gave up a double to Paul Goldschmidt before striking out Miguel

The St. Louis Cardinals added two starting pitchers in the last two days, bringing in John Lackey and Justin Masterson. Numbers Game looks at two trades that improve the Cardinals chances of returning to the postseason for the fourth straight season. The Cardinals Get: RHP John Lackey and RHP Justin Masterson. Lackey, 35, has been a solid starter for the Red Sox, particularly in the past two seasons since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2012. After a year off for recovery, Lackey has gone 21-20 with a 3.55 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 50 starts. Not dominant, but good enough to rank 24th among starting pitchers in Fan Graphs WAR over the past two seasons and rank 49th among starting pitchers in the TSN.ca Player Rankings this year. Hes relying more on his fastball, throwing it 65.6% of the time, his highest percentage since 2003, and his average velocity (92.1 MPH) is the best of his career. The Cardinals add a steady veteran pitcher, with postseason experience (3.03 ERA, 1.30 WHIP in 19 postseason appearances), one that can easily fit in the middle of the rotation for a St. Louis team that, one game out of a wild card spot, justifiably has playoff aspirations. While those numbers paint a picture of a nice addition to the Cardinals rotation, there is a definite cherry on top of the sundae and that is that Lackeys contract. While it pays him $15.25-million this year, there is a 2015 club option at league minimum salary because Lackey missed the entire 2012 season (a clause in the contract acknowledging Lackeys previous elbow troubles). Provided that Lackey still intends to pitch next season, he would provide exceptional value to the Cardinals. Masterson is a 29-year-old who has had some good seasons with the Indians, but is undeniably struggling this year, posting a career-worst 5.51 ERA and 1.65 WHIP in 19 starts. Hes recently spent time on the DL with a knee injury, but Mastersons bigger issue is that hes lost some velocity. In 2011, his fastball was clocked, on average, at 92.7 MPH. This year, its down to 89.1 MPH, and for a guy who throws such a high percentage of fastballs, thats a killer. According to Fan Graphs, Mastersons fastball has been the least effective in the majors this season. He has been somewhat unlucky with a career-worst .350 batting average on balls in play, but some of that is simply a reflection of Masterson getting hit hard this season. However, if Masterson fills the fifth spot in the Cardinals rotation --behind Adam Wainwright, Lance Lynn, Lackey and Shelby Miller -- then thats an adequate contribution for the last couple months of this season. He would have to dramatically improve his performance to qualify as a starter for the postseason, but he may be a viable bullpen arm to face right-handed hitters (getting rocked to the tune of a .935 OPS by left-handed batters this season). Earning $9.7625-million this season, Masterson will be eligible for arbitration at seasons end and can be a free agent after the 2015 season. This is an opportunity for the Cardinals to buy low and see if they can get Masterson back on track, while hopefully helping their chances to get into the playoffs this season. The Red Sox Get: RHP Joe Kelly and RF/1B Allen Craig. A 26-year-old righthander, Kelly has made 38 starts (and 30 relief appearances) for the Cardinals over the past three seasons. As a starter, hes 15-11, with a 3.25 ERA and 1.39 WHIP, with 130 strikeouts in 213 1/3 IP. His ERA is the same, but Kellys strikeout rate is dramatically higher coming out of the bullpen (49 K in 52 2/3 IP). Kelly throws hard (average fastball speed of 94.7 MPH) and has cut back on his ineffective slider, having more success in this seasons small sample, with his curve ball. He should have a great opportunity to start regularly in Boston over the next couple months, in an effort to establish that he can be a rotation regular next season. This early in his career, Kelly is an inexpensive option, making $523,000 this year, and not arbitration eligible until 2016 at the earliest. Craig is a 30-year-old who was a productive hitter before suffering a foot injury last season. He still has an .803 OPS for his career, but has struggled this year, posting seven homers and a .237 batting average, with a .638 OPS. There has to be some expectation on the Red Sox part that they can get Craig back on track. He simply hasnt made as much solid contact this season, with a career-high 56.5% groundball rate. Presuming that Craig can get healthy and bounce back to his previous levels, hes a potential middle of the order bat for the Red Sox who is signed through 2017. Craig is making $2.75-million this year and his contract will pay $26.5-million over the next three seasons, with a club