TOWER GROVE — Twice this season, St. Louis Cardinals starter Joel Pineiro has had streaks of four consecutive starts without walking a batter. Thirteen times this summer, he has started a game and not allowed a walk. For this, he credits his father.

“My dad taught me that,” he said this past weekend. “You don’t want to walk people. You don’t want to let them get on base. You don’t want to help them start their…

TOWER GROVE — The way Todd Wellemeyer describes it, he joined the St. Louis Cardinals at a vulnerable time in his career. He could not figure out why good stuff was getting bad results. He had just been hammered by the Detroit Tigers in consecutive games against them, and he was about to face the Tigers for a third time in four appearances after being a Cardinals’ waiver claim out of Kansas City’s pitching staff.

He…

TOWER GROVE — What Hall of Fame baseball writer Rick Hummel wrote earlier this week about the National League Central being a logjam in the standings is even more true to today.

A win last night at Miller Park against the St. Louis Cardinals put those pitching-poor Milwaukee Brewers — OK, so those were “deputy” GM Ryan Braun’s exact words — within a game of the division leaders. This afternoon the top teams in the NL…

TOWER GROVE — Bruised and humbled by the surging Milwaukee Brewers, the St. Louis Cardinals welcome in their rivals comforted by what’s on the horizon. Reinforcements are coming.

During this three-game series against the Chicago Cubs, the Cardinals plan to welcome back starter Chris Carpenter from the disabled list — he’ll start Wednesday — and outfielder Rick Ankiel from the DL. Ankiel spent the weekend playing in extended spring training games in Jupiter, Fla. With the…

JUPITER, Fla. — St. Louis Cardinals reliever Chris Perez had a lot of down time during the week he couldn’t pitch because of soreness in his shoulder, so he found other ways to busy himself. One was by listening in on some of his teammates answer The P-DQ list. He said he loved quizzes and puzzles and other time-passers of that ilk, and he wanted to give it a try.

And then he realized it was…

JUPITER, Fla. — A time-honored tradition here at Roger Dean Stadium for a few members of the copy klatch is keeping a stopwatch on the National Anthem. It’s spring training for the vocalists, too, and some can run a little … say, showy … with their interpretations. A similar exercise could be done with the questions that make up The PD-Q.

As mentioned before, some click through the questions and others ponder. And then there are…

FORT MYERS, Fla. — For the most part, every player I’ve approached this spring with the 20 or so questions that make up The P-DQ has gamely taken the time to answer them. Sometimes they breeze through them with short, precise answers. Sometimes they labor over them, crafting an answer. Often they draw a crowd of teammates who encourage or needle their answers.

And then there was Dustin Pedroia.

The Boston Red Sox second baseman, reigning American…

JUPITER, Fla. — When working my way through the St. Louis Cardinals clubhouse with The P-DQ this spring training, many of his teammates have suggested that, “Oh, you’ve got to try this Todd.” Todd being the clubhouse Colonel, the bluegrass conservative and starting pitcher Todd Wellemeyer.

On Wednesday morning, I pulled up a stool — Josh Kinney’s stool, to be precise — next to Wellemeyer’s locker and asked him the handful of questions that make up…

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Down Gil Hodges Road and not too far from Tom Seaver Curve, the New York Mets have turned Field No. 7 here at Tradition Field into a replica of Citi Field, their new ballpark in Queens. The dimensions of Field No. 7 have been cut and reformed to the exact measure of Citi Field’s — right down to the quirky corner cut out of right field.

It was on this mini-Citi…

JUPITER, Fla. — On Sunday morning, starter Todd Wellemeyer revealed that he is no longer the only Kentucky Colonel patrolling the St. Louis Cardinals clubhouse. The population of card-carrying colonels tripled this offseason as Wellemeyer recruited pitching coach Dave Duncan into the group and the Cardinals went out and signed another member, lefty Trever Miller.

That means the Cardinals will take three colonels north for the regular season.

If you’re keeping score, that could be two more colonels…

JUPITER, Fla. — With cameras rolling early this morning, infielder Brendan Ryan continued his turn as the comic foil in the St. Louis Cardinals latest commercials. Ryan, following the script, walked by Albert Pujols’ locker and did a double-take. Sneakily, he reached into the locker and pulled out a cape draped from a hanger.

Cue Adam Wainwright.

“We don’t talk about that,” said the starting pitcher, entering from stage left.

The last day of filming for the Cardinals’ “Play…

TOWER GROVE — The arbitration wallop the St. Louis Cardinals have been bracing for this winter came into view Tuesday with the exchange of salary figures around baseball. The Cardinals two unsigned and eligible players, outfielders Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick, each are guaranteed to receive significant raises. The salaries that an arbitrator will choose between — if the two sides do indeed get to a hearing, that is — are there for everyone to…

DOWNTOWN — The big-ticket day of the 13th annual Winter Warm-up continues this afternoon with National League MVP Albert Pujols, who is on the stage right now signing, and a parade of other headline Cardinals, many of whom will be receiving an award at tonight’s Baseball Writers’ Dinner. The news was this morning’s signings of Todd Wellemeyer and Chris Duncan, but the comments from St. Louis Cardinals players today address a wider spectrum of topics.

There’s…

DOWNTOWN — Cardinals starter Todd Wellemeyer has said a few times this offseason that his goal for 2009 — if really pressed to come clean about it — is to pitch in a certain July game at Busch Stadium.

“I’d like to be in that midsummer classic,” Wellemeyer said. “It’s here. That would be neat. An All-Star.”

First thing’s first. Now, at least, he has a contract for 2009 finalized.

Wellemeyer and outfielder Chris Duncan agreed to terms Monday…

DOWNTOWN — Cardinals’ closer candidate Chris Perez came to St. Louis this winter to have a scan taken of his achy ankle, and while the joint doesn’t hinder the work he’s trying to do on his delivery it has made his other offseason goal a tad trickier.

Perez said an MRI taken in November of his left ankle revealed a bone spur and bone inflammation. Surgery was considered, but because it doesn’t bother him when he…