Could things get any worse for the St. Louis Cardinals? The season hasn’t even started yet and already one of their aces is out for the year and the other left a spring training game due to a hamstring injury.

The good news is that Chris Carpenter should be fine after leaving Tuesday’s outing with what is being called a strained hamstring. The bad news is that the Cardinals are clearly cursed and I wouldn’t be surprised if red ants invaded the infield grass at Busch Stadium and started attacking the grounds crew.

All kidding aside, I wonder if this scare with Carpenter will force the Cardinals to reconsidering adding another arm before the season starts. There was some thought that 32-year-old minor league free agent acquisition Raul Valdes would be considered a replacement for Wainwright, but the early camp impressions haven’t been good.

Kevin Millwood is still waiting for some team to call, and the Cards seem like a good fit for the 36-year-old. But St. Louis appears to be set on going with internal options at this point, which is surprising seeing as how they’re built to win now (at least they were before Wainwright was injured).

For now, it appears as though the Cards are going with what they have but the injury to Carpenter may have changed their outlook on the pitching situation.

The search is over for the most bizarre sports story of the month: Jonny Gomes, you win.

After word spread that Cardinals’ starting pitcher Adam Wainwright suffered a serious arm injury that could require Tommy John surgery (it does), reports surfaced that Gomes arrived to Reds’ spring training practice on Wednesday “joyously” singing, “Wainwright’s gone, Wainwright’s gone, Wainwright’s gone.”

Naturally, Cardinal nation wanted Gomes beaten to within an inch of his life but the outfielder denied the report and claims he was merely singing the song “You’re the Best Around” from the “Karate Kid” movie.

Nope, this isn’t a joke. From Mark Sheldon’s blog:

I was present in the clubhouse when Gomes walked in. He was singing — but it was a song from the original Karate Kid movie — “You’re the best around…” As for what he said about Wainwright, Gomes’ account follows:

“I was doing an interview with [Rob] Dibble and Dibble gave me the breaking news that Wainwright was flying back to St. Louis with arm problems. That’s all I heard. I came in and I said ‘is Wainwright gone, is Wainwright gone?’

Gomes went on to say that he came up with Wainwright in the minors and would never wish injury on any player. If it’s any consolation, St. Louis skipper Tony La Russa told the media that, “I happen to know Gomes. I don’t think he meant anything by it. And I haven’t even heard for sure what he said. But I like the way he competes.”

Hal McCoy, the writer who posted the original report, removed the story and said that he “didn’t sleep last night” after what he wrote caused a stir.

Whether the story is true or not, this will certainly ratchet up the rivalry between the Cards and Reds this season. And whether Gomes sang about Wainwright’s injury or not, there’s no doubt that Randy Marsh is proud that the Reds’ outfielder was signing “You’re the Best Around.”

The Albert Pujols contract situation just took a backseat to more depressing news for St. Louis Cardinal fans.

Adam Wainwright suffered what is being called a significant elbow injury in spring training and the early reports are that he’ll need Tommy John surgery.

Make no mistake, this would be a disastrous situation for the Cardinals. As in, hey Milwaukee Brewers, the door is open, why don’t you come in and make yourself at home at the top of the NL Central kind of disastrous situation. Wainwright is one of the game’s best pitchers and has finished in the top three of the NL Cy Young balloting each of the past two seasons. Without him in the rotation, the Cards will certainly struggle to stay afloat in the division.

If he does wind up having surgery, the options are slim for replacements. According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, early speculation is that the Cards will go after Kevin Millwood, which wouldn’t be a bad move. Millwood is 36-years-old and had an ERA of 5.10 last season, but he would benefit from the move to the NL and the pitcher-friendly Busch Stadium. He’s better than a sharp stick in the eye.

But obviously Millwood is no Wainwright. Assuming he’s out for the season, this injury not only hurts the Cardinals but the game of baseball as well. Major League Baseball needs its stars on the field.

After cruising through his first season in the National League, Roy Halladay was given the 2010 National League Cy Young Award.

Halladay was the unanimous choice after posting a 21-10 record with a 2.44 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP over 33 starts. He also struck out 219 batters while walking only 30, and finished with two no-hitters (one of which came in his first ever postseason appearance).

Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals finished second in the voting and the Rockies’ Ubaldo Jimenz finished third despite being the unanimous choice early in the year. Tim Lincecum, who won the past two NL Cy Young awards, finished 11th despite beating Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Derek Lowe and Cliff Lee (twice) in the postseason.

While Cardinal fans are still crying about how Wainwright didn’t win the award in 2009, they have nothing to say this year. Halladay was the clear-cut choice while receiving all 32 first-place votes. The award caps off an amazing year.

Before their sweep of the Braves this week, I would have said that the National League Wild Card is a three-team race. But now that the Rockies are putting together a very Rockie-like charge, this is definitely now a four-horse competition in the NL.

