The Cardinals have the second best record in the Majors right now, they've scored more runs than any other NL team but when I looked at the box score today Larry Walker was hitting .247 and Jim Edmonds was hitting .279, and Scott Rolen hasn't played in a long time.

How are they doing it?

The first answer is obvious: Albert Pujols.

But that's the easy answer. More interesting is the fact that a variety of little pieces are fitting together for the Cardinals.

Going through the order David Eckstein is hitting exactly .300 and getting on base at a .376 clip from the leadoff spot, and right behind him in the order Mark Grudzielanek is hitting .321 and getting on base at a .369 clip. Of course Pujols does everything getting on base more than 40% of the time and slugging over .500. But behind him Edmonds average is deceiving: He's hitting under .280 but the rest of his line reads .391/.532 (he leads the team in walks). Larry Walker is only hitting about .250 but he's still walking and hitting for power (.354/.416).

Even better: Reggie Sanders bizzarre alternating good year pattern continues: He's slugging .531, stacked behind 5 hitters with OPB's of over .350 that means he's knocked in 30 runs (He's also stolen 10 bases and gotten caught only once).

Of the last two hitters John Mabry is getting on base 34 percent of the time and hitting for a little power (.418). For the guy whose your second string third baseman that's a good deal.

The only real hole in the lineup is Molina. And he's lifted his average from .181 to start may to todays .244.

The Cardinals are doing it with solid performances from players who aren't stars. Eckstein, Grudzielanek, Sanders, and Mabry are all having good to great seasons. It's a credit to Walt Jocketty. All four of those players are relativly cheap, but all four are performing very well. It's an excellent example of building cheaply around superstars.