DOWNTOWN — There was the play made up the middle in the ninth inning Tuesday that sent second baseman Skip Schumaker far to his right to glove the grounder and fire rapidly for the out. There was any of the three hits that Chris Duncan had, including his home run in the sixth inning. There was the single by Rick Ankiel, the save over the weekend by Ryan Franklin, the standout job at shortstop by Brendan Ryan and so on and so on …

All things that may not have happened if the St. Louis Cardinals were bound by a baseball-card definition of who plays where and who pitches when.

Shortstop Khalil Greene was not in Triple-A Memphis’ starting lineup on Tuesday night, and the Cardinals appear to be readying themselves to activate him in the near future. When he returns to the major leagues from his rehab assignment and turn on the 15-day disabled list for social anxiety, Greene won’t be the shortstop who left the team a few weeks ago. He won’t be a shortstop at all.

He’ll be a third baseman, the Cardinals have said.

Greene joins a list of conversions that range all over the spectrum from the standard (Brendan Ryan going from career second baseman to shortstop after the draft) to the radical (Rick Ankiel, anyone?). The Cardinals, specifically manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan, have made a habit of such transformations. (And, this is me fighting a “more than meets the eye” pun. Fight it. Fight it.)  La Russa said some of it was explained simply: “They’re baseball players.” With others he’s described it as faith in his coaches or the “creativity” of his coaches, like Duncan. Whatever the reason, he encourages the thought. Examples abound.

Schumaker moves from outfield to second base. Chris Duncan slides from a career first baseman to an outfielder in the majors. Todd Wellemeyer goes from reliever to starter, and Ryan Franklin goes from starter to reliever to … closer.  Jason Motte goes from catcher to reliever. Braden Looper goes from reliever to starter. Ankiel goes from starter to center fielder. Greene is just the latest of a long line of Converted Cardinals — Cardinals who have been shifted and moved and retrained and rebooted to fill a need.

And really his shift to third base, while closer to the Ryan end of the spectrum than the Motte or Looper conversions, tells us one thing: Should have seen it coming.

Just like Greene is on his way back majors, so too is the 10@10 going to get to Greene eventually …

1. There were many productive at-bats as the Cardinals strafed the Detroit Tigers for 11 runs on Tuesday night, but La Russa pinned a special commendation on Yadier Molina’s nine-pitch takedown of Justin Verlander with two outs in the first inning. At one point, Molina fended off a tricky pitch from Verlander by effectively tossing the bat at the pitch. It’s something that Molina has done a few times in his career — and this time the bat tumbled out of his hands and bounced toward the mound. Verlander picked up the bat and coolly tossed it back to Molina. That means that the pitcher handed the hitter back the bat that he would then use to loop a two-run single and start the scoring of the first inning. Not sure I’ve seen that too often.

2. The Cardinals ability to mold and reshape players to their needs inspires the topic for today’s poll, as Greene appears to be nearing a return the major-league lineup in his new position.

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3. Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel has joined the ranks of the major-league bloggers. His blog, part of the MLB.com network of blogs, debuted over the weekend.

4. Pujols’ 1,600th hit of his career was a home run Saturday at Cleveland, and he followed that with two more hits in that game. According to research by the Cardinals’ media relations staff, Pujols reached the round number in his 4,792nd at-bat, the second-lowest total of any active player. Only Todd Helton got there faster, by hitting No. 1,600 in his 4,773rd at-bat. Two other active players have reached 1,600 hits in fewer than 5,000 at-bats: Ichiro Suzuki (4,802) and Vladimir Guerrero (4,924).

5. With two runs scored Tuesday night, Pujols is on the threshold of 1,000 runs in his career. Earlier this season, Pujols reached 1,000 RBIs in his career with a grand slam. He got that 1,600th hit with a homer, so how does he follow all that up with a dramatic way to score his 1,000th run? Well, perhaps he already has. When he scores that 1,000th run he’ll be the only player in baseball since his debut in 2001 with his uncanny production. Heck, he already is with 999 runs scored. No surprise right? Sure. But what really stands out is how far down the milestone track you have to go to find the next hitter to even sniff Pujols’ regularity since 2001, and the names that pop up when you do. Consider the number of players to pull off the following line of stats since 2001:

1,500 hits-250 homers-1,000 RBIs-1,000 runs … 0, until Pujols does, shortly.

