Jeff Gordon previews tonight's St. Louis Cardinals-Milwaukee Brewers game at Miller Park (7:10 p.m., FSM):
THE STAKES: The Braves have fallen behind in the National League East. The struggling Padres are threatening to lose their lead in the NL West.
If those teams stumble down the stretch, the wild card race could change dramatically. But that don't matter to the Cardinals if they keep losing games that are sitting there for them -- like Tuesday's match-up against Chris Narveson in Milwaukee.
PITCHING FOR THE CARDINALS: Jaime Garcia (13-6, 2.35 ERA): He is 2-1 with a 1.08 ERA in three starts against Milwaukee this season. The Brewers are hitting just .217 against him.
Casey McGehee (3 for 10, double, homer, three RBIs) and Corey Hart (4 for 11, RBI) have done the most damage against Garcia in their careers. Ryan Braun is just 2 for 13 with no RBIs against him.
PITCHING FOR THE BREWERS: Chris Capuano (2-3, 4.62): Ah, another soft-tossing lefty. This should be fun for the Cards hitters, eh? He threw a shutout inning of relief at the Cards earlier this season, but is now back to 100 percent.
The Cards will need big games from Albert Pujols (15 for 27, three doubles, three homers, 10 RBI against Capuano in his career) and Matt Holliday (8 for 20, double, homer).
LINEUP INTRIGUE: Not only did Tyler Greene get recalled from Memphis, he went right into the starting lineup Tuesday night at shortstop. Alas, he can't match Brendan Ryan's defensive prowess on the left side -- as the Cards saw right away.
Struggling Felipe Lopez finally got another start at second base and tacked another 0-for-4 performance on his game log. He hit .269 before the All-Star break . . . and he has hit just .182 since then. His season batting average has plunged 51 points since July 7.
Colby Rasmus is 6 for 16 with three doubles this month, reminding fans why he is, in fact, "Luhnow's baby."
BULLPEN INTRIGUE: Perhaps the only real positive from Tuesday's loss was Blake Hawksworth two innings of shutout relief. He hasn't allowed a run in his last five innings, spanning four appearances.
That upturn should earn him additional work. On the down side, lefty specialist Trever Miller is fighting some elbow stiffness.
DOWN ON THE FARM: The Memphis Redbirds are back in the playoffs, this time without Greene. He got another call-up from the Cards, leaving Donovan Solano to fill in.
But this Triple-A team still takes lots of firepower into its series against Oklahoma City. And all but a few of the Redbirds (Ruben Gotay, Evan MacLane, Josh Kinney) are Cards prospects on the rise.
"We never say die," first baseman Mark Hamilton told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. "We never think we're out of a ballgame, whether it's two runs, or 10 runs."
The Redbirds won 48 games at AutoZone Park this season, doing their part to strengthen minor league baseball's standing in Memphis.
The Double-A Springfield Cardinals are also in the playoffs, despite losing several players to Memphis this season -- including their last three closers (Eduardo Sanchez, Francisco Samuel, Adam Reifer), their center fielder (Adron Chambers) and their catchers (Steven Hill, Tony Cruz).
