ST. LOUIS–The St. Louis Cardinals announced their 2012 home regular-season schedule today in conjunction with Major League Baseball’s league-wide release.

The Cardinals will open their home slate Friday, April 13, 2012 against the Chicago Cubs. It marks the latest home opener for the Cardinals since 1991 when the team’s first home game was on April 19 against the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Redbirds’ opening homestand features three games against division rival Chicago (April 13-15), followed by three against the Cincinnati Reds (April 17-19).

The Cardinals play division opponents in each of their first four home series through May 3.

The club’s home interleague action features a three-team homestand that brings the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals to St. Louis (June 8-17).

Following a 9-game road-trip, the club returns home for a 10-game homestand facing Pittsburgh for three, the Colorado Rockies for four games and Miami for three games (June 29-July leading into the All-Star break.

The other three team homestand falls in August (14-23) when the club is home for 16 of 19 games August 3-23.

The Cardinals will host the Chicago Cubs two additional times besides the home opening weekend; hosting a

two-game Monday-Tuesday series, May 14-15, and a three game weekend series in July (20-22).

The Cardinals will host both Milwaukee and Pittsburgh for three, three-game series each. However National League Central Division rival

Houston will visit St. Louis just twice next season, with their first visit not coming until August 21-23.

Cincinnati is also at Busch Stadium on just two occasions next season.

After hosting the Reds for three games during the opening homestand, the Cardinals don’t see the Reds at Busch Stadium until the final three games of

the season (October 1-3).

The Cardinals will close the season at home with three games against the Washington Nationals (Sept. 28-30) followed by the final three against the Reds as the season once again ends on a Wednesday.

The Redbirds will host every National League East and West team one time during 2012, playing the National League East 16 times at home and the National League West teams 17 times.

St. Louis will host 43 games at Busch Stadium before the All-Star break, and 38 after the break. The team has nine home dates in April, 15 in May, 11 in June, 15 in July, a season-high 16 in August and 15 September/October home games.

The Cardinals will make announcements regarding game times, ticket pricing and availability for the 2012 season.

CINCINNATI – Francisco Cordero had every reason to believe he would watch the Cincinnati Reds
finish their series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals from the tranquility of the bullpen yesterday
afternoon.

The Reds, after all, entered the ninth inning with a seven-run lead. How could the closer have
known he would be needed to rescue Cincinnati from another meltdown by Aroldis Chapman while
unwittingly adding another chapter to the increasingly spicy rivalry with the Cardinals?

Cordero retired cleanup hitter Matt Holliday and Reds nemesis Lance Berkman to preserve the
Reds’ 9-7 victory, but that didn’t end the drama.

Cordero’s outing began when he hit Cardinals star Albert Pujols with an 0-and-2 fastball. Backup
St. Louis catcher Gerald Laird, a former teammate of Cordero’s with Texas, took offense and yelled
at Cordero the rest of the game.

“It was the whole inning, really loud,” Reds catcher Ramon Hernandez said. “Everybody was
hearing what he was saying – things you shouldn’t say to anybody. We were trying to play the game
and get an out. We weren’t trying to hit anybody.”

After Cordero struck out Berkman, he turned to the Cardinals dugout and yelled back, punctuated
by some animated gesturing.

“Out of all the guys they have – great hitters and players – Gerald Laird isn’t even playing,”
Cordero said. “And he’s the one yelling at me because I hit Pujols 0-2, (like) I was trying to hit
him.”

It would make no sense for Cordero to hit Pujols intentionally, given the situation. Pujols said
he didn’t believe Cordero tried to hit him, but not all the Cardinals were so sure.

“Our guys took offense to it,” said Joe Pettini, the Cardinals’ acting manager while Tony La
Russa recovers from shingles. “If we’re going to stay in this thing, we’re going to need someone
like Albert in the long haul. A lot of guys got upset, started yelling. I’d yell, too. (But) I
wasn’t yelling at that time.”

Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan responded to Cordero’s yelling by barking back at him, and
other members of both teams joined in. Unlike the fight last August, the hot tempers didn’t result
in anything beyond words.

“They took offense to it, we took offense to it, and the soap opera continues between these
guys,” Pettini said. “It’s always something when you come in here.”

The Reds swept the Cardinals for the first time since 2007 and extended their lead in the
National League Central to 1 games. They did so by defeating ace Chris Carpenter, who’d won his
past 10 decisions against Cincinnati dating to 2006.

Reds starter Travis Wood allowed back-to-back homers to Berkman and Yadier Molina in the second
inning, and then shut out the Cardinals the next four innings.

Hernandez hit his third homer in two days to open the Reds’ scoring in the second. Cincinnati
took the lead in the third and then appeared to have blown the game open with a four-run seventh
inning, highlighted by two-run doubles from Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce.

That put the Reds ahead 8-2, and Chris Heisey added a solo homer in the eighth.

Then came the ninth, with the suddenly woebegone Chapman. The left-hander with the 100-plus mph
fastball had walked eight batters and allowed six runs while retiring only three batters in his
previous three outings, and he was no better this time.

He walked four of the five batters he faced, and the only out came on a deep fly to center. He
threw only five strikes in 23 pitches.

“It’s sort of disheartening because he has so much talent and he’s such a fine young man,” Reds
manager Dusty Baker said.

Nick Masset replaced Chapman and gave up a two-run double to Nick Punto to make it 9-7 before
Baker summoned Cordero.

Cordero sympathized with Chapman’s control issues.

“You’ve got to be patient with him,” Cordero said. “He’s still really young. He will come out of
it. All I can do is try to make him listen to me.

“I went through some stuff like that when I was young coming up to the majors with the Rangers.
I was a hard thrower, and I was wild, too. It’s just a matter of time. He will get it. It’s all
mental.”

brabinowitz@dispatch.com

 

Step aside, Yankees-Red Sox and Giants-Dodgers. There is a new most-heated rivalry in baseball. The Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals are no longer just NL Central rivals: They are officially blood enemies.

In closing out the Reds’ 9-7 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday — completing Cincinnati’s first three-game sweep over St. Louis since 2007 — Francisco Cordero hit Albert Pujols with an 0-2 fastball that rode a little far in. Now, the pitch wasn’t that far off the plate … maybe a couple inches. But like so many hitters these days, Pujols crowds the plate, his hands hanging over the black like a couple sides of beef. It was good purpose pitch; and as Cordero said after the game, he wasn’t trying to put Pujols on base, not since he represented the tying run … and Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman were on deck.

But in typical Tony La Russa fashion, the Cardinals starting barking. La Russa wasn’t at the game as he was dealing with an eye infection, but his longtime pitching coach Dave Duncan, acting manager Joe Pettini and players on the bench didn’t like their star getting hit and started yelling at Cordero. So after Cordero struck out Berkman to end it, he yelled back and pointed to the St. Louis dugout.

“They took offense to it, we took offense to it, and the soap opera continues between these guys,” Pettini said. “It’s always something when you come in here.”

Pujols acknowledged after the game that Cordero wasn’t trying to hit him, but this incident comes on the heels of last August’s brawl in Cincinnati, when Brandon Phillips and Yadier Molina exchanged pleasantries that led to a bench-clearing brawl in the first inning, a brawl that led St. Louis backup catcher Jason LaRue suffering a severe concussion after getting kicked in the head by Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto.

“I know our guys,” La Russa said after that game. “This is not the first time that we’ve been challenged. You just go up and down our roster — we’ve got a bunch of guys that are very tough characters. Like I say, there’s times that you beat us, we’re not good enough. But you’re never going to scare us and we’re never going to back down.”

That’s definitely a typical La Russa response, and a reason his teams are often in the middle of these conflicts. La Russa does seem to believe in a certain code of conduct when it comes to pitching inside — not that he necessarily follows that code too religiously himself. The Cardinals are second in the NL in hit batters, and while they ranked 13th last season, they’re usually in the top half of the league: 13th, 8th, 8th, 3rd, 2nd, 9th, 6th, 7th, 5th and 2nd, going back to 2001.