1,500 hits-250 homers-900 RBIs-900 runs … 1, Pujols

1,500 hits-200 homers-900 RBIs-900 runs … 1, Pujols

1,500 hits-200 homers-750 RBIs-750 runs … 2, Pujols & Miguel Tejada

1,250 hits-200 homers-750 RBIs-750 runs … 8, Pujols, Tejada, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Todd Helton, Vladimir Guerrero, Lance Berkman, Carlos Beltran

6. When rookie Colby Rasmus grounded into a double play in the fifth inning Tuesday, it was his first GIDP in the major leagues. It was bound to happen. But, according to the Cardinals, Rasmus was the last player, per a qualified number of appearances, in the National League to ground into a double play.

7. Brendan Ryan’s bases-clearing double in the fifth inning Tuesday continued what could be a corrective streak for the Cardinals’ shortstop. Ryan’s play at shortstop is part of the inspiration for Khalil Greene’s move to third base, but even Ryan has talked about an area he needs to improve to keep the playing time: Batting with runners in scoring position (RISP). Ryan is 7-for-35 this season with a runner on second base, third base or both. That includes a 1-for-13 against lefthanded pitchers with RISP. The three-run double was actually his third consecutive plate appearance with RISP that he was successful. He singled over the weekend in Cleveland and in the fourth inning Tuesday he bunted Adam Wainwright over to third to set up a run.

Cardinals' Class AAA pitcher Adam Ottavino is looking for his first win of the season. Shown here pitching for Team Italia during the World Baseball Classic.

8. FARMNIK REPORT: Adam Ottavino, still winless in his Triple-A career, pitched seven strong innings for Class AAA Memphis on Tuesday. He struck out seven and allowed just one run on three hits and one walk. Yet, he received no run support and didn’t factor into the decision. Bryan Anderson had two hits, doubled, and he drove in Memphis’ lone run. … Aaron Luna homered and tripled to drive in three runs for High-A Palm Beach in a 9-7 victory against the Yankees’ Tampa affiliate. Luna, the second baseman, also had a throwing error. The top three hitters in the PB Cards lineup combined to go 6-for-13. … Scott Gorgen struck out eight in five innings. But he also allowed two runs on seven hits. Adam Reifer got his eighth save by striking out three batters to finish the ninth inning. … Low-A Quad Cities continued its struggles. The River Bandits lost, 10-0, and have lost five consecutive games. They are 28-37 this season in the Midwest League. … Gary Daley Jr. took the loss, his first at Low-A. He allowed seven runs on 10 hits and three walks in five innings. … Matt Arburr drove in a run with a groundout in the eighth inning to give Double-A Springfield the edge in a 4-3 victory. Steven Hill drove in two runs in the win. The S-Cards won despite going 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. … Trey Hearne got the victory to improve to 6-1 this season. The righthander, with the unflinching command to compensate for the lack of heat, allowed five hits and three walks over seven innings. He struck out two and allowed only two runs. … Francisco Samuel got his 16th save, though he allowed a home run in the ninth.

Shortstop Miguel Angel Sano, a coveted international talent.

9. General manager John Mozeliak is in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, to see several players, most of whom — we figure — will be available in the upcoming international signing period, which opens July 2. Among the players who will have a workout for Mozeliak and the Cardinals is Miguel Angel Sano, a shortstop who is widely considered the best of the class and who could set a new record for bonus received. According to reports, the Pirates are pushing hard for the kid, and he’s detailed in this ESPN.com report from March. Cleveland is also reportedly dispatching a group to see Sano, who has a workout with the Yankees and has drawn interest from Baltimore, as well. Check out this short video on the shortstop.

10. With the (absolutely astonishing, really) revelation in The New York Times that Sammy Sosa was one of the 104 names on the list of players who tested positive during 2002, the world is 102 names away from knowing all of them. Can’t wait. Coming out in drips isn’t ideal. Alex Rodriguez was first. Three months later, it’s Sosa. It’s inevitable that the other names will come out. Timing is the only true unknown. But with each new name, the records need to be annotated again. Of the top 12 all-time home run hitters in baseball, five have been linked to banned substances by reports, positive tests or their own admissions. One often leads to the other in this predictable and sad dance we’ve now practiced and perfected.

Report. Admission. Contrition. Cooperstown?

Makes you wonder if we need to know the other names, if that will end the speculation of who is up to using what now. Or, if it just means more press conferences and … in the end … fewer inductions.

(A civic duty calls this morning so the 10@10 is going up super early.)

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