BASEBALL TONIGHT EXTRA
Here come the Cardinals
By David S. Bearman, ESPN Research
Don't look now, but the defending World Series champions are only 2½ games out in the NL Central. The Cardinals are two games under .500, but this is the same franchise that captured glory last season after winning just 83 games.
St. Louis has won five straight, including a three-game sweep of division-leading Milwaukee. This weekend, the Cards travel to Wrigley Field to face the Cubs. Chicago has lost 10 of 14 since climbing into a tie with the Brewers on Aug. 1 but still is only a half-game out of first place. It should be a fun weekend on the North Side.
| CARDINALS AT CUBS: PITCHING MATCHUPS |
| FRIDAY |
 Looper
Braden Looper (10-9) vs. Rich Hill (6-7)
Looper has just one win in his past seven road starts, but the right-hander did win in April at Wrigley, allowing one run over seven innings. Since joining the Cardinals prior to the 2006 season, Looper is 3-0 against the Cubs with a 1.20 ERA. Hill has one win since June 12, a span of 11 starts. He allowed a season-high seven earned runs in his last start.
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| SATURDAY |
 Marshall
Anthony Reyes (2-11) vs. Sean Marshall (5-6)
It's a different season for Reyes. After going 0-10 in his first 12 starts this season, Reyes is 2-1 in his past four outings. He now has gone five straight starts without allowing more than three earned runs. The Cubs are not his favorite opponent, however. He is 0-4 againt them in his career. Marshall has not enjoyed the past two months, going 1-4 with a 6.34 ERA in his past eight starts. A win would tie his total from his rookie season last year.
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| SUNDAY |
 Wells
Kip Wells (6-13) vs. Carlos Zambrano (14-9)
One pitcher is 3-1 in his past six starts, while the other has allowed six-plus runs in each of his past two starts. The answer in this matchup would surprise you. Wells started the season with losses in eight of his first nine outings. But he has a 2.79 ERA over his past six starts. Zambrano is tied for the NL lead with 14 wins but has allowed six-plus runs in consecutive starts for only the second time in his career. He is 6-0 with a 1.52 ERA against the Cardinals since the beginning of the 2005 season.
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GREATEST FRANCHISE HOME RUNS
Over a two-week span, Baseball Tonight will be celebrating the top home runs in the history of each current major league team. There will be video tributes, discussions and memorable anecdotes for all 30 squads. The Orioles and the Diamondbacks were the spotlight teams Thursday night. You can catch each home run segment on Baseball Tonight and come here the next morning for a recap of the previous day's selections.
| BALTIMORE ORIOLES |
 Sept. 6, 1995: The day Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played record was one of the most memorable in baseball history, and it didn't hurt that he hit a home run as well. The long ball came in the bottom of the fourth inning against Angels starter Shawn Boskie and sent the crowd of 46,272 into a frenzy -- forming the basis for the around-the-field parade that Ripken would get an inning later when the game became official. |
| Oct. 8, 1983: On their way to winning the World Series, the Orioles faced a tough obstacle in the ALCS: the White Sox. Leading 2-1 in the best-of-five series, the O's were locked in a scoreless tie in the 10th inning at windy Comiskey Park, until right fielder Tito Landrum became the unlikely hero. Landrum had only one home run in 32 games during the regular season, but his homer off Britt Burns gave the Orioles the lead in an eventual 3-0 victory and a matchup with the Phillies in the Fall Classic.
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| Oct. 3, 1979: Orioles manager Earl Weaver likes to tell the story of how one of his interns deserves credit for the team's win in Game 1 of the 1979 ALCS. In need of a pinch hitter and without his trusted stack of statistics-labeled index cards, Weaver called a team intern from the dugout and learned that John Lowenstein had good numbers against Angels reliever John Montague. Weaver sent Lowenstein up as a pinch hitter with two men on base in the 10th inning, and Lowenstein responded with a three-run walk-off home run, helping propel the Orioles to victory.
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| Franchise leaders: Cal Ripken, 431; Eddie Murray, 343; Boog Powell, 303; Brooks Robinson, 268; Rafael Palmeiro, 223 |
| Single-season leader: Brady Anderson, 50 (1996) |
| Did You Know? The Orioles share the major league record for most consecutive multi-homer games. They had nine straight multi-homer games in both May 1987 and August 1996, tying the mark set in May 1962 by the Cleveland Indians.
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| ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS |
 Oct. 28, 2001: The second game of the World Series against the Yankees was a tight pitchers' duel between starters Randy Johnson and Andy Pettitte. Arizona had a 1-0 lead but was looking for more, and Matt Williams provided it, with a three-run home run to extend the lead and basically guarantee the Diamondbacks would go to New York with a much-needed (as it turned out) 2-0 series lead. |
| Oct. 12, 2001: The third game of the 2001 NLDS against the Cardinals was tied 2-2 in the seventh inning when an unlikely postseason home run hero emerged in second baseman Craig Counsell. Although he had homered only four times in the regular season, Counsell was a power source in the playoffs. His three-run homer propelled the Diamondbacks to victory in a series that they would win in five games. Counsell homered again in the World Series, helping the D-backs to their only championship.
