TOWER GROVE — There was a time when Blake Hawksworth, as a young, big-bonus pitching prospect, was so changeup-happy that people cautioned him that if he didn’t use his fastball he would lose his fastball.

It took him some time to realize how right they were.

Hawksworth, emerging now as potential relief for the St. Louis Cardinals and their bullpen, doesn’t throw with the same velocity that he once did, but he’s learned that maybe he doesn’t have to. Injuries and time may have sapped a few mph off the fastball, yet he’s never been more aggressive and more confident in it. Known throughout most of his career as a changeup specialist — even earning comparisons to Jeff suppan when he re-emerged as a prospect a few years ago — Hawksworth had learned to have faith in his fastball. In two innings of pivotal work last night against Cincinnati, Hawksworth got seven groundballs from the seven batters he faced. Six were on two-seam fastballs.

“Ever since I’ve signed, I’ve been more confident with my off-speed stuff, and I felt I could throw it at any count,” Hawksworth said after running his streak of scoreless innings to 7 2/3 over his previous four appearances. “And that’s got me in trouble. Now, this season, I (made the choice) to throw my fastball until they show they can hit it.”

Hawksworth success in increasingly more important innings has presented the Cardinals with a dilemma. They are in need of a fifth start. Hawksworth is a starter. Yet, the Cardinals also continue shopping for some righthanded relief for their bullpen. Hawksworth is starting show proficiency in that role, too. Mitchell Boggs will start tonight in the No. 5 spot — subbing for the injured Todd Wellemeyer (elbow inflammation). In the past, reporters have asked about Hawksworth as the starter and his name hasn’t moved the needle much, with Cardinals officials saying really the choice for tonight’s start was between Wellemeyer and Boggs, all along. One reason: It takes Boggs longer to warmup than Hawksworth and the Cardinals view that as prohibitive when it comes to putting Boggs in the bullpen.

Another reason, acknowledged by manager Tony La Russa last night, is Hawksworth’s work in relief.

“He could make a start,” La Russa said. “There’s no reason to think he couldn’t make a start. He can also do what he showed he can do (Monday) — which is fulfilling a valuable role for us out of the bullpen. When he’s starting, that means he’s not available for that role out of the bullpen, and that’s a role we need.”

All of that is really No. 1 in today’s 10@10, but a quick story behind Hawksworth and his trust in his fastball seems like a good place to conclude the lede and move onto to the daily 10 …

1. The changeup that Hawksworth throws is your textbook circle-change, yet he holds it with a two-seam grip. During conversations this spring with Adam Wainwright, Hawksworth and his pal discussed how he could adapta that to his advantage. Hawksworth said by throwing a two-seam fastball — instead of shifting his fingers to the four-seam grip — he was able to give the batter the same look with the fastball that he had with the changeup. There was no giveaway hitch in his delivery or placement of his hand, he explained. If, as he said Monday, there was a tell he theorized this would eliminate it. It also would make him more proficient with the pitch that Wainwright, Kyle Lohse and Joel Pineiro have all embraced more in the past two seasons. Add Hawksworth to the list of two-seam converts in the clubhouse. And because he’s being used more in relief, Hawksworth is more “aggressive with the fastball”, rather than using it to set up his slider and changeup as he found himself doing when starting. Said Hawksworth: “I am in more of an attack mode.”

(Great Minds Alert: At the same time this went up, Mr. Multimedia Bernie Miklasz posted his take on Hawksworth at Extra Points, asking the Hawksworth vs. Jason Motte question.)

2. The open casting call the Cardinals have for the fifth starter and how well Hawksworth has been pitching in his current role inspires today’s poll, which combines both:

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3. The T-shirts arrived just about the time they weren’t applicable any more. Adam Wainwright had red T-shirts made for the Cardinals that features a pirate flag-like skull and crossbones with the skull sporting a carnival-barker mustache and the words: “Respect the Redbird Stache”. Wainwright said they arrived about a week or so before he shaved his mustache. Brendan Ryan sported one last night after the Cardinals victory, just as he’s one of the few players still sporting the ’stache. Explained Ryan: “Waino had them made, but by the time we got them, we were coming back from Houston and all the staches were gone. But I’m holding strong.”

4. ESPN research/Inside Edge had some of interesting numerical reasons for Kyle Lohse’s success against the Reds last night and the end to his 2 1/2-month search for a victory. Presents Inside Edge: Lohse got a first-pitch strike on 16 of the 23 batters he faced, and had a strike within two pitches on 19 of the 20 batters who got that far. … Of the 35 breaking balls Lohse threw, 21 were in the strike zone. … And, Lohse took nine batters to a two-strike count and all nine became outs. Inside Edge said the MLB average for turning two-strike counts into outs is 72 percent.

