bgh

The Cardinals face the Padres on the west coast.

With Jaime Garcia landing on the disabled list, Tyler Lyons will be the seventh St. Louis Cardinals pitchers to make a start this season while we all count down the days until the eighth starter makes his 2013 debut.

Lance Lynn vs. Jeremy Hefner starts off the clubs' four-game series at Busch Stadium tonight. Because the game has been picked up nationally, the first pitch is at 6:05 p.m. CDT.

On Sunday morning, the St. Louis Cardinals announced that sinkerballer Jake Westbrook was being placed on the disabled list due to right-elbow inflammation and that lefthander John Gast would be promoted from Triple-A to replace him in the rotation.

A look at some interesting stats from the Cardinals' first 31 games.

The St. Louis offense punctuated the Cardinals' four-game sweep of the Brewers at Miller Park by plating 10 runs behind Jaime Garcia, who allowed a single run to Milwaukee over eight innings of work.

Adam Wainwright squares off against ostensible Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo at Miller Park in the third of the clubs' four-game series.

St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday murdered another member of the Rawlings family last night. Search parties are still attempting to find the baseball's carcass. Some believe it to be on the moon.

St. Louis Cardinals again find themselves atop the National League Central division after a winning April.

Garcia stifled the Reds with a dominant pitching performance that allowed the Cardinals to win 2-1 over the defending National League Central champions.

The Cardinals plays in Reds in what could be Seth Maness's MLB debut.

The Cardinals are tied for third in the National League in runs per game thanks to their clutch hitting. Which Redbirds have exhibited the most clutchy-ness so far during this young season.

After a three-game sweep of the host Nationals, El Birdos sit alone atop the National League Central standings.

For the first time since the Cardinals' miracle comeback in Game 5 of last season's NLDS, St. Louis plays Washington.

Since coming to St. Louis at the 2012 trade deadline, reliever Edward Mujica has adopted a new approach. Will it continue to be effective as he steps into the role of closer?

Mike Matheny started Ty Wigginton at third base on Friday night with groundballer Jaime Garcia started. The results were as predictable as they were sad.

Join us this Jackie Robinson Day open game thread as the Cardinals and Pirates square off for the first time this season.

Ryan Braun's eighth-inning home run against Trevor Rosenthal ended the pitching staff's streak of scoreless innings at 39 1/3. This 2013 pitching scoreless streak will go in the record books as the third-longest in franchise history.

The Redbirds' 4-3 lead entering the eighth inning turned into a brutal 13-4 loss at the hands of the favorites to win the National League Central.

There will be Clydesdales, Cardinals legends in red blazers, and a parade of current players at Busch Stadium today. Then the Redbirds will square off against the Reds is a good ol' fashioned National League Central showdown.

As we sit here on the starting line of 2013's 162-game marathon, here are the stats to watch as the race unfolds.

Mitchell Boggs has long had the repertoire of a closer, if not the results.

After the Cardinals acquired Edward Mujica from the Miami Marlins at last season's trade deadline, the righthander was instrumental in stabilizing the bullpen. Will he be as effective this season?

By allowing Albert Pujols to leave town and extending Allen Craig, the Cardinals appear to have avoided the payroll sinkhole so often found at first base.

Mitchell Boggs had a career-best season in 2012. Is it fair for Cardinals fans to expect a repeat in 2013?

In his first back after undergoing Tommy John surgery, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright gave up quite a few more runs despite having very good peripherals. What was the cause?

With all the talk about the Cardinals' starting rotation, few are paying attention to the team's relief corps.

Second-year starter Lance Lynn was right when he said a spot in the rotation was his to lose, but wrong on the reasons why.

A look at what the projection systems forecast for the St. Louis Cardinals as they seek to fill a Carpenter-sized hole in their rotation with one of their young righties.

The sky is the limit for the 20-year-old outfielder.