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* Given the injuries that continue to ding and damage this roster, it's more pertinent than ever to recognize the value of Jon Jay and Allen Craig to the 2011 Cardinals. That's why I call 'em the MVBs ... Most Valuable Bench players. And Craig and Jay came up big (again) in Tuesday's rally for a 4-3 win over the SF Giants. Of course, they are more than bench guys. They've been asked to start, a lot, in recent weeks due to injuries. But they've also been written into Tony La Russa's lineup because they continue to provide a robust supply of offense. And Jay and Craig do it no matter where they play in the field, or where they are spotted in the lineup.

In 22 games as a starter, Jay is batting .384 with a .424 OBP and a .488 slugging pct. and has 6 doubles, 10 runs, 9 RBIs and 3 steals.

In 24 starts, Craig is batting .354 with a .419 OBP and .549 slug. He has 3 homers, 16 RBIs, 7 doubles, 12 runs and 4 steals.

Those numbers are great; clearly JJ and AC have helped the Cardinals get through some tough times. But what amazes me is the variety of the Jay-Craig contributions.

Here's what I mean:

-- Jay is batting .357 as a LF, .381 as a CF, and .362 as a RF. He hits .306 at home, .370 on the road. Jay is batting .381 when he leads off, .382 when he bats 2nd, and .500 when he's hit 8th.

-- Craig is 9 for 20 when he plays 2B, 2 for 4 when he plays 3B, 13 for 39 when he plays LF, 5 for 22 when he plays RF, and 1 for 1 when he played 1B. He also has a pinch hit, meaning that Craig has given the Cardinals a hit from six different roles: five in the field, one as a pinch-hitter.  Craig is batting .286 as the No. 4 hitter, .316 as the No. 5 hitter, .278 as the No. 6 hitter and .500 when he's batted second or seventh (9 for 18).  

We asked this question last week and we'll do it again: where would this team be without Jay and Craig stepping forward in such a substantial way?

Moving On ...

* Around the NL Central I: Playing with a tired and short bullpen, Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker allowed starting pitcher Chad Reineke to bat with the bases loaded and no out in the 4th inning of Tuesday's 7-2 loss to Milwaukee. Reineke hit into a double play that killed the chance for a big inning. The Reds were competing with a four-man bullpen on Tuesday; four other relievers weren't available... Cincinnati relievers have worked 195 innings so far, the most by an NL bullpen. By comparison, Cardinals relievers have worked 159 innings... Reds GM Walt Jocketty continues to deny that the team is interested in trading for Mets shortstop Jose Reyes. Jocketty told reporters he's had no talks with the Mets. Reyes is a free agent after the season. Hard to see how the Reds could afford to sign him to a huge deal and also pick up a $12 million option on 2B Brandon Phillips for 2012... Baker finally moved Jay Bruce into the cleanup spot for Tuesday's game; it was the first time Bruce had batted in the No. 4 spot this season... returning home from a three-city road trip, the Reds drew only 21,564 for the Memorial Day game vs. division rival Milwaukee, and had only 14,294 in the house for Tuesday's game... the Reds have lost 11 of their last 14 overall ... The always entertaining and opinionated Reds radio broadcaster Marty Brennaman had an on-air diatribe during Tuesday's loss. Marty, upset by the early results in the NL All-Star balloting, opined that it could be time to take the vote away from the fans. Joey Votto is trailing Albert Pujols at first base in the early voting. And Jay Bruce is down on the list of outfielders, with Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman so far having enough votes to put them in the top three. But Brandon Phillips does lead the vote at 2B.

* Around the NL Central II: Zack Greinke went 6 innings and allowed 2 runs with 3 walks and got the win Tuesday in Cincinnati. Greinke had to grind through it, throwing 109 pitches in the six innings. It was the second consecutive "winning" start for Greinke, who allowed 5 earned runs in 13 innings over the two starts. Greinke has 45 strikeouts in 34 innings, but manager Ron Roenicke doesn't think the designated staff ace has reached peak form after missing the first month with a fractured rib. In 6 starts this season, Greinke has a 5.29 ERA. "He's still not that guy," Roenicke told reporters. "Not the guy that I've seen I thought the last outing was, but when he's right, we're going to see consistent performances from him over a long stretch of time," ... the Brewers are getting a big boost from RF Corey Hart, who homered and drove in four runs Tuesday. Hart missed all of spring training with a strained oblique and batted only .167 with 11 Ks in 30 at-bats in his first nine games. But over his last 18 games Hart is batting .324 / .387 / .647 with 5 homers, 5 doubles and 14 RBIs.

