It's been a long week and I'm still trying to figure out what to do now that my life can't be filled with 24 hours of thrilling, non-stop Brett Favre coverage every single day, so let's get right to the notes from around baseball .
* Last month speculation about Adam Wainwright returning to the bullpen upset manager Tony La Russa, but general manager John Mozeliak said Wednesday that "he's probably going to come back as a reliever" unless "we have a solution and it's not a need." Wainwright looks capable of coming off the disabled list by the end of the month and the Cardinals' bullpen is unlikely to find any solutions before then, so expect him to reclaim the role he thrived at during the 2006 playoffs.
Wainwright has proven to be a big asset in the rotation, going 20-15 with a 3.52 ERA in 45 starts over the past two seasons, but given the durability concerns that come from being on the shelf for two months with a finger injury and the Cardinals' unraveling bullpen situation, bringing him back as a reliever makes all kinds of sense. Jason Isringhausen fanned three in two scoreless innings while working a non-save situation Thursday, but the path is clear for Wainwright to close again.
* Thursday afternoon the Mets' bullpen continued its season-long habit of blowing leads for Johan Santana. Scott Schoeneweis serving up a mammoth homer to Jody Gerut marked the sixth time in 24 starts that Santana has seen a potential victory wiped away by the bullpen, with five of the would-be wins vanishing in the ninth inning. Thanks to seven no-decisions in starts where he's allowed two runs or fewer, Santana is just 9-7 despite a 2.85 ERA that ranks fifth in the NL.
* Miguel Cabrera took a lot of the heat for the Tigers' disappointing performance while hitting what was for his standards at least a sub par .281/.350/.459 with 11 homers and 48 RBIs in 81 games through the end of June. Detroit still hasn't really gotten on track, but Cabrera has definitely found his groove. He went 3-for-3 with a homer and two walks Thursday, and is now hitting .338 with 10 homers and 37 RBIs in 31 games since July 1. Slow start and all, he's on a .300-30-120 pace.
* Clayton Kershaw struggled in his first start after being recalled from the minors last month, but has now turned in three straight impressive outings. He shut out the Nationals for six innings on July 27, kept the Diamondbacks off the board for six innings on August 1, and held the Cardinals to one run in seven innings Thursday, making the 20-year-old southpaw 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA and 15 strikeouts in his last 19 innings. His huge long-term upside may be arriving right now.
* Not to be out-done by Kershaw, 22-year-old Chris Volstad shut out the high-scoring Phillies for six innings Thursday, giving the 6-foot-8 right-hander a 2.67 ERA in 33.2 big-league frames. True to his minor-league track record Volstad has struggled to consistently find the plate with 15 walks and hasn't missed a ton of bats with 24 strikeouts. However, he's also lived up to his advanced billing as an extreme ground-ball pitcher.
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Volstad's low-90s sinker induced nine ground-ball outs Thursday, 60 percent of his balls in play have been on the ground overall, and he's served up just one homer in 119 plate appearances. Florida isn't exactly the greatest fit for a ground-ball pitcher because the Marlins' infield defense is among the worst in baseball, but Volstad's worm-killing ways make him a much better long-term bet than his mediocre strikeout rates and strikeout-to-walk ratios would suggest.
* Earlier this week manager Jim Leyland publicly toyed with the idea of making Joel Zumaya the Tigers' closer, but Wednesday he seemingly wiped away that notion by saying that he'd like to send the hard-throwing reliever to an instructional league this winter to get additional work in after being sidelined for much of the season. Zumaya recovered from an ugly blown save Tuesday to pitch a scoreless inning Thursday, but it was Fernando Rodney who picked up a four-out save.
AL Quick Hits: As expected, the Yankees placed Joba Chamberlain (shoulder) on the disabled list Thursday and will hand his rotation spot to Ian Kennedy . A.J. Burnett set a new career-high with his 14th win Thursday despite giving up four runs to the A's league-worst offense . David Murphy is expected to miss 2-4 weeks after suffering a sprained right knee during Wednesday's home-plate collision with Ivan Rodriguez . Meanwhile, Rodriguez got Thursday off with a knee injury of his own, but is expected back in the lineup Friday . Mark Grudzielanek may be done for the season after being diagnosed with a torn ankle ligament . Mike Mussina shut out the Rangers' league-leading offense for seven innings Thursday and is now on track for the first 20-win season of his career . Andy Sonnanstine set a Rays record by retiring 17 straight batters in a no-decision Thursday . Responding to speculation that he has a sore arm, Andy Pettitte said Thursday that he's "fine" and will make his next scheduled start.
NL Quick Hits:Ubaldo Jimenez handed out a season-high six walks Thursday, allowing six runs to snap his streak of Quality Starts at seven . Dan Uggla went hitless in four at-bats Thursday and is now batting .171 since his ugly All-Star game appearance . Manager Joe Torre said Thursday that Jason Schmidt (shoulder) is unlikely to pitch this season . Jeff Francis came off the disabled list Thursday, allowing five runs to the Nationals' league-worst offense . Phillies assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. indicated Wednesday that free agent Freddy Garcia (shoulder) wasn't impressive while working out for a dozen teams earlier this week . Manager Jerry Manuel admitted Thursday that he's "not optimistic" about Ryan Church playing again this season . Brian Giles has reportedly been claimed off waivers by the Red Sox, who now have a 48-window to work out a potential trade with the Padres . Starting Thursday for the first time since July 26, Michael Bourn (ankle) went 0-for-5.
