Buster Blog: Cards Fueled By Farm

Buster Olney blogs about Jaime Garcia's shoulder injury and how the Cardinals' farm system contributes to their success.

Cards' Garcia (shoulder) headed for surgery

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia needs season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

Cardinals vs. Padres Rookie lefty Lyons earns win in major league debut

Kernels: A week of perfect fives

Our weekly review of interesting and notable stats you might have missed. Give Me Five Billy Butler of the Kansas City Royals went 5-for-5, with 5 RBI, in Monday's 11-4 victory against the Los Angeles Angels.

Cards to call up Lyons for Wednesday debut

The St. Louis Cardinals will promote rookie lefty Tyler Lyons from the minors to make his major league debut in place of injured Jaime Garcia on Wednesday.

Shoulder strain sends Cardinals' Garcia to DL

The St. Louis Cardinals have placed left-hander Jaime Garcia on the 15-day disabled list with a left shoulder strain.

El Día De La Batalla De Puebla

From Elias: Jaime Garcia defeated Marco Estrada as the Cardinals completed a four-game sweep of their series at Milwaukee. It was the 37th game in major-league history that featured a pair of Mexican-born starting pitchers (including one previous game in which Garcia and Estrada started against each other), but it was the first of those games played on Cinco de Mayo.

Garcia Goes To 7-0 At Home Vs. Cincinnati, Caps Great Month For Cards' Starters

From Elias: Jaime Garcia went eight strong innings, allowing only one run and throwing just 92 pitches, and Matt Holliday supplied a two-run homer as the Cardinals downed the Reds, 2-1. Garcia made it look easy against the slump-ravaged Reds - but, then again, he always does that when the Reds come to town. Garcia is 7-0 with a 2.21 ERA in eight starts against the Reds at Busch Stadium; only two other active major-leaguers are undefeated at home in at least seven decisions for their current teams against a specific opponent: Jorge de la Rosa is 7-0 against the Diamondbacks in Denver, and Jered Weaver is 9-0 against the Rangers in Anaheim. Cardinals' starters finished April with an ERA of 2.15, their lowest in a month of at least five games since Bob Gibson and Co. fashioned a 2.03 ERA in May of 1968, the year that Bullet Bob finished with a 1.12 ERA. Gibson had a 1.27 ERA during month of May that year, but somehow went 2-4 for the month, as the Cardinals didn't score more than three runs in any of his six starts.

Fantasy Facts - Garcia getting grounders

Jaime Garcia's 65 percent groundball rate is the highest this season among pitchers qualified for the ERA title. Last season Garcia's groundball rate was 56 percent. He's getting grounders on 72 percent of balls in play against his offspeed pitches, up from 48 percent last season.