The Cardinals didn't hit, didn't catch and didn't pitch Monday, which pretty much explains why they lost their fourth game in a row.

Jake Westbrook allowed Cubs all over the bases in his abbreviated start. He gave up 11 hits and a pair of walks over five innings and is lucky to have only been tagged for four runs.

The Cardinals roster moves at the major league level have put an end to one of the most bizarre chapters of the team's stories history.

Outfielder Amauri Cazana has been released by Class AAA Memphis to make room on the Cardinals' top minor league club for recently demoted fly chaser Shane Robinson.

The Cardinals have released lefty reliever J.C. Romero and have called up righty Eduardo Sanchez to replace him.

Romero has been terrible in the early going with 14 hits and nine earned runs allowed in eight innings to compile a 10.13 ERA.

The good news is that St. Louis starting pitcher Chris Carpenter is getting better.

The bad news is that he's probably not going to even start throwing for another month or so. And that means the Redbirds will be without their ace until after the All-Star Game.

The Cardinals have activated Lance Berkman from the disabled list and have returned outfielder Shane Robinson to Class AAA Memphis to make room for him.

The Cardinals came all the way back from a 5-1 deficit to take the late lead Friday night against Atlanta.

But the Braves burned the St. Louis bullpen to re-gain the lead and the Redbirds couldn't capitalize on a number of scoring opportunities that would have put the game in the bag in sudden death.

The Cardinals have announced that first baseman Lance Berkman will NOT be activated today.

No word on whether he has re-aggravated his troublesome calf injury. General Manager John Mozeliak said the decision to keep Berkman on the shelf is "precautionary."

The Cardinals come home from a 4-2 road trip in which they secured their first sweep of the season to square off against what might be the best team they've faced so far this season.

The Twins are expected today to promote former Cardinals minor league pitcher of the year P.J. Walters.

The 27 year old righty has been working in Class AAA Rochester so far this season where he has compiled a 3-1 record with a 2.70 ERA in six starts.

The Cardinals started off their six-game road trip on a sour note, losing the first two games to the rebuilding Astros.

But the Birds rebounded to bomb the Astros on get away day and then they swept the Diamondbacks to conclude their trip with a very respectable 4-2 record.

Apparently encouraged by the success of ex Cardinals starter Jeff Suppan in an emergency start a few days ago, the Padres have set about trying to corner the market on bargain bin former Cardinals hurlers.

The Friars have inked both Anthony Reyes AND Kip Wells to minor league contracts.

The Cardinals once again on Tuesday relied on the long ball to power their way to a win over the Diamondbacks.

Carlos Beltran belted a towering two-run shot in the first to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. Then in the second inning he got ahead of the count on Arizona starter Ian Kennedy with the bases loaded and he hit a line drive shot over the wall in right centerfield for a grand slam that put the Birds out front 6-0.

Former Cardinals pitcher Brad Penny has been released by his Japanese team and plans to return to the major leagues.

According to his agent, he has several offers to work as either a starter or reliever in the big leagues.

The Cardinals are hopeful that Lance Berkman will be able to re-join the team this week.

The All-Star first baseman and outfielder has been limited to seven games because of a torn calf muscle that originally shelved him for a handful of games but later was aggravated and put him on the disabled list for more than two weeks.

The Cardinals on Monday overcame JC Romero's herculean effort to blow a seven-run lead to beat Arizona and make Lance Lynn the first National League pitcher to win six games.

The Birds used a barrage of homers to build their advantage.

Remember Brett Wallace?

You know, the guy some Cardinals fans said the franchise couldn't survive without when they traded him to the Athletics are part of a deal for left fielder Matt Holliday?

The Cardinals have pushed their way through a string of early season injuries to a first place start in the National League Central.

Now, just as the Birds are starting to get healthy -- with Adam Wainwright rounding into form after last year's Tommy John surgery, Allen Craig returning from an off-season knee operation and Lance Berkman nearing a return from a leg injury -- the Brewers are falling apart at the seams.

The Cardinals found their bats on Sunday -- and Adam Wainwright regained his vintage form -- to end their longest losing streak of the season and defeat the Astros 8-1.

Tyler Greene homered twice and doubles while Allen Craig hit one home run and just missed another to power the offense. Meanwhile, Wainwright threw seven innings and allowed only one run on seven hits and a walk. He had more velocity with his fastball and more action on his curve and cutter to strike out seven Houston batters.

The Cardinals had to overcome not one -- but two -- unexplained phenomina if they hoped to win Saturday at Houston.