As for the Reds and Cardinals, the sweep pushed the Reds past St. Louis and into first place. They’re 9-2 over their past 11 games as they allowed more than four runs just twice over those 11 games. Scott Rolen returned to the lineup this weekend and went 7-for-15. Drew Stubbs is playing like an All-Star center fielder, hitting .282/.371/.468, with 31 runs and 13 steals in 14 attempts. Their catching duo of Ramon Hernandez and Ryan Hanigan continue to be a secret weapon, combining for eight home runs and 27 RBIs. Reds mananger Dusty Baker seems reluctant to pull the plug on Jonny Gomes, who is down to .186 and doesn’t play good defense, in place of Chris Heisey, a solid defender with an .847 OPS so far in 57 at-bats.

As for the rivalry, I think it’s the best in baseball. Sure, Jason Varitek and Alex Rodriguez aren’t going to dinner together, but the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry has cooled down from its 2003-05 peak. Dodgers and Giants haven’t been in a serious pennant race against each other since 2004.

The Reds and Cardinals next meet July 4 in St. Louis. Think there may be some fireworks?

SERIES OF THE WEEK

Cubs at Red Sox, Friday-Sunday

Friday: Carlos Zambrano (4-1, 4.35) vs. Jon Lester (4-1, 3.28)
Saturday: Matt Garza (2-4, 4.17) vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka (3-3,4.64)
Sunday: Casey Coleman (1-3, 7.22) vs. John Lackey (2-5, 8.01)

The series everyone wanted to see in 2003 will finally happen as the Cubs visit Fenway Park for the first time since the 1918 World Series. The Red Sox won in six games despite hitting .186, as Babe Ruth won two games.

By one measure, Matt Garza has been the third-best pitcher in baseball this season. FanGraphs rates him third in WAR (behind Roy Halladay and Dan Haren), thanks to his 1.61 FIP, which factors in his walk rate (2.9 per nine innings), strikeout rate (11.8 per nine, best in the majors among starting pitchers) and home run rate (one in 49 2/3 innings). What Garza hasn’t been doing is eliminating base hits: his .382 average on balls in play is worst in the majors. Has he been unlucky or the victim of bad defense? The Cubs do rank 29th in Defensive Efficiency and 21st in UZR, so he’s not getting backed by Gold Glove-caliber defense.

After last Thursday’s start, John Lackey uttered the infamous “Everything in my life sucks right now” quote in reference to his bad start and his wife’s battle with breast cancer. A disappointment a year ago, Lackey’s strikeout/walk ratio has deteriorated to 19/18. His ground ball percentage is a career-low 34 percent (compared to 46 percent over his career). So he’s giving fewer ground balls, walking more and striking out fewer. The Red Sox will soon need to consider other rotation options.

PITCHING MATCHUP OF THE WEEK

Thursday: Justin Verlander (4-3, 2.91) vs. Josh Beckett (3-1, 1.75), Tigers at Red Sox

Beckett has allowed 10 runs in eight starts (none in his past three, although one of those was rain-shortened) and opponents are hitting .175 off him. Verlander has not struck out 10 batters in a game this season, but his opponents are batting just .175 off him. Also pay attention to this: Roy Oswalt returns from the DL to face red-hot Jaime Garcia, who is 5-0 with a 1.89 ERA for the Cardinals.

THREE SWINGS

1. One of the biggest disappointments this season has been Reds reliever Aroldis Chapman. He’s been so bad that Baker brought him in for mop-up duty with a 9-2 lead in the ninth on Sunday. Chapman walked all four hitters he faced, giving him 20 walks in 13 innings. He may throw hard, but right now the Reds need to send him down to Triple-A to see if he can find the strike zone.

