Bad News Birds

So let's start with the good news----The Cards won! They won with a lot of hitting (Homers from Ankiel, Pujols, and Ludwick) and some very sound mound work (Boggs--4 H, 5IP, 2 ER; Bullpen---4 IP, 1 H). That is not too shabby. They walk away a 7-2 victor and Ryan Ludwick looks like his old (or is that new?) self.

Now the bad, nay awful, news. Albert Pujols is injured! He will go on the DL today with an injured calf. The seriousness of the injury has yet to be determined. Let's hope it is a quick 15 day stint. Now a quick injury countdown: Our 3 best players (Carp, Pujols, Waino), a bunch more pitchers (Mulder, Clement, Pineiro, Thompson, Kinney, Johnson, Izzy---Jeez! That would make a very solid staff right there), and some others here and there (Ankiel, et al). This is getting serious.... (Clue, 1985)


Now to the Baby Birds...

Memphis
-Colby is ok. He went 2-4 and is hitting 225. No, 225 is not great, but it is better than 180!!
-Anthony Reyes went 7 giving up 3 runs. How frustrating...
-Very little offense in this game as Brian Barden had the lone XBase hit for the Redbirds (a double)
-Iowa wins 4-3

Springfield
-A 3-1 winner
-Tyler Herron goes 5.2 and gives up a single run. He has really flown under the radar the last couple of years. He keeps posting sub 4 ERAs and striking batters out better than 2:1. In fact he had 24K to 2BB in Palm Beach before his latest promotion. He turns 22 in August

Palm Beach
A 5-4 winner
-Nothing too exciting to speak of. Brad Furnish was very average on the mound in the victory

Quad Cities
8-5 W
-The big story of the night is Tommy Pham. He hit 2 HR. The 20 year old CF has a paltry average---around 200 in a QC/PB combo. However, he has also hit 10 HR between the 2 teams. I would not be at all surprised if he is one of the big jumps next year. It seems that Daryl Jones is starting to put the tools together this year. Maybe Pham can follow suit next year.

Another quick note:
The Cards have finalized contracts with 30 picks, including a couple of high profile guys. Sandwich pick Lance Lynn has agreed to terms. I would not at all be surprised if he found himself in the Quad Cities to start. Also, Devin Shepherd, Shane Peterson, Jermaine Curtis, and Anthony Ferrara have all signed. Here is a look at the full story from the Cards website

Here is a better story from STLTODAY