The St. Louis Cardinals went out and took care of business today. They scored 5 runs in the first inning and Chris Carpenter made it stand up. Carpenter pitched a 2-hit, complete game shutout in which he whiffed 11 batters while walking only 1 to improve to 11-9 on the year! He was also 1 for 4 with 1 RBI last night to help his own cause. Allen Craig (2 for 5, 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI), David Freese (2 for 4 with 3 runs scored and 1 RBI) and Skip Schumaker (1 for 4 with 2 RBIs). The Cardinals were awesome tonight but they have drawn the Philadelphia Phillies in the first round of the playoffs, so it will be back to the grind this weekend.

The Cardinals are tied with the Braves for the N.L. Wild Card with an 89-72 record on the year. If they both win or both lose, there will be a 1-game playoff in St. Louis tomorrow night. 36-year old righty Chris Carpenter will be pitted against 31-year old righty Brett Myers. Carpenter has pitched in 33 games (all starts) so far this year and he is 10-9 with a 3.59 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. He has really been hot as of late. In his last four starts, Carpenter is 2-0 with a 1.45 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. Carpenter has only had trouble with two Astros’ hitters so far in his career. 3B Chris Johnson is 4 for 8 (.500 avg) with a homer and 3 RBIs against Carpenter and catcher Humberto Quintero is 3 for 6 (.500 avg) against Carpenter. This all sets up for Carpenter to have a nice outing tonight in Houston.

Brett Myers has had a tough year as he has pitched in 33 games (32 starts) for the Astros so far this year and he is 7-13 with a 4.31 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. But, in his last six starts, Myers is 4-0 with a 1.41 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP! He is a tough guy who isn’t going to lay down for the Cardinals tonight. 1B Albert Pujols has given him the most trouble of the Cardinals’ hitters in his career so far as he is 17 for 48 (.354 avg, 1.047 OPS) with 1 double, 1 triple, 4 homers and 8 RBIs against Myers. Look for Tony LaRussa to get Skip Schumaker in the lineup somewhere tonight as he is 11 for 30 (.367 avg, 1.006 OPS) with 1 double, 2 homers and 2 RBIs against Myers. Matt Holliday is likely out of this game due to injury. That is a shame as he is 7 for 20 (.350 avg) with 2 doubles, 2 homers and 6 RBIs against Myers.

On paper, you got to like the Cardinals in this game tonight.

28-year old righty starting pitcher Edwin Jackson has pitched in 12 games (all starts) for the Cardinals since coming over from the White Sox, via Toronto in a deal in July. Jackson has now pitched in 31 games (all starts) for the Cardinals & White Sox this year and he was 12-9 with a 3.81 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. Jackson wants to re-sign with the Cardinals and I think they will as long as his salary demands are reasonable.

The St. Louis Cardinals are 1 game behind the Atlanta Braves for the N.L. Wild Card with two games left. The Cardinals are going with Jake Westbrook (12-9, 4.48) and Chris Carpenter (10-9, 3.59) against Henry Sosa (3-5, 4.68) and Brett Myers (7-13, 4.31) in the last couple of games. The Cardinals have the edge in both pitching matchups but that didn’t matter last night as the Astros beat them. With that in mind, the Cardinals have to bring their A-game both tonight and tomorrow as the Astros want to be spoilers. The Phillies are going with Roy Oswalt (8-10, 3.86) and Joe Blanton (1-2, 5.03) against Derek Lowe (9-16, 4.92) and Tim Hudson (16-10, 3.23) in their two games. The Phillies have played hard all year long and I don’t look for them to take it easy on the Braves.

29-year old righty reliever Jason Motte has been the closer for the Cardinals in September and he is doing a solid job. Motte has pitched in 11 games so far in September and he is 1-0 with 7 saves, a 3.18 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. He has now pitched in 75 games (0 starts) for the Cardinals so far this year and he is 4-2 with 8 saves, a 1.91 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. Motte has only walked 13 batters and given up 49 hits in his first 66 innings while whiffing 60 batters and those are impressive stats. Motte has now pitched in 212 games (0 starts) in his first four years with the Cardinals and he is 12-8 with 11 saves, a 2.81 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. The Cardinals need Motte to finish strongly this year if they are going to catch the Braves for the N.L. Wild Card.