Cards start Detroit series on impressive note

The Cardinals looked impressive tonight in an 8-4 win over the Detroit Tigers. Braden Looper threw a ton of strikes but made some mistakes as he was touched for three home runs -- actually, two -- in six innings. After the Cardinals built a lead, he did his job and pounded the strike zone and I love to see that. In his outings this month, Looper has slowed down his delivery and has been a bit more deliberate on the mound, and that has helped with his control and efficiency.

The bullpen was also stingy, tossing three scoreless innings in relief of the sinker-baller.

At the plate, the Cardinals knocked around a lefty for once, and a hot one at that. Kenny Rogers had been lights-out in his previous two starts before giving up five earned in 5 1/3 to the Redbirds.

And how about Brendan Ryan? After a three-hit night, the reserve infielder is batting .302. I love this guy because he busts his tail on every play, and he plays sufficient defense to warrant significant playing time over Adam Kennedy. Yes, Kennedy has been hotter than usual lately, but I honestly get tired of his nonchalant attitude and loopy swing. Kennedy is the Cards' fourth-best middle infielder in my opinion behind Izturis, Miles and Ryan. Miles has been a wrecker lately, going 6-9 in his last two games while hitting .313 and playing very good defense.

If the Cards weren't getting hounded by the injury bug, I'd love to get rid of Kennedy, and I'd also love to get rid of Brian Barton. Barton is a prime example of how speed doesn't automatically make someone a threat on the bases. He's a horrid baserunner who always seems to make elementary mistakes. He's also a prime example of why dreadlocks should be shunned from Earth.

All of that is moot, however, because the Cards have no room to move players considering that the disabled list is longer than the depth chart. The Cards boast more all-stars on their disabled list than most teams in the league have on their active roster. I'd put the Cards' disabled list up against any disabled list in the league. I can see it now: The Crippled Cardinals pitted against the Banged-up Blue Jays or the Disabled Diamondbacks.

But with all humor aside, the Cards gained a game on the feel-good, untested Cubs tonight. Maybe when the Cubs actually have to play a decent road team at Wrigley or have to play a good team on the road, St. Louis will be able to chip away at that favorable-schedule-induced lead in the Central. While the Cards are traveling from Boston to Detroit, the Cubbies have stayed put in Chicago against two bad road teams in the White Sox and the Orioles. Beat up on the mediocre teams while you can, Cubbies. That 3 1/2 game lead has the potential to dwindle very quickly.