<table class="tablehead" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr class="stathead"><td colspan="6">2007 National League Central Standings</td></tr><tr class="colhead" align="right"><td align="left">CENTRAL</td><td>W</td><td>L</td><td>GB</td><td>RS</td><td>RA</td></tr><tr class="oddrow" align="right" valign="top"><td align="left">Milwaukee</td><td>41</td><td>31</td><td class="sortcell">--</td><td>337</td><td>319</td></tr><tr class="evenrow" style="font-weight: bold;" align="right" valign="top"><td align="left">St. Louis</td><td>32</td><td>37</td><td class="sortcell">7.5</td><td>301</td><td>370</td></tr><tr class="oddrow" align="right" valign="top"><td align="left">Chc Cubs</td><td>32</td><td>38</td><td class="sortcell">8.0</td><td>315</td><td>297</td></tr><tr class="evenrow" align="right" valign="top"><td align="left">Pittsburgh</td><td>31</td><td>40</td><td class="sortcell">9.5</td><td>295</td><td>351</td></tr><tr class="oddrow" align="right" valign="top"><td align="left">Houston</td><td>31</td><td>41</td><td class="sortcell">10.0</td><td>315</td><td>342</td></tr><tr class="evenrow" align="right" valign="top"><td align="left">Cincinnati</td><td>28</td><td>45</td><td class="sortcell">13.5</td><td>330</td><td>377</td></tr><tr><td colspan="6">Complete Standings</td></tr></tbody></table>
Pitching Matchups:
<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td align="left">Monday, June 18</td> <td align="right"> Busch Stadium | 7:10 PM CT</td></tr></tbody></table>Odalis Perez, LHP (3-7, 6.19) @ Adam Wainwright, RHP (5-5, 4.66)

Scouting Report:
Cardinals: Wainwright tossed the best start of his career, working eight innings of one-hit ball against the Royals on Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium. He carried a no-hitter through the first 5 2/3 innings before allowing a ground ball single from Esteban German. Wainwright was effective with all three pitches -- fastball, slider and curveball. Wainwright has allowed three earned runs or fewer in four of his last five starts, compiling a 2.43 ERA. He will face KC for the second time in five days, but this time it will be at Busch Stadium, where Wainwright has a 4.65 ERA -- one tick better than his 4.66 road mark.

<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td align="left">Tuesday, June 19</td> <td align="right"> Busch Stadium | 7:10 PM CT</td></tr></tbody></table>Scott Elarton, RHP (2-2, 8.54) @ Brad Thompson, RHP (4-2, 5.28)

Scouting Report:
Royals: Elarton had his poorest start on Thursday since coming off the disabled list on May 12. He lasted just two-plus innings against the Cardinals and gave up six runs. Chris Duncan's three-run blast was the 11th homer that Elarton has given up in 32 2/3 innings. He's also had trouble locating the plate, issuing 18 walks. Duncan, by the way, has two homers in three at-bats against Elarton.

Cardinals: This remains tentative while the Cards try to get through the weekend, but Thompson is the most likely candidate for this start. Thompson is coming off a rocky outing in a Tuesday loss to the the Royals, allowing eight runs on 10 hits, four walks and two hit batters in 4 1/3 innings. The five-run first might have been different except for a two-run bad hop single and a two-run double that struck the third base bag. This will be Thompson's eighth start after beginning the season in the bullpen.

<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td align="left">Wednesday, June 20</td> <td align="right"> Busch Stadium | 7:10 PM CT</td></tr></tbody></table>Gil Meche, RHP (4-6, 3.00) @ Todd Wellemeyer, RHP (2-0, 4.88)

Scouting Report:
Royals: Meche finally recieved run support while tossing eight innings of one-run ball against the Marlins on Friday night to earning his first win since May 3. The right-hander had just four runs of support in his previous seven starts. He has now allowed zero or one run in eight of 15 starts this season. Meche has been strong everywhere, but is much better on the road (1.66 ERA). This will be his first career start against the Cardinals.

Cardinals: Wellemeyer hasn't always turned in good games, but good things do seem to happen when he starts. He's getting the run support that hasn't always been there for some of his teammates. It would be nice if he could get deep into a game, and if he doesn't soon, the club may consider other options -- notably newly-signed Tomo Ohka.