And, when the smoke cleared, it was fairly obvious that they never really had a chance.

The Cardinals on Friday dropped a very disappointing game strewn with mistakes to the Astros.

A casual observer wouldn't have been able to tell which team is the defending World Series champions and which is the club in complete teardown mode.

Former Cardinals outfielder Erik Komatsu has been claimed by the Twins.

That's good for him, if not the Redbirds.

In one of the first recorded instances of political correctness, on this date in 102 years ago President William Howard Taft went through great lengths not to appear un-American. Or un-National, for that matter, on a visit to St. Louis.

View From the Cheap Seats expresses it's deepest sympathies to the Musial family and Cardinals Nation.

Stan the Man's wife of 72 years, Lil, died Thursday night at 6 p.m.

It seems the Cardinals are allergic to sweeping series.

The completely dominated the Pirates Tuesday and Wednesday. Then they came out with bats blazing Thursday, collecting three doubles in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead.

Albert Pujols almost certainly had some reservations about leaving the only organization he ever knew when he signed his mega free-agent deal with the Angels.

But I wonder if he could have ever imagined that his first month of play in a new uniform could possibly go this badly.

Albert Pujols almost certainly had some reservations about leaving the only organization he ever knew when he signed his mega free-agent deal with the Angels.

But I wonder if he could have ever imagined that his first month of play in a new uniform could possibly go this badly.

The Cardinals scored 12 runs in the first three innings Wednesday against the Pirates and never looked back.

Carlos Beltran led the way with a pair of three run homers -- one in the first and another in the third -- as the Birds punished Pittsburgh starter A.J. Burnett with 12 runs on 12 hits and a walk. Jon Jay and Matt Carpenter each had three hits to help the St. Louis attack while Rafael Furcal and Matt Holliday each had a pair to propel the Birds to a 12-3 victory.

With the retirement of Tony La Russa's number 10, the Cardinals may soon have to consider going to triple digits on their uniforms. If a few more numbers are mothballed, there soon won't be enough to go around.

It looks like Lance Berkman probably won't be ready to come off the disabled list when he is eligible on Friday.

During the broadcast of the Birds' game against the Pirates Tuesday night, broadcasters said Berkman's calf is getting better. But he is still having some problems with it and he wants to avoid another setback by coming back too soon.

The Cardinals used an offensive boost and a couple of defensive presents from the Pirates Tuesday to scratch out a 10-7 win.

The Birds broke out to big leads twice, boosted by home runs from Matt Holliday and David Freese and a 2-for-4 night from Allen Craig in his first game of the season. But they had to hang on for dear life when Fernando Salas broke down with two outs in the top of the eighth and Pittsburgh turned a 10-4 deficit into the tying run at the plate.

Despite their previously stated policy of not retiring numbers of former Cardinals who are not enshrined in the Hall of Fame, the team has announced that it will take former skipper Tony La Russa's number 10 out of the rotation May 11.

Outfielder Erik Komatsu drew the short straw Tuesday when the Cardinals had to make room on the 25-man roster for Allen Craig.

I wonder if Tyler Greene's last chance with the Cardinals is about to expire.

Greene, who is hitting .200 with one home run and four RBIs in 15 appearances this season, was basically handed the starting job at second base in spring training but he fumbled it away to Daniel Descalso.

It's official: After his huge night Monday in Memphis, outfielder/first baseman Allen Craig will be recalled from his minor league rehab assignment today and added to the big league roster.

Paging Allen Craig, St. Louis calling...

The rehabbing Cardinals outfielder is making a pretty good case that his swing is ready to get back in the bigtime. He was 3-for-4 for Class AAA Memphis Monday night with a pair of home runs, two runs scored and five RBIs as the Redbirds beat the Iowa Cubs 5-4.

As part of former Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty's never-ending quest to turn back the clock, he has signed yet another former St. Louis player.

Bad baserunning and poor clutch hitting cost the Cardinals their first sweep of the season Sunday against Milwaukee.

Starting pitcher Jaime Garcia inexplicably failed to tag up and score on a fly ball to right from Matt Holliday when he was on third with one out in the fifth inning. And it came back to haunt him as the Cardinals lost 3-2 despite having seven men on base in the last two innings.

It was unfortunate -- if not understandable -- that the Cardinals lost their first series of the year last week to the lowly Cubs.

Yadier Molina was honored before the Cardinals' Saturday game against the Brewers with the Gold Glove award for being the best catcher in the National League and the Platinum Glove as the best overall defender in the senior circuit.

Then he spent the rest of the day demonstrating that he's a pretty darn good offensive player, too.

