You Can Only Hope to Contain Them

For a while, it looked like the Dodgers were going to be able to tame the new-look Cardinals.

Then the sixth inning rolled around.

This offense is definitely a different animal than the Cardinal offense we saw in May and June, especially.  This is the first time this year that they’ve gotten serious in four out of five games.  (There was a stretch in April where they had three straight games.)  They’ve already rallied from three runs down once since the Holliday trade (though they blew that comeback), something they were only able to do three times beforehand.  At least for the moment, you don’t feel the game is over if the Cards get down early.

The other thing about this offense is that it is so spread out.  The Cards scored 10 runs last night, but nobody had an overwhelming night in the box score .  Mark DeRosa did well, crushing a three-run homer late, and Yadier Molina had a couple of hits and a couple of RBI, but it was the grinding of at-bats, the piling on of hit after hit, that makes the offense so devestating.

Which means that, with no dominant offensive performance, you have to give the Hero tag to Adam Wainwrightfor his eight scoreless innings.  He didn’t necessarily blow past the Dodgers, but was able to contain things and make the pitches when he needed to.  It’s been great fun watching him and Chris Carpenter go on back to back nights, hasn’t it?  And with the way Joel Pineiro has been throwing, it’s three straight days of strong pitching.

On the flip side, it was a tough return to the lineup for Colby Rasmus.  No hits in three at bats and left one one.  At least he was able to score a run, so the night wasn’t a complete wash.  Hopefully that heel will continue to improve, especially since Rick Ankiel is now down with a groin issue.

A couple of different prognosis for the rehabbing major leaguers in the minors.  On the up side, Khalil Greene is apparently about ready to return .  I’m sure there is no rush on the big league squad’s part this time, what will the reinforcements already acquired, and Greene won’t be any more than a utility guy.  Hopefully that’ll work for him and get him playing again without a lot of the stress and mental anguish he was under.

On the flip side of that, Troy Glaus is going to have his back looked at .  This surely doesn’t help the odds of him getting traded this week, though obviously he’ll slide through waivers and be able to be traded in August.  But what can you get for a guy that’ll only give another team six weeks?

The Cards moved into first place last night and look to keep it, as well as win the series, against the Dodgers tonight.  It’s going to be a tall order, though, because the Dodgers are sending out Clayton Kershaw.  A lot of this team hasn’t seen Kershaw, though Matt Holliday has done all right against him in the past.  Kershaw’s had a strong July, though, and could test this new offense.

St. Louis sends out Pineiro to keep the run going.  Pineiro has struggled mightily with these Dodger hitters before, though.  The team is hitting over .350 against him, with Manny Ramirez leading the way with a .448 mark and 4 home runs.  We’ll have to see if his new approach will continue to be successful.

Don’t forget that the UCB Radio Hour is tonight!  A couple of new voices, Ben from Cardinal Twist and Bleacher Report and Dustin from Whiteyball , will be leading the discussion.  Call in and give them something to talk about!  Also, during the game, Fox Sports Midwest is having their live blog again right over here , so check that out as well.

Daniel Shoptaw is the founder of “C70 At The Bat,” where he regularly writes about his beloved St. Louis Cardinals.  You can find more of his work here .