Good evening from Busch Stadium…

The sky peeled open and the rain came pouring down less than 15 minutes after Troy Glaus ended a lengthy and zig-zagging game with a solo homer in the bottom of the 9th to beat the Mets, 8-7.

 It was Glaus’ second homer of the game, and he finished the evening with four RBIs.

The Cardinals, who squandered two leads in the game, rallied from a 7-5 deficit to win.

Glaus is warming up to Busch … and warming up in general.

Remember the way Glaus struggled at home early in the season? Remember the (apparent) allergies that impacted his vision, but only while hitting, and only at Busch Stadium? It was weird stuff.

 But Glaus clearly has gotten settled in his new digs.

Since April 27, he’s batting .294 at Busch, with an OBP of .361, and a slugging pct. of .561.

Seven homers and 23 RBIs have gone into those totals.

Glaus experienced a power shortage through much of May.

From April 28 through May 30 he had one homer, with a slugging percentage of .347. Cardinals fans complained about him and some even attributed the power decline to Glaus’ discontinued use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The low HR total wasn’t what the Cardinals expected from Glaus, who bombed275 homers in nine-plus seasons before arriving in St. Louis. 

“He likes it when the weather heats up,” manager Tony La Russa explained late in May. “When it gets hot, he gets hot.”

Glaus’ career splits didn’t reveal any obvious trend in that direction; generally he had higher slugging percentages in the season’s earlier months. But if Glaus feels more comfortable when the heat is up, then who are we to argue?

Since May 31, Glaus has 11 homers and a .654 slugging percentage in 123 plate appearances. His batting average over that time is .299, and his OBP is .390.

After Wednesday’s slams against the Mets, Glaus’ season totals were .272 / .376 / .480 with 13 HR and 54 RBIs.

One development (other than weather) could explain the surge: Glaus’ swing returned to normal over the last five weeks or so. In the opening two months, when Glaus hit the ball in the air, he sent it to the opposite field (right) around 30 percent of the time. That percentage has dropped, to around 20 percent vs. RHP, and 26 percent vs. LHP. He’s pulling the ball more, or hitting it to center.  That more natural stroke has amped up the power.

Glaus has played outstanding defense at third base. His revised zone rating (from the Hardball Times) of .741 is the best among NL third baseman. No, Glaus isn’t as slick or mobile as Scott Rolen, who leads all MLB third baseman with a RZR of .857. But Glaus is much better defensively than what I was led to believe. And he’s been a terrific presence in the Cardinals clubhouse, which makes him a better fit for this team than Rolen.

GM John Mozeliak made a fine trade in finding a solution to the Rolen / La Russa spat.  Rolen is having a solid year for the Toronto Blue Jays. Because of an early-season injury, Rolen has about 70 fewer at-bats than Glaus. His batting average (.284), OBP (.375) and SLG (.464) are fine, but Rolen has only six homers and 26 RBIs.

Had Rolen stayed here, would the clubhouse chemistry be as positive as it is right now, with Glaus in the haus?

I like Rolen, but I doubt it.

The edge in this transaction, at least so far, goes to St. Louis.

Damn, it’s raining hard here at Busch, as I finish writing…  

-B