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I agree with you about the sloppiness. It's hard to believe we were once 20-10 or so, and looking strong to control the NL Central.

The failure of a bullpen can make any manager look bad though, and I think that has been the case with Matheny. Guys in the 'pen simply aren't making pitches and getting guys out in enough key situations.

I'm concerned about the brain dead baseball we are seeing. There are too many veterans on this team for that to continue. I hope Matheny can keep them focused and get them on a roll. How well he gets them to respond may define his first year as manager.

Agreed, Matheny isn't at fault for the bullpen struggles ... the pitchers simply aren't getting it done for the most part but I do tire of continually seeing Scrabble facing right handers especially since he's been getting killed in those situations repeatedly. That is something the manager can control.

I agree with you about Scrabble and him pitching to too many right handed hitters. The more I see of this bullpen, the more I think I want Mozeliak to make a deal to strengthen it.

Agreed entirely on the bullpen issue. Rotation will be solid the rest of the road, I think.

Damn, yesterday was a game we shouldn't have lost, and it falls into this fundamental mistakes category.

They fight for three runs in the 8th to take a 7-4 lead, then Scrabble comes out and immediately walks the the first two Phillies he faces to let the Phils back into the game. Just a killer with those walks.

Then, what were they thinking in the 10th, just letting Rollins steal third without paying any attention to him whatsoever?? That one is on Matheny to me.

This teams needs to tighten some things up if they are going to play in the postseason. The hitting is obviously good enough and the rotation has been pretty solid. The bullpen remains a glaring weak spot, even though Mujica has solidified the 7th inning somewhat. They just seem to find ways to lose games sometimes, instead of the opposite. Whether it is giving up a critical HR at the wrong time or coming in and giving key leadoff walks, the bullpen has to get better.

Good to see Carp throwing off a mound yesterday to live hitters. It'll be interesting to see if he can actually come back this year and contribute.

Great start for Jaime last night. It's tough for me to decide who I would want in a post-season series rotation, if we were to get past the WC round. You've got Lohse and Adam, which I think are givens....not Lynn is pitching very well again, and Jaime looks good and bad. Then Carpenter and Westbrook could be in the mix as well.

For my money, I would go with Lohse, Carp, Adam and Lynn.

Pretty good outing for Carp again last night. I didn't see the entire game, but when I was watching I thought he looked pretty sharp. We just can't score runs against Cy Young.....I mean, Bud Norris. He's only Cy Young against the Cardinals.