When I look at the records of the Cards and the Astros, I really wish for a moment that my defending World Champion Chicago White Sox (16 games over .500 and in 3rd place)could’ve switched leagues with the Cubs this year.
I’m a life-long Astros fan who has lived in STL for eight years so this week has been kinda fun for me. Not quite making up for the suckitude of the majority of the season, nor some of the puzzling moves/non-moves since the end of the 05 season (lacking offense completely, the best FA we could get was Preston Wilson? Really? Anyone bother to check his stats at Coors Field v everywhere else since he had joined the Rockies? Anyone?)
Its odd - I have a (grudging) respect for the Cardinals and their fans and really enjoy the Busch Stadium experience. But the past few months have subjected me to some of the whiniest cardinal fan behavior ever. Fact is, the whole NL sucks and whomever makes it to the WS will get absolutely clobbered by the AL rep.
Ooops - Pujols just hit a hr like eight gazillion feet to make it 4-2 STL over SD in the bottom of the eighth. Meanwhile, Astros-Pirates are tied 6-6 in the 11th. Thats the thing - one Cards win will likely derail any Reds/Astros hopes. So Cards fans - chill. You have the best manager in the league, the best player and the best starting pitcher (carp’s last two starts notwithstanding), along with the best garlic cheese fries in the upper deck concession stand behind third base. Taaaaaaaaaaaaasty.
time to finish watching this game and espn.com’s astros/bucs coverage.
ps - Cubs suck.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
You’ve been exposed to one of the odd quirks of Cardinal fan behavior. One reason the St. Louis audience got tagged with the “best fans in America” legend is because we’d rather see a good game (even if it means the Cards lose) than an ugly win. Unfortunately, the Cards have been losing ugly, which means the fans don’t get either of their wishes.
The Cards just got the third out in the 9th, finally ending the losing streak. Houston and Pittsburgh are still playing. Let’s see whether the Cardinal win inspires the Astros, or deflates them.
And with one majestic stroke of his bat, El Hombre makes everything right again. 
Can we just retire his number NOW instead of waiting?
The Cards are going to win the Central. They won tonight, and the Pirates lead the Astros 6-1 in the top of the ninth. the Cards play thre rest of their games at home, and the Astros are on the road.
Btw, The Royals aren’t going to lose 120 games either. Remember that thread that was started back in May?
Hate to break this to you, but the Astros and Pirates are tied at 6 in the 14th.
On the upside, their bullpen is toast. Lidge went 2, Wheeler went 3.
As a Cubs fan, let me say that I find all of this very exciting!
Of course you do. You’ve never had the chance to be involved in a discussion about the postseason. 
Astros and Pirates are in the 15th. They play again at 12:35 tomorrow before the Colt .45s head to Atlanta.
As you can see by my nick, about all I can say is:
Dear Pujols, who art a HOF, be remembered by your statistics. Your playoffs and HOF induction are inevitable, your victory be won, at home as it is on the road. Give us this season our playoff berth, and forgive us our STL doubting as we forgive the Cubs fans for being sad sacks without hope. Lead the Cardinals not into the morass of the common, but give us a red October, for yours is the OBP, SLG, BA, and HR until you retire.
So be it until the third coming of Stan the Man.
Yes, by all means, keep pitching to Pujols. Seriously, why do they still pitch to him? Did anyone else see the side-by-side comparison with that HR vs. the one from last year’s NLCS? Creepy.
Far be it from me to disagree with a future Hall of Famer, but I, well, disagree. Major league batters get a lot of at bats against lefties; about one third of all major league at bats involve lefthanded pitchers.
I’m sure mixing it up can sometimes help, but bear in mind that there are not that many good starting pitchers around. No team in baseball today has five good starting pitchers. All effort should be expended on getting the BEST pitchers available, irrespective of what hand they throw with.
Houston won tonight, and came back last night, so they have now won nine in a row. St. Louis just started against the Brewers.
And the Brewers scored two in the first.
Two more in the second. Hoo, boy, this is great!
Brewers up by 8 runs going into the 8th inning.
Today the Cardinals management ripped the St. Louis media for their negative coverage of the past week.
You’re not kidding. Someone at Viva El Birdos posted a GIF of last night’s homer, and I did a doubletake because I thought it was the Lidge homer.
Both of them, by the way, are perfect examples of El Hombre’s “I’m going to impose my will on you” face.
How do you give your team positive coverage when they’ve lost eight of nine and choked a big lead down to half a game? They’ll need real luck to pull themselves out of this slide and hang on.
I dearly love my hometown team, but I’ve always maintained that the St. Louis Cardinals are about the only team I know of who can snatch defeat right out of the jaws of victory.
Therefore, this latest performance, while disappointing, is pretty much par for the course.
Pujols’ homer on wednesday was majestic, and only about ten feet to the left from buying everybody a BigMac.
After tonights lost though we’re only a 1/2 game up Houston. With 3 or 4 home games left and Houston in Atlanta I’d give the Cardinals the advantage. The problem with Houston closing the gap is now Tony can’t switch up the rotation. They got to run Carp out on Sunday making him unavailable until friday (unless they feel like starting him on short rest).
Cardinals won big tonight; while Houston lost with the Rocket going. Central division lead is back up to 1 1/2 games with 2 or 3 to play.