Thought this might be a night where we saw the official scorer bust out the “too ineffective to get the win” clause. Those always crack me up.

PFP matters.

Best FoT sighting since he brought John Grisham (who Adam Wainwright had never met) on the field for Adam Wainwright’s farewell day.

Somebody want to nudge Joe Espada up the stairs? Holy smokes.

As Katie Woo reported last night, the Cardinals have activated Lars Nootbaar and optioned Pedro Pagés.

Nootbaar will make his season debut in Arizona, and going back to two catchers means Contreras is ready to get back behind the plate.

A good look at Lance Lynn’s improvement, thanks to one weird trick (not throwing belt high fastballs over the heart of the plate):

And right when he was just about to crack the case. Cruel.

Two weeks into the season, the Cardinals aren’t getting anywhere close to enough offense to win consistently.

The pitching, though? That’s working out almost exactly as designed:

bnd.com/sports/mlb/st-…

Cardinals vs. Philadelphia, 4.10.24

On a sloppy day at Busch, the Cardinals can't get around a cascade of mistakes that mostly originated from Victor Scott II in center. Dropped fly ball in the first cost two runs and some pitches, and the sixth inning got away from Andre Pallante. It's a .500 homestand.

Burleson ropes a single to lead off the ninth and Siani runs for him. Goldschmidt is wearing a helmet and holding a bat in the dugout, presumably to hit for Scott.

Not clear what the short term future looks like for Zack Thompson with his heavy usage today and the team's need for ready starting depth at Memphis, but this was a much stronger performance than either of his starts and a solid course correction, even without velocity returning.

Arenado single to center plates Contreras, cuts the deficit to 4-3.

Nolan Arenado will face Seranthony Domínguez as the go-ahead run with two outs in the eighth. Let’s see!

Victor Scott nubs a single down the third base line and turns the wrong way, tagged out by Harper. Woof.

Castellanos is the fourth straight Phillies hitter to reach. They're up 4-2, and here comes Marmol. Pallante did not record an out.