Forsch pitched 15 seasons with the Cardinals from 1974-88, throwing two no-hitters during his tenure with the team.

	   Pablo Sandoval(notes), Sept. 15, 2011, at Colorado Rockies
	   Fred Lewis(notes), May 13, 2007, at Colorado Rockies
	   Randy Winn(notes), Aug. 15, 2005, at Cincinnati Reds
	   Jeff Kent, May 3, 1999, at Pittsburgh Pirates
	   Robby Thompson, April 22, 1991, vs. San Diego Padres
	   Chris Speier, July 9, 1988, vs. St. Louis Cardinals
	   Candy Maldonado, May 4, 1987, at St. Louis Cardinals
	   Jeffrey Leonard, June 27, 1985, at Cincinnati Reds
	   Dave Kingman, April 16, 1972, at Houston Astros
	   Jim Ray Hart, July 8, 1970, at Atlanta Braves
	   Don Mueller, July 11, 1954, vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
	   Harry Danning, June 15, 1940, vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
	   Sam Leslie, May 24, 1936, vs. Philadelphia Phillies
	   Freddie Lindstrom, May 8, 1930, at Pittsburgh Pirates
	   Mel Ott, May 16, 1929, at Boston Braves
	   Bill Terry, May 29, 1928, at Brooklyn Dodgers
	   Ross Youngs, April 29, 1922, at Boston Braves
	   Dave Bancroft, June 1, 1921, vs. Philadelphia Phillies
	   George Burns, Sept. 17, 1920, vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
	   Chief Meyers, June 10, 1912, vs. Chicago Cubs
	   Sam Mertes, Oct. 4, 1904, vs. St. Louis Cardinals
	   Mike Tiernan, Aug. 28, 1890, at Cincinnati Reds
	   Mike Tiernan, Aug. 15, 1888, at Philadelphia Phillies
	   Dave Orr, Aug. 10, 1887, at Baltimore Orioles
	   Dave Orr, June 12, 1885, vs. St. Louis Browns

(Sports Network) – The Pittsburgh Pirates try to strengthen their lead atop
the National League Central this evening when they open a three-game series
against the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park.

The unlikeliest of all the division leaders, Pittsburgh enters tonight’s tilt
a percentage point ahead of Milwaukee and holds a one-game edge on the
Cardinals, who have finished ahead of the Pirates every year since 1999.

“I am so encouraged by what our guys are bringing,” Pirates manager Clint
Hurdle said. “I have challenged them to score one more run than the other
team, and they have taken me up on my word.”

Pittsburgh, which of course has endured 18 straight losing seasons, has done
most of its damage against the NL Central, as it is 24-14 against the division
and has won 15 of its last 20.

The Pirates, though, were denied a series sweep over the Cincinnati Reds on
Wednesday, falling 3-1. Andrew McCutchen knocked in the Pirates’ lone run with
an RBI double in just the club’s third loss in nine games overall.

Karstens (8-5) absorbed the loss after giving up three runs — one earned –
on seven hits over seven frames.

Starting pitching has been a big part of the Bucs’ success this season. Their
3.34 ERA is the sixth best in the league and tops in the Central, against whom
Pirates starters have pitched to a 2.97 ERA this season.

An even bigger part of their turnaround takes the hill tonight, as left-hander
Paul Maholm tries to win his third straight decision. Maholm did not get a
decision on Saturday in Houston and gave up three runs and nine hits in five
innings of a 6-4 loss. He is 6-9 on the year with a 3.06 ERA.

Maholm, who is 4-4 lifetime against the Cardinals, has been unbeatable at home
of late, going 4-0 with an 0.84 ERA over his last five starts in the Steel
City.

St. Louis, meanwhile, will counter with its ace in righty Chris Carpenter, who
has owned the Pirates over the course of his career, posting an 11-2 mark to
go along with a 2.09 ERA in 16 starts.

Carpenter won his fourth straight decision on Saturday in Cincinnati, as he
held the Reds to a run and seven hits over eight innings. He also struck out
seven and improved to 5-7 in the year, while lowering his ERA to 3.69.

