Sweep! Sweep! Sweep! Cardinals Put Cubs Under The Rug

There's nothing quite like a sweep of the Cubs to kick off a long weekend.  Or, really, any weekend!

I think it is safe to say that Adam Wainwright is back.  I've always taken the "found a flaw" comments with a grain of salt, but Wainwright has shown much more command and consistency since those comments.

This means the NL Central has to be worried now that Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright are running back to back in the rotation.

As much as I'd like to give the Hero tag to Albert Pujols for taking the I, not out of team, but out of Big Mac, it has to be Wainwright, doesn't it?  He capped an amazing series for Cardinal starters by getting two outs in the ninth and allowing only one run on five hits and, again most importantly, only one walk.  

The increased command of the strike zone that Wainwright has shown in the last two games is the biggest reason that I feel confident this correction is lasting.

Pujols does seem to be shaking out of the slump he's been in recently.  The mammoth home run in the first was a great kick start to the game, and he had three extra base hits in the series.  He always seems to play pretty well against Kansas City, so hopefully he'll continue to mash this weekend.

Nice to see Colby Rasmus get another RBI.  It's interesting that he leads the team with 12 RBI this month.  With Rick Ankiel still not back (seemingly now on a day-to-day type of evaluation), Rasmus has continued to earn his keep and apparently has won center field as well, with LaRussa saying Ankiel will go to right on his return.

Another tough night for Yadier Molina.  Zero for four with two left on.  I don't think hitting in the fourth slot is agreeing with him.

Something I noticed last night, I believe it was, was Ankiel sitting next to Khalil Greene in the dugout.  You have to think that if there's anyone on the team that can identify with Greene's mental state, it would be Ankiel.  Maybe he can help get Khalil on track.

Bernie Mikalsz has a few notes up about LaRussa's lineups and the upcoming Kansas City series.  I admit, I was one that wasn't sure about last night's lineup, but it worked out.  Whether it would have if someone like Wellemeyer had been on the mound, I don't know.  Nice to see the tip to UCB member Pip in there.  (Pip is the author of the blog Fungoes.)

So the Cards ride this momentum into a showdown with the other surprising story in the state.  Kansas City has slacked off some, but is still right in contention in the AL Central.

The Cardinals are three games better than them in the standings and are a game closer to first, but KC has always been a tough obstacle for St. Louis to get over, even when they aren't any good.

The first game has Todd Wellemeyer going up against Kyle Davies.  Wellemeyer, of course, was a Royal before being put on waivers and coming to St. Louis to restart his career.

Todalion (that's his Twitter handle, even if he doesn't use it much) hasn't faced the Royal hitters much, but when he has, he's been dominant.  Only David DeJesus and Mark Teahen even have a hit off of him.

With Wellemeyer's struggles this year, either this is just what the doctor ordered or those career numbers are going to spike upwards.

Davies has about as much experience against the Cards as Wellemeyer does the Royals and the success rate is close as well.  No one has gone yard against him and Skip Schumaker is the only one with two hits against him.

A reminder that the UCB Progressive Game Blog will be based on tomorrow's game against the Royals.  You can see the rundown of which blogs are taking which innings over at our official site.  Plan on doing some reading this weekend as you see the game in a whole different way!