2. On a similar note, when do the Marlins pull the plug on Javier Vazquez? He’s had a nice career (154 wins), but after another bad start Sunday he’s 2-4 with a 7.55 ERA and looks near the end of the road. He has 24 walks and 20 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings. He’s allowed 17 first-inning runs, most in the majors. The Marlins have a good team — Logan Morrison returned this weekend and showed no ill effects from his DL stint — but they need more production from the back of their rotation (Vazquez and Chris Volstad). How they replace Vazquez could go a long way towards them staying in the NL East race.

3. Jose Bautista is crazy awesome right now. After hitting three home runs Sunday, he’s hitting an insane .368/.520/.868. “It’s ridiculous, it feels like a dream right now,” Bautista said after his three-homer barrage, which gives him 16 in just 32 games he’s played. “Sometimes I can’t really believe it myself, but I keep seeing the good pitches.” His OPS+ entering Sunday’s game was 266 … which is Barry Bonds territory. Bonds holds the three best OPS+ seasons of all time, led by a 268 mark in 2002. Bautista is the best player in baseball right now.

RANT OF THE WEEK

My editor Nick Pietruszkiewicz makes a guest appearance: “I swear I watched the entire fourth quarter of the Heat-Bulls game in the time it took the Red Sox and Yankees to play a half-inning.” And that’s saying something since the usual NBA playoff game consists of eight timeouts in the final two minutes. (Of course, that game wasn’t close, so I’m guessing the timeouts were avoided.) But that’s always the problem with Yankees-Red Sox: Their. Games. Take. Way. Too. Long. Their six games this season have gone 3:07, 3:26, 2:58, 3:35, 3:26 and 3:41. And that’s worth ranting about.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

CINCINNATI – Francisco Cordero had every reason to believe he would watch the Cincinnati Reds
finish their series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals from the tranquility of the bullpen this
afternoon.

The Reds, after all, entered the ninth inning with a seven-run lead. How could the closer have
known he would be needed to rescue Cincinnati from another meltdown by Aroldis Chapman while
unwittingly adding another chapter to the increasingly spicy rivalry with the Cardinals?

Cordero retired cleanup hitter Matt Holliday and Reds nemesis Lance Berkman to preserve the
Reds’ 9-7 victory, but that didn’t end the drama.

Cordero’s outing began when he hit Cardinals star Albert Pujols with an 0-and-2 fastball. Backup
St. Louis catcher Gerald Laird, a former teammate of Cordero’s with Texas, took offense and yelled
at Cordero the rest of the game.

“It was the whole inning, really loud,” Reds catcher Ramon Hernandez said. “Everybody was
hearing what he was saying – things you shouldn’t say to anybody. We were trying to play the game
and get an out. We weren’t trying to hit anybody.”

After Cordero struck out Berkman, he turned to the Cardinals dugout and yelled back, punctuated
by some animated gesturing.

“Out of all the guys they have – great hitters and players – Gerald Laird isn’t even playing,”
Cordero said. “And he’s the one yelling at me because I hit Pujols 0-2, (like) I was trying to hit
him.”

It would make no sense for Cordero to hit Pujols intentionally, given the situation. Pujols said
he didn’t believe Cordero tried to hit him, but not all the Cardinals were so sure.

“Our guys took offense to it,” said Joe Pettini, the Cardinals’ acting manager while Tony La
Russa recovers from shingles. “If we’re going to stay in this thing, we’re going to need someone
like Albert in the long haul. A lot of guys got upset, started yelling. I’d yell, too. (But) I
wasn’t yelling at that time.”

Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan responded to Cordero’s yelling by barking back at him, and
other members of both teams joined in. Unlike the fight last August, the hot tempers didn’t result
in anything beyond words.

“They took offense to it, we took offense to it, and the soap opera continues between these
guys,” Pettini said. “It’s always something when you come in here.”

The Reds swept the Cardinals for the first time since 2007 and extended their lead in the
National League Central to 1 1/2 games. They did so by defeating ace Chris Carpenter, who’d
won his past 10 decisions against Cincinnati dating to 2006.

