same frame, flipping the lead over to the Dodgers, 2-1.

Ramirez then singled home Matt Kemp in the third inning, extending the Dodgers lead to 3-1.

Pineiro kept plugging away, as he has been for weeks, without a lot of good results usually. Just the same, he worked through the innings waiting for the Redbirds' offense to come alive.


Ryan Ludwick answered quickly, singling Pujols home in the third. Not long after, Yadier Molina singled home Ludwick, and the game was tied at 3-all.


Pineiro then got a real lift after holding the Dodgers scoreless in the fourth, Pujols launching a grand slam into the left field seats, the Cards suddenly up 7-3 with one swing. The next batter, Ludwick, belted a homer as well, solo, of course, since Pujols had just cleared the bases. Ludwick's team leading 29th homer added one, making it 8-3.

Pineiro did a lot to help himself get a win while helping his team keep pace with the Cubs and the Brewers when he went farther than the fourth inning. Both the fifth and the sixth innings were one-two-three's respectively. The Brewers managed to clip Pineiro for one run in the eighth, cutting the lead to four at 8-4.


When Joe Mather got a pinch-single in the seventh, then stole second, he needed only wait around for Skip Schumaker to single him home to inch the Cards ahead by five once more, 9-4.


Brad Thompson came on in relief for the eighth inning, giving up two runs before Cardinals' manager Tony La Russa brought in Chris Perez to see if he could pull off a four-out close. Perez was activated today, and although La Russa didn't say it out loud, it was obvious Perez was going to get a shot at closing if the game conditions dictated the opportunity. Well, the game conditions did, however early it occurred.

Perez worked his closing with a 9-6 lead, getting into a position in the ninth that found the Dodgers attempting to rally as they had the previous night. The closest Joe Torre's team got, however, was with the potential tying run on-deck in the form of Manny Ramirez. Perez, however, got Russell Martin to ground out on a slow-roller to third baseman Troy Glaus.

It was Perez's first major league save. He struck out four.


The Dodgers had a few offensive pains. One was Casey Blake, who went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles. Three other Dodgers' hitters had doubles, including Kemp, Angel Berroa, and James Loney. The aforementioned hitters were responsible for eight out of the Dodgers 11 hits on the night.

The Cardinals had 17 hits, 11 of them due to four hitters: Pujols, Ludwick, Kennedy, and Izturis. Pujols accounted for four of the team's nine runs, his grand slam taking care of those. Pujols also doubled and singled twice.


Ludwick went 3-for-5, Kennedy went 2-for-5, and Izturis went 2-for-3.

Another Cardinals's hitter of interest was newcomer Felipe Lopez, who went 1-for-3.


The game time was 2:56.


Game attendance was 42,581.

photos by Barbara Moore

The Cards picked up Felipe Lopez days after he was released by the Washington Nationals.

A middle infielder hailing from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Lopez has major league experience, and in fact, was an All-Star in 2005.

According to the St. Louis Cardinals Official Web Site, Lopez is 28 years old. He is a switch hitter.

According to statistics compiled on the Washington Nationals Official Web Site, Lopez had played in 100 games this season. He had 76 hits in 325 at-bats for a batting average of .234 and started 76 games at middle infield positions, 69 of those at second base.

Lopez has played with Toronto, Cincinnati, and Washington.

This season, he has 20 doubles and 25 RBIs.

The Cardinals are bringing Lopez straight to the major league ball club, optioning Brendan Ryan to Triple-A Memphis since, according to manager Tony La Russa, he will get more at bats and playing time then he was likely to currently.

What hasn't been explained is what the Cardinals are going to do with yet another infielder.

The obvious difference to the club, however, is that Lopez brings much more experience to a team that is still in the hunt for a division title, if not the Wild Card spot in the NL.

The Cardinals have some pretty good talent in their minor league system in a variety of positions, but the time for testing them at the major league level has slipped away with less than a third of the season remaining and two bonafide contenders ahead of the Cards right now in the Brewers and the Cubs.

Lopez eliminates at some of the anxiety of "new meat" on the field. Regardless of Lopez's current level of play, one thing is for sure: he won't be out on the field trying to figure out how the Bigs works.

Ryan Ludwick launched an 11th inning home run ball that landed on the grassy incline over the center field fence, the Cardinals narrowly avoiding a heartbreaking loss.

After the Dodgers rallied against reliever's Ron Villone and Jason Isringhausen to tie the game in the late innings at 4-apiece, Cardinals' manager Tony La Russa had to be wondering where he would get the innings from out his beleaguered bullpen should the game run on toward midnight.

Chris Carpenter made his second start, pitching as well as could be expected for five complete innings, allowing only three hits and no runs. Then the rains came, and although Carpenter may have been able to re-warm after a sit-down of nearly an hour, La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan felt there was no need to push things at this stage. Carpenter's night was over, but he left with a 4-0 lead.

