Basically Jake Westbrook did most of the heavy lifting tonight, pitching five innings and stroking a three-run double to lead the Cardinals over the Houston Astros 7-4 at the awful and mostly empty Minute Maid Park.

THE DIFFERENCE: While many might scoff at Westbrook’s huge three run double in the fourth as the work of luck, but let’s face it: without that offensive contribution, the Cards are looking at extra innings again.

RED HOT DOMINICAN: Albert Pujols homered in his fourth consecutive game, a solo blast in the eighth. You can almost imagine Bill DeWitt gripping his wallet firmly as Pujols’ price steadily climbs upward. The guy is proving the naysayers right where it counts – on the baseball field.

REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED OVER THE FENCE: Lance Berkman really set the tone early with a two-run homer in the first. Presumably feeling pretty good after a cortisone shot in his wrist and two days off, Berkman’s huge smile told much of the story of how good it felt to hurt the Astros.

SAME OLD SONG AND DANCE: Ryan Theriot committed an error that led to an unearned run. Yeah, I’ll alert the media.

DEAR TONY: You don’t need to pitch every single relief pitcher ever drafted by the team when you’re up by four runs. Why not give Ryan Franklin a couple of innings and give the other arms a rest? Thanks, Everybody.

NEVERENDING STORY: Allen Craig crashed into a wall in the first inning of tonight’s game and injured his knee in the process. In addition to swelling, Craig had to receive stitches that will cause him to lose at least a few days. Can we have one damned day without an injury to an important player? While I think it’s great that we get to see so much production from younger backup players, I’d really like to get our starting lineup out there for a game or two. It’s getting ridiculous ’round here.