TOWER GROVE — One of the bedrock rules of October is pitching wins, and it’s the pitching that the St. Louis Cardinals have received recently — and the pitching only — that supports a bouquet thrown their way this week in the current issue of Sports Illustrated.

It seems some baseball players think the Cardinals have got the goods to win it all.

At least more of think the Cardinals do than, say, the defending champs or the New York Yankees.

Brad Thompson, the human yo-yo, pitched the Cardinals into a position to win Tuesday night, 5-2 against the Cincinnati Reds, and moved the Cardinals into a tie for first place in the National League Central. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies have a better winning percentage than the Cardinals. And other teams have noticed. Every so often, Sports Illustrated dispatches its local correspondents to ask players a series of poll questions. This week’s: Which Team Will Win the World Series?

The answer is in the current issue of Sports Illustrated, but it seems like a good place to start the 10@10 …

1. Nine percent of the 341 players polled picked the Cardinals as the answer to the poll. That put the Cardinals tied for third among the picks, and behind only the LA Dodgers in the National League. The Boston Red Sox led the way with 31 percent, the Dodgers were second at 22 percent, and Toronto tied the Cardinals at 9 percent. The Chicago Cubs ranked fifth at 6 percent. The poll mentions that it was conducted from mid- to late-May, just as the Blue Jays began their fall from the heights of the AL East. It was also during that time that the Cardinals were struggled — and are still struggling — to scratch out more than three runs a game. Yet, their peers put them ahead of the Phillies (3.1 percent) and Yankees (3.6 percent). I imagine the Cardinals did not carry the Milwaukee precinct.

2. Skip Schumaker’s 14-pitch at-bat Tuesday night against Bronson Arroyo was the longest at-bat, by pitch count, by a Cardinal this season. (One viewer went back over it on his DVR and reported, via Twitter, that it lasted 9 minutes.) It came three pitches shy of Rick Ankiel’s 17-pitch at-bat last April against Carlos Villanueva and three pitches shy of the longest at-bat so far this season in the major leagues. According to a search over at Baseball-Reference.com, there have been 4,491 plate appearances this season to go seven pitches or longer. Went through all of them to learn that there have been 18 that lasted 12 pitches, eight that lasted 13 pitches, four that went 14 pitches and one, the outlier, that lasted 17 pitches.  One batter, pride of Salmen High and Cubs infielder Mike Fontenot, has been in two at-bats that lasted 12 pitches or more. (He homered to end of one of them.) And one pitcher, former Cardinal reliever Russ Springer, has had two at-bats with 12 or more pitches. One of his was a 14-pitch humdinger. The five, including Schumaker’s, that have gone 14 pitches or more:

Garrett Atkins, COL vs. Rich Harden … 14 pitches … April 15 … result: K

Freddy Sanchez, PIT vs. Chris Sampson … 17 pitches … April 16 … result: F8

Jose Lopez, SEA vs. Russ Springer … 14 pitches … May 1 … result: GW single

Todd Helton, COL vs. Osiris Matos … 14 pitches … May 6 … result: HR

Skip Schumaker, STL vs. Bronson Arroyo … 14 pitches … June 2 … result: K

3. Speaking about Schumaker: On Monday, the Cardinals leadoff hitter went 0-for-4 with four groundouts. On Tuesday, he went 2-for-3 with a strikeout and two groundball singles. No surprise there. Entering Tuesday’s game, of the balls Schumaker puts in play, 79.8 percent of them are on the ground. That is the highest percentage in the majors.

4. Closer Ryan Franklin collected his 13th save of the season Tuesday, rifling through the Reds’ lineup in the ninth with just 10 pitches. It is the ninth save of the season for Franklin that he got by throwing less than 12 pitches total (continuing that theme introduced in No. 2). Franklin has heard plenty of creative catcalls from the crowd concerning the unruly growth of facial hair that he’s cultivated on his chin since being named closer. It’s like a ZZ Top topiary, and it needs a nickname. Matthew Leach (of MLB.com) and his better half have been calling it Franklin’s “Chin Gerbil” for the past few weeks. I called it a  “Chin-chilla”, and late Tuesday night Brad Thompson suggested “Chin-na Pet.” Time to have a little fun with the poll and let the readers adopt a nickname for the hair on the Cardinals’ closer chinny-chin-chin:

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5. In a companion blog entry that ran a few days ahead of his article on Albert Pujols and the Intentional Walk, The New York Times baseball writer Jack Curry runs through the “Many Hitting Faces” of the hightops-wearing Cardinals first baseman. Curry writes:

Pujols is a smart hitter. He stressed that he can detect when pitchers are trying to challenge him or dodge him. Once Pujols gleans that information, it is his job to attack, decide if it is worth straying out of the strike zone to swing or accept the free base.

And that sets the stage for the exploration that the Times did a few days later. Curry wrote that more and more teams are pitching around Pujols — something we’ve seen unplug the Cardinals’ offense in several recent series — and the article explores whether Pujols will be the one that breaks Barry Bonds’ record. No, that other record. That IBB record. The answer is no. But the Times put together and interesting chart on Bonds’ record that gave context to the rash of IBBs that Pujols is headed for this season — protection or not.

