Sunday Summary: St. Louis Cardinals Catch West Coast Fever

GOOD

***Ryan Ludwick—Before a bad series-ending game on Sunday, Ludwick had raised his batting average ten more points this week. He hit two more homers and drove in eight more runs. He’s been the best hitting outfielder in the NL this year.

***Adam Wainwright—Although his ERA is still barely above 3.00, a lot of Cards fans have been worried about Wainwright. After two shaky starts, he was lights out against L.A., throwing seven innings and letting in only one earned run.

***Kyle Lohse—Lohse appears to be back on track since suffering from an “ouchy shoulder” after his hot start to the season. He’s thrown 12 innings in his past two starts, good for 10 Ks and only two ERs.

***Chris Perez—I want that Cubs fan that wrote on my Chris Perez article to step forth and admit he was wrong. He ragged on me that Perez wouldn’t get a shot this year as a rookie. Wrong.

Perez is probably going to get a chance at the Cardinal’s closing job before the year is over. He was electric in closing out a 4-0 win on Saturday night, striking out the side after giving up a leadoff single. He consistently hits 95 and above on the gun, and mixed in his slider and curve nicely as well.

BAD

***Joel Piñiero—Not much went wrong for the Cards this week, but Piñiero had another shaky outing, failing to go at least six innings again, and blowing a lead. He claims to have pain in his groin, so the Redbirds are skipping his start on Monday to get him extra rest.

NEUTRAL

***Rick Ankiel—Rick only played in three games this week prior to Sunday, after shoulder problems a week ago. But, in the three he did play in, Ankiel mashed three hits in eight ABs, good for a homer and four RBI.

***Albert Pujols—Pujols lost 19 points on his BA this week, and hitting Padres’ pitcher Chris Young with a comebacker really seemed to shake him up through the rest of the week. Hopefully “the battery effect” will wear off soon, and Pujols will get away from any negative mental effects.