Rough Road

A 1-5 road trip came to a close as the Cards fell to the D'backs 7-5. The Cards showed a bit of moxie in tying the game at 5 in the top of the 9th, but Kyle McClellan served up a 2 run homer to D'backs CF Chris Young. After getting swept at the hands of the Dodgers, you'd hope that an inconsistent team like Arizona might offer some relief. Sadly, that was not to be the case, and the pitching woes hit the bullpen. Carpenter wasn't spectacular and found himself having to pitch out of trouble a few times during the game -- and did help himself out at the plate by getting on base twice. The final 3 innings were handed to the bullpen, and 4 ERs later, the Diamondbacks took the rubber game of the series.

While it's hardly time to panic in Redbird Nation, you do worry a bit that this Cards team isn't quite living up to expectations as one of the better teams in the NL. The injuries in the rotation are hardly helping, and it doesn't look like the team will be able to make due with reinforcements from Memphis. Suppan's on the way, and you have to think Mozelik's working the phones trying to find more reinforcements (Hey, isn't Looper still sitting around waiting for a call?).

Next up -- interleague play, as the Mariners (speaking of teams that have not met expectations) come to St. Louis. The Mariners' offense has largely been MIA this season, so maybe this is a chance for the Cardinals to wash away the bad taste that the road trip left in everyone's mouths.