Sometimes the best thing a searching baseball team can find is a scuffle.
The Cardinals got their chance against the Giants.
They did not fight. They fizzled.
A Cardinals season that has reached new lows at a rapid rate touched a previously untapped depth Tuesday night at Busch Stadium.
Before an announced crowd of 40,917 the Cardinals got punked by the Giants in an 11-3 loss that became their 41st defeat in 68 games and their 20th in 33 games played here at home.
Jack Flaherty, the starting pitcher chairman Bill Dewitt Jr. said was the reason he did not think the team needed a big starter addition this past offseason, started a benches-clearing, bullpen-emptying standoff with the Giants after the top half of the fourth inning, because San Francisco leadoff man LaMonte Wade Jr.