Did you miss out on the Cardinals' opening weekend replica World Series ring stadium giveaway?

Don't do anything crazy and pay some jerk on eBay $100 or more for one.

The Cardinals scored two runs in the second inning Friday to overcome an early Milwaukee lead -- and eight runs in the third inning to bury the Brewers under the Busch Stadium turf.

Matt Holliday and Jon Jay each collected three hits while David Freese, Yadier Molina and Skip Schumaker each contributed a pair as the Birds ganged up on the Brew Crew for a 13-1 win.

The Tigers released Brandon Inge after he got off to a terrible start. But the versatile soon to be 35 year old said he still wants to play ball and I wonder if he might be a player who could help the Cardinals.

The Twins have announced that they have signed former Cardinals infielder Joe Thurston.

Is former Cardinals' slugger Albert Pujols' 19-game homerless streak and .222 batting average just a fluke?

ESPN doesn't think so. According to a new on-line story about Pujols' predicament, the three-time National League Most Valuable Player is showing plenty of signs that he's steadily losing his skills. While he's probably far better still than a .222 hitter and he's almost certainly got a lot more home runs in him. But, according to the piece, it seems unlikely that the Angels will ever see the .340-hitting, 40-homer-smacking Pujols that St. Louis fans enjoyed in his prime.

The Cardinals were able to get the offense back in order Wednesday against the Cubs as Matt Carpenter and Carlos Beltran ended long hitless streaks to get onto the stat sheet.

The Birds beat the Wee Bears 5-1 to salvage a .500 road trip. Relative to their hot start, 3-3 isn't that exciting. But I'll take it as the Cardinals continue to play without Lance Berkman, Allen Craig, Jon Jay and Chris Carpenter.

Brewers hurler -- and former Cardinals farmhand -- Chris Narveson is going to miss the rest of the season thanks to a shoulder injury.

The Cardinals owned the Cubs all night Monday and lost. On Tuesday they trailed the whole game before taking the lead in the eighth... And then they blew the lead in the ninth and lost it in extra innings.

So at least there was some variety, right?

Ever wonder how the Angels' plan to become the predominant southern California sports franchise and a national brand by spending a third of a billion dollars on two players is going so far?

League Baseball average home attendance through the first three weeks of the season:

It looks like the situation with Jon Jay is worse than originally advertised.

The Cardinals now say that Jay suffered a separated shoulder in his collision with the centerfield wall last week. It was revealed Monday when the results of an MRI were returned after he was unable to hit in a batting cage over the weekend in Pittsburgh.

Major League Baseball may never explain why it let Ryan Braun get away with cheating, according to a story from the Associated Press.

The arbitrator who overturned the Milwaukee outfielder was supposed to submit a written explanation of his decision within 30 days of rendering it. But that time has come and gone and neither MLB nor the players association appear to have any interest in attempting to get that rule enforced.

I can understand that the Cardinals are going to lose a game here and there.

But, after watching the replay of the ninth inning last night, I am still having a pretty tough time swallowing the fact that Jason Motte let Joe Mather beat him with an 85 MPH offering.

The Cardinals served notice on the defending World Series champions on this date 86 years ago that there was a new sheriff in town.

The Birds blasted the Pirates 9-3 at Forbes Field behind a 3-for-3 day from player-manager Rogers Hornsby including one of the most impressive home runs in the ballpark's history.

Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia bucked his trend of pitching poorly on the road with a stellar performance Monday against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

But closer Jason Motte got into trouble with a pair of walks to put the winning run on base. And then former Cardinal Joe Mather -- whose big looping swing had no business making contact with Motte's heat -- came back from an 0-2 count to single up the middle to lose the game 3-2.

The Matt Adams express to St. Louis has made an unscheduled stop.

Apparently the slugging prospect hyperextended his elbow over the weekend during a swing. The injury is not expected to keep him out for an extended period of time. But Adams was held out of the Redbirds' Sunday contest.

There's an interesting piece floating around on the internet by veteran baseball writer Tracy Ringolsby in which he points out that Anaheim's plans to spend their way to success may have been fatally flawed from the start.

Despite a slew of injuries that have left the 25-man roster depleted, the Cardinals continue to roll with one of the best starts in franchise history as they roll into Wrigley Field to take on the Cubs.

If you count their one-game season opener in Miami as a "series," the Redbirds have won their first six series in a row to run up an 11-5 record.

A hallmark of a good team is that it is successful even when some of its stars aren't playing up to snuff.

