It was by no means pretty but the St. Louis Cardinals won a close one Thursday evening over the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3.

I’ve got a few people I want to talk with you about! Let’s!

* Adam Wainwright.  By no means was this a classic pitching performance by Wainwright. But. He did get a win. Now 3-1, Waino pitched seven innings. He gave up nine hits and three earned runs. He struck out four. He now has an ERA of 2.48.

* Edward Mujica and the ‘Pen. They tried to make things interesting for certain. But, they did their job, held it down and saved the game for the Cardinals. Trevor Rosenthal pitched 2/3rds of an inning. He gave up two hits. He got out of the situation.

Next up? Edward Mujica. He pitched one and a one-third innings. He gave up two hits and struck out two. Not a perfect, shut down performance. But. He was effective. And more than anything, that’s what the Cardinals are needing from the Bullpen right now. Effectiveness.

Mujica and Rosenthal did their jobs tonight. Good on ’em! 

* Well Hello Offense!  Let’s discuss!

In the fourth inning, Yadier Molina doubled and scored Matt Holliday and Allen Craig. In the top of the seventh inning, Pete Kozma hit a sacrifice fly and scored David Freese. Scrappy good stuff!

And in the top of the eighth inning, Carlos Beltran deftly hit a fly ball homer to left field. It wasn’t obvious. But, nonetheless, it was awesome to see.

Adam Wainwright agreed. In his post-game interview, Waino said with a grin, “He almost got more than hug from me for that one!”

Very nice!

And here’s something we need to discuss, even though we don’t really want to so!

* The Defense. Oh my goodness. If it’s possible to look worse than the Bad News Bears, the Cardinals did that Thursday in Philly.

It was enough to make you want to throw your remote control and shout various obscenities.

Jon Jay totally missed an over the shoulder catch in center. It looked closer until video zoomed in to show… it was in no way, shape or form close. It was ugly. It made FSMW broadcasters discussion of Jay as a gold glove caliber more than a little facepalm inducing.

There were numerous flubs in the middle infielder. Granted… Pete Kozma is still getting used to his role as a major league shortstop. And Matt Carpenter learned to be a second baseman this offseason. No excuse. I know. But let’s remember that before we trade off everyone, OK arm chair GMs! We still have options in the infield. There is Ryan Jackson, Daniel Descalso and quite a few options in the minors.

Also. This team pulled it together and won. A win is a win. Remember that, friends. Remember this too … this is the first month of the season. Our team is 9-6 and still has a half-game lead in the division over the Cincinnati Reds.

It’s going to be OK.

Jaime Garcia takes the mound for the Cardinals tonight at 6:05 p.m. Central on FSMW.