Cardinals

So many parents and alumni of St. Denis Catholic School in Havertown supported merging with friendly CYO rival Annunciation B.V.M., the marriage should have gone off without a hitch. Instead, parishioners hoping to embrace the past and future in a name were told the regional school would honor the late Cardinal John Foley. The decision was, in their pastor's words, "nonnegotiable. " Children voted on a mascot, only to have their choices (Cardinals, Falcons, or Phoenixes)

Tonight at 8:15 at Lincoln Financial Field. TV: 6ABC, NFL Network; Radio: WYSP-FM 94.1,WIP-AM610. Line: Eagles by 3. THE MATCHUP EAGLES CORNERBACKS VS. CARDINALS RECEIVERS The Defenders It?s mandatory to have three quality cornerbacks when playing the Cardinals, whose trio of receivers are the most prolific in the NFL. The Eagles do in Asante Samuel, Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard, but Samuel is listed as doubtful after...

Cardinal Dougherty used a stifling zone defense to hold visiting Archbishop Wood to 22 points in three quarters en route to a 59-38 Catholic League Northern Division victory yesterday. The Cardinals (3-0 league, 9-3 overall) used a 9-point first quarter performance by forward Tony Fleming to take a 17-7 lead. The Cardinals extended their lead to 34-17 at halftime. Fleming led the Cardinals with 13 points, while guard Bob Coppolino added 11. Center Rodger Tabb had 10. Center Ray Schultz paced Wood (0-4, 3-10)

By most standards, the Eagles have one of the most effective defenses in the NFL. The numbers are telling - third in the league in total defense, first in the NFC. In the postseason, the Birds are first against the pass. That sets up interesting matches in Sunday's NFC Championship Game between Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald against Eagles corners Sheldon Brown and Asante Samuel. Both Brown and Samuel are 5-10. Fitzgerald is 6-3. With Anquan Boldin out against Carolina last Saturday and questionable this week because of a hamstring injury, Fitzgerald likely will be the main focus of the Eagles' defense.

St. Louis isn't out of the National League East hunt yet. The Cardinals picked up a game on the division-leading Cubs yesterday and, with a little help from the Phillies, could gain another game by the time tonight is over. Going into today, the second-place Cards trailed the first-place Cubs by four games. If the Phils beat the Cubs at Wrigley Field this afternoon, that lead will be reduced by a half-game. The Cardinals could then come to within three games with a win over the visiting Mets tonight.

8:15, Busch Stadium, St. Louis. TV: Channel 17. Radio: WPHT (1210-AM); WUBA (1480-AM) Spanish. Pitching matchup: RHP Roy Halladay (9-3, 2.56) at RHP Kyle McClellan (6-3, 3.96) HALLADAY vs. CARDINALS: This is Halladay's first start against St. Louis this season. He faced them once last season, allowing two runs in seven innings of a 7-2 win at Citizens Bank Park. Halladay took a no decision in the Phillies' come-from-behind win over the Marlins last Wednesday. He'll get his second crack at reaching double digits in wins tonight.

Cardinal Dougherty had been the surprise team of the Catholic League so far this season, winning its first three matches. On April 9, however, the Cardinals "got our heads handed to us on a platter," coach John Foley said. Cardinal O'Hara, the team that finished second in the Catholic League last season, downed the visiting Cardinals, 240-278. Foley said he thought his squad was intimidated by the course at the Paxon Hollow Country Club. "We played a course that was completely unfamiliar to them.

Only a few minutes after his team won its Christmas tournament Friday night, Cardinal Dougherty coach Mark Heimerdinger dismissed the significance of the victory. "Winning the Cardinal Classic does not make my year," he said. Last season, the Cardinals won their tourney to finish December with a 9-1 mark and then limped through January and February to finish out of contention in the Catholic League Northern Division. That goes a long way toward explaining Heimerdinger's attitude about the Classic and his answer when someone inquired about his team's season record.

Cardinal Dougherty broke its curse of getting knocked out in the first round of the bowling playoffs by defeating Prendergast, 1,807-1,598 Friday. For the last three years, the Cardinals had gone into the playoffs as the second seed and had been beaten by the fifth-seed team. The Cardinals came out ahead this time, not by bowling an outstanding series - they lost the first game, 610-605 - but because teammates who bowled high were able to compensate for low scorers. "We got over the hurdle," coach Joseph Brandley said.

One of the worst teams in the major leagues got one of the best managers. Tony La Russa, who led the Oakland Athletics to a championship and three American League pennants in 10 years, yesterday signed a two-year contract worth an estimated $1.5 million per season to manage the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals finished fourth in the National League Central at 62-81 under Joe Torre and Mike Jorgensen. La Russa didn't fare much better as the Athletics finished last in the AL West at 67-77, but his track record put him in demand and he took advantage of an opportunity to leave Oakland with two years left on his contract.

