TOWER GROVE — The premeditated celebration began the moment Bill Hall’s 10th-inning single landed Monday and winning run Casey McGehee crossed home plate. Immediately the Milwaukee Brewers bolted for their clubhouse, turning, as Tom Haudricourt wrote at the Journal-Sentinel, a walk-off into a run-off and again stoking the discussion about those brash and bold Brewers and their post-win ways.

Untucking. Posing. Behind closed doors. Or otherwise.

A rivalry that has its roots in Milwaukee’s public compliments and open emulation of the St. Louis Cardinals franchise a few years ago has turned decidedly spicy. It may have started with an exchange of beanballs back in 2007 that led to managers Ned Yost and Tony La Russa actually yelling across the field at one another. One Cardinals player suggested that it actually began with Bill Hall, and the slow ride they felt he took around the bases a few years ago after a go-ahead home run in the ninth. Milwaukee outfielder Ryan Braun, who momentarily thought about doing a snow angel at Busch Stadium last week after a diving catch, said he understands he’s not a favorite in the Cardinals clubhouse and doesn’t apologize for what he sees as part of his competitive personality. “They really don’t know me,” he said.

Regardless, the relationship between the Cardinals and Brewers has become … testy.

“It’s safe to say,” one Cardinal said a year ago, “we are not fans of those (untucking) guys.”

And that untucking has increasingly become a symbol of the teams’ distaste for one another. The Brewers whipping out of their shirttails after a victory started by Mike Cameron as an ode to his father who would do the same after coming home from work. It gained momentum last year when CC Sabathia joined his teammate in the practice. The Brewers continue to do it still. But on Monday they decided to take it into their clubhouse — an unspoken nod to the club they view as the biggest critic of their celebration. It could be because the Cardinals have just seen it so often. They are 0-4 this year against Milwaukee.

“We just decided to celebrate inside,” Cameron told Haudricourt. “We’ve been working on it for awhile now.”

The best way not to see what Milwaukee has planned next is to … oh … score some runs. And before we get back to potential celebrations, the offense is what is holding back the Cardinals so the offense is what will lead off today’s 10@10.

1. Tonight’s game at Miller Park is a rematch of the 1-0 Brewers victory that pitted Adam Wainwright and Jeff Suppan in a pitching duel akin to yesterday’s. While Joel Pineiro’s shutout of the Cubs was the flashpoint for the tremendous run of pitching the Cardinals have been on, Wainwright’s start against the Brewers was the hint, the early indicator. Starting with Wainwright’s 1-0 loss to Milwaukee and included every game of the Brewers’ sweep, the Cardinals starting pitchers have allowed just 13 earned runs in their previous 69 1/3 innings for a 1.69 ERA. They’ve needed every bit of that E, R and A. The offense ain’t helping. In that same span, the Cardinals have averaged 2.60 runs per game. The difference between playing for first place in the division tonight and a five-alarm losing streak is only, oh, one of the most historically successful pitching stretches in the club’s past three decades. Put another way: If the starting rotation gave up only eight more runs in the past 10 games — just eight; accidentally — their ERA would balloon to 2.73 and the offense wouldn’t be enough to cover it. (Aside: Kyle McClellan’s loss on an unearned run Monday was the first loss charged to the bullpen since April 28.)

2. If the Brewers are going to script their post-game celebration there’s no reason why the Cardinals cannot come to the ballpark with some plans of their own, right? Now taking your suggestions:

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3. Mentioned last week that Carpenter made his 100th start as a Cardinal and became the winningest pitcher in franchise history through 100 starts, better than John Tudor, Dizzy Dean and even Bob Gibson. Well, the Cardinals found another nugget from the 100-start milestone: Carpenter’s 571 strikeouts through his first 100 starts as a Cardinal came one shy of tying Gibson’s record of 572 in his first 100 starts. In 1963, Gibson then went out for his 101st start — against Houston — and struck out 10. Familiar? On Monday, Carpenter went out for his 101st start as a Cardinal and struck out … 10.

4. Last week, we discussed the “scoring” of a well-pitched game — a stat that ESPN.com keeps throughout the year to help differentiate one gem from another. It’s not alchemy. But it’s a tool. And it certainly puts the past two 1-0 losses to Milwaukee in perspective. The game “scores” from Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter in those 1-0 losses:

Wainwright … 24 outs … 4 ip past 4 … 7 K … 2 H … 2 ER … 0 UER … 1 BB … 79 SCORE

Carpenter … 24 outs … 4 ip past 4 … 10 K … 2 H … 0 ER … 0 UER … 0 BB … 88 SCORE

Carpenter’s 88 is actually the second-best score in the National League so far this season, edging his teammate Joel Pineiro’s shutout against the Cubs and tying what his Monday rival, Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo did against Pittsburgh earlier this season in another 1-0 win.

