Oh, what a beautiful morning--or it was

It started out as a beautiful morning--blue skies and sunshine for the first time in days here in the Midwest. That seemed to be magnified when I turned on Sportcenter and noticed a tag that the next story was to be about Edmonds. I thought he must have made another of his magnificent catches. I could never have been more shocked--I knew those Padres wouldn't know a class player when they had one. The story was that "my boy Jim Edmonds" was released the night before!!! I was blown away and ticked off. I was leaving in a mere week to see him play against the Cardinals. So now, I'm still going and I intend to really yell for the Cardinals--with no Padre diversions. So, Jim, wherever you are, your fans are still out here hoping that someone picks you up.

In the meantime, the Cardinal Nation has been yelling about Izzy's third blown save in eight days. I always look at it not only as a blown save, but usually as a loss for the starting pitcher, namely Wainwright and Pinero. In yesterday's game, Duncan, who has been riding the pine due to his hitting slump, broke out with a homer in the 4th inning. Things seemed to be rolling along well for Pinero, until the 7th, when he was relieved by McClellan, who gave up 2 walks. The Brew Crew scored 2 and Prince Fielder cranked one out on Villone in the 8th to tie it at 3. Looked like "the bullpen by committee" was leaving alot to be desired. Ludwick, who hit 2 bombs the other day in a losing cause against the Rockies, came through with 2 out in the ninth. His hit scored Pujols, who was intentionally walked by Gagne. Eric Gagne, once a game saving phenom with the Dodgers, has fallen on the same tough times as Izzy. So, what started out as a beautiful morning, ended on a good note--one in the "W" column.