Game 43 vs. KC., W 5-0: Kyle Lohse looked like the 2008 version of himself by pitching eight innings of shutout ball. He would have attempted to pitch the complete game, but his throwing arm was hit by a pitch in the eighth. Anytime Lohse gets hit by a pitch he turns into the Hulk, and the Hulk has terrible control over his splitter, so Tony LaRussa brought in Chris Perez to complete the shutout. New guys Stavinoha and Colby Rasmus contributed RBIs to the effort once again.
Game 44 vs. KC., L 2-3: Okay, here's where the lack of offense started biting the team in the butt. Pineiro did what he always does. This time, he allowed only three runs in seven innings. This wasn't his best outing obviously, but not insurmountable by any means. The Cards only managed two RBI and one of those was provided by Pineiro, so that's kind of sad because his career batting average is below .100, which has gotta be the pitcher's Mendoza Line. So the sweep of the Royals didn't occur, but at least Joe Posnanski and other Saber-centric writers could leave the game happy knowing Brian Bannister pitched well enough to stay in the Royals rotation.
Game 45 vs. Mil., L 1-0: Carpenter improved on his last pitching appearance by being nothing less than perfect for six innings, going eight innings total and striking out 10. How does that performance go unrewarded? It turns out the Cardinals' bats were replaced with the finest salamis in Milwaukee, which prevented them from hitting, because Dennys Reyes ate five bats. The Brewers fermented a run in the bottom of the 10th.
This is seriously one of those games that just takes the wind out of the sails, even if you just recently came off a five-game winning streak. If there is one aspect of this team that worries me the least, it is the hitting. Even though it is down at the moment, Lord Pujols will never forsake his team and his return can be counted on like the rising of the sun (which he also has a hand in)
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