So it makes me optimistic about the Cardinals' longterm chances to see the club take two of three against the Pirates with Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday slumping badly and Lance Berkman and Jon Jay out of action with injuries.

The Cardinals have receieved good news about one of their recovering outtfielders -- but bad news about another.

The Cardinals in the first inning Saturday night looked like they were going to walk all over the Pirates and freshly activated starter A.J. Burnett.

Is Chris Carpenter going to ever pitch again? Is Adam Wainwright suffering a setback in his recovery from Tommy John surgery?

The Pirates have recalled starting pitcher A.J. Burnett from a rehab assignment earlier than expected and plan to start him tonight against the Cardinals according to mlb.com.

Apparently there are no hard feelings between the Red Sox and the Cubs over the whole protracted Theo Epstein deal.

What a difference a week makes.

The Yahoo Major League Baseball power rankings are full of respect for the Cardinals this week, naming the Redbirds the fourth-best team in baseball and the second-best team in the National League. That's quite a difference from a week before when the Birds had the same winning percentage but apparently were worthy of being ranked 16th.

Lance Lynn was brilliant Friday night and the offense provided just enough support to help the Cardinals to a series opening win over the Pirates.

Lynn gave up only one earned run in seven innings of work -- and that should have never happened. Two pitches into the first inning he gave up a long fly ball to centerfield and Skip Schumaker appeared to have a bead on it. But Schumaker got turned around and the ball eluded his glove as he crashed in the wall. Schumaker sat, dazed, on the warning track as Alex Presley circled the bases with the second inside the park home run in PNC Park

Former Cardinals minor league pitcher of the year P.J. Walters now toils for the Minnesota Twins organization, pitching for their top farm club, the Rochester Red Wings.

In three starts so far this season, Walters is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA. He's allowed 17 hits in 16 innings while striking out 12 and walking two.

From the day late and a dollar short department...

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have agreed to put an end to contracts with milestone clauses and personal services clauses, according to ESPN.

The Blues play-off run will bump the Cardinals from their usual Fox Sports Midwest roost this Saturday because of a scheduling conflict.

Depending on whether you're a glass half full or a glass half empty sort, you're probably either thrilled that the Blues are still playing -- or you're possibly irritated that the skaters couldn't take care of their business in four games to prevent this inconvenience from happening.

It looks like Cardinals centerfielder Jon Jay may join first baseman Lance Berkman on the disabled list.

GM John Mozeliak said after Thursday's loss against the Reds that the team will know in 24-48 hours how badly the shoulder Jay injured trying to make a catch against the centerfield wall is injured. But it wasn't a good sign that he left the clubhouse with his arm in a sling

The good news is that the Cardinals seem to be very good at taking two games out of a three-game series.

The bad news is that they seem to be allergic to performing a sweep.

Hey Cheap Seats readers, just a friendly reminder: You aren't getting the full Cheap Seats experience if you aren't following my on Twitter.

My handle is @ScottWuerz. Why not hook it up? It's free!

If there's one thing that surprises me about the start of the 2012 Cardinals season it isn't the club's excellent record.

It's the degree to which the franchise has been able to cleanse any evidence that Albert Pujols ever played here.

Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips might want to spend a little less time on Twitter and a little bit more time in batting practice.

After shooting his mouth off on the social networking site, yesterday referring to St. Louis as a "slum," he contributed mightily to Reds losses in the first two game of their series against St. Louis by hitting into three rally-killing double plays. On Thursday the Cardinals used two of the twin killings to help hold down Cincinnati in an 11-1 rout.

On this day 62 years ago the Cardinals held their first night season opener at Sportsmans Park with Red Schoendienst and Stan Musial teaming up to make the historic event a happy occasion.

The Cardinals have had the most explosive offense in the National League so far this season. But on Monday the fuse only fizzled -- and starting pitcher Kyle Lohse paid the price.

The Birds stranded 12 men in scoring position and were 0-for-9 at the plate with runners on base. They managed to win 2-1 on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th inning well after Lohse, who hurled seven shut out innings, had already taken his shower. Lohse scattered four hits and a walk while wiffing six Reds.

The Cardinals (7-3) on Tuesday get back to the National League Central grind with their fourth consecutive series against a division rival.

Cardinals outfielder and second baseman Skip Schumaker has begun a rehab assignment in Class AAA Memphis and outfielder Allan Craig is said to be close to beginning a rehab assignment of his own

The Cardinals scored early and often Sunday to subdue the Cubs and win their third straight National League Central division series.

They cruised to a 10-3 final to improve their record to 7-3.

