PhoulBallz.com

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on Thursday that one fan decided to prove a point to his favorite team's departed star. When news landed that free agent Albert Pujols was leaving the Cardinals to sign a 10-year $254 million contract with the Angels, Paul Russo, who owns a St. Louis based sports apparel chain, decided to give away all remaining merchandise that bared the baseball star's name. According to the article , Russo had recently discontinued ordering Pujols gear, due to the former league most valuable player's uncertainty to return to the club that he helped win the World Series this year. From the Post-Dispatch: Albert Pujols apparel flew off the shelves this morning at the four area Pro Image Sports stores, but only because it was free. Paul Russo, who owns the St. Louis area franchises, said at about 1:30 p.m. that the Chesterfield Mall store had just about given away its entire stock of about 150 shirts and je...

For the very first time, two of the original 16 MLB teams will meet in the postseason, as the wild card entrant St. Louis Cardinals travel to Philadelphia to meet the five-time defending National League East division champion Phillies. The Cardinals squeezed into the playoffs thanks, in part, to some help from the Phillies, as Philadelphia swept the wild card leading Braves in their final regular season series. St. Louis then won two of three games against Houston to knock Atlanta from its perch. In the series opener, Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa will send veteran hurler and former Phillie Kyle Lohse to the mound, while the Phillies' Charlie Manuel will go with ace and perennial Cy Young award contender Roy Halladay. Read ahead for detailed info on the pitching match ups for games 1 and 2 as well as other key stats. Saturday, 5:07 PM. Kyle Lohse (14-8, 3.39 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (19-6, 2.35 ERA). In 16 road starts this season, Lohse posted an 8-3 record with a 3.13 ERA. Lohs...

The Phillies are fresh off losing 3 of 4 against the Central Division's Chicago Cubs. Despite that, the Phillies are still 18-11 against that division as they travel to St. Louis to face the Central's first place squad. Riding a 5-game winning streak, the Cardinals (51-41) will send 27-year-old righty Blake Hawksworth to the mound to make his 6th Major League start. Philadelphia (48-43) will counter with Kyle Kendrick, who threw 7 shut out innings against the Cardinals for a win on May 5th. The Phillies won both games between the two clubs in St. Louis last season. Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and other information on this series. Monday, 7:05pm. Kyle Kendrick (5-3, 4.44 ERA) vs. Blake Hawksworth (3-5, 4.72 ERA). Kendrick is 3-1 with a 3.52 ERA in 11 road games this season. In 4 career starts against St. Louis, Kendrick is 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA. Skip Schumaker is 6-for-12 (.500 avg) with 2 doubles and a homer against Kendrick. In 3 outings against the Phillie...

In a match up of first place teams, the Phillies (14-10) will host the Cardinals (17-8) in a four game series starting Monday night. The Cardinals are led by MVP first baseman Albert Pujols, while the Phillies are led by their own former MVP first baseman Ryan Howard. Howard's recent contract extension, that guaranteed him $125 million, has most of the baseball world anticipating Pujols to get a considerably larger payday. The Phillies have activated Joe Blanton from the disabled list after weeks of rehab work to recover from his strained oblique muscle. Click here and here for PhoulBallz.com's exclusive coverage of Blanton's rehab stop in Lakewood, including loads of quotes from Joe. Pitching match ups and other key details & stats from this series lie ahead. Monday, 7:05pm. Jaime Garcia (2-1, 1.04 ERA) vs. Joe Blanton (12-8, 4.05 ERA in 2009). Garcia, the 23-year-old rookie, has held opponents to a .176 batting avg. in 4 starts this year. Garcia is 1-1 with a 2.25 ...

Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols was awarded his third National League Most Valuable Player award on Tuesday. The honor put Pujols in select company, as only Barry Bonds has won more. Stan Musial, another Cardinal won three NL MVP's also (1943, 1946, 1948). Pujols was also just the sixth player to win the NL MVP by a unanimous vote. Overall, there was no surprise in the announcement of Pujols as MVP. He led the Major Leagues in homers (47), runs (124) and slugging percentage (.658) and he did it while batting .327. Additionally, there were no surprises when Hanley Ramirez, Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder and Troy Tulowitzki finished sprinkled behind Pujols, as their offensive numbers were all deserving of top 5 status, but not quite worthy of the top honor, by comparison. There were, however, stunning aspects relating to the voting announcements...one standout inclusion and one note worthy omission. Would anyone agree with Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News that Giants r...

St. Louis visits Philadelphia for the first and only time of the season this weekend. The Central division leading Cardinals (52-46) will face the East division leading Phillies (54-39) for three games. Pitching match ups and other notes below. Friday, 7:05pm. Joel Pineiro (8-9, 3.09 ERA) vs. "Jay" Happ (7-0, 2.68 ERA). Pineiro has made 3 career starts against the Phillies and is 1-0 with a 2.33 ERA in 19 1/3 innings pitched. In 10 road starts this season, Pineiro is 4-5 with a 3.86 ERA. Over his last 3 starts, Pineiro has a 1.56 ERA. In 12 appearances at home this season, Happ is 3-0 with a 4.04 ERA. Over his last 6 starts, Happ's ERA is 1.67. Happ as a starter is 5-0 with a 2.74 ERA. Saturday, 4:05pm. Kyle Lohse (4-6, 4.21 ERA) vs. Rodrigo Lopez (2-0, 2.60 ERA). Lohse returns to Citizens Bank Park for the first time since surrendering the infamous grand slam to Kaz Matsui in the 2007 playoffs. In 7 regular season games at CBP, Lohse is 2-0 with a 3.52 ERA. RoLo has ma...

Unrelated to baseball, really...but it's fun and our Phils are off today. This new kid on the hip hop scene, Charles Hamilton , whose single Brooklyn Girl is ripping up radio and video count downs, was at PSU for a performance recently. A freestyle battle ensued, and as you'll see, the Penn State student held his own. Stay tuned for the ending. It's the best part. Here are some random Phillies-in-idle baseball thoughts and notes- Colbert Hamels is slated to make his Grapefruit League debut tomorrow vs. Team Canada. Shane Victorino is going to wear #50 on his jersey for Team USA, a nod to Hawaii Five-O. Brad Lidge is likely to not see game action till next week, after he throws some more bullpen sessions and works out the tightness in his forearm. Albert Pujols is declaring "respect for his country" as reasoning for sitting out of the Cardinals' exhibition this week against Team Dominican Republic. He told reporters, "I don’t want to play against them...

Albert Pujols won his second National League Most Valuable Player award on Monday. Pujols was the only NL player to appear on every submitted ballot. That's right, pholks. There were writers who did not even place as low as a 10th place vote toward the guy who led the majors in homeruns and RBI. Psst, that's Ryan Howard with 48 homers and 146 RBI, if you don't know who I was speaking of. This breaks the Phillies' streak of two consecutive MVP's. Howard won in 2006 and Jimmy Rollins won in 2007. Brad Lidge was the only NL player to receive a first place MVP vote, besides Pujols and Howard. Lidge finished 8th overall in the voting for the MVP honor. He also finished 4th in the Cy Young Award voting. Luckily, the World Champs are only coming up short when it comes to individual awards. Charlie Manuel finished second in NL manager of the year voting as well. Lou Pinella of the Cubs won that award. Side note...With Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley blocking the way...