The Cards have won six straight series. Just as in 2005, it seems the team got a little worse than the previous season, but they just keep on winning. Once again, everyone should be reminded how much we all should appreciate the continual success of the La Russa era - like him or not.

In other news, Chris Carpenter missed a start with an inflamed bursa sac. While that's fun to say, I'm sure it's not fun to have, especially if you have to pitch in a major-league game. Ironically, this continued my streak of players going down soon after yours truly made a purchase of their jersey (see: Warner, Kurt, & McGwire, Mark - hopefully this one won't turn out as badly). So perhaps skipping Carp wasn't the worst thing in the world, especially with Sidney Ponson scheduled to come off the DL to pitch Saturday night against the Padres. El Sid hasn't been a big strikeout guy - 13 K/11 BB in 32 IP - but he's managed to not kill the Cards by keeping his ERA under 3.00 thus far despite some lackluster peripherals. Ironically, including Reyes' sterling outing in Kansas City, the Cardinals "fifth" slot has the lowest ERA (2.39) of the entire starting rotation. Ponson's re-appearance also causes Mark Mulder's start to get bumped back a day, creating a solid matchup on Sunday with the Pads' scheduled starter, ace Jake Peavy.

Note: Incidentally, I'll be heading out to the games in San Diego this weekend. I'll be back with a full review of Petco Park, and perhaps also one of the Big A, where I'll hopefully be going on Saturday night after the Cards play. Cross your fingers for a good series.