6. San Francisco lefty Randy Johnson shoots for his 300th victory tonight, and he’ll do so in the same jersey Bonds hit that No. 756 a few years ago and … against the same opponent. Those lovable Washington Nationals sure do love their ringside seat for history. They coughed up No. 756. They recently offered Jamie Moyer his 250th career victory, and tonight against the Nats Johnson could become the 24th player in history to win his 300th game. Johnson will the sixth lefty to win 300, the second-oldest at the time of his 300th win and the tallest of the 300th club. He also will have done something no other member of the 300-club has: Defeated every contemporary team, all 30, in the majors.

7. Kyle Lohse, who would savor an uneventful start when he returns to the rotation tonight against the Cincinnati Reds, is one of seven starting pitchers in baseball yet to allow a stolen base against. … Joe Thurston came into the game on May 26 with just three hits in his previous 36 at-bats, good for a .083 average during a 15-game span. Since, he’s 10-for-20 and six of those 10 hits have gone for extra bases. He’s alwaos walked four times and scored six runs since May 26.

8. FARMNIK REPORT: In his fifth game back from the wrist trouble and wrist surgery that was part of his compromised bid for a spot on the big-league club, Joe Mather found his mojo. In Triple-A Memphis’ 8-4 victory Tuesday, Mather went 3-for-3 with a couple doubles, three runs scored, and two RBIs. … Three other farmhands also drove in two runs in the win — Bryan Anderson, Mark Shorey and Jarrett Hoffpauir. … Josh Kinney walked three in his 1 2/3 innings. Clayton Mortensen got the win after scattering five hits and four runs in his six innings of work. … Palm Beach edged Lakeland, 2-1. Aaron Luna provided one of the runs with a solo homer in the first inning, his second homer since the promotion to High-A. … Six pitchers combined to hold Lakeland to one run on six hits. Chuckie Fick started and got the victory for his five shutout innings and three strikeouts. Adam Reifer got the save despite being the only pitcher from PB to allow a run in the game. … Quad Cities completed the daily sweep for the Cardinals’ affiliates with a 9-3 victory. Leadoff hitter Brett Lilley drove in two runs and second baseman Alex Castellanos also drove in two runs. Kevin Thomas pitched 3 1/3 innings in the start, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks without a strikeout.

9. One of the lefthanded pitchers that several Cardinals scouts felt was going to be the quickest to reach the majors out of last year’s draft did so recently: With 26th overall pick Arizona took Daniel Schlereth, son of the former Denver Bronco lineman Mark, and Tuesday he made his third appearance in the majors. The Cardinals had the lefty at or near the top of their list for his potential — and for their need. They Cardinals wanted to grab at least one of the high-end lefties in the 2008 draft. They got … none. They all went of the board in one swift lefty run. Welcome to 2009. The Cardinals seem poised to try again. ESPN.com’s Keith Law put his latest mock draft up Tuesday and he follows the vibe we’re all getting from the Cardinals: They see a handful of lefties they like and their plan to upgrade that area on their depth chart is still in place. Law has the Cardinals taking Rex Brothers from Lipscomb with the 19th overall pick. But it could also be Mike Minor (Vanderbilt), Andy Oliver (Oklahoma State) or a few prep pitchers, a class the Cardinals have been hesitant to dip into before. A quick read of Brothers’ scouting report in Baseball America sends of some flares for folks who have followed the Cardinals’ draft tendencies:

He pitched in the Cape Cod League last summer, showing a power arm, and has improved significantly this spring, coming out of the gate throwing 92-94 mph with a low-80s slider against Georgia Tech. His stuff got better as he showed a smoother delivery … Some scouts see Brothers’ delivery (and) want to put him in the bullpen. Others note that Brothers holds his velocity deep into games. … Surefire first-round pick.

10. Good timing for John Mabry. Just as Nick Stavinoha was staking his claim to a role on the Cardinals roster, Mabry was traveling the team and around to share some insight on just what that role means. Stavinoha said he had only a handful of pinch-hit at-bats in his career before being used a few times in that position last year. With the Cardinals outfield back from the disabled list, Stavinoha is bound to be cast in the bench-bat role, and because Mabry traveled with the team during the recent road trip the two were able to talk about how to approach pinch-hitting. Stavinoha said on the off day in San Francisco, he spoke with Mabry and received several pointers he put into practice. So far, so good.

In his late-inning at-bat Tuesday — not technically a pinch-hit at-bat because he entered the game in left field as a double-switch — Stavinoha drove in the winning run with double to center field and apparently out of Willy Taveras’ range. The game-winning RBI was the fourth of Stavinoha’s 18 games with the team so far this season. Nick the Stick’s 12 RBIs since he showed up on May 13 are tied for the most on the team — tied with fellow rookie Colby Rasmus.

Save, Stavinoha has his 12 in 45 at-bats, at least nine at-bats fewer than any Cardinal with four RBIs or more since May 13.

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