Adam Kennedy, who was 3-for-6 on the night, singled home Cesar Izturis in the fifth, and in the next Cardinals' at-bats, pinch-hitting Rick Ankiel brought a second run home the hard way, getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

The Cards failed to do anything else with the bag-jammed situation, but Albert Pujols lent a big bat in the seventh, hammering Dodgers' reliever Chan Ho Parks' first pitch into the left-center field seats with Kennedy aboard.

Up 4-0, Brad Thompson started the string of relievers for the Cards that followed with Kyle McClellan, a rookie reliever that some say is being overused already. Both Thompson and McClellan allowed nothing, however.

It wasn't until left-hander Ron Villone came in that things began to unravel, a familiar and frustrating theme for the crowd at Busch Stadium, most of whom had stayed through a couple of lengthy rain delays. Villone gave up a solo home run to the first Dodger he faced, pinch hitter Andruw Jones.

La Russa brought in closer Jason Isringhausen, and thing really went south. After throwing a ground out, Isringhausen gave up two straight singles to Andre Ethier and Russel Martin, respectively, then walked Manny Ramirez. The walk to Ramirez didn't break anyone's heart, as dangerous a hitter as has proven himself.

The next hitter, James Loney, spoiled that theory, hitting a squibber, a ball that rolled slowly up the first base side near the foul line. Isringhausen rushed over, but rushed himself trying to pick up the ball and fumbled it. In defense of Isringhausen, the play would've been close. The Nationals were now within two runs 4-2.

Still in a double play situation, Jeff Kent drove a single to right field, scoring Martin and reloading the bases, the tying run on third base in the form of Ramirez.

Casey Blake hit a sacrifice fly to left field, Ramierez tagging and scoring the tying run.

Mark Sweeney then laced a line drive to the right side, but first baseman Pujols snagged it to end an inning that found a soaked Cardinal Nation booing their displeasure from the seats.

Dodgers' manager Joe Torre went with reliever Cory Wade for the ninth and tenth innings while La Russa showed Ryan Franklin in the tenth and Jaime Garcia in the eleventh.

It was Dodgers' reliever Jason Johnson whom the Cards took advantage of in the bottom of the eleventh, Ryan Ludwick providing the heroics with Kennedy on base and one out, skyballing a home run onto the grassy knoll past the center field wall.

Ludwick's walk-off homer brought the entire dugout onto the field to "greet and beat" him once he'd rounded the bases.

The win gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the three-game series with the Dodgers. Additionally, the Cardinals were able to keep pace in the NL Central with both the division-leading Chicago Cubs and second place Milwaukee Brewers both winners earlier.

Brad Lidge almost choked bigtime, but held on to close on the Cardinals and keep his perfect save record intact at 28. To be clear, this season, Lidge has never blown a save.

He allowed a run in the bottom of the ninth as Troy Glaus hit himself a birthday present, a solo blast that ricocheted off the facing of the second tier, down the left field line, to the left of Big Mac Land, the ball coming back to strike the foul poll.

The skyshot brought the Cardinals within one run at 5-4, and before the inning was over, the Cards would fill the bases. Lidge, however, bore down on a couple of rookies, Nick Stavinoha and Joe Mather, both of whom struck out on a steady diet of perfectly placed sliders on the outside corner and low and away as well.

Starter Brett Myers matched up well against Todd Wellemeyer, Myers pitching six innings, giving up only two runs on four hits. The Cards were leading 2-1 when Phillies' manager Jerry Manuel began going to his bullpen.

Wellemeyer also went six innings before Cards' manager Tony La Russa gave him the hook. The right-hander allowed four hits, struck out three, and gave up one run, a homer to Chase Utley.

Left-handed reliever Ron Villone started the bullpen parade for the Cardinals, as La Russa would be forced by game circumstances to rifle through several relievers. After Villone, in order of appearance: Kyle McClellan, Jaime Garcia, Russ Springer, and Ryan Franklin.

La Russa admitted in post game interviews that he made a mistake by using Springer too many days in a row (last three game and four out of the last five). In a Phillies' four-run, eighth inning, Springer gave up a three-run homer to pinch-hitting Shane Victorino in the eighth, the runs produced enough to provide the game-winning punch.

Ryan Ludwick hit a solo home run for the Cardinals in the fourth, keeping his bat hot since the All-Star break.

Chad Durbin (4-2) recorded the win for the Phillies while Garcia (0-1) absorbed the loss.

The Cardinals have today off, then start the last half of their six-game home stand versus the Los Angeles Dodgers tomorrow night at Busch Stadium.

Cardinal Nation will get a chance to see hitting standout Manny Ramirez, as he was recently traded to the west coast team from the east coast Boston Red Sox.