Cardinals-Brewers battle for Wild Card

Greetings baseball fans, and welcome to the inaugural Punditty News and Opinion Event (PNOE) on AllVoices.

There's a lot of stuff in the news these days, both internationally and nationally, from the crisis in Georgia to the Democratic convention in Denver. But if you want to know what's on Punditty's mind today, look no further than Busch Stadium in St. Louis, where the Redbirds and the Brew Crew are about to begin a crucial two-game tilt.

NL All-Star startiing pitcher Ben Sheets (11-4) locks up with Todd Wellemeyer (11-7) in the opener Tuesday, while Brewers' lefty Manna Parra (10-6) duels with a recently recovered Adam Wainright (7-3) on Wednesday.

You probably already knew that if you are a baseball fan, but that's not why you read Punditty. You turn to Punditty for the wisdom, the genius, the keen and insightful analyses that you just can't get anywhere else. Sometimes you turn to him for mere amusement, but that's your problem.

At any rate, Punditty's is going to give it to you straight: The Cardinals will take both of these games. Sorry Brewers fans, but that's what Punditty sees when gazing into the Window of the Future.

Not only that, the Cardinals now have a heathy Wainright in the rotation, and there's a good chance that a healthy Chris Carpenter will be rejoining him soon. Albert Pujols has that look about him of late. He was just named NL Player of the Week, and I expect him to ride the hitting tear he's on now all the way into October. Yes, that's right -- October.

The Brewers have played tremendous baseball all year, but they just can't match up with St. Louis down the stretch. After losing the opener Tuesday with Sheets on the hill only to lose again on Wednesday, they will be demoralized and weakened, like a team that knows its grip on the Wild Card spot is slipping away. In addition to six games with the Chicago Cubs, the Brewers also have series with contenders such as the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets. The Cardinals have three with the Cubs in St. Louis, three with the Florida Marlins and six with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The schedule favors the Cardinals.

Look for the Wild Card race to come down to the wire, and watch Dave Duncan work miracles with the Cardinals' bullpen in September. It's too bad the Brewers won't be making the playoffs with the third best record in the NL, but it wouldn't matter in the long run anyway: The NLCS will come down to the Cardinals and the Cubs, and Punditty will have something to say about that when it happens, you can be sure. Let's just say for now that Punditty believes the Cubbies would rather face the Brew Crew than the battle-tested Cardinals in the NLCS. You'll have to tune in later to find out why, but trust me on this one: The last team the Cubs want standing between them and the World Series is the Cardinals.

One last thing: Careful readers will notice I am writing from Berkeley, California. Yet the item I am writing about is in St. Louis, Missouri. What gives, you ask? Well, not only am I adept at Internet research, I know people who know people who know people who know baseball. Know what I mean?

That's all for now, folks. Enjoy the games.

-Punditty