Notes: La Russa proves master juggler

HOUSTON -- One of the more amazing aspects of the Cardinals' run to the best record in baseball is the fact that they have accomplished their success despite losing a number of significant players for extended periods.
Injuries have forced manager Tony La Russa to find replacements for third baseman Scott Rolen, out for the year after playing just 56 games, outfielder Reggie Sanders, who has missed 48 games due to a fractured fibula and right-handed reliever Mike Lincoln, who is out for the year after elbow surgery.
Catcher Yadier Molina has played only 90 of the team's 136 games. Injuries have limited right fielder Larry Walker to 84 games. Both have spent time on the side due to injuries.
"Probably we've had years where we had as many games lost [as this season]," La Russa said. "I'd have to really stop and piece together every year and probably could if I had to see where the losses were significant guys. Scott Rolen is significant; Larry Walker is signifcant. Reggie Sanders is significant. Yadier's significant. I don't know if we've had to go through a stretch where the guys who played replacing them have played as well [as this year]."
The Cardinals have stayed on top with great pitching and the performance of the regulars who have stayed in the lineup, but the contributions of the players who have helped fill in for the injured starters have been substantial.
Hector Luna, John Rodriguez, So Taguchi and Abraham Nunez are all hitting .291 or higher entering Sunday's game. Veteran John Mabry and rookies Scott Seabol and Mike Mahoney have also contributed.
La Russa could recall only one other time when a team he was managing lost so many key starters for an extended period, only to have their replacements step up and fill in better than anyone could have expected.
That was 13 years ago when La Russa managed the Oakland A's to the American League West Division title, despite the fact that injuries limited Oakland's starting outfield of Jose Canseco, Rickey Henderson and Willie Wilson to 97, 117 and 132 games, respectively.
"One time in '92, we went through an important stretch without our three outfielders, and we played Randy Ready, Eric Fox and Jerry Browne and climbed into first place," La Russa recalled. "But this is more guys and more time [missed]."
Edmonds coming around: Jim Edmonds hit .215 in July and .261 in August, but the center fielder has shown signs that he might be coming around with the bat to something resembling his career average of .294.
In his last eight games prior to Sunday's game against the Astros, Edmonds hit .310 (9-for-29) with three home runs, five RBIs and nine runs scored.
"It's been tough," Edmonds said. "All I can do is keep working and try to do what I can to help the team."
Edmonds has always hit well at Minute Maid Park and is 4-for-10 in the first two games of the series.
"It's no secret I like hitting in this park," he said. "It's a hitter's park. But wherever I'm playing, I need to get good swings and put the ball in play."
Extra bases: La Russa will be honored by the Cardinals ownership group prior to Monday's 1:15 p.m. CT game against the Chicago Cubs for his accomplishment of moving into sole possession of third place on baseball's all-time managerial wins list. La Russa passed Sparky Anderson on Aug. 25 with a win over Pittsburgh. La Russa has 2,200 career wins and 878 as manager of the Cardinals. Only Red Schoendienst, with 1,041, has more managerial wins as a Cardinal manager than La Russa. ... David Eckstein's first-inning single extended his hitting streak to nine consecutive games. ... Nunez has reached base 51 times in his last 35 games.
Baby 'Birds: Bill Pulsipher tied a franchise record with 15 strikeouts as Triple-A Memphis beat Albuquerque, 6-4. The left-hander went eight innings and allowed four runs on 10 hits with no walks. ... Randy Leek notched his Texas League-leading 15th win as Double-A Springfield beat Arkansas, 2-1. Leek leads all of Minor League baseball with 185 2/3 innings pitched. Travis Hanson drove in two runs to give him 97 RBIs for the season. ... Class A Palm Beach made team history as it clinched the East Division title for the second half. The first game of the playoffs will begin on Tuesday night.
Coming up: The Cardinals open a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Monday afternoon at Busch Stadium. Jeff Suppan will start the Labor Day afternoon game against Cubs right-hander Mark Prior. First pitch is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. CT.

Source: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/