The Cardinals embarrassed themselves Saturday in a 12-5 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
All systems failed as the Brewers frolicked to an 11-0 lead over a listless, unfocused and undisciplined home team.
Yes, it all went wrong Saturday: the manager's lineup decisions, the starting pitching, the defense, the hitting.
It doesn't happen often in this baseball-loving, Cardinals-worshiping town, but the Cardinals were loudly booed by the home fans as they left the field after a sloppy, lazy top of the third inning at Busch Stadium.
The razzing was milder than it should have been.
There is never an excuse for not having your head in the game.
And we saw several examples of that Saturday. Young second baseman Tyler Greene was caught off guard as a relay throw headed his way. Earlier he stumbled when trying to apply a tag on a stolen base. Greene, a shortstop, probably isn't comfortable at second base. But if he wants to stay in the big leagues — and I've championed Greene's cause — he'll have to adjust quickly.
I have much less patience with shortstop Brendan Ryan, who has continued his free-fall in 2010. Not only is Ryan hitting .198, he's beginning to air-mail errant throws with the inexplicable sidearm motion he uses every now and then. Look, I suppose it's OK to go styling when you're playing well, but Ryan doesn't qualify. Ryan also dropped a throw from right field that should have produced an out. And he made a knucklehead decision to fire home to try to get a runner; it resulted in an error. There's just no excuse for this.
That principle applies to the entire roster. All teams have slumps and stink it up on occasion. But the Cardinals, 26-29 since May 4, haven't been locked in at the plate, in the field or on the bases for a long time. They're not sharp mentally or fundamentally.
"I think the message we've got to do is from the first inning go out ready to make plays and take at-bats," manager Tony La Russa said after the loss.
La Russa isn't helping matters. He played the wrong guys Saturday, keeping Colby Rasmus on the bench to give the switch-hitting Randy Winn the at-bats against lefthanded starter Manny Parra. Why? Because Winn was four for 12 in his career against Parra. Oh, please. Since the start of the 2008 season, which is when Winn entered the decline phase of his career, he is only two for 10 against Parra. Over the past two and a half seasons, Winn is batting a mere .223 against lefties.
But there Winn was, batting second against Parra and playing instead of Rasmus for no justifiable reason. As it turned out, Winn went 0 for three against Parra; he struck out with the bases loaded in the third and hit into a double play in the fifth.
Rasmus can hit lefthanders; his OPS of .811 against them this season is more than respectable. Rasmus can hit anyone. But not when he's sitting in the dugout. What's wrong with this picture? The Cardinals are plagued by a mediocre and often feckless offense, and it's been damaged by the loss of right fielder Ryan Ludwick to the disabled list.
Rasmus leads National League center fielders in home runs and combined onbase-slugging percentage, and he can't play every day? Why do 17 major-league center fielders have more plate appearances than Rasmus this season? Unless he's hurt or really bogged down in an awful slump, Rasmus has to be in there. His bat is too important to waste.
Given starting pitcher Chris Carpenter's disturbing performance, it probably didn't make a lot of difference Saturday. For one of the few times in his Cardinals career, Carpenter had nothing out there and was let down by his terrible defense. The Brewers bullied him and Carpenter was yanked after three innings. Should he have pitched? Carpenter was struck on the forearm by a line drive in his most recent start, and he could not find his curveball after the first inning Saturday.
Was this just a coincidence or a warning sign? If there is any doubt about Carpenter's physical viability, the Cardinals need to back off and let the forearm heal. "He said he felt fine," La Russa said after the game.
Let's hope that's the case. Late last month, La Russa used Ludwick before Ludwick (strained calf) should have played, and the result was a setback that sent him to the DL.
Sure, you can look at the standings and draw comfort from the math. The Cardinals (44-37) are only one and a half games behind the first-place Cincinnati Reds. But those standings shouldn't be used to paper over an increasing number of cracks and flaws.
Obviously, as the Cardinals reach the halfway mark of the regular season, you have to wonder about their team personality and chemistry. We've already seen La Russa have heated exchanges in the dugout this season with his two biggest stars, Albert Pujols and Carpenter.
The position players don't seem to be having loads of fun. And in tough times, the Cardinals don't seem to be digging down and making that tough stand — the way we've seen proud La Russa clubs do it in the past. Contrast that to the Reds, who have 25 come-from-behind wins this season.
"We're fighting for our lives at this point," said La Russa, who mentioned a few of his team's injuries. "We've got adequate, capable guys who are ready to pitch and play. But your attitude is you're fighting for your life to get the wins that you can get. You just don't want to just go through a stretch like this and mug chances to win."
On this Fourth of July in America's best baseball town, the Cardinals' vibe doesn't seem right. But they have half the season remaining to get it right.
If they can.
