FanNation

Give me relief

The Milwaukee Brewers pulled even with the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central standings the day before announcing their acquisition of 2007 Cy Young winner C.C. Sabathia.

What do the Cardinals need to do to keep pace in the division and wild card race? Acquire hitting, starting pitching, relief pitching?

The move that would have the most impact is relief pitching, particularly of the left-handed variety.

The Cards are tied in the NL with the Padres and Giants for the most relief losses (18) and only three NL teams (Rockies, Nationals and Pirates) have a worse bullpen ERA than the Cards (4.22).

Reyes recalled, Eckstein to DL, new Secret Weapon?

The St. Louis Cardinals recalled starter Anthony Reyes early Saturday following a 14-3 thrashing at the hands of the Oakland A's during which Braden Looper left in the fifth inning with shoulder stiffness after giving up 8 hits and 8 runs (7 earned) and utilityman Scott Spiezio took the mound in the final frame.

The club optioned reliever Kelvin Jimenez to make room for Reyes and promoted Brendan Ryan to help fill in for David Eckstein, the 2006 World Series MVP who has been hobbled by persistent back pain.

Kip Wells must go

It seems the consensus is growing: Kip Wells must go.

The St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher was the first in the major leagues to record 10 losses. He picked up his 11th loss Thursday night at the hands of the Kansas City Royals. He gave up 6 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks in 1.1 innings to move to 2-11 on the year.

What looked like a smart, low-cost off-season pickup has proven to be a disaster.

Mixing boxing and horseracing metaphors, St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz writes on his Bernie's Extra Points blog that Wells is just a bad pitcher and no amount of LaRussa-Duncan magic is going to make him anything else.

Cardinals feel the pain in K.C.

Even the mighty Albert Pujols couldn't keep his club from collapsing Thursday night.

Despite belting his 16th homer of the year off Kansas City Royals reliever Jimmy Gobble, Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals were pounded 17-8 and handed their first series loss in Kansas City since 2001.

Mark Teahen had two 2 triples and 5 RBI, and Tony Pena Jr. had 4 hits.

So let's recap this cross-state series:

On Tuesday night the Cardinals latest reliever turned starter, Brad Thompson, stinks it up, surrendering 10 hits and 8 earned runs in just 4.1 innings in a 8-1 loss.

Is Barry Bonds an All-Star?

Does a .285 average, 13 home runs and 30 RBI earn Barry Bonds a spot in the 2007 All-Star Game? Bonds is fourth in voting for NL outfielders.

Or does Bonds transcend numbers at the same moment he is seeking to top THE NUMBER, Hank Aaron's home run record of 755?

Is an All-Star Game in San Francisco without Bonds an injustice or poetic justice? What should Tony LaRussa do?