Let’s break down the contenders and make a prediction.

(Side Note: I’m fully aware that the Phillies and Cardinals still have a great chance of catching the Braves and Reds in their respective divisions, but I’m going by the standings as of Thursday, August 26. In a couple of weeks, I’ll update this list so for now, let’s just call this Version 1.0.)

Philadelphia Phillies
Games Remaining: 36
Games Back: 0
What I Like About Their Chances: I like the Phillies because quite frankly, they’ve been here before. They know what it takes to play good baseball in the month of September and their roster is chockfull of veteran players. Even though they haven’t shown it of late, the Phils also still have the best lineup 1-8 of any of the four Wild Card contenders and a three-headed monster in Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt (who has been outstanding in the month of August) and Cole Hamels. This is, by far, the most talented team of the four listed…

What I Don’t Like: …that said, this club isn’t playing very good baseball right now. In their last seven games, they’ve won only two and they were just swept at home by the Astros. Also, despite all of their offensive firepower, they’ve managed to score just 16 runs in those seven outings. They also have six more games against the Braves, who they are just 5-7 against this season. This is a club that seemingly can’t put it all together this season and you just get the sense that something’s missing.

San Francisco Giants
Games Remaining: 34
Games Back: 0
What I Like About Their Chances: All of a sudden, the Giants have become an offensive juggernaut. In their last three games (all versus the Reds), they racked up 39 runs and 53 hits. Thus far, the acquisitions of Jose Guillen (to my surprise) and Cody Ross have paid off, and guys like Pablo Sandoval and Freddy Sanchez are starting to get hot at the dish. Believe it or not, it has been the pitching that has failed them over the last three weeks or so, but if Tim Lincecum can shake out of the funk he’s in then this will be a formidable team down the stretch.

What I Don’t Like: The recent offensive explosion could be a direct result of the warm weather that San Francisco has had. You might think that’s a lame statement, but the ball jumps off hitters’ bats at AT&T Park when it’s warm and deadens when it’s cooler (which is the normal climate in the “City by the Bay”). The weather is supposed to dip back down for the Giants’ series against the Diamondbacks this weekend, so we’ll find out soon if the 39 runs was just an anomaly. Of course, the Giants’ biggest concern at the moment is the seemingly season-long funk that their ace has been in. Since throwing a gem against the Dodgers on July 30, Lincecum has posted an 8.38 ERA in four straight losses and has surrendered 19 runs on 28 hits in just 19.1 innings of work. He has shown signs of getting back on track, but it’s safe to say he’s nowhere near the pitcher he was the last two years. If he doesn’t figure it out soon, the Giants’ chances of making the postseason reduce dramatically. Another reason to hate San Fran’s Wild Card hopes is its 2-9 record against the Padres – who they play six more times.

St. Louis Cardinals
Games Remaining: 38
Games Back: 1
What I Like About Their Chances: The Cards may have the easiest route to the postseason of any of these four contenders. Out of their 38 remaining games, 22 of them are against teams with losing records. And unlike the Phillies and Giants right now, their top three starters have been lights out recently. Chris Carpenter is 3-1 this month with a 2.60 ERA, Adam Wainwright has been even nastier while posting a 1.95 ERA and Jaime Garcia has amassed a 2.84 ERA this month. Aside from pitching, let’s not forget that this club also has the best pure hitter in baseball in Albert Pujols and ample protection around him in Matt Holliday and youngster Jon Jay. For August Busch’s sake, even Pedro Feliz is contributing at the dish right now.

What I Don’t Like: Twenty-two of their remaining 38 games may be against teams with losing records, but the Cards are a very pedestrian 23-21 against those clubs. While that’s still a winning record, keep in mind that we’re talking about teams like the Pirates, Astros, Nationals, Cubs and Brewers here. In the past two weeks, St. Louis has dropped series against the Cubs, Brewers and Pirates – in the middle of a pennant race, mind you. How does this happen with a starting rotation that features Carpenter, Wainwright and Garcia?

Colorado Rockies
Games Remaining: 36
Games Back: 4
What I Like About Their Chances: This team has already proven that they can get crazy hot and at 41-20, they’re extremely tough to beat at home. Carlos Gonzalez has carried this team and as proof of their 12-10 victory over the Braves on Wednesday, the Rockies are seemingly never out of any game. Six of their final 11 series are at home so if they can pull off a couple of more sweeps like they did against Atlanta, Colorado could shock everyone and win this race down the stretch.

What I Don’t Like: Despite their success at home, this club has played like garbage on the road, posting a 25-40 record away from Coors Field this year. That doesn’t bode well for them considering they have tough road challenges coming up against the Giants, Padres and Cardinals coming up over the next month or so. Those three series could essentially make or break Colorado’s chances and considering they have the most ground to cover of any team listed here, that may be too much to overcome. They also have the worst collection of starting pitching of the Wild Card contenders and Ubaldo Jimenez has dropped two of his last three starts. (Although it’s worth noting that he still has a 2.57 ERA this month.)

