Jeff Gordon previews tonight's St. Louis Cardinals-Washington Nationals game at Nationals Park (6:05 p.m., FSM):
THE STAKES: The Cardinals keep finding new ways to lose to bad teams. As a result, their postseason hopes are fading again.
By losing three of four games to the floundering Pirates and Nationals to start this 10-game road trip, the Cards fell four games behind the Reds in the National League Central. They are also 1½ games back in the wild-card race. They have lost eight of their last 11 games overall.
That deficit doesn't look like much, but the Cards aren't going anywhere playing like they have so far on this excursion
PITCHING FOR THE CARDINALS: Jaime Garcia (11-6, 2.42 ERA): The rookie threw a three-hit shutout against the Giants in his previous start. It may take a duplicate performance to snap the Cards out of their current tailspin.
PITCHING FOR THE NATIONALS: Scott Olsen (3-6, 5.21 ERA): The lefthander has posted a 9.33 ERA in four August starts, but perhaps he can get well against the stumbling Cards.
Matt Holliday is 7 for 12 with two homers against Olsen in his career. Randy Winn is 5 for 14 with a double and a homer. Albert Pujols is 4 for 15 with two homers. Theoretically, anyway, the Cards seem to have a chance in this game.
LINEUP INTRIGUE: Pujols added a twisted ankle to his aches and pains. Colby Rasmus (strained calf muscle) STILL hasn't gotten back in the lineup. Holliday got hit on the hand. Hot-hitting rookie Jon Jay finally stumbled with an 0-for-7 performance.
Manager Tony La Russa will have plenty on his plate as he sorts through his lineup options against the lefties. On the plus side, oft-maligned second baseman Skip Schumaker went 2 for 4 Thursday with three RBIs. He is batting .308 since the All-Star break and he is hitting .333 with runners in scoring position this season.
Winn also made a case for playing time, going 4 for 6 with three RBIs and a run scored and a stolen base. Given his track record against Olsen, he could play center field tonight and give Jay a rest against the lefty.
Widely ridiculed third baseman Pedro Feliz got two hits Thursday, pushing his batting average to .355 in seven Cards games. Who would have imagined Feliz would become one of the hottest Cards hitters upon his arrival from Houston?
BULLPEN INTRIGUE: As we've noted before, La Russa is running low on reliable bullpen options. That was underscored Thursday when Kyle McClellan failed in middle relief and Ryan Franklin blew another save opportunity.
Blake Hawksworth took the loss, continuing his trend of yielding runs in most relief appearances. Jason Motte will soon return from a rehab stint in the minors -- and the Cards desperately need him to regain his earlier form.
DOWN ON THE FARM: The good news about hard-throwing Memphis reliever Francisco Samuel? Batters are hitting just .148 against him. He is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA. He contributed a couple of outs to the Redbirds' 1-0 victory .
The bad news? Samuel has walked 12 batters in eight innings, against seven strikeouts. Springfield pitching coach Dennis Martinez tried to clean up his mechanics this season at the Class AA level, but El Presidente is only human.
