THIS is where a ball is supposed to end up when it's thrown

1. The Cardinals are definitely a typical Tony La Russa “play a hard nine” team this season. Despite an ugly first three innings, with two throwing errors each by Chris Carpenter and Yadier Molina, the offense battled back and tied the game in the sixth.

And, even though they were trailing 8-6 going into the bottom of the ninth, Matt Holliday represented the winning run when he came to the plate with one out — thanks to a pinch-hit homer for Jon Jay and a walk by Albert. Unfortunately, Matt grounded into a double play to end the game — rather ironic for the man who now has a .413 average.

2. With the four errors last night, the Cards now lead the majors in three categories: batting average, GIDP and errors. Both the Cards and Rangers have 28 errors.

3. In a game with four errors, none were by Ryan Theriot — and he had a game-tying single in the sixth. Just wanted to point out the positive.

4. The Marlins have some scary-good hitters this series. Emilio Bonifacio is 6 for 12, Mike Stanton is 5 for 15 with three RBI (including what turned out to be the game-winning HR last night) and Gaby Sanchez is 8 for 14 with six RBI.

And, in addition to the thoughts, a haiku to honor Miguel Batista’s latest appearance.

Poem for The Poet — May 4
Facing six batters,
Two reached base but none reached home.
Your night was soon done.

I was only half-watching The Poet’s performance last night, as I was in the midst of my radio debut — co-hosting the UCB Radio Hour with Daniel from C-70 At the Bat. You can hear it online here.

The Cards will attempt to split the series this afternoon, but it will be a challenge — they’ll be facing Josh Johnson, currently 3-0 with a league-leading 0.88 ERA. Jake Westbrook starts for the Cards, with game time at 12:45 p.m.

Are you in the St. Louis area, or can you get there for a game? The drawing for two free tickets to the Cards social media night game on May 17 is coming up on Sunday night. Find details on entering here.