It has been well-documented that the Cardinals are struggling at home this season, but it’s starting to get ridiculous. I had the misfortune of attending Tuesday night’s game between the Cardinals and Pirates. Everything was set up for the Birds to emerge victorious. They were at home, Looper pitched another gem, and they were playing the lowly Pirates without the recently traded Jason Bay and Xavier Nady. However, as has been the case at home too 
many times this year, the Cards made an inferior pitcher look like Cy Young and failed to score before it was too late. The bottom line is that the Cardinals suck at home in 2008 and it’s ruining their season.
This team seems to be suffering from a severe case of multiple personality disorder. It’s hard to fathom how the team can play so well on the road, then turn around and stink up the joint so bad when they return home to their adoring fans. The Marlins (35-31) are the only NL team to have a worse home record than the Cardinals (34-29) that is not at least 10 games under .500. Maybe the Cards should stay at the Westin when they are in town because they have the best road record, at 37-29, in the National League. Whatever the solution, the Birds need a lot more Jekyll and a lot less Hyde when playing in front of the home crowd.
The Cardinals only trail the Wild Card leading Brewers by 2 ½ games but are running out of time to catch them. With only 33 games remaining, 18 at Busch, the Birds need to step up the intensity at home. The schedule doesn’t cut the Cards any slack. The Birds play 12 of their final home games against the Brewers, Marlins, Cubs, and Diamondbacks, all teams 
vying for spots in the post season. The Cards are 10-12 at Busch since July 1st. They will have to play significantly better at home to take a run at the Brewers. An awful Braves team comes to town Friday making this a good time to reverse an unsettling trend.
The crowd on Tuesday was the smallest I’ve seen at Busch since the Cards moved into the new stadium. There were a couple sections that were nearly empty. Most of this probably had to do with the night of the week and the opposition, but unless the Cardinals want to get used to playing in front of crowds like this on a regular basis, they need to rescue their season by playing better baseball at home.
Extra Innings:
I’m fired up that Tony listened to the plea of Adam Wainwright
and is returning him to the rotation. The bullpen has been solidified with the return of Chris Perez and Waino will be much more valuable as a starter.
I like this Felipe Lopez cat. It seems like he’s capable of doing a lot of things pretty well if he wants to. I believe the change of scenery has been a major contributor to his recent surge.
I’m torn on the Izzy situation. It’s sad that Isringhausen may not get his 300th save as a Cardinal, but I’m glad I won’t have to watch him pitch anymore this season.
Jason LaRue has quietly put together a nice season backing up Yadi.