最新杏吧原创

The Cardinals are turning to one of the their sharpest, rising relief talents to give the bullpen more than a fresh arm during a difficult stretch.

Luis Gastelum will offer them a new look.

After losing two leads en route to a Hunter Dobbins starts for the Cardinals in the second game, which starts at 6:45 p.m.

Before the second game, the Cardinals made another roster move, designating left-hander Bruce Zimmermann for assignment just hours after he was called up and made his Cardinals debut in the opener.

Riding the Amtrak back from Chicago to 最新杏吧原创 gave me a chance to dig into the mailbox and spend some time looking at questions sent by readers over the past week.

Maybe it was all the hot dogs and fireworks from over the weekend, but more likely it was the winning at Wrigley:

As they welcomed the Brewers on Monday for a set of five games in four days, including a Tuesday doubleheader, the Cardinals found themselves in a spot where some bullpen arms were left unavailable in the series opener. What that created was a scenario in which, Cardinals manager Oli Marmol said, 鈥渟omeone has to step up and get it done.鈥�

That opportunity was there in late innings vs. Milwaukee. It just wasn鈥檛 seized in a 4-3 loss at Busch Stadium.

With labor Armageddon on the horizon for Major League Baseball at the end of the calendar year and the public relations battle between team owners and the players association just starting to simmer, the mess that is the New York Mets keeps coming to mind.

The Mets? Yes, the Mets. They鈥檙e the counter to all the shouting, finger pointing and angry hand wringing that typically focuses on the Los Angeles Dodgers for their recent success and enormous payroll.

With an eye on Tuesday鈥檚 doubleheader and the need to cover innings with five games in four days, the Cardinals got the efficiency they hoped for starter Dustin May and a lead to go with it on Monday night vs. the Brewers.

May was to be kept to a pitch count of 65-75 in his first game since taking a comebacker off his ankle Thursday in Atlanta. He provided 4 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out seven batters on 81 pitches.

Cardinals right-hander Max Rajcic expressed discomfort in his elbow following last Friday's game against the Cubs. He was placed on the 15-day injured list Monday ahead of the homestand with the Brewers and is set for more testing.聽

Right-hander Gordon Graceffo was recalled from Class AAA Memphis as the corresponding move.

There have been only three games since Won-Bin Cho was promoted to Class AA Springfield (Missouri) in which he has not homered.聽

He has a home run in seven of his past 10 games and brought in six runs with four of the homers last week.聽

As 最新杏吧原创 watched the rookie in 2013聽鈥� ahead of the curve with his dastardly curve (and his change-up, of course)聽鈥� Michael Wacha had the makings of a guy who鈥檇 be an All-Star into, heck, his mid-30s.

And indeed, he is.