It turns out that Cardinals third baseman David Freese's sore finger isn't just a one-day thing.

On April 15, 1942 -- five years to the day before Jackie Robinson would break the race barrier for African Americans in Major League Baseball -- Cubs reliever Hiram Bithorn becomes the first Puerto Rican to play in the major leagues when he appears in a game against the Cardinals at Sportsmans Park.

After getting off on the wrong foot in their home opener, the Cardinals righted the ship on Saturday and beat the Cubs decidedly by a 5-1 score.

It's not just that former Cardinals outfielder Colby Rasmus has got off to a terrible start in Toronto. His replacement, the much less heralded Jon Jay, is tearing it up for the Redbirds through the first nine games of the season.

It's looking pretty iffy for the Cardinals scheduled game today against the Cubs.

So I am curious to see what will happen in all of the ebay auctions already offering the replica rings that the Redbirds will give away today to all paying customers.

The Cardinals showed little of the type of play that led to their 2011 World Series championship Friday as they hosted their first game at Busch Stadium since clinching the title, a 9-5 loss to the Cubs.

Happy home opener. It's always a special event when the Cardinals break out the convertibles and parade around Busch Stadium.

But it's extra special this year because the team has lots of events planned surrounding its 2011 World Series victory. It's a rare treat for Major League Baseball fans to get to be there when a championship banner is raised for the first time

It appears, according to reports Thursday, that Cardinals slugger Lance Berkman is likely to miss the Birds' home opening series against the Cubs.

Berkman, who previously had a problem with a finger that affected his swing, now has a strained leg muscle suffered during his ill-advised triple in the middle game at Cincinnati.

Friday's opening day game against the Cubs marks the first time in quite a while that I have attended a Cardinals-Cubs game in person.

The Cardinals followed their early season blueprint for success Wednesday, building a 3-0 lead against the Reds.

But unfocused play caused the Birds to let their lead slip away and they were forced to settle for taking two out of three games against the Reds instead of picking up a clean sweep when they lost on a pinch hit, walk off single in the bottom of the ninth.

I haven't yet decided if I think Brandon Phillips' new contract is a good thing or a bad thing for the Cardinals.

But I'm pretty sure it's a good thing -- at least on some levels -- for the game of baseball.

Once again the Cardinals used the long ball as their offensive weapon of choice to gain a victory.

But this time they were fewer and farther between as the Birds downed Cincinnati 3-1.

I expected the Cardinals to hit well this season. But I have to admit that I didn't expect them to muscle up like they have so far.

Carlos Beltran, Matt Holliday, David Freese and Yadier Molina have each cracked two home runs through the Redbirds' first five games and the club has basically used home run barrages to account for two of its four wins to this point.

The Cardinals turned in another dominant performance of one of the National League Central rivals, smashing the Reds 7-1 in Cincinnati.

After helping the Brewers open their season in Milwaukee, the Cardinals won't face any less intensity in their next three-game set.

A lot of people have been fretting about the fact that Lance Lynn isn't Chris Carpenter. But the way the Cardinals sophomore pitched Sunday against Milwaukee sure made it tough to tell the difference.

The worst part about the Cardinals' Saturday loss to the Brewers is that it puts pressure on rookie Lance Lynn to help the Birds win their first three-game series of the season

So much for my hopes of a 162-0 Cardinals season.

But it wasn't all bad to see the Birds drop a 6-0 clunker to the Brewers.

The Cardinals are counting on Adam Wainwright to make the move today from the club's biggest cheerleader to its best starting pitcher.

He makes his first major league start since 2010 -- when we was 20-11 with a 2.42 ERA -- thanks to a torn ligament in his pitching elbow suffered in 2011 spring training

Milwaukee seemed to want to make a statement against the Cardinals as it hosted St. Louis for its first game of the season.

But it was St. Louis that made the statement, stomping the Brewers in front of a (briefly) rabid Miller Park crowd.

According to a CBS report, the Cardinals "arent' close" on setting a timetable for Chris Carpenter to return to action.

Brewers fans lustily booed Mark McGwire in the pre-game introductions at Miller Park. But they greeted Milwaukee outfielder Ryan Braun like MacArthur returning to the Philipines.

I guess Milwaukee folks demand results -- like wiggling out of a performance enhancing drug suspension on a technicality that does nothing to explain the elevated levels of testosterone in Braun's system.

The latest edition of the Yahoo Major League Baseball power rankings have been released as the game's teams try to get up to full steam.

Without much explanation, the Cardinals are dealt a shockingly disrespectful assessment: 16th place.