The Cardinals avoided a sweep in New York on Thursday, as Albert Pujols
clubbed a two-run homer and Jake Westbrook tossed eight solid innings to help
St. Louis to a 6-2 victory over the Mets at Citi Field.

Westbrook (8-4) allowed two runs on four hits with one walk for the Cardinals,
who snapped their losing streak at three games.

“Jake worked fast and obviously he made some good pitches today,” Pujols said.

In his last eight games, Pujols has registered nine hits, six runs, four
homers and 10 RBI. That is trend that continue this weekend, as the three-time
NL MVP’s 26 homers and 77 RBI at PNC are his most at any visiting ballpark.

The Pirates took two of three from the Cardinals earlier in the year.

The Sports Network

By Dan Moore

– Managing Editor

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Jul 7, 2011 – After roaring back from an eight-run deficit the St. Louis Cardinals couldn’t quite complete the comeback or the sweep, falling 9-8 to the Cincinnati Reds in extra innings. Matt Holliday homered in the seventh inning to key a five-run rally, Daniel Descalso had four hits, and Jon Jay homered off of Francisco Cordero in the ninth inning to tie a game that began with Jake Westbrook allowing five runs in a brutal first inning. Albert Pujols went 1-6 with a single and an RBI in his incredibly swift return to the lineup following a wrist fracture.

The Reds got on top early with a first-pitch home run from leadoff hitter Chris Heisey, and it looked like the game was over when Scott Rolen hit his fifth home run of the year off Trever Miller to extend the lead to 8-0. But the Cardinals picked up two in the sixth off a Descalso double and five more in the seventh to get within a run, whereupon Jay pulled his seventh home run of the season deep to right field.

But after seven scoreless innings the Cardinals’ stretched bullpen finally broke; Ramon Hernandez’s ground-rule double drove in a run and Aroldis Chapman sealed the deal for his first career save.

Read More: Jake Westbrook (P – STL), Matt Holliday (LF – STL), Francisco Cordero (P – CIN), Jon Jay (RF – STL), Daniel Descalso (2B – STL), St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds

The St. Louis Cardinals have taken over top spot in the TSN.ca MLB Power Rankings, vaulting from seventh last week, thanks in part to strong contributions from complementary players like Jon Jay and Allen Craig, who lead the Cards in OPS this month.

Among the biggest risers this week, the Giants climbed from 16 to six, as a pitching-strong team seems to have unearthed a gem of sorts, in journeyman Ryan Vogelsong.

The Brewers also climbed from 17 to seven and the Red Sox from 15 to eight, as the parity throughout baseball has allowed for some significant moves with teams bunched so close together.

Last week’s number one, the Cincinnati Reds lost six in a row, with the last two coming by a margin of 15 runs, resulting in a drop from one to 14.

The fast-starting Kansas City Royals are also starting to fade and their slump has resulted in a fall from nine to 17.

The Toronto Blue Jays have won nine of 12 and climbed from 14 to 11 in the rankings, their best so far in the 2011 season.

Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook.

By Alex Fritz

– Contributor

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May 20, 2011 – You sit quietly in the beat-up pleather chair, rotating between skimming a three-month-old Sports Illustrated and checking Twitter on your phone. A muzak version of Stevie Wonder’s “Part Time Lover” plays from the ceiling, echoing down the linoleum tiles of the hallway. Next to you lies your friend, Larry “Tap” Kissinger, unconscious since a trick jell-o shot went horribly awry on New Years Eve. You’ve been here almost four hours, just in case he wakes up.

The nurse, a young Vietnamese immigrant named George Labrador, was in not too long ago to shave Tap’s facial hair into his trademark goatee. Tap’s been rocking the “goat” (as he calls it) since making varsity starting tight end sophomore year. My God, man, that was twelve years ago. It’s been six years since you and Tap graduated from Southwest Missouri State (Tap majoring in Marketing, or, as he liked to call it, being a “Professional Asshole.”)

