--RHP Chris Carpenter, who wants to see a couple more doctors, still is weighing options to repair a nerve problem near his right shoulder. But if he elects surgery, it would have to be performed in the next several weeks to give him a chance of pitching near the start of next season. Dr. George Paletta said Carpenter should be ready to pitch at the start of next season without the surgery -- and just normal healing -- but cautioned that there were no guarantees that the condition wouldn't crop up again.
--C Yadier Molina, out for much of the last two weeks with a bruised left thigh, will appear before the end of the season, if only as a pinch-hitter, said manager Tony La Russa. Molina said he wanted to play Saturday night but La Russa said, "We're going to do the right thing." --2B Adam Kennedy had two triples, giving him three in the last two games. The last Cardinals' player to have two triples was 2B Aaron Miles two years ago.
--1B Albert Pujols has seven straight hits and eight in his last nine at-bats.
--With RHP Braden Looper's triple, the Cardinals had three in a nine-inning game for the first time since 1997.
BY THE NUMBERS: 1 -- Number of years (2008) in which 1B Albert Pujols has drawn 100 walks.
QUOTE TO NOTE. "He's like a linebacker ready to take somebody's head off." -- RHP Adam Wainwright, on rookie RHP Jason Motte.
