<table summary="" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="500"><tbody><tr><td>The Combustible Mr. Wells
</td></tr> <tr><td>By Derrick Goold</td></tr> <tr><td>06/14/2007 9:56 pm</td></tr></tbody></table>
TOWER GROVE — The Cardinals had such high hopes. From afar they had complimented him. From afar they raved about his ability, his stuff. From afar they saw a talented pitcher yearning for direction, yearning to be outfitted with what he would come to call “a better plan”. From afar they coveted him. His closeup, however, has been an utter calamity.

The curious case of Kip Wells continued — for only four outs — on Thursday night, as the righthander who leads the league in losses was given a golden opportunity to repay the respect and restraint the Cardinals have shown all season. Given a chance to win the rubber game of a should-win series in Kansas City with the bullpen aching for another night to recover, he blew it. Given a lead to pitch with, he blew it. In so many tight situations this season when the game is at a tipping point — even leaning in his direction — Wells has shown an uncanny gift for making things worse. But this was the worst worse.

He walked the leadoff hitter in both innings he started Thursday night, even though he had a lead each time. With the bases loaded the Kansas City’s leadoff hitter David DeJesus up, he did what he’s come to almost do naturally — he hit the batter to so the batter couldn’t hit him, I guess. It’s only the fifth inning as I start to write this, but he’s in jeopardy of being 2-11 after this no-good, very-bad, terrible outing.

The Mariners found a physical ailment to buy Weaver some time on the disabled list, though he refused a minor-league assignment and said he could get his mechanics and his arm well with work in bullpen sessions.

Could Wells benefit from that? Could we hear the word … impingement?

By 3 1/3 innings this was Wells’ shortest outing of the season. In terms of the team’s need, it ranks among the biggest misses of a season with many misses. In a game brimming with debacle-like ugliness, it was those four outs, those four walks, the hit batter, that still stand out. As little as an 0-8 record tells us about one Cardinal starter, the 2-11 record says it all about another.

Paging Anthony Reyes.

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