Now this is Baseball!

Bench clearing brawl in the Cards-Reds game tonight. It probably won't be too big a deal, no punches were really thrown, just some wrasslin'. Still, its nice to see the teams competitive spirit this time of year. Afterwards, only the two managers were ejected. Its possible Cueto of the Reds could see a suspension, as he sorta-kinda kicked at some people as he was pinned against the back-stop, but I'd be surprised. Rolen and Carpenter got into it some as well, so its possible they could also be suspended, but again, they didn't throw any punches that I could see, so MLB likely will let it go. Obviously, all three of those guys are important players, so it would make a big impact if any of them miss any time. The altercation started when Brandon Phillips, who has been talking trash about the Cards, gave Yadier a good luck tap to start the game. Yadier, obviously, took exception to this and started barking at Phillips. Neither of those two did anything physical though, so they should be fine. More importantly, the Cards won the game and go for the sweep tomorrow with Wainwright on the hill. Sweeping the Reds on the road would obviously be huge, and we would actually re-take the lead in the division if we pull it off. The offense has been much better since the break, with Albert leading the way. Holliday had a big game today, and even Yadier, Ryan, and Shumaker seem to be hitting much better. Westbrooke has looked excellent his first two starts, despite not getting a win yet, giving us a solid rotation once again. The bullpen seems to be the only concern right now, but it is a concern, as I believe we have lost three games leading after the sixth inning since the break. All in all, it looks like we have a serious division race on our hands. I like the way the Cards are playing, but the Reds definitely don't look like they are going to go away. Who can beat-up on the pathetic rest of the division the rest of season most will likely decide the race.

-Trey