* Around the NL Central III: Cubs closer Carlos Marmol imploded Tuesday, giving up six runs in the ninth to ruin an excellent start by Carlos Zambrano, with Houston winning 7-3 at Wrigley Field. The Cubs have dropped to a season-worst seven games under .500 (23-30) after losing four of their last five, with all of the defeats coming to Houston or Pittsburgh. The Cubs are 13-20 since April 24. The Cubs have the worst ERA in the NL (4.80) and that includes the worst starting-pitching ERA (5.49). The offense scores a good amount of runs but lacks home-run power. Left fielder Alfonso Soriano was placed on the DL with a strained calf. Shoddy defense continues to be an issue; since May 14 the Cubs have been charged with three errors or more in a game five times. They've been charged with 44 errors this season, second-most in the NL. ‘‘I'm not even sure I know who this team is yet,'' Cubs manager Mike Quade told reporters. "Given the amount of roster moves and stuff. We've been an inconsistent club for a lot of reasons, and health is one of them, that's for sure," ... the Cubs are 7-15 vs. NL Central rivals... Quade wasn't pleased Tuesday when Zambrano broke a bat over his knee after striking out in the 5th inning to leave a runner on third. Quade said he didn't want to see Zambrano hurt himself. When asked about the manager's concern, Zambrano offered this response: "What manager?"

 Moving On ...

* Officiating will likely be a major factor in determining the winner of the Boston-Vancouver clash in the Stanley Cup Finals, which begins tonight in British Columbia. It's an unsettling thought, I know. But Boston is the best even-strength team in the NHL. That was true in the regular season and it's been true in the postseason. In the reg season the Bruins ranked first in 5-on-5 play by scoring 1.4 goals for every goal allowed. It's been even more dominant in the postseason, with Boston outscoring opponents 48-28 in even-strength situations.

* On the other hand, the Bruins have struggled on the power play all season, ranking 20th in PP success rate during the regular season. And the Bruins have converted only 5 of 61 PPs in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Vancouver is exceptional with the extra man, having led the NHL in power-play success rate in the regular season (24.3 %) and raising that to 28.3 percent (17 for 60) during the postseason.  

* You can never predict how the whistles will go, or how often they'll be used. In the Western Conference Finals the refs were very busy calling penalties, and the Canucks benefited by scoring 9 power play goals in 24 chances. But when the Bruins outlasted Tampa Bay in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, not a one penalty was called in Game 7. The whims of the officials will influence the Stanley Cup Finals.

* I'll go with Vancouver in seven for five reasons (1) special teams; (2) home-ice advantage; (3) the Sedins are great, but the Canucks also have more secondary scoring than the Bruins; (4) a group of quality defensemen that run six deep, compared to Boston, which relies heavily on Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg; (5) it's Canada's time. The last time a Canada-based franchise won the Stanley Cup was Montreal in 1993. And by the way, welcome back Winnipeg.

Moving On ...

* A couple of things were really surprising to me about Game 1 of the NBA Finals: The poor play of the Dallas bench was a reversal from everything we'd seen from the Mavericks up to this point during the NBA playoffs. The Mavs' reserves were outscored by Miami's 27-17, and going into the series even Miami fans were willing to concede that the Heat faced a disadvantage in the bench matchup. Backup Heat point guard Mario Chalmers was a key element in Miami's 92-84 win. He gave his team 12 points in 28 minutes and busted the Dallas zone defense with some timely shots; Miami was a +8 with Chalmers on the floor. And big Udonis Haslem gave the Heat 29 valuable minutes to negate the Mavs' perceived inside strength. The Dallas bench was horrible, with Jason Terry failing to make a basket in the second half, and a nervous-looking J.J. Barea missing 7 of 8 shots. Everybody wants to give Miami credit for playing stifling defense and causing Dallas to shoot 37 percent from the floor. And Miami, as always, did play very well defensively. But let's not be stupid here; Terry and Barea had a lot of open, inviting looks and couldn't hit a shot. (They weren't alone.) This was a dismal development for Dallas, which must hit open outside shots on the kickout when Miami double teams Dirk Nowitzki. The Heat won't let Nowitzki take them down by himself.

* The second surprise was the way Miami hammered Dallas on the boards. The Heat outrebounded the Mavericks 46-36 and that included a huge +10 advantage on the offensive glass. Dallas center Tyson Chandler had four rebounds in 34 minutes? C'mon, that's awful.  

* With Nowitzki tearing a tendon in the middle finger of his left (non-shooting) hand, the series already is looking bleak for Dallas. I picked the Mavericks to win, but if Nowitzki is compromised at all by the injury, the Mavs have no shot. Nowitzki could have torn a tendon in his ring finger and it probably would have been OK, since it doesn't look like he'll be putting any rings on it.

Moving On ...

* Ominous tweet Tuesday from NBC's football analyst, Cris Collinsworth: "I am so convinced that the NFL will not start on time, that I have taken a job as the receivers coach at Highlands High School. Start today."

Thanks for checking this out...

-Bernie