Tonight's game spurred a couple of idle thoughts as the season hits the dog days. It's been a while since the Cardinals lost, so I'm not prepared to handle it gracefully.

First, the Cardinals need to get their noses out of the MRIs and put Scott Rolen on the disabled list. The man is in intense pain at the plate, to the point where he's yelling when he swings and misses. Rolen seems more interested in being the anti-JD Drew and LaRussa gives his established veterans plenty, sometimes too much, leash. Somebody has to be an adult, and this may be the kind of situation where Mike Matheny is missed.

On another front, Jeff Suppan hit for himself in the bottom of the 6th with a 4-3 lead. Then he got pulled before the top of the 7th. Matt Morris went through something similar the night before. With a couple of guys on the bench -- yes, they were backup catchers -- Al Reyes hit for himself in the bottom of the 12th on Friday, then got pulled midway through the 13th. I'm choosing my words carefully when I say I don't understand this. If the bench is so short that LaRussa feels compelled to let his pitchers hit in odd situations, maybe that's a sign that the roster is imbalanced. That is to say, maybe they have one too many relievers. It's not the like the bullpen's been worked hard, as the Cardinals are 28th in the majors in reliever innings. It would mean the end to one-batter outings like the weird one Randy Flores had tonight, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing.

Finally, Brady Clark has joined my Players-I-Don't-Like Club. I'm picky about these things, as Barry Bonds and Kenny Rogers aren't even members. But the way Clark crowds the plate got him a nomination and the big hunk of body armor on his front elbow made the vote unanimous. While the membership list isn't public, maybe Carlos Zambrano or Craig Counsell can teach him the secret handshake.