5. Albert Pujols committed his ninth error last night as he attempted to make a running, backhanded stab on a groundball. If he had made the play and flipped to Lohse at first base, Pujols would have his 125th assist of the season. Forget the offense for a moment, and Pujols is on pace for his first season with more than 1,400 putouts since 2005 (when he had 1,596) and he could set a personal record for assists. He has 124 in 111 games at first this season. That already matches how many he had last season and puts him 11 shy of tying the 135 he had last season. In the A.P. defensive stats, Pujols also ranks high. His five defensive runs saved, per Bill James Online, is tied for sixth among first baseman in the majors. And his +6 on John Dewan’s plus/minus scale is tied for eighth in the majors. Dewan recently came out with another ranking of stats, counting the “scoops” every first baseman has — or number of throws to first the fielder has to “scoop” out of the dirt. With totals through Aug. 3, Pujols led the majors with 32 scoops in 101 games. Last season, Todd Helton led the NL with 42 and Justin Morneau led the majors with 44, per Dewan’s count.

6. The Chicago White Sox learned Monday that their waiver claim on Alex Rios was accepted, lumping them with the remainder of the seven-year, $69.83-million contract he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays back when he was the Next Big Thing. That means, with two moves in the past two weeks, the White Sox have radically increased their payroll not just for 2010, but possibly for all the way through 2013. That’s the year that Jake Peavy, acquired in a trade-deadline move with San Diego, has a $22-million option (with a $4-million buyout). Look at the spread of salaries that the Sox have to swallow in the coming years:

YEAR … Peavy … Rios … TOTAL (all figures are in millions)

2010 … $15 … $9.7 … $24.7

2011 … $16 … $12 … $28

2012 … $17 … $12 … $29

2013 … $22 ($4) … $12.5 … $34.5

2014 … n/a … $12.5 … $12.5

2015 … n/a … $13.5 ($1 buyout) … $13.5

7. FARMNIK REPORT: Every position player in Springfield’s starting lineup had at least two hits as the Double-A S-Cards trounced Tulsa, 13-5, and had 20 hits in the process. Steven Hill, starting at catcher, went 4-for-5 with an RBI. … Batting second, ahead of Hill, shortstop Pete Kozma homered and drove in two runs. Kozma, the Cardinals’ first round from 2007 (the last first-round pick in the system, mind you), raised his average to .219 with his 2-for-4 day. The home run was his third of the season. … Ryan Kulik struck out eight during his six innings of work and got the win. … Eduardo Sanchez, the righthanded reliever who was promoted to closer at Class AA and is positioning himself for another promotion here, pitched another scoreless inning to finish the game. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in his past 13 1/3 innings over 10 appearances. He has more strikeouts (14) than hits and walks combined in that span (12). … Two of the Cardinals’ affiliate’s games, including Memphis’, were postponed because of poor weather. … Jack Cawley, a catcher, had three hits for Quad Cities in the Low-A affiliate’s loss. … For Johnson City, Anthony Ferrara struck out six in five innings as he got the victory for the JC-Cards. He’s 2-1 with a 3.71 ERA in nine games (seven starts).

8. Shaquille O’Neal is set to throw out the first pitch tonight at Busch Stadium and set to take on Albert Pujols in a hitting contest/baseball contest of sorts Thursday. But first the Big Quotatious got some hitting pointers from a former Cardinal that the Cardinals have previously approached about joining their coaching staff — at least for spring training. Word around the ballpark yesterday was that John Mabry is going to give some swift hitting lessons to O’Neal before Thursday’s contest.

9. Cincinnati general manager Walt Jocketty offered his thoughts on how the division will be won: “I think it’s still going to come down to pitching. they both (Cubs and Cardinals) have good pitching and they both have quality offenses. if you go down into September, who pitches the best. I still think the Brewers could be part of this.”

10. With two home runs Monday, Los Angeles Angels outfielder Vladimir Guerrero joined an exclusive group of hitters who have both 400 career home runs and a career batting average of at least .320. Guerrero is the sixth member of the group, and the other five are all in the Hall of Fame. A good way to define a group is by showing who isn’t a member: Larry Walker (383 HR, .313 BA), Chipper Jones (422 HR, .310 BA) and Alex Rodriguez (574 HR — 9th all-time — and a .304 BA). The six members are:

• Babe Ruth … 714 HR … .342 BA
• Jimmie Foxx … 534 HR … .325 BA
• Ted Williams … 521 HR … .344 BA
• Lou Gehrig … 493 HR … .340 BA
• Stan Musial … 475 HR … .331 BA
• Vladimir Guerrero … 400 … .322 BA

The set of six is about a year shy of gaining a seventh member. You Know Who is likely next. Albert Pujols has 355 career home runs, and he carries a .334 career average into tonight’s game against the Reds.

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