Prediction:
It’s a toss up between the Cardinals and the Phillies for me. They both have more talent than the Giants and Rockies, although both are coming off terrible series against bad opponents. In the end, St. Louis’ schedule is favorable and if they don’t wind up winning the NL Central, I like them to secure the Wild Card. Again, they have the easiest road of any team listed above and if they can get their act together on the road, I think they head back to the postseason. Of course, if Tim Lincecum can get back to being Tim Lincecum and the Giants’ offense stays red-hot, the Giants are going to be extremely tough to beat in a three-game series from here on out.

Is that clear? To recap, I like the Cardinals, Phillies and Giants to potentially win the Wild Card………………and maybe even the Rockies.

Update: With their win today, the Dodgers are now only 5 games back in the Wild Card race as well, with a huge series coming up this weekend in Colorado. Hopefully L.A. sweeps the Rockies and thus, make me look like a fool for not including them in this piece.

One day after reports surfaced that the Phillies were on the verge of acquiring Roy Oswalt via a trade, Craig Calcaterra of NBC Sports hears that the Cardinals are now the front-runners for the Astros’ ace.

In fact, the Astros have been talking with Cardinals GM John Mozeliak for several days now, and Oswalt is quite amenable to go to St. Louis if the teams can agree on what players will head back to Houston. For their part, the Cardinals are convinced that matching Roy Oswalt up with Dave Duncan would take a guy who is already an ace and turn him back into the Cy Young candidate he was a few years ago. I’ll stop believing stuff like that when Dave Duncan actually fails for once. Which I wouldn’t bet on, frankly.

Of course, the big issue everyone has been talking about today has been Oswalt’s desire that his 2012 option be picked up. That’s $16 million, and that ain’t hay. My source tells me, however, that Oswalt would be willing to work with the Cardinals to make the option more palatable, possibly in terms of deferring some money. The sides aren’t quite that far yet.

The other issue is that the Cardinals’ farm system is tapped out, outside of top prospect Shelby Miller, who was the club’s first round pick in 2009.

Would St. Louis be willing to give up Miller and take on Oswalt’s salary? That’s a reach, especially considering Oswalt and Albert Pujols are each due to make $16 million in 2011, Matt Holliday is set to make $17 million, Chris Carpenter $15 million, Adam Wainwright $6.5 million and Kyle Lohse $11.9 million. That’s a lot of dough for six players and that doesn’t even include Ryan Ludwick, who is due a raise soon.

Speaking purely from a baseball standpoint, Oswalt makes every bit of sense for the Cardinals. But it’s a whole other story from a financial perspective.

Down 1-0 heading into the seventh inning, you got the sense of “here we go again” for the National League in the All-Star Game. The pitching was excellent (the one run that the AL scored was unearned), but nobody was hitting and it appeared that the NL was destined to spend the rest of its existence in All-Star Game hell.

Then Braves’ catcher Brian McCann came to the plate with bases loaded and promptly unloaded them with a double to give the NL a 3-1 lead. The Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright, the Giants’ Brian Wilson and the Dodgers’ Jonathan Broxton followed with scoreless innings in the seventh, eighth and ninth to give the NL its first ASG victory in 13 years.

The pitching in most All-Star Games is usually good, but the NL’s staff was excellent on Tuesday night. They allowed just six hits and one earned run, while walking three batters and striking out eight. Roy Halladay had the most trouble in his 0.2 innings of work by allowing two hits, although neither run crossed home plate.

The pitching for the AL was also solid outside of the Yankees’ Phil Hughes, who had decent stuff but was smacked around in the fatal seventh inning. In just 0.1 innings of work, he gave up two runs on two hits, including McCann’s double.

Also noteworthy was how base running came into play late in the game for both sides. Down 1-0 in the seventh, Scott Rolen (who had reached on a single) took second and third on only a single by the Cardinals Matt Holliday because he read the ball off the bat perfectly. While he eventually scored on McCann’s double, Rolen’s savvy base running play was potentially huge because it put a runner at third with less then two outs and the NL down by one run.

On the flip side, the AL was threatening in the bottom of the ninth when David Ortiz singled to right to start the inning and John Buck hit what looked to be another single two batters later. But Ortiz didn’t read the play well enough and while the ball dropped in front of outfielder Marlon Byrd, he still had enough time to pick it up and make a good throw to second to nail Ortiz for the force out.

While it was a tough play for Ortiz to read, the gaff killed any momentum that the AL had built in the ninth and Broxton was able to retire Ian Kinsler to give the NL its first victory in over a decade.