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:

Interesting, it is, that the St. Louis Cardinals -- 13th in the NL in ERA coming into Sunday -- are to the point of using failed a Chicago Cubs relief pitcher as a starting pitcher. They have sent down the 0-8 Anthony Reyes to AAA and are inserting Todd Wellemeyer, whom even the Kansas City Royals released earlier this season, into the starting rotation. Wellemeyer had a memorable debut with the Cubs, but it was all down hill from there. He has a career ERA 19% below league average in 185 innings, all out of the bullpen.