Reds starter Travis Wood allowed back-to-back homers to Berkman and Yadier Molina in the second
inning, and then shut out the Cardinals the next four innings.

Hernandez hit his third homer in two days to open the Reds’ scoring in the second. Cincinnati
took the lead in the third and then appeared to have blown the game open with a four-run seventh
inning, highlighted by two-run doubles from Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce.

That put the Reds ahead 8-2, and Chris Heisey added a solo homer in the eighth.

Then came the ninth, with the suddenly woebegone Chapman. The left-hander with the 100-plus mph
fastball had walked eight batters and allowed six runs while retiring only three batters in his
previous three outings, and he was no better this time.

He walked four of the five batters he faced, and the only out came on a deep fly to center. He
threw only five strikes in 23 pitches.

“It’s sort of disheartening because he has so much talent and he’s such a fine young man,” Reds
manager Dusty Baker said.

Nick Masset replaced Chapman and gave up a two-run double to Nick Punto to make it 9-7 before
Baker summoned Cordero.

Cordero sympathized with Chapman’s control issues.

“You’ve got to be patient with him,” Cordero said. “He’s still really young. He will come out of
it. All I can do is try to make him listen to me.

“I went through some stuff like that when I was young coming up to the majors with the Rangers.
I was a hard thrower, and I was wild, too. It’s just a matter of time. He will get it. It’s all
mental.”

brabinowitz@dispatch.com

The Reds emphatically put a stop to Chris Carpenter’s five-year streak of dominating them. Those bad feelings? Judging by the final out, they’re not going to end anytime soon.

If anything, the NL Central’s rock ‘em, sock ‘em rivalry keeps getting livelier.

Brandon Phillips hit a bases-loaded double in the seventh inning Sunday that ended Carpenter’s outing and his long streak of beating the Reds, who held on for a 9-7 victory and three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Fittingly, it ended with more full-throat screaming — the Cardinals were upset that Albert Pujols got plunked by Francisco Cordero in the ninth.

“The teams don’t like each other,” said Lance Berkman, who struck out against Cordero for the final out. “That’s just part of the deal.”

The Reds’ first home sweep of the Cardinals since September 2007 left them alone atop the NL Central, 1½ games ahead of the fuming Cardinals. The Reds got the better of their two-team race last season, and reasserted themselves over the weekend as the ones to beat.

“It’s always a beautiful thing getting a sweep,” Phillips said. “I’m happy with a win no matter who we’re playing. We’re having fun right now.”

Not the Cardinals.

Carpenter (1-3) hadn’t lost to the Reds since June 6, 2006, winning his last 10 decisions against them. Phillips, despised by the Cardinals for his demeaning remarks that touched off a brawl last season, got the decisive hit.

Trailing 4-2 in the seventh, the Cardinals intentionally walked National League MVP Joey Votto and let Carpenter face Phillips with the bases loaded. His double made it 6-2 and ended Carpenter’s outing. Jay Bruce followed with a two-run double off Trever Miller.

“Like I’ve been telling everybody, everybody has their day,” Phillips said. “Today, we hit his mistakes and took advantage of situations. I love the way we’re playing right now.”

Left-hander Travis Wood (3-3) gave up back-to-back solo homers by Berkman and Yadier Molina in the second inning, but little else against the NL’s most-prolific lineup.

The Reds’ bullpen let most of a 9-2 lead get away, letting the tension build in the ninth.

Aroldis Chapman walked four of the five batters he faced, extending his streak of wildness. Nick Masset gave up a two-run double by Ryan Theriot that cut it to 9-5. Cordero came on with one out and gave up a two-run double to Nick Punto, then came up-and-in with a two-strike pitch to Pujols that hit the first baseman on his left wrist.

Pujols realized that Cordero didn’t want to put the tying run on base, but some of his teammates started yelling at Cordero.

“I’m sure Francisco wasn’t trying to do it on purpose, not with Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman coming up,” Pujols said.

