After winning four straight games to close out July, then losing five straight to open August, the St. Louis Cardinals have won six of their last eight games, all against winning teams -- the Padres, Dodgers, and Brewers. The Cardinals have outscored their opponents 48-19 in those eight games. Combine that recent success with the Brewers' and Cubs' struggles, and the Cardinals sit just three games out of first place in the loss column, just two in the loss column behind the Cubs. This, despite a losing record and a pretty awful runs scored/runs allowed differential (the Pythagorean records would have the Cubs ten games up in the loss column against the Cardinals).

Count me among the worried. As the AP says, "the Cardinals suddenly are lurking."

And they have a number of good things going for them:

-- Along with Jon Lester's return from cancer, one of the two best stories of the year: Rick Ankiel's return to the big leagues as a power hitting right fielder.

--When the Cardinals sent Anthony Reyes down to the minors at the end of June, he was 0-10 with a 6.40 ERA. Since his return, he has a 3.00 ERA in 24 innings over 4 starts. The Cubs will likely face Reyes on Saturday. They beat him in back-to-back starts on April 21 and 27.

--Middle infielder Brendan Ryan is playing like Bo Hart circa June-July 2003.

--Chris Duncan is actually playing above average defense.

--Adam Wainwright has a 3.26 ERA in his last 14 starts. Wainwright has as good a chance as anyone as leading the NL Central in ERA over the final 40 games.

For some good reason, Viva El Birdos is starting to show some confidence in the Cardinals.

Psychologically, it would really help if the Cardinals came into Wrigley this weekend and had their hats handed to them.