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Feathered frenzy

Young sluggers making Cardinals forget Big Mac

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Albert Pujols and J.D. Drew have combined for 27 homers as the youthful Cardinals have surged without Big Mac. AP

By James Quintong, CNNSI.com

While the defending NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals knew they were going to have some problems with Mark McGwire's knee and Rick Ankiel's control entering the season, it probably surprised many that this is the first time all season they are in first place.

After being consistently inconsistent all season, the Cardinals are indeed atop their division thanks to a perfect 7-0 homestand, in which they trounced the Pirates and, more surprisingly, the Cubs by a combined 57-17.

This seven-game winning streak launches the Cardinals up to No. 5 in the CNNSI.com Power Rankings.

Even without Big Mac in the lineup for most of the season, the Cardinals are tied for the league lead in home runs. McGwire's power has been replaced two youngsters -- rookie Albert Pujols and second-year player J.D. Drew.

Pujols, who played most of last season in Class A, is in the top five in all three triple crown categories and has settled in nicely in the cleanup spot. Drew, had a big homestand, going 11-for-28 with five homers and 11 RBIs and now leads the team with 14 homers. And oh yeah, Jim Edmonds has just seven homers, but he's hitting a very nice .380.

What has helped the Cardinals in recent days is their starting pitching, which had been inconsistent even without Ankiel's wildness. Andy Benes and Dustin Hermanson have shaken off early season struggles to each win two straight. With Ankiel now in the minors, the Cardinals have a number of options to improve their staff and establish some stability in the rotation.

Establishing this stability will go a long way in breaking through in a tightly contested race in the NL Central.

CNNSI.com's Power Rankings
Rank	LW		Team
1	1		Seattle Mariners The hits just keep on coming for Ichiro Suzuki, who has failed to get a hit in just two games this season.
2	2		Minnesota Twins Rookie 2B Luis Rivas has been just as productive (4 HRs, 17 RBIs) as starting outfielders Jacque Jones and Matt Lawton combined (4 HRs, 20 RBIs).
3	3		Cleveland Indians The Indians are keeping pace by beating up the sub-.500 teams. Their next three series are also against teams under .500.
4	7		Philadelphia Phillies During Mike Lieberthal's extended stints on the disabled list in 1998 and 2000, the Phillies went just 37-66.
5	18		St. Louis Cardinals After winning seven in a row at home, the Cardinals now hit the road for 12 straight.
6	5		Boston Red Sox The rotation gets a major shakeup with veterans David Cone and Tim Wakefield taking over for youngsters Tomo Ohka and Paxton Crawford.
7	8		N.Y. Yankees The Bombers will miss Bernie Williams' bat as they head West for rematches against last year's playoff foes Oakland and Seattle.
8	10		Los Angeles Dodgers Kevin Brown has allowed just six earned runs and a .166 batting average in seven starts this season.
9	13		San Francisco Giants The National League's leading hitter: Rich Aurilia? The career .270 hitter is now at a robust .389.
10	4		Chicago Cubs St. Louis blues: The Cubs have lost 11 straight games at Busch Stadium.
11	9		Houston Astros Richard Hidalgo is moving to left field so the team can better take advantage of his strong arm.
12	11		Milwaukee Brewers Since a brief stint in the minors last month, Olympic hero Ben Sheets is 4-0 with a 1.37 ERA.
13	12		Arizona Diamondbacks Forget arguing whether Randy Johnson's 20-K performance was a record. He's failed to break double digits in strikeouts just once this season.
14	14		Colorado Rockies As if the lineup needed another boost, 3B Jeff Cirillo is back after a short stint on the disabled list.
15	6		Toronto Blue Jays Only Tampa Bay and Montreal have worse staff ERAs than the Blue Jays (6.25) this month.
16	23		Detroit Tigers Going 12-4 over their last 16 helps their cause, and trips to Baltimore and Tampa Bay could push them over .500 again. The Tigers hadn't been above .500 in May since 1995.
17	16		San Diego Padres The trainers are working overtime with three players - Damian Jackson, Brian Tollberg and Tony Gwynn (again) - going on the disabled list this past week.
18	17		Anaheim Angels Darin Erstad's back appears to be on the mend as he's in the midst of a seven-game hitting streak, raising his average to the .230s.
19	15		Cincinnati Reds Since Prime Time returned to Cincinnati, the Reds are just 3-9.
20	19		Atlanta Braves The Braves can't wait for John Smoltz's return. Greg Maddux has lost four or five, Tom Glavine leads the majors in walks and Kevin Millwood is on the DL.
21	20		Florida Marlins Here's another one of those nine-inning/extra-inning vagaries for the record books: A.J. Burnett's nine walks were the most in a nine-inning, complete game no-hitter.
22	24		Baltimore Orioles Good news: The Orioles are 8-5 against the Devil Rays. Bad news: They don't play Tampa Bay again until July 31.
23	28		Oakland Athletics Despite a successful East Coast road trip, the A's are the farthest away from first place than they've been all season.
24	29		Chicago White Sox Guess Frank Thomas had the Big Hurt after all.
25	26		Montreal Expos Nothing like a trip to Colorado to wake up the bats. After hitting 28 homers all year, the Expos hit nine last weekend.
26	22		Pittsburgh Pirates Leadoff hitter and catcher Jason Kendall has been caught stealing more times (six) than he has thrown out runners trying to steal (four).
27	21		New York Mets When you can only manage six runs in three games in Colorado, you know your offense is in big trouble.
28	27		Kansas City Royals One bright spot is the resurgence of Joe Randa, who is hitting .380 this month, raising his average more than 70 points.
29	25		Texas Rangers Rick Helling admits the team is out of the AL West race. But Helling can't figure out why his fastball is topping out at just 85 mph.
30	30		Tampa Bay Devil Rays Good-bye and good riddance to Vinny Castilla (.219, 8 homers, 51 RBIs over two seasons).

 

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