Sports
Westplex Today Sports Page: June 24, 2009
By Mike Thomas
Jun 24, 2009 - 4:51:26 AM

WESTPLEX TODAY SPORTS PAGE:  JUNE 24, 2009

As expected, former Blues great Brett Hull was among those elected Tuesday for induction to the Hockey Hall of Fame.  Joining Hull in the class of 2009 are Steve Yzerman, Brian Leetch and Luc Robitaille.  New Jersey Devils CEO, president and GM Lou Lamoriello will also be inducted in the builder category.  Hull spent 11 of his 20 NHL seasons in St. Louis, ranking third in league history with 741 goals.  His 527 goals as a Blue is a franchise record.  Hull won Stanley Cups with the Red Wings and Stars. 

Joel Pineiro went the distance with a two-hitter as the Cardinals blanked the Mets 3-0 in the second installment of a four-game series at Citi Field.  Pineiro walked one and struck out one to snap a five-start losing streak and move to 6-and-8.  Skip Schumaker plated a run in the third and Albert Pujols singled in two more in the seventh as St. Louis improved to 4-and-1 on its seven-game road trip.  Luis Castillo and pinch-hitter Jeremy Reed had the only hits for New York, which has lost nine of its last 13 games.  Livan Hernandez dropped to 5-and-2 with the tough-luck loss. 

The Cardinals and Mets play the third game of their four-game series in Queens tonight.  The teams have split the first two games of the series thus far.  Brad Thompson takes the hill tonight opposite New York's Fernando Nieve.  Thompson is 2-and-2 with a 3.89 ERA as he continues to fill in for injured starter Kyle Lohse.  Nieve is 2-and-0 with a 1.84 ERA.  St. Louis has won six of its last eight games to improve to 40-and-31.  The Cards lead the Brewers by two games atop the NL Central.

Injured Cardinals pitcher Kyle Lohse took another step towards his return to the rotation on Tuesday.  The right-hander fired about 60 pitches in a two-part bullpen session.  Lohse threw 40 pitches to assimilate a pre-game warmup, then, after sitting down, got back up to throw about 20 more.  Lohse, who has been nursing a forearm injury, is expected to throw again on Thursday.  Barring a setback, the Cards anticipate his return the second week of July.

Injured Cardinals third baseman Troy Glaus has begun taking batting practice and throwing as he continues to rehab following January surgery on his right shoulder.  Glaus has not played this season, but GM John Mozeliak confirmed Tuesday that Glaus has begun taking batting practice against a pitching machine and has begun a throwing program as part of his workouts in Arizona.  It's still uncertain if Glaus will play at all this season.  This is the last year of his contract with the Cardinals.

Cardinals outfielder Joe Mather may have played his last game this season.  General manager John Mozeliak says Mather underwent additional surgery on his left wrist this week and he could be out for the season.  It was Mather's second operation since injuring his left wrist on September 1st of last season.  Mozeliak did not completely rule out Mather's return this season, but called it unlikely.  Mather struggled during spring training and started the season in Triple-A.  He went back on the disabled list in May after a slow start with Memphis.