That was almost cool. Watching Aaron Miles step up to the plate for a pinch-hit appearance late in a close game with one of the league’s hardest throwing closers is about as disheartening as TV gets, this side of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, and if he had ended the at-bat in a nobody-really-wins shootout with Hard-Nosed-Yet-Sensitive™ Elliot I would have been completely in the moment. But up to that point.

The 26th Man notes that the Cardinals are still in Lidge’s head; he got the save, but it was more nite-lite than Lights Out, and in most other parks Johnny Rocket (what’s the current John Rodriguez nickname preference, besides Starting Left Fielder?) would be trotting around the bases after that first at-bat. We also got to see a Crazy Edmonds moment, turning a Lidge offering around for an RBI and running with his usual reckless abandon in the ninth inning of a close ballgame.

If only Marquis hadn’t sucked. I don’t get it; his stuff looked good, he got a hit off Oswalt, he was calm for most of the game, but I think we just have to accept at this point that there’s no corner for him to turn because the one thing in the way is an innate inability to keep it together over an entire start. He’s just an inconsistent pitcher, and now it would appear that the Cardinals are in possession of three number five starters in the rotation, Ponson’s current ERA notwithstanding. I’m aware that people–Bernie Miklasz for one, if I remember correctly–have begun to doubt Reyes’s ability to stay conditioned over an entire season of starting, but wouldn’t it be nice to have at least one starter besides Carp and Mulder whose upside exceeds a Quality Start?

Speaking of pitchers from Memphis, Falkenborg looked pretty impressive for all the fallout following his ugly Cards debut. He didn’t have much besides the fastball, but he had it up in the mid 90s and he got Craig Biggio–far from an impatient hitter–to chase it in the dirt for strike three. Most impressive of all was his knockout pitch to Lance Berkman, a high-90s fastball up around the letters that the Killer B du jour just waved at. He reminds me of Jimmy Journell with an idea of where the fastball is going, but the same tendency to hang the breaking ball on the rare occasions he dusts it off. (Hint: don’t dust it off.)

Carpenter and Petitte tomorrow. Petitte’s game log for this year is vaguely interesting; he’s got four starts in which he’s the normal Andy Petitte–not last year’s ace but a well-above-average type–and they’re bookended by two starts, including one against the Marlins, in which he got absolutely pounded. Now, the Cardinals don’t have any hitters as powerful as, say, Reggie Abercrombie, but it would appear that he’s somewhat vulnerable, especially with Scott Rolen recovered enough from Mystery Bronchitis to join the lineup. Most of Petitte’s trouble has been with the home run ball, having given up seven in his first 36 innings. Judging by his MLB.com picture, he’s also struggled with running face-first into panes of glass.

On a related note, I’m perfectly willing to admit that El Spiez has done an admirable job since joining the lineup, but please shave that sucker off. My roommate–not a particularly big fan of baseball–walked in during his last at-bat. Despite the TV being of the postage stamp variety, his Troll-tee was so glaringly awful that said roommate instantly started laughing. Was there ever a time period where that thing was cool, or even socially acceptable? Somewhere, in a mall circa 1999, some Limp Bizkit fan is being ostracized by all the other Limp Bizkit fans for that exact same look.