TOWER GROVE -- In Houston, right before his club scattered for the All-Star Break, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa held what he probably id reluctant to call a team meeting.
As a younger manager, La Russa used to hold team workouts on the Wednesday after the All-Star Game. Used to make them mandatory. Used to see that day as a chance to refocus the club, get in some refresher work in the field and get back to the grind. Now, he said, that workout is optional. That workout is for guys who are in town, if they want it.
Now, his pre-break talk suffices.
"We've got a short break and then come back," La Russa said Sunday, recalling what he tries to convey. "I realized that (Wednesday workout) is not really a break. It's optional here in town. If not, just do something. Go to the gym. Ride a bike once or twice. Do something physical. But refresh your mind. ... We say all the right things. Guys get ready the right way and we've still got to play the games. We've got another challenging (series) coming, and there's a lot more to play before you pat yourself on the back."
The reason for that comment was a question about why the Cardinals have had such success after the break during the La Russa Era. In the home series immediately following the break, the Cardinals have lost once. They are 39-14 in those games since La Russa took over, and they are 23-5 (.821) at home. (1)
Several players said that the team recognized coming out of the break that they had eight games against two playoff teams from 2009, including this four-game series against the two-time NL champs, the Philadelphia Phillies. It was, as one player said, a chance to "get right" and do so quickly.
Skip Schumaker captured that after Monday night's 8-4 victory against the Phillies. There was a time not too long ago that a 3-0 first-inning deficit seemed like Mount Rainier to the Cardinals' offense. A 4-2 deficit in the fourth -- Kilimanjaro. A 4-0 deficit after the seventh inning -- Ev ... well, you see where I'm going with this. And, yet, in consecutive days the offense has scaled and overcome all those deficits.
"I think the majority of the guys here are ... How do I put this into words? I'm trying to find the right way to say it," Schumaker said. "They want their second half to be very successful."
The rest of the quote was in the gamer in this morning's Post-Dispatch (see here). The rest of today's 10@10 is ahead:
2. The Cincinnati Reds have fewer series against winning teams than the Cardinals, and some have argued that the Reds have the far easier second-half schedule than the Cardinals. Not so fast. Including this series against the Phillies, the Cardinals have eight series remaining against teams with winning records right now. Three of them are on the road -- at New York Mets, at Atlanta and, of course, at Cincinnati. The Reds, meanwhile, have seven more series against winning teams and five of them are on the road. That includes two trips west to face the three-headed monster that is atop the National League West.
Moreover, the Reds have 13 series remaning against NL Central teams, and seven of them are on the road. The Cardinals have 14 series in the division remaining, and seven are on the road. The breakdown is more revealing for how the Central will be won:
PITT -- 12 vs. STL, 6 vs. CIN
HOU -- 6 vs. STL, 9 vs. CIN
CHC -- 12 vs. STL, 6 vs. CIN
MIL -- 5 vs. STL, 12 vs. CIN
They have six games vs. each other
Still think the Reds have the easier path to October? Maybe easier than the San Francisco Giants or San Diego Padres when it comes to the Wild Card. But this division is going to be decided, it appears, by how much the Cardinals take advantage of the Pirates and how well they do against their rival, the Cubs. That starts this weekend.
3. Potentially bad news for the Cincinnati Reds as Scott Rolen could be headed to the disabled list with a hamstring injury he sustained while trying to leg out an extra base. John Fay has the news in this morning's Cincinnati Enquirer (click here). The Reds are 75-45 with Rolen in the lineup since he arrived late last season via trade.
