TEMPE, Ariz. — The St. Louis Cardinals have three saves so far this season and they are by three different players — and not one save is from the guy who broke spring training ostensibly as the club’s closer.

Manager Tony La Russa’s take on the ninth-inning jumble can be summarized: Get used to it.

After giving young gun Jason Motte two save opportunities and see him struggle in both, the Cardinals have elected to slide him out of the ninth and into an earlier inning, when available. In Monday’s 2-1 victory against Arizona, Kyle McClellan slid up into Ryan Franklin’s setup role, Dennys Reyes handled the lefthanded hitter for the final out of the eighth inning and Franklin pitched a scoreless ninth. Those three relievers, back-to-back-to-back, are the three who have saves. Motte is still waiting for his first.

“Starting from last year, we said that with the young guys they should be worked into this thing on a gradual basis,” La Russa said “They’re not ready for it. That’s what we are seeing. They need to work on it. We’re very high on both guys of these guys, very high on our righthanders. … It would be surprising if (Motte) was out there and he was in total control of his emotions and he’s making nasty pitches on the black.”

The end of the game seems like a good place to start the 10@10:

1. The other “young guy” in La Russa’s comment is Chris Perez, and all he’s done is own the ninth in Class AAA. Perez has yet to give up a run in four innings, and he struck out four against three walks. The Cardinals are noticing his quick start to the season, which includes a victory and two saves, and GM John Mozeliak said the reviews of Perez are as good as the line. “Very positive,” he said. On Monday, Perez pitched a scoreless, hit-less ninth for his second save of the season. There’s no doubt Perez will get a save in the majors this season — if not shortly — but how many relievers will have one before the arrives … now that’s a question.

2. Who gets the next save for the Cardinals?

   • Jason Motte
   • Ryan Franklin
   • Kyle McClellan
   • Dennys Reyes
   • Trever Miller
   • Josh Kinney
   • Brad Thompson

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3. Brian Barden’s go-ahead home run in the eighth inning last night was the first home run of his career. The utility infielder has two extra-base hits in the majors, and he reminded teammates and media last night what both have in common: They were both off lefthanded Doug Davis. Barden doubled off of him in 2007, as a Cardinal. Barden also received the traditional beer shower after the game. With some baseball teams, like the Cardinals, banning alcohol in the clubhouse, the suds have had to take a creative turn. The D’Backs had beer available in the visitor’s clubhouse. Barden got a glimpse of the beverage of choice: Pale Ale.
4. Chris Carpenter makes his second start of the season, and unlike Todd Wellemeyer – who faced a lineup that had some wicked numbers against him — Carpenter has one true, long-term nemesis lurking in the Arizona dugout: Tony Clark. The switch-hitting first baseman is 13-for-31 with a home run, two walks and two strikeouts against Carpenter. The rest of the team is 3-for-26 (.115) against Carpenter. And all three of those hits belong to one Felipe Lopez. The former Cardinal has three walks and three hits against Carpenter, and two of the hits are homers.
5. Parkway Central grad and Mizzou ace Max Scherzer will make his season debut today against the Cardinals. It’s a footing bookend for the righthander, who ended last season with a start against the Cardinals, on Sept. 24. What’s remarkable about that game and this game is there are only two players remaining on the Cardinals who had an at-bat against Scherzer in that game — Skip Schumaker and Adam Wainwright. Scherzer’s last inning of that start in September went like this: Aaron Miles single, Nick Stavinoha 4-3, Lopez F8, Adam Kennedy single and Josh Phelps K. Not one of those five batters is currently with the Cardinals; four are in other organizations. Scherzer faced 24 batters in that game, and only five of those plate appearances were by somebody still on the Cardinals’ roster.
6. Suggested Reading: Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster and NFL Films voice Harry Kalas has been mourned in many moving ways around baseball today, but Scott Rolen’s reaction to Kalas’ sudden death and his comments about Kalas are among the most poignant. In the same article, Toronto baseball writer Bob Elliott describes one of Kalas’ memorable night at a favorite ballwriter hangout on Tucker Ave. in St. Louis.
7. Yadier Molina got his first day off of the regular season Monday, but that doesn’t mean the Cardinals’ catcher took a break. Hours before first pitch and even before Arizona took its batting practice, Molina was out on the field working on his throws to second base. Preferably once a series, but at least twice a week, Molina likes to get out early and work on his throwing mechanics to second base. “I feel good about it,” he said, “but I know I need to work on it to keep it feeling good. You have to keep up on it. If you don’t work on it, it doesn’t stay sharp.”
8. FARM REPORT: Triple-A Memphis won 5-2 Monday vs. the New Orleans Zephyrs (nee Denver). Allen Craig went 2-for-3 and raised his average to .357. Tyler Greene sweetened his .176 average with a home run. Jess Todd continued as Perez’s setup man, striking out two in his inning. Blake Hawksworth struck out six and allowed two earned run on six hits in his five innings. … Joe Mather went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and is now hitting .083. … Double-A Springfield lost 7-3. Brett Wallace went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. Steven Hill, starting in the outfield, went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. Tyler Norrick pitched two innings and struck out four against two hits. … High-A Palm Beach was led by Jermaine Curtis, the 2008 draft pick. He went 3-for-5 with an RBI. Tommy Pham was 2-for-5 with an RBI and he’s hitting .353. Adam Reifer got his second save of the season with one inning of work. He allowed a run. … Low-A Quad Cities’ game was postponed.
9. The most remarkable thing about Orlando Hudson’s cycle Monday for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the first ever for a Dodger at Dodger Stadium, was … the triple. Dodger Stadium is a notoriously difficult place to hit a triple, annually among the hardest places to do so in baseball. ESPN tracks “Ballpark Factors” each year, and ballparks are judged on a scale where 1.000 is average and the park’s characteristics are revealed by how far away from 1.000 they are. Coors Field had a homer-factor of 1.299 last season, compared to Petco Park’s 0.743. When it comes to triples, here are Dodger Stadiums’ Park Factor (ranking) for the past seven seasons: 2008, 0.425 (30th); 2007, 0.583 (27th); 2006, 0.857 (19th); 2005, 0.421 (30th); 2004, 0.688 (24th); 2003, 0.368 (29th); 2002, 0.485 (28th).
10. Early Monday morning, Chicago police found the severed head of a goat at the Harry Caray statue outside of Wrigley Field. And this isn’t even the first time that it’s happened (click here for the YouTube video of a goat being cut down two years ago from the same place). The cops are treating it like a prank, which is better than the organization did last October when the Cubs had a priest bless the club’s dugout with holy water before the playoff series. Makes you wonder when a curse does become crippling, and what fun a fanbase must be missing without one.

One writer, while imploring Cubs fans to give up the goat, suggested maybe a St. Louis Cardinals fan was having a little fun early Monday morning. So, c’mon. Fess up.

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