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| May 12, 1999: This was perhaps the most amazing regular-season victory in Diamondbacks history. The team trailed the Expos 6-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth innings. But Arizona had won the previous two days on walk-off home runs, so no one was giving up. With one man on base, Andy Fox homered, cutting the lead to one. The D-backs still trailed by one when Jay Bell came up with two outs and Arizona on the verge of defeat. He homered as well, tying the game. Two batters later, Matt Williams gave the team a win with a two-run 468-foot walk-off home run, capping a five-run, three-homer bottom of the ninth.
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| Franchise leaders: Luis Gonzalez, 224; Steve Finley, 153; Matt Williams, 99; Jay Bell, 91; Chad Tracy, 62
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| Single-season leader: Luis Gonzalez, 57 (2001) |
| Did You Know? Statistics are not kept on such things, but it is presumed that hitting a home run off one's Jumbotron picture is a rarity. Diamondbacks first baseman Richie Sexson is one who can say he's done it -- in a game against the Cubs on April 26, 2004.
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NEWS AND NOTES
• Within hours after David Wells cleared waivers and became a free agent, the Dodgers and Rockies expressed interest in signing the veteran left-hander. Wells, 44, was cut last week by the Padres but would like to pitch for a contender.
• Jason Giambi escaped punishment from commissioner Bud Selig because of his charitable work and cooperation with baseball's steroids investigator. The Yankees' designated hitter was thrilled with the outcome: "I can go forward and not hurt the ballclub with a suspension." Selig said not disciplining Giambi was an "appropriate decision."
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| POWER MOVES |
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Giants hit four home runs to rout Braves.
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| IN THE ZONE |
Kelvim Escobar shut down the Blue Jays to help the Angels avoid getting swept. Escobar (13-6) allowed one run and five hits over seven innings, walking none and striking out nine in the 4-3 victory. He won back-to-back starts for the first time since mid-June and lowered his ERA to 2.68, the second-best mark in the AL.
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| PHOTO OF THE DAY |
Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, right, presents Alex Rodriguez with a key to the city in honor of his 500th home run.
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| NOTEWORTHY PERFORMANCES |
| GOOD |
Have the A's found a new power source? Catcher Kurt Suzuki hit a walk-off three-run home run in the 10th inning to help the A's complete a three-game sweep of the White Sox with an 8-5 victory. The homer -- hit well over the 15-foot fence in left-center at McAfee Coliseum -- was Suzuki's second in as many days (fourth overall) and the first game-ending shot of his brief major league career.
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| BAD |
 
Sloppy defense prevented the Mets from sweeping the Pirates. New York was in position to sweep a road series for the first time since May (and the first time in Pittsburgh since 2001), but errors by third baseman David Wright and catcher Mike DiFelice allowed the Bucs to come back from a five-run deficit and win 10-7.
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| UGLY |
There's no joy in Milwaukee. The Brewers were swept by the Cardinals at Miller Park, got outscored 28-7 in the three-game series and now have lost 13 of their past 18 games. They remain in first place -- but just by a half-game over the Cubs and 2½ over St. Louis.
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| SPECIAL DELIVERY |
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Cole Hamels shuts down Nats for 14th win.
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| QUOTE OF THE NIGHT |
"Kirby [Puckett] was everyone's favorite. ... I always classify him as the nicest superstar I ever played with, and I played with a lot of them."
-- Former reliever Jeff Reardon, reminiscing about the late Hall of Famer. Members of the '87 Twins will gather this weekend at the Metrodome for the 20th anniversary of the team's first World Series title.
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| FORWARD THINKING: FRIDAY |
• Angels at Red Sox, 7:05 p.m. ET: More than AL bragging rights are on the line in this showdown between the first-place clubs. Ervin Santana (5-11, 6.22), who is 1-9 with an 8.79 ERA on the road, gets a shot at redemption in the second game of a day-night doubleheader -- his first start since July 17. He needs to step up away from Angel Stadium. Josh Beckett (15-5, 3.11) is 2-0 with a 1.76 ERA in August and looks to bolster his Cy Young case.
• Diamondbacks at Braves, 7:05 p.m. ET: If Brandon Webb (12-8, 2.77) keeps dealing, it's going to be a long night for Atlanta hitters. Webb has thrown 33 consecutive scoreless innings -- more than halfway to Orel Hershiser's record of 59 -- and goes for his third straight complete game. He hasn't allowed a run since July 20, five starts ago. Lance Cormier (0-2, 13.50) makes his fifth appearance (fourth start) of the season. He's been susceptible to the long ball, allowing eight home runs in 12 2/3 innings.
• Astros at Padres, 10:05 p.m. ET: Don't expect to see Houston in the playoffs, but San Diego is right in the hunt. Jake Peavy (13-5, 2.23) has been lights-out lately. After going 1-3 with a 3.81 ERA in July, the Padres' ace is 3-0 with a 0.92 ERA this month. Woody Williams (6-12, 5.09) still has some gas left in the tank. The 40-year-old is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA over his past two starts.
• Friday's complete list of probable starters
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