St. Louis Vs New York Mets: The Good and the Bad

After coming off a sweep against the Kansas City Royals, the Cardinals dropped three of four from the New York Mets. Although they only managed to win one game, the Brewers also struggled against the Twins, keeping the Cardinals atop of the NL Central. Let's take a look at the good, and the not so good of this midweek matchup.

The Good

Picking up his first victory since May 19, Joel Pineiro was clearly the bright spot in the series for the Cardinals. His ability to get ground balls led him to a complete game, two-hit shutout. Not only did he throw a gem, he also brought his lumber to the yard, going 2-for-4 with a double and a single.

Chris Carpenter remained solid as well. Although he took the loss Thursday, Carp pitched very well, only giving up four hits and three earned runs in seven innings.

On the offensive side of the ball, Skip Schumaker and Brendan Ryan had success. Skip raised his average to .300 while having a hit in every match up, while Ryan had two multi-hit games and added to a very solid .308 average.

The Bad

Todd Wellemeyer was bad again. He has continued to struggle all year and has seen his ERA skyrocket to 5.53. Not anything new this time was his inability to locate his pitches, which accounted for four base on balls, ten hits, and five runs in less than six innings pitched.

While giving the Cards wins in his last two starts, Brad Thompson just couldn't cut it this time. Like Wellemeyer, he was touched up as well. Thompson gave up eight hits and was pulled after giving up five runs in five innings pitched.

On offense, the Cardinal bats just couldn't produce like they did in Kansas City, scoring only seven runs in three games, compared to the 29 in Kansas City.

Colby Rasmus showed no signs of coming out of his slump, picking up zero hits in seven at bats. That makes it five games in a row that Ras hasn't earned a trip to first base after going 4-for-5 in the Kansas City opener.