4. Some leftover numbers from last night's four-homer comeback: Albert Pujols had his 100th double at Busch Stadium III, which, as one wag pointed out, now gives him more doubles at two of the ballparks the Cardinals have called home than Hall of Famer Stan Musial. (Wrap your mind around that one.) ... The win was the fourth time this season that the Cardinals have hit four homers in a game, but it's the first time at home since July 2008. This was the sixth time in Busch III history that the Cardinals have hit four homers in a single game. Not one of the players who hit one of the four homers the last time it happened at Busch is with the Cardinals' big-league team -- Rick Ankiel, Joe Mather and Troy Glaus, who hit two. ... The last time the Cardinals hit three homers in one inning was June 2009. In that inning, Ryan Ludwick hit a grand slam and Ankiel and Khalil Greene both hit homers. ... The last time the Cardinals had a six-game winning streak was at the end of the 2008 season when the Cardinals closed by winning the final six games.
5. Will be back later today with a Great Debate II. Hint: It has something to do with how La Russa uses the bullpen.
4a. Speaking of the bullpen, a little lagniappe here: Kyle McClellan has 19 consecutive scoreless appearances at home. That's a span of 24 1/3 innings. (Per Cardinals' media relations staff.)
6. Philadelphia Phillies manager Charlie Manuel talked with the media in the dugout yesterday about how much the homefield-advantage factor has changed the All-Star Game.
"I'll say, homefield advantage changed the outlook or the All-Star Game," he began. "We've been fortunate enough to be in the World Series the last two years, and, believe me, homefield advantage means a whole lot. ... Before it was an exhibition. Now it's very important. Some team in the National League -- hopefully it's us -- it's going to be enjoying homefield advantage."
I asked Manuel if that's why he pinch-hit for Yadier Molina before the Cardinals' catcher had his second at-bat a week ago. He lauded Molina's defense. He said Atlanta's Brian McCann was the better offensive option. Right, sure, but if it was an exhibition would Molina have gotten a second at-bat for the show?
"Most likely, I'd say so," Manuel said.
A quick story from Anaheim about that at-bat. After the game, after he had won the All-Star Game MVP for his bases-clearing double later in the game, McCann acknowledged the awkwardness of the whole exchange in the fifth inning. Before hitting for Molina, McCann ran in from the dugout and ran right by Molina as he warmed up in the on-deck circle. McCann said he tried to avoid that. He asked Angels Stadium officials if he could take a golf cart from the bullpen through the bowels of the stadium and enter the dugout from the back way. They didn't have time to get him one, so he had to run -- in full view.
6. Great stat from Bird Land research depth co-director Tom Orf: Rookie Jon Jay hit his ninth double of the season Monday to raise his average to .372. Orf calculated the most doubles for a Cardinal player in his first 38 games with the club, and look at the luminaries and names he uncovered:
Ducky Medwick ... 14
Stu Martin ... 13
Del Rice ... 11
Johnny Mize ... 11
Ernie Orsatti ... 11
Adam Kennedy ... 10
Art Garibaldi ... 10
George Watkins ... 10
Tom Alston ... 10
Ray Sanders ... 10
Whitey Kurowski ... 9
Howard Freigau ... 9
Eddie Kazak ... 9
Ray Lankford ... 9
Stan Musial ... 9
Enos Slaughter ... 9
Jon Jay ... 9
7. After his spending his free time at spring training taking Spanish 102 via correspondence, Cardinals rookie Allen Craig did find a way to take the required final exam and will soon be a college graduate. Craig had scheduled to take the exam here in St. Louis, but a demotion shortly before test day sent him scrambling. A proctor from the University of Memphis volunteered to help Craig take the exam in May, and he recently got his course grade back -- a "B". Craig graduates with a degree in social welfare from the University of California-Berkeley.
Aside: Craig did get the ball back from his first major-league home run Monday night. He had to trade for it, and the group that caught it was eagerly waiting outside the clubhouse to meet him.
