The Cardinals will be in the post season. Mathematically they can’t be kept out, but manager Tony LaRussa didn’t want to hear any talk of “clinching” the National League Central title after 3-2 loss to the Diamondbacks. If the Cardinals lose their remaining 14 games and the Cubs win the rest of theirs’, the two teams would tie, but St. Louis would win the tie-breaker, because they have a better record within the division. LaRussa who, before the game, expressed his decision not to acknowledge the accomplishment until they officially clinched it—with another win or Cubs loss—was irked when the subject was brought up after the game. “Yeah we’re celebrating”, LaRussa answered sarcastically. “What the hell kind of question is that? Anybody else got a question? Didn’t I explain before the game that that’s not a clinch? How do you figure that? That’s a rule for the thing when it’s tied at the end of the season. We got another 14 games to go, man.” LaRussa saw his team blow a 2-0 lead to the worst team in baseball before the press conference. Larry Walker’s 15th homer of the year gave them the lead, but Arizona rallied for three runs in the top of the fourth to take the lead and chase Jeff Suppan out of the game. He got the loss to fall to 15-8 on the season. Rick Ankiel had another quality appearance with two innings of work with one walk, no hits and four strikeouts. He fanned the side in the fifth inning and left to a standing ovation.
