Two straight games the Cardinal offense has been M.I.A.

The Cardinals lost their second straight Wednesday to the San Francisco Giants. The offense managed a measly three hits against starter Ryan Vogelsong, now 10-5 with a National League leading 2.27 ERA. The Cardinals lost 15-0, but 13 of those runs came after the game was long over. The 15-0 drubbing is the worst shutout loss in St. Louis since 1961 (19-0 to Pittsburgh).

Let’s just say the bullpen had a bad night. 3 innings, 8 earned runs, 6 walks. Without a true long inning reliever, Mike Matheny used all three left-handed pitchers plus setup man Mitch Boggs, who lost his consecutive scoreless innings-pitched streak (23).

Offensively, the Cardinals are 0-12 with RISP the last 2 nights, stranding a total of 14 runners on base.

Tyler Greene’s ridiculous error contributed to a 5-run 6th inning. Instead of a double play, the error sucked any life out of the entire stadium. The boo birds rang for old Tyler Greene, hitting a cool .218. If this guy still has a job tomorrow…

Starter Joe Kelly had a costly error in the 3rd inning when his pick-off attempt sailed into right field, allowing Angel Pagan to advance to third base with nobody out. He would go on to score.

Meanwhile, the Giants’ 2-5 hitters (starting) went 10-22 with 6 runs scored and 10 RBI’s Wednesday. With Marco Scutaro hitting like Willie McCovey, and Hunter Pence heating up, teams can no longer pitch around Buster Posey and Melky Cabrera. Of course, it helps when Brandon Belt (.251) goes 4-9 in the two wins. The Giants batted around twice Wednesday.

The Birds started the homestand with a dominating sweep over Milwaukee. The Brewers continued the favor by sweeping Cincinnati, but the Cardinals failed to take advantage. The Cardinals are now 3-27 in games when they fail to score at least 3 runs.

Adam Wainwright will once again take the ball in a pivotal series finale tomorrow afternoon against LHP Madison Bumgarner (12-6, 3.03).
Something to build on: Waino is 3-0 with a 1.61 ERA in his last 3 home starts.

Allen Craig is fine, just some pain from a bruised rib. A combination of miscommunication and overblown hype caused a pre game stir. For about 2 hours, no one knew exactly what was up with the Cardinals slugger. Hopefully, he returns to the lineup Thursday.

Final say: Tip your cap, come out tomorrow with a fresh mentality, and win the damn ballgame.