Cardinals 2, Cubs 1

Yadier Molina’s understudy, C Gary Bennet (above) was the unlikely savior for St. Louis earlier today, homering off Rich Hill in the third, then driving in the winning run with a 9th inning single. Chicago squandered a fine effort by Hill (7 IP, 4 hits), who lost the duel to Chris Carpenter, who allowed a mere 2 hits, one of ’em on a Phil Neven solo HR.

Florida has a 7-1 advantage over the Brewers in the bottom of the 4th ; a perfect time for Ned Yost to summon….Derek Turnbow. I don’t wanna laugh to hard about the closer-to-mop-up transistion, not when the Mets have another 3 years of Billy Wagner on the books.

If you’re looking for a laugh, here’s Jeffrey Loria’s no-confidence vote for Manager Of The Year candidate, Joe Girardi (from the Associated Press).

“Managers obviously have some input during the course of the season,” Loria said. “But what’s important is the product that’s put on the field by the baseball department as well. An amazing job was done by our organization before we started this season.”

When told his comments might fuel the perception Girardi won’t return next season, Loria told reporters: “If you guys want to come to those conclusions, OK. As far as I’m concerned, the only focus for me and the fans should be what’s on the field, personalities aside.”

Indeed, the baseball department did an awesome job supplying Girardi with a such a deep, veteran lineup. And who can forget all the preseason pundits, almost unanimous in their forecasts : Marlins over the D-Rays in 7 Games, etc.

San Francisco’s 4-1 win over the Reds today moved the Giants within 3 games of the wild card. The enigmatic Noah Lowery allowed little more damage than a David Ross solo HR, and Shea Hillenbrand hit a 2-run HR off Bronson Arroyo. Death Wish’s season has gone down the toilet since he was shown covering “Wonderwall” on Fox, so let this be a lesson to all you aspiring crooner/guitarists.

A two-run HR into the right field seats by Carlos Beltran, his 38th, has given the Mets a 2-0 lead over the Phillies through 2 innings. Along with a 2 run shot off Randy Wolf in last night’s 4-3 loss, Beltran hit 3 two run homers at Shea this week. The crowd was chanting “MVP” Friday evening, and much as I’d love to give the throng credit for recognizing the value of a player they booed on opening day, fuck ’em. They’re a fickle bunch. Shawn Green was hearing it last night. Or maybe not. But I was heard it, it was directed at Shawn Green, and that’s fucked up enough. So he’s hitting .125 since arriving in Flushing…all of 72 hours ago. At least wait until the end of play Sunday before pronouncing him a bum.

Tampa Bay has placed Scott Kazmir on the DL. Never again will some uppity rookie dare to urinate on Al Leiter’s Pablo Cruise-playing boombox.