Venable gets picked off, snuffs out game-changing rally

Well they put up a better fight, but still fell to the Cardinals. Some thoughts:

- I think Pujols' ball in the first should have been caught by Blanks. I'm not saying it was an easy play (it wasn't), or that I would have caught it (and judging from my play on Thursday, I would have spiked myself running after it), but a Major League OF needs to catch that ball.

- Stauffer couldn't have put the ball on a tee any better for Holliday than the pitch he threw, that turned into the 2-run HR.

- Adrian Gonzalez is a strong man. I mean, really strong. That he hit a low-and-away pitch for an opposite field HR is amazing. I tried to hit a pitch like that on Thursday and popped out to shallow left. This also explains why Gonzo is in the Majors and I'm not.

- Gwynn Jr catches the ball Schumaker hit to drive in the 4th Cardinal run. You can't convince me otherwise.

- William Venable, you owe us 25 push-ups. Correction: You owe us 2500 push-ups.

- Thatcher did everything right as a pitcher after Molina broke for home in the seventh. The umpire hooked us up with the call - Molina was safe - but not for a lack of execution.

The Padres are hitting the ball well against these Cardinals, but aren't getting the clutch hit, and their pitchers are getting killed when they make a mistake.

Richard tries to avoid a sweep tomorrow. He draws Lohse, who has struggled since coming off the DL just before the All-Star break.