8. FARMNIK REPORT: Triple-A Memphis lost, 7-2. Bryan Anderson walked twice in the loss. The catcher hit .344 in June, and though he's slowed to a .214 this month, he had a couple doubles in one of the games this past weekend in New Orleans and he's batting better than .290 with a .491 slugging percentage against righthanded pitchers. ... Righty Chuck Fick, who has had a strong season partially helped by a new grip introduced to him by Dennis Martinez in Class AA this season, hit a Triple-A bump. He allowed seven runs on seven hits in five innings. He struck out five and allowed four homers. ... Low-A Quad Cities won, 2-1. Shortstop Ryan Jackson went 3-for-4 and raised his average to better than .270. Jackson, that glove man from Miami, is batting .378 in his previous 10 games, and in the second half of the Midwest League's season he's hitting .329 with a .426 on-base percentage. ... Justin Smith improved to 5-0 with the win. He got it in relief after pitching three scoreless innings for the River Bandits. He struck out three and walked one. Smith has a 2.49 ERA in his previous 25 1/3 innings. ... The PB Cards lost, 8-4. Three of the High-A affiliate's runs came from D'Marcus Ingram. The rising prospect and center fielder went 2-for-5 with a double and three RBIs. ... Third baseman Niko Vasquez had a couple hits and he's batting .308 at High-A since his promotion. ... Younger Richard Castillo took the loss for allowing six runs (three earned) on nine hits through four innings. ... Cory Rauschenberger, back in the Cardinals' system after leaving baseball for more than a season, pitched a scoreless inning in relief and shaved his ERA down to 5.91 through seven appearances since his return. ... VP Jeff Luhnow, in an interview with KTRS/550 this past weekend, lauded the roster at Rookie-Level Johnson City. The JC Cards won, 8-5. Outfielder Oscar Taveras had four of the JC-Cards' 13 hits. In his previous 10 games, Taveras has six multi-hit games. He's hitting .385 in the Appy League through 16 games. The international sign from the Dominican Republic has 16 RBIs, 17 runs scored and a .692 slugging percentage.
9. HIT THE LINKS: Fox Sports baseball guru Ken Rosenthal tweets this morning a little tidbit about Jake Westbrook, one of those starting pitchers that lines up well with the Cardinals' needs. ... At The Philadelphia Daily News, baseball columnist Paul Hagen makes the case that outfielder Jayson Werth is at the nexus of the Phillies offensive struggles. More on that later. And here is the gamer from Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. ... From Fay in Cincinnati, Reds general manager Walt Jocketty explains his interest in former Cardinals pitchers Russ Springer and Jason Isringhausen, who will audition for the team today. ... Bloomberg Sports has made a big splash in baseball coverage this season, especially when it comes to covering the fantasy baseball niche of the market. Around the All-Star break, Bloomberg pit its machine against former Cardinal first baseman Keith Hernandez to discuss the best players/performers at a variety of positions. The pitcher evaluation is interesting, and not only because two former Cardinals are picked as the most effective starter and reliever in the majors. Before clicking the link, can you guess who?
10. During a candid talk in the dugout Monday, Manuel was asked about his search for a No. 3 hitter, Werth's search for his swing and just what the heck is wrong with the most thunder-packed lineup in the NL. (Besides, you know, the absence of All-Star Chase Utley.) One theory presented is that Werth, as the righthanded thump in a left hand-heavy lineup, is the piston that fires the offense. It's a little like a few years ago when the Cardinals went where Jim Edmonds took them -- his hot streaks corresponded with the team's hot streaks, in part, because he was the lefthanded complement to Rolen and Albert Pujols. Manuel took a question about Werth and turned into a scouting report on his whole, struggling team.
"They pitch us backwards," Manuel said. "They'll start us soft and finish us off hard. If they get ahead, they will finish us off with something out of the strike zone. They get us 3-1 and we chase a changeup or a breaking ball. That's focus."
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Programming note: There will be no blog entries on Wednesday as we pause to mark the passing of another year and to steal a day with a certain 4-year-old who has quite the itinerary of playing catch, seeing a movie, and devouring chicken fingers planned. The morning blog will return in all its haphazard glory Thursday.
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