ST. LOUIS - Seems only 2 weeks ago we were writing the obituary for this Phillies bullpen. Actually, it was only 2 weeks ago. But things have changed, good things, as a matter of fact, as Thursday night's 10-9 victory over the Cardinals continued to bear out. It was May 9 when Ruben Amaro Jr. decided to make a line change and call up lefties Jake Diekman and Raul Valdes from Triple A Lehigh Valley after watching his bullpen's latest...

At Busch Stadium, St. Louis. Thursday at 8:15 p.m. RHP Joe Blanton (4-4, 3.74 ERA) vs. St. Louis RHP Jake Westbrook (4-3, 2.41) Friday at 8:15 p.m. LHP Cliff Lee (0-2, 2.66) vs. St. Louis RHP Kyle Lohse (5-1, 2.91) Saturday at 7:15 p.m. RHP Kyle Kendrick (0-4, 5.23) vs. St. Louis LHP Jaime Garcia (3-2, 3.55) Sunday at 2:15 p.m. RHP Roy Halladay (4-4, 3.58) vs. St. Louis RHP Adam Wainwright (3-5, 4.78)

If it appears that Kelly Cross is idling about on the field, well, look harder. Take a moment. Observe. Things . . . are . . . developing. It is most appropriate to watch Cross, a senior on the Upper Dublin girls' lacrosse team, just as she plays the game - with patience. All of Cross' lacrosse life, people have told her that she looks too relaxed on the field. It's actually a fairly curious notion, considering that vast majority of high school athletes are prodded so readily to think the game, that her main criticism - if you can call it that - has been of her supposedly lackadaisical demeanor.

There are crises of faith, and then there are crises of faith. In We Have a Pope , Michel Piccoli is having a doozy. Set in the cloistered opulence of the Vatican - and in the thrumming streets of Rome - Nanni Moretti's quietly subversive, wonderfully empathetic dramedy imagines a scenario in which the pontiff has died and the cardinals, in their cassocks and caps, go about electing a new leader. Moretti, the Italian writer, director, and star, gently mocks the process from the get-go, showing the members of the College of Cardinals convening to make their choice.

TREVOR CAHILL took a four-hit shutout into the eighth inning, and the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks beat Washington, 5-1, Tuesday night to stretch the Nationals' losing streak to five games. Teenager Bryce Harper went 0-for-3 in his home debut for the Nationals. The 19-year-old Harper, the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft, is 2-for-9 since being recalled from the minors on Saturday. Cahill (2-2) allowed one run and six hits in 7 1/3 innings, striking out five and walking one. Arizona starters are 4-0 with a 1.30 ERA over the past five games.

CHRIS JOHNSON had been waiting all season to hit his first home run. After finally knocking one out of the park in his first at-bat Wednesday, there was almost no wait for No. 2. Johnson had a pair of homers in consecutive at-bats among his four hits and drove in a career-high six runs to back up another solid outing by Wandy Rodriguez, and the Houston Astros beat the New York Mets, 8-1, to complete a three-game sweep. "It was a special day," Johnson said. "This is probably my best day in the major leagues.

JAMIE MOYER turned in a vintage performance in becoming the oldest pitcher to ever win a major league game. The 49-year-old Moyer (1-2) threw seven masterful innings and Dexter Fowler hit a two-run homer, helping the Colorado Rockies hold on for a 5-3 win over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night. The former Phillie was sharp all evening as he picked up his 268th career win, tying him with Hall of Famer Jim Palmer for 34th on the career list. Relying on a consistent cutter and mixing in a 78-mph fastball, the cunning lefty gave up just six hits and two runs - both unearned - as he kept the Padres hitters at bay and off balance.

MIAMI - The sellout crowd in the Miami Marlins' new ballpark cheered the introduction of their starters, who were accompanied by women dressed as Latin showgirls. There was another roar for Muhammad Ali, who delivered the first pitch. Then Kyle Lohse and the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals went to work, and the place grew quiet. Lohse held Miami hitless until the seventh inning and pitched into the eighth to help the Cardinals win the first game in Marlins Park, 4-1, Wednesday night.

NEW ORLEANS - It was the battle for Kentucky in the first semifinal game at the Final Four on Saturday evening, and Louisville found itself in the unenviable position of having won a majority of the skirmishes but still having lost the war. Nobody comes to the Final Four just to have the I-64 corridor between Lexington and Louisville renamed the Nice Try Boulevard, but that was all the satisfaction the Cardinals would take away from their showdown...