5. Heady times for twice-former Cardinals infielder Adam Kennedy. Since joining the Oakland Athletics 15 games ago, Kennedy is only the hottest hitter in the American League. His 4-for-4 day Monday raised his average to .441 since joining the A’s, and he has 13 RBIs. The A’s have played the heck out of Kennedy with Mark Ellis out of the lineup. Not bad for a guy whose no-promises arrival in Oakland seemed like just another step removed from the disaster that was in time with the Cardinals. “His performance in the game is nothing short of outstanding,” Oakland manager Bob Geren said Monday.  Times are a tad uglier for the team and former teammate he left behind. Like Kennedy, former Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen signed a minor-leauge deal with Tampa Bay during spring training. Isringhausen’s quest for his 300th save hit a roadblock Monday as he was the losing pitcher when Cleveland rallied from a 10-0 deficit to win. Isringhausen walked three and gave up the game-winning hit. … And, a cool tidbit from Kennedy’s 4-for-4 leadoff day against Seattle, from Elias Sports Bureau: Ichiro Suzuki also went 4-for-4, making it the first major-league game in 38 years that both team’s leadoff hitter was a perfect 4-for-4. That last time it happened was an Indians-Twins game in 1971 when Graig Nettles went 5-for-5 and Rod Carew went 4-for-4.

6. The Cardinals are paying Kennedy slightly less than $4 million to play for Oakland. They are paying Troy Glaus $11.25 million this season and aren’t sure when/if he’s going to return to the lineup. (And here’s a twist: Glaus is on a player option that the Cardinals insisted he exercise before they finished the deal that sent Scott Rolen to Toronto.) And today Khalil Greene, who is making $6.5 million this season, is expected to make his first start in more than a week. Around the horn, the Cardinals are fielding a rather pricey infield — $37.75 million, or more than a third of their total payroll. Of course, $16 million of that is Albert Pujols. The return on the other $21.75 million so far: A .208/.284/.307 batting line with six extra-base hits in 117 plate appearances, and a 2.72 runs created per 27 outs. (For context: Tyler Greene had a 5.21 RC/27 in his 13 games.)

7. FARMNIK REPORT: The Cardinals’ 2006 first-round pick, Adam Ottavino, slipped to 0-5 at Class AAA Memphis despite a sturdy if not superb start Monday. Ottavino pitched six innings and allowed two runs on five hits. He struck out eight against two walks. One of the hits he allowed was a home run. This season the righthander has a 4.50 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 40 innings. But that total is mitigated by continuing issues with his command. He has walked 25 and allowed 69 baserunners. … The Redbirds went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position but lost 2-1 in Ottavino’s start. Bryan Anderson went 3-for-3 with a walk, and he’s 6-for-13 in his previous three games. …  Center fielder James Rapoport snapped an 0-for-17 skid with his 3-for-4 day for Class AA Springfield. He tripled and scored three runs in a 9-2 victory. … Pete Kozma went 2-for-3 and scored twice. He’s batting .214. … Daryl Jones went 1-for-3, walked twice, scored two runs and had a two-out RBI. … Lefty Ryan Kulik got his first victory of the season, pitching six innings and allowing two runs on seven hits. … Quad Cities lost, 7-4. Farmnik regular Charles Cutler drove in two of the runs with a two-out single. Andres Rosales (2-3) walked four and allowed three hits in 3 2/3 innings. … In case you missed it, closer Casey Mulligan was promoted Monday to High-A Palm Beach.

8. Hall has made a habit of celebrating holidays with offensive fireworks. A few years ago he hit a walk-off home run on Mother’s Day with a pink bat, and if memory serves me correctly he continued to use that pink bat in the next game — or at least he asked if he could. Hall’s sense of the calendar:

Memorial Day 2009 … vs. Cardinals … Walk-off single to win in 10th.

Mother’s Day 2006 … vs. NY Mets … Walk-off homer.

Summer Solstice 2005 … vs. Cubs … First multi-homer game in career.

Labor Day 2002 … vs. Cubs … First career home run.

Anyone have a calendar that shows a holiday for today?

9. Mentioned this a little in the daily newsletter that the Post-Dispatch sends out to preview each day’s Cardinals game (subscribe here): There are many ways to look at the offensive spiral that the Cardinals have entered into. Bernie Miklasz called it nothing short of “historic” in his blog. One is the dip in production from specific positions. In the absence of Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick, Colby Rasmus and Chris Duncan have had expanded playing time in the outfield and in 144 combined at-bats they’ve contributed a solid 23 RBIs, five home runs, but also hit .201, slugged .382 and struck out 40 times against 10 walks this month. At third base, Joe Thurston and Brian Barden have gone a combined 15-for-95 (.158) this month, hitting two home runs, driving in a paltry total of four RBIs and slugging .295.

10. And then there is this: Proof positive that a 5-hour rain delay and aluminum bats do not mix. Spread the word. With the tarp still on the field and their game in the Big East Tournament delayed, players from UConn and the University of South Florida fill the time with … well, you’ve just got to see it to believe. This would be a heckuva of a way for the Cardinals and Brewers to blow off some steam in their rivalry:

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