St. Louis Cardinals: A Band-Aid On The Bleeding

Yesterday, I looked at the career numbers for the Cubs against Joel Pineiro and thought, perhaps, Tony's idea to flip him and Kyle Lohse should have been followed up on.  Today, I'm glad that it wasn't.

Pineiro had everything working last night, throwing a complete-game shutout at the Cubbies.  While the offense wasn't really clicking either (not surprising against Ted Lilly), it doesn't take much to win in that case.  Yadier Molina's first inning RBI single was all that was necessary, but seeing Colby Rasmus go yard again was a nice sight.  Including the washed-out bomb, he's gone deep four times in six days.  He looks like he's getting comfortable, even though his average is a little low.

The question about Rasmus is, what happens to him starting tonight when Rick Ankiel is activated from the disabled list?  There's some indication that he may get to keep center field, at least for a while.  Now that he's starting to get into a groove, it'd be great to see him playing on a daily basis.  Whether that will continue after Ryan Ludwick returns or not is a different story.

Returning to Chris Duncan for the Goat last night, with an 0-3, 2 strikeout night.  Not that many people were doing stuff against Lilly, though.

Tonight could be a really big night for the Cards.  Not only should Ankiel come back, but Chris Carpenter is set to start.  Carpenter has had some troubles with the Cubs, especially Alfonso Soriano, but having him back on the hill should give the team quite a boost.   They run up against Ryan Dempster, who has faced the Cards twice already this season and has a 1-1 record and a 5.25 ERA to show for it.  Skip Schumaker will be in the lineup, as he has some great numbers against Dempster.

Don't forget it's Wednesday, which means UCB Radio Hour.  Still not sure who will be hosting, so you may have to put up with me, but there should be plenty to talk about!  Call it at 646-929-1758 between 9:30 and 10:30 Central time!