Probable Lineup:
St. Louis:
1. CF So Taguchi (.309 AVG, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 24 R, 4/6 SB)
2. SS Aaron Miles (.301 AVG, 0 HR, 13 RBI, 19 R, 0/1 SB)
3. 1B Albert Pujols (.306 AVG, 16 HR, 47 RBI, 41 R, 1/4 SB)
4. 2B Scott Spiezio (.282 AVG, 3 HR, 25 RBI, 22 R, 0/0 SB)
5. 3B Scott Rolen (.266 AVG, 4 HR, 31 RBI, 26 R, 3/5 SB)
6. LF Chris Duncan (.265 AVG, 13 HR, 34 RBI, 33 R, 2/2 SB)
7. RF Juan Encarnacion (.258 AVG, 4 HR, 16 RBI, 22 R, 0/0 SB)
8. C Gary Bennett (.233 AVG, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 6 R, 0/0 SB

Cardinals Bench:
OF Ryan Ludwick (.244 AVG, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 9 R, 3/3 SB)
C Kelly Stinnett (.250 AVG, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, 0/0 SB)
OF Skip Schumaker (.217 AVG, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, 0/0 SB)
2B Adam Kennedy (.208 AVG, 0 HR, 12 RBI, 14 R, 3/4 SB)
IF Brendan Ryan (.167 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 3 R, 0/0 SB)

15-day Disabled List
SS David Eckstein (.313 AVG, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 24 R, 2/2 SB)
C Yadier Molina (.273 AVG, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 12 R, 0/0 SB)
CF Jim Edmonds (.238 AVG, 6 HR, 22 RBI, 19 R, 0/2 SB)
OF Preston Wilson (.219 AVG, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, 2/3 SB)

Rotation:
SP Wellemeyer: 2-0 4.66 ERA, 29.0 IP, 0/0 SV, 12 BB, 25 K, 4 HR
SP Wainwright: 5-6 4.70 ERA, 84.1 IP, 32 BB, 50 K, 8 HR
SP Thompson: 5-2 4.86 ERA, 67.2 IP, 20 BB, 27 K, 9 HR
SP Reyes: 0-8, 6.34 ERA, 55.1 IP, 21 BB, 42 K, 7 HR
SP Wells: 3-11 6.75 ERA, 78.2 IP, 43 BB, 58 K, 12 HR

15-day Disabled List
SP Looper: 6-6 4.66 ERA, 83.0 IP, 29 BB, 41 K, 8 HR
SP Carpenter: 0-1 7.50 ERA, 6.0 IP, 1 BB, 3 K, 0 HR
SP Mulder ('06): 6-7 7.14 ERA, 93.1 IP, 35 BB, 50 K, 19 HR

Bullpen:
CL Isringhausen: 3-0, 1.55, 29.0 IP, 14/15 SV, 8 BB, 21 K, 2 HR
SU Franklin: 2-0, 1.57, 34.1 IP, 0/2 SV, 3 BB, 12 K, 2 HR, 10 HLD
SU Springer: 3-0, 2.73, 25.1 IP, 0/0 SV, 11 BB, 31 K, 0 HR, 3 HLD
LH Johnson: 1-1, 4.32, 25.0 IP, 0/1 SV, 9 BB, 18 K, 2 HR, 4 HLD
LH Flores: 1-0, 5.33, 26.0 IP, 0/1 SV, 7 BB, 24 K, 2 HR, 7 HLD
LH Cate: 0-0 0.00, 4.1 IP, 0/0 SV, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR, 0 HLD
MR Cavazos: 0-0 7.71, 7.0 IP, 0/0 SV, 6 BB, 7 K, 1 HR, 0 HLD
RP Spiezio: 0-0 0.00, 1.0 IP, 0/0 SV, 1 BB, 0 K, 0 HR, 0 HLD

60-day Disabled List
Josh Kinney ('06): 0-0 3.24 ERA, 25.0 IP, 8 BB, 22 K, 3 HR, 2 HLD

You guys are 6 back with a lot of baseball left, it's not over baby!

