The St. Louis Cardinals traded right handed relief pitcher Chris Perez and a player to be named later to the struggling Cleveland Indians for third baseman Mark De Rosa.  DeRosa was a key player for the Cubs last year and Perez was once 
considered for the closer’s role.

In 29 games this year Perez was 1-1 with a 4.18 ERA, 30 strikeouts and 15 walks in 23 2/3 innings.  He just wasn’t cutting it as far as the Cardinals were concerned.  DeRosa solves the problem at third base.  Plus, if Troy Glaus would come back, DeRosa can play the outfield, second base, and even first base if needed.  Then they could always dump Chris Duncan.

For some time, I have been praising Mark DeRosa.  Here’s an excerpt from an article I wrote on June 3rd, wondering if the Cards would part with Brad Thompson.

There was a rumor awhile back that the Cleveland Indians were looking for pitching and would be willing to deal Mark DeRosa, a versatile player who can handle three infield spots and the corner outfield positions.  The only issue is would the Cardinals be willing to take on DeRosa’s hefty contract and would LaRussa be in favor of getting rid of his swing man? 

At the time, I believed the Cards may have traded Brad Thompson, but Perez is the pitcher that goes.

DeRosa, acquired by Cleveland in the off season from the Chicago Cubs, is batting .270 with 13 homers and 50 RBI in 71 games.  As a matter of fact, many Cub fans have been writing on blogs and into cubs.com asking about the possibilities of getting DeRosa back.  He was such a big asset for the Cubs, I was surprised to see them trade him away, even with his high salary that is over $5 million.  In the Cubs’ quick two exits from the playoffs, DeRosa hit .333 in each playoff series against Arizona and L.A.

Cardinal fans, pay close attention to this trade.  DeRosa will make a huge impact for this team.  He could be the piece that pushes the Cardinals ahead of Milwaukee.

Albert Pujols hit his 27th and 28th home runs in his first two at-bats as the Cardinals beat the Twins 5-3 Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium.  It was a short day for Cards’ starter Todd Wellemeyer, who left after 2.1innings.

Pujols drove in Skip Schumaker who doubled to start the Cardinals first inning off Twins’ starter Kevin Slowey to make it 2-0.  Two walks and a wild pitch helped lead to a 3-2 Twins lead in the second.  In the bottom of the third, the Cardinals struck again.  Schumaker singled with one out and after Colby Rasmus flew out, Slowey served up his second homer to Pujols.  Then back to back singles by Molina and Duncan, then a throwing error forced Slowey to intentionally walk Rick Ankiel.  Slowey then hit Tyler Greene to score Duncan.  Slowey’s day would end when he would be pinch hit for in the top of the fourth.

Todd Wellemeyer was pulled in the third inning after throwing 68 pitches and walking four while giving up four hits.  Josh Kinney, Trever Miller, Kyle McClellan, Dennys Reyes, Jason Motte and Ryan Franklin all pitched shutout ball, as Franklin picking up his 18th save in 19 chances.

The Cardinals bats went silent again and two walks in the first inning hurt Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright as the Minnesota Twins took game one of the series with a 3-1 win Friday night at Busch Stadium.

After getting two outs in the first, Adam Wainwright walked Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau.  Then Jason Kubel blooped a soft liner into right field to score Mauer and Joe Thurston committed his ninth error of the season allowing Morneau to score on the next at-bat.  The Twins added another run off Wainwright in the sixth.

Meanwhile, Twins starter Glen Perkins went seven innings allowing just four hits and no walks as he gave up just one run to pick up his third win of the year.  The Cardinals rallied in the bottom of the seventh, after Rick Ankiel doubled home Colby Rasmus with two outs, but Yadier Molina lined out to end the inning (picture by Bill Greenblatt, UPI)