Adam Wainwright

The Cardinals head into Cincinnati on Monday looking to make up two games in the standings on their rivals, the Reds. For most of the season, the two teams have been locked in a to-the-death battle for first place in the National League Central. Who wins this three game series could likely have a major impact on the pennant race going forward.

With three of the National League's best starters taking the mound for St. Louis, they have the early edge in this series.

He was just the remedy the St. Louis Cardinals needed after the 20-inning marathon loss against the New York Mets on Saturday. 

It wasn’t certain what we’d get from the Cardinals and Mets on Sunday night. After all, they did just finish a 20-inning game the night before.

Of course, the players were going to be tired, relievers overworked from the night before and everyone else pretty much mentally exhausted from six hour and 53 minute marathon.

One big question was going to be about the availability of the relievers on both sides, as 19 Mets pitchers and 16 Cardinals pitchers were used in Saturday night’s game.

Adam Wainwright is coming off a season where he posted career bests in wins, earned run average, strikeouts, games started, and innings pitched.

The scary thing for opponents is that Wainwright didn’t just beat his career bests last season—he shattered them.

His previous best in wins, 14, was replaced with a National League leading 19; his best ERA, 3.12, was replaced by a 2.60 ERA; his career best strikeout total of 136 was upped to 212, and his previous career high of 202 innings pitched was increased to 233, which was also tops in the NL.

The National League Cy Young Award will be announced early Thursday afternoon, and there are a trio of pitchers with viable claims to the trophy.

Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, and Tim Lincecum are the front runners to win, but one of the main things to keep in mind as the results are announced is that it is rare to see two pitchers from the same team vying for the Cy Young.

For this reason, I see Carpenter and Wainwright splitting votes and weakening the chances of either to take home the honor. 

After reading one too many articles about trade ideas for the "desperate" Atlanta Braves, I figured it's time we took a journey back into franchise history and remembered the types of moves we've made in similar situations.

For every McGriff deal, there's been a Teixeira.

The deal may sound good at the time (finally!

The story of the past week for St. Louis Cardinals fans was twofold: the continued success of the starting pitching and the return of Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick.

The week began with a Sunday finale against the in-state rival Kansas City Royals. Joel Pineiro was solid in his seven innings, giving up just three runs. The Cardinal offense could not produce, however, as the Royals' three runs proved to be enough for the victory.