George has been your only company today. You’ve been visiting Tap for six hours a day ever since the accident. Frankly, it’s getting old. “[beep] or get off the pot, Tap,” you thought to yourself earlier. Rick and Brenda, Tap’s parents, should be by to take your place around eight. The whole ordeal has been daunting for them.

A page comes over the intercom above his bed. Doctor Chet Housington is needed in surgery. Suddenly, Tap shifts and mumbles something about “Chad Sexington” under his breath.

“Tap! You’re awake!”

“Sup bitch! Whats the haps?”

“You’ve been in a coma since New Years, you idiot.”

“What? What day is it?”

“May 20th!”

“Whoa, brah! What happened?”

“You fell out of a window doing a jello shot.”

“I’ll be damned! So… whats in the news?”

“Well… We killed Bin Laden. That was cool; we all got drunk, for some reason. Oh, Donald Trump made Obama show his birth certificate. And we are kind of at war with Libya. Packers won the Super Bowl. There’s been a bunch of floods. Your wife left you. Albert Pujols plays third base now. The world ends tomorrow.”

“Wait… Pujols plays third base now?”

“Well, not always. But he has, yeah.”

“That’s kinda cool. What happened to David Freese?”

“Broke his hand or something.”

“Damn, that sucks. What else are the Cards doing?”

“Oh, that’s right, you’ve missed all that. Well, Wainwright is out for the year with Tommy John surgery. Albert Pujols didn’t sign a contract extension and is hitting like .260. Ryan Franklin has an ERA north of 9 and has been worth -0.8 WAR. He blew like six saves and lost the closer’s job, but Mitchell Boggs and Eduardo Sanchez blew some saves, too. Matt Holliday had to get his appendix taken out in the middle of April. Ryan Theriot is our shortstop, but he and Tyler Greene have combined for literally a dozen errors already. Colby Rasmus is afraid of walls now. Hell, Pete Kozma was called up after putting up a .568 OPS in Memphis!”

“Damn, that sucks. Is La Russa pissed?”

“Nah, he actually has a really bad case of shingles. Had to leave the team and go up to the Mayo Clinic. Almost didn’t graduate. Bing.”

“Now you’re just making stuff up and doing Ned Ryerson references, like that nerdlinger on SB Nation St Louis that’s always writing about dumbass doomsday scenarios.”

“No, I’m serious. He missed the Cincinnati series last weekend. We got swept and then the Reds broadcasters talked up a bunch of [beep] about Dave Duncan and Chris Carpenter.”

“I’m not surprised we got swept. This season sounds awful. Have we even won a [beep]ing game yet?”

“Oh yeah, we’re doing really well. First place, actually! Matter of fact, it’s not even flukey, we’re leading the league in run differential.”

“What? How?”

“Lance Berkman and Matt Holliday are setting the world on fire. Rasmus has been good. Jaime Garcia’s been real good. So has Kyle Lohse. The whole rotation has been more than cromulent, really. Everybody’s getting on base, taking lots of walks. Heck, Kozma even had an RBI double his first plate appearance! It’s been a fun team to watch.”

“Even without Wainwright?”

“Yup.”

“And Pujols and Franklin sucking and Kozma being on the team and all that?”

“Yup.”

“Huh.”

You and Tap stare at the wall in silence as he processes all that is new to him in this crazy 2011 world of ours.

Minutes pass, noted by the Lighthouse For The Blind clock hanging on the lime green painted cinder block wall directly across from Tap’s bed. A Muzak’d rendition of Don Henley’s “Dirty Laundry” now plays from above. Tap breaks the non-Don Henley silence.

“My wife left me?”

“Yeah, she’s banging that bar-back from Milo’s now.”

“Well… good for them. Let’s go get a beer!”

“THAT’S OUR TAP!!!” Roars the studio audience in unison.

Star-Wipe out, roll credits. 

*A Sir Richard Cupcakes Production!*

Read More: Matt Holliday (LF – STL), Ryan Franklin (P – STL), Albert Pujols (1B – STL), Mitchell Boggs (P – STL), David Freese (3B – STL), Colby Rasmus (CF – STL), Tyler Greene (SS – STL), Eduardo Sanchez (P – STL), St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds

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