Cordero got Holliday to hit into a forceout, then struck out Berkman and pumped his arm in celebration like he usually does. That’s when the words flew back and forth between the mound and the Cardinals’ dugout. Cordero waved angrily toward the Cardinals dugout before lining up to shake hands with teammates.

“I wasn’t trying to hit him,” Cordero said. “I’ve got nothing against the Cardinals.”

Pujols stayed in the game with a bruise that quickly became the latest enduring mark in the rivalry.

“They took offense to it, we took offense to it, and the soap opera continues between these guys,” acting Cardinals manager Joe Pettini said. “It’s always something when you come in here.”

Cincinnati’s starting lineup had a combined .211 average against Carpenter, who went 5-0 against the Reds last season and was a big reason for the Cardinals’ 12-6 record against them.

Pitching in a steady rain on a 55-degree afternoon, he lost his hold on a team starting to find its stride. The defending NL Central champions have won nine of their last 11, moving a season-high six games over .500 at 23-17. Cincinnati’s 1½-game lead is its biggest since April 17.

The sweep left the Reds 4-2 against St. Louis this season.
 

Updated May 15, 2011 5:30 PM ET

CINCINNATI (AP)

Brandon Phillips hit a bases-loaded double in the seventh inning Sunday that ended Chris Carpenter’s outing and his five-year streak of beating the Cincinnati Reds, who held on for a 9-7 victory and three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Reds’ first home sweep of the Cardinals since September 2007 left them alone atop the NL Central, a game and a half ahead.

Carpenter (1-3) hadn’t lost to the Reds since June 6, 2006, winning his last 10 decisions against them. Phillips, despised by the Cardinals for his demeaning remarks last season, got the decisive hit.

Trailing 4-2 in the seventh, the Cardinals intentionally walked National League MVP Joey Votto and let Carpenter face Phillips with the bases loaded. His double made it 6-2 and ended Carpenter’s outing. Jay Bruce followed with a two-run double off Trever Miller.

Left-hander Travis Wood (3-3) gave up back-to-back solo homers by Lance Berkman and Yadier Molina in the second inning, but little else against the NL’s most prolific lineup.

The Reds’ bullpen let most of a 9-2 lead get away.

Aroldis Chapman walked four of the five batters he faced in the ninth, extending his streak of wildness. Nick Masset gave up a two-run double by Ryan Theriot that cut it to 9-5. Francisco Cordero came on with one out and gave up a two-run double to Nick Punto before finishing it off for his seventh save in eight chances.

It ended with a little more drama. After Cordero fanned Berkman to end it, he exchanged words with some of the Cardinals and waved at their dugout before lining up to shake hands with teammates.

Cincinnati’s starting lineup had a combined .211 average against Carpenter, who went 5-0 against the Reds last season and was a big reason for the Cardinals’ 12-6 record against them.

Pitching in a steady rain on a 55-degree afternoon, he lost his hold on a team starting to find its stride. The defending NL Central champions have won nine of their last 11, moving a season-high six games over .500 at 23-17. Cincinnati’s 1 1/2-game lead is its biggest since April 17.

The sweep left the Reds 4-2 against St. Louis this season.

Phillips spiced the rivalry last season by calling the Cardinals whiners, touching off a brawl on Aug. 10. The second baseman came up big during the weekend sweep, driving in three runs during a 7-3 win Saturday and providing the decisive hit a day later.

Ramon Hernandez also homered off Carpenter, who gave up eight runs – seven earned – in 6 1-3 innings. Hernandez hit three solo homers in the last two games of the series.

NOTES: Carpenter’s last loss to the Reds was 7-0 against Eric Milton. … It was the first time the Cardinals got swept this season. … Berkman’s homer snapped an 0-for-15 slump and gave him 22 at Great American Ball Park, the most by any visiting player. … Reds C Ryan Hanigan is sidelined by a sore right hand, hit by a pitch on Friday night. He would have played Sunday if healthy. … Hernandez has six homers, one shy of his total last season. … Chapman threw 18 balls in 23 pitches. He has walked 12 batters in his last four appearances.