I know what your sayin but I'd love to see this team get to .500 before i officially say we are in it ya know?

And that cracks me up.. IF/OF/RP Spiezio.. haha

The spiezio thing is funny.

Royals try to sway skeptics
06/18/2007


Kansas City Royals starter Brian Bannister delivers during a game against the Cardinals.


KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Maybe the Royals' string of 100-loss seasons has you skeptical. Maybe you look at the standings, see the Royals 13 games back already and wonder, "What's the point?"

Or perhaps you just see this recent success as the result of playing teams from the weaker National League. Whatever.

The Royals are intent on convincing you, one Scrooge at a time, that better days are here — or at least on the way. The latest argument came as a 5-4 win over the Marlins in front of 19,433 on Father's Day afternoon.

"I've never doubted this team's character," Royals manager Buddy Bell said. "We just don't have the kind of consistent at-bats we need to have. But we will. We're getting closer."

A quick rundown of the recent success: six wins in nine games, including two of three in each of their past three series. Combined with the White Sox losing to Pittsburgh, the Royals are 2&#189; games out of fourth place.

Hey, you gotta set your sights somewhere, right?

STLtoday - Sports - Cardinals

Hitting Last 7 Games:

Hot:

Taguchi: .409 AVG (9/22), 5 R, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 1/1 SB, .480 OBP
Miles: .381 AVG (8/21), 3 R, 0 HR, 3 RBI, .417 OBP
Spiezio: .375 AVG (6/16), 5 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, .515 OBP
Pujols: .360 AVG (9/25), 5 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .467 OBP
Ryan: .333 AVG (3/9), 3 R, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .400 OBP
Duncan: .308 AVG (4/13), 3 R, 2 HR, 9 RBI, .400 OBP
Encarnacion: .292 AVG (6/24), 6 R, 0 HR, 5 RBI, .357 OBP
Bennett: .286 AVG (4/14), 1 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .313 OBP
Rolen: .278 AVG (5/18), 4 R, 0 HR, 4 RBI, .360 OBP
Ludwick: .267 AVG (4/15), 4 R, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1/1 SB, .267 OBP

Cold:

Stinnett: .222 AVG (2/9), 1 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .222 OBP
Edmonds: .167 AVG (2/12), 1 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .286 OBP
Kennedy: .143 AVG (2/14), 1 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 1/1 SB, .200 OBP

Pitching Last 7 Games:
Hot:

Franklin: 0-0 0.00, 3 G, 3.1 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 0 K, 0 HR
Izzy: 0-0 0.00, 2 G, 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K, 0 HR
Spiezio: 0-0 0.00, 1 G, 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 K, 0 HR
Wainwright: 1-0 0.00, 1 G, 8.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 0 HR

Eh?:
Springer: 2-0 4.91, 4 G, 3.2 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 8 K, 0 HR

Cold:

Wellemeyer: 0-0 5.40, 1 G, 3.1 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 HR
Cavazos: 0-0 7.71, 2 G, 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HR
Reyes: 0-0 9.00, 1 G, 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 HR
Thompson: 0-1 11.37, 2 G, 6.1 IP, 8 ER, 13 H, 4 BB, 2 K, 0 HR
Looper: 0-1 14.54, 1 G, 4.1 IP, 7 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR
Johnson: 0-0 15.43, 3 G, 2.1 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR
Flores: 0-0 23.14, 2 G, 2.1 IP, 6 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 HR
Wells: 0-1 40.50, 1 G, 1.1 IP, 6 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 1 K, 1 HR

Pitching.. we need to pick it up.. our bullpen hasn't pitched as well as they usually do. Many Hot guys on the offense which is a good sign. Hope we can smoke the royals this series and pick up a game or 2 on the brew-crew!!

GO Cards!! Go Waino!!

Totally agree with ya on the bullpen but how many innings they've been putting in this past week +.. thats gonna take a hit on any of them.. I mean the starters averaged 4.1 IP last week!

And yea I hope we get a lil payback from last week.. that series was brutal!

Hah I added the players on the DL and the latest news on em..

Taguchi
Spiezio
Pujols
Encarnacion
Rolen
Ludwick
Miles
Bennett
Wainwright:

--B

[Link]