Good evening, good morning …1. Red(bird) Hot: After sweeping Milwaukee, the Cardinals are 43-19 (.694) since July 1. In MLB, only the NY Yankees (46-18) have a better winning percentage (.719) than St. Louis during this torrid stretch of baseball. It’s no coincidence that the Cardinals have the best overall ERA (3.21) and the No. 1 starting-pitcher ERA (3.14) in the majors since July 1. Meanwhile, while the offense certainly has improved since the acquisition of Matt Holliday, let’s keep some perspective. (I heard a St. Louis TV guy say that Holliday “single handedly” carried the Cardinals to their currrent status). Cardinals’ pitchers are 11th in run support since July 1. So it’s not as if they are winning games because the lineup is on a rampage. The strength of this team remains its pitching, especially the starting pitching. Kudos to pitching coach Dave Duncan, who apparently will be getting some national props on the pages of Sports Illustrated soon.

2. It’s the Pitching, Part II: The Cardinals’ starters have an ERA of 3.55 for the season. If that holds up, this would be the 15th-best ERA posting by a Cardinals rotation since 1954. And the 3.55 starter ERA would be the best of the Tony La Russa / Dave Duncan Era in St. Louis, which commenced in 1996. To this point, the best ERA by the starters under TLR/DD is 3.61, back in 2005. And the 3.55 starter ERA would rank No. 11 by a Cardinal staff since the pitching mound was lowered following the 1968 season. This season, only the SF Giants (3.45) have a better starting-pitching ERA than the Cardinals in MLB.

* ADD PITCHING NOTE: Since May 16, Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright have combined for a 28-9 30-8 record and a 2.21 ERA. Simply amazing.  I go back to May 16 for a couple of reasons. First, Carpenter was on the DL for the first couple of weeks in May and made his first start back on May 20. Second, Wainwright struggled early on, and after being dissatisfied with a start at Cincinnati on May 10, Wainwright received some meaningful advice from Carpenter in a bullpen session. Wainwright made some mechanical/technical adjustments, and started rolling in his next start, on May 16. That’s when both of these guys began cranking out a sequence of great starts…

3. A Kind Word on Joe Thurston: The Cardinals’ utility man has been largely phased out since the team added third baseman Mark DeRosa and 2B-SS Julio Lugo. Thurston has only 22 at-bats since July 24. And Thurston had only 15 ABs from the time DeRosa got here (June 28) until July 24, when Lugo made his Cardinal debut. So Joe isn’t getting much playing time, and he’s only 1 for his last 14. Thurston may not make the postseason roster. We’ll see. But I’m a big believer in recognizing the scope of an entire season, and I won’t forget the way Thurtson played early in the season, when the Cardinals were really scrambling to find a way to fill the third-base position. From the start of the season until May 3, Thurston had 69 plate appearances. He batted .279 with a .362 OBP and a .443 SLG. And when he played in a game, the Cardinals went 15-7. He also had 12 RBIs as of May 3; only three Cardinals had more up to that point. Thurston played a valuable role in helping the Cardinals push off to good start to the season. I know it’s easy to dump on the guy now, but I think it’s only right to give him a tip of the cap for his early-season contribition. I’ve said it before: the Cardinals have pulled away in the second half of the season, and they’re going to win the division by a safe margin. In retrospect, it will look like an easy stroll. But it wasn’t. The Cardinals had to deal with a lot of adversity early, and guys like Thurston kept them moving forward until the pitchers clicked in, and lineup help arrived.

4. We Suppose He Likes the National League (UPDATED): As a Cardinal Matt Holliday is batting .379 with a .432 OBP and a .702 SLG. He has 12 homers and 42 RBIs. He might be the NL’s best all-around hitter since joining the Cardinals’ band of brothers on July 24. Through Wednesday night, here’s where Holliday ranks in key offensive NL categories since July 24:

BA: .379, 1st

OBP: .432, 6th

SLG: .702, 1st

HR: 12, T-7th

RBI: 42, 2nd

OPS: 1.134, 1st — and Albert Pujols is 2nd over this period with a 1.122 OPS

XBH: 26, 5th

Total Bases: 113, 1st

5. Bernie Bytes: If he starts, Rams QB Marc Bulger will have a chance to make a strong statement Sunday in Seattle. He can shut a lot of folks up (for a week, anyway) … Don’t look now but the Colorado Rockies have won 6 in a row and 8 out 9 and are  only 2.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. Question: is this the best-case scenario for the Cardinals? St. Louis finishes with the best record in the NL, the Rox win the West, and the Cardinals play the Dodgers in the first round… One thing, though: the Rockies and Dodgers close the regular season with a three-game series in LA, and Colorado is 3-12 vs.  the Dodgers this season… Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina and Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria have hit into the most double plays in the majors this season, 26. Molina is nearing the team record (not one he wants) for most double plays in a single season. Ted Simmons hit into 29 in 1973, and Albert Pujols hit into 27 DPs in 2007. Molina’s speed is a big factor, of course. But another: his high ground ball rate. This season when he hits a ball in play it’s a grounder 66.2 percent of the time; that’s the 15th-highest GB rate in the majors. (By the way, Skip Schumaker ranks second on that list with a ground-ball rate of 79.3. The Mets’ Luis Castillo is No. 1 on the list with a GB rate of 80.2) … the SF Giants continue to waste terrific pitching; they rank 28th in the majors in runs per game, and have scored only 26 runs in nine games in Sept. The Giants are suddenly four games behind the Rockies in the NL Wild Card derby … Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum indicates he’ll be ready to make his next scheduled start, on Monday, after missing one turn with back spasms. If Lincecum misses another start, his drop in innings pitched would help the Cy Young cases of Carpenter (especially) and Wainright … Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo made the right call to start rookie offensive tackle Jason Smith at RT in the opener, and the sooner Smith transfers to LT, the better… Blues president John Davidson tells us that returning defenseman Erik Johnson is bigger and stronger with a skating weight of 238 pounds as the Blues prepare to report to camp on Saturday. Davidson says that veteran forward Paul Kariya is in the best playing shape of his NHL career. JD describes Kariya as “ripped,” … Davidson also said that defenseman Eric Brewer is feeling better and the team is more upbeat about Brewer’s chances of appearing regularly during the season, though Brewer won’t be be ready for the start of camp.

Thanks for reading…

-Bernie