After seven and a half innings, the St. Louis Cardinals have two runs, and the Texas Rangers have two runs. The Cardinals have batted 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, while the Rangers have gone 0-for-2.

You get a sense from those statistics that this game feels lopsided, even though it isn't, and that's right on. The Cardinals should be winning, and winning by a few, but they are not, and they probably have only themselves to blame.

The Cardinals left the bases loaded in the top of the seventh. In the bottom half, Chris Carpenter pitched around a one-out walk to escape. That took us to the top of the eighth, where Yadier Molina reached leading off when he grounded a ball in the hole, and Mitch Moreland couldn't corral Elvis Andrus' low throw.

So the Cardinals had a guy on first with nobody out. A bunt later, they had a guy on second with one out. But Darren Oliver froze Nick Punto, and then Rafael Furcal grounded out to short. Another wasted opportunity, and now the Rangers have another chance to pull ahead.

Ron Washington has not managed a great game. The Texas Rangers' pitchers have not thrown a great game. It's still 2-2.