Redbirds atop the Central

The Cardinals are atop the NL Central by a game and a half after beating the Brewers 6-1 last night. The key to that game, and the season thus far, was some clutch two out hitting combined with solid aggressive pitching. Braden Looper picked up his third win to stay undefeated and is now a third of the way to the nine games I thought he would win. The offense has not been eye popping, but with Pujols getting on base more than 50% of the time, and solid contributions coming from Ankiel and Glaus the heart of the order is seeming more legit than it did to start the year.

Overall, the rotation has been a pleasant suprise, with the big exception in Joel Pineiro -- who looked very bad against the Giants in his first start of the year over the weekend. The bullpen has been spectacular and leads the NL in ERA. The Franklin to Isringhausen combo may end up producing another .975 win percentage when leading after seven, which would greatly help the Cards chances of staying in the race. The bullpen, however, is the biggest concern in my mind as the season moves along. Without the starting pitchers getting past the sixth consistently (unlikely unless Mulder and Clement come back and are on) the bullpen is going to be forced to work a lot of innings. With Reyes out there to chew through quite a few, I'm less concerned, but it probably isn't the best news that the Cards have had to use Franklin in 9 of the 14 and Izzy in 7 of the 14 to this point.

All concerns aside, the Cards are winning... which makes me happy. The Reds are not, which I'm sure annoys Ken... and makes me happy.