Hey, we won!

Yes, despite falling behind the Brewers by six runs Friday night, the Cardinals scored a whopping 10 runs on a 12-hit attack, hopefully further cementing the idea that it really is O.K. for guys other than Albert Pujols to pace the offense.But really, the offense didn’t get going until Tony La Russa pinch-hit for Mark Mulder. It’s like they thought, “Finally, Spooky McSucksalot is done! Let’s get to work getting out of the hole he dug for us.”

And what a hole it was. Mulder, who seems to have assumed first chair in the Jason Marquis Memorial Cardinals Bloggers Whipping Boy Orchestra, whatevered his way through three uninspiring innings, giving up six runs on five hits while walking three. He gave up a first-inning home run to Carlos Lee, which makes 14 in 13 starts across 81.1 IP. If he makes 31 starts (his average the past five seasons), his current pace will give him about 33 HR allowed.

Fans who haven’t yet repressed their memories of Brett F. Tomko and Matt Morris and their whiplash-inducing 2003 and 2004 seasons, respectively, will recall that those cats each gave up 35 dingers. More than Mulder, right? For sure, but Tomko and Morris had HR/9IP rates of 1.55 and 1.56, respectively, while Mulder is sitting on 1.56 himself this season. Yikes.

If all this sounds like I’m picking on him, well… I am. Mulder’s always been on a short leash with me because we seemingly gave up so much to get him. Even my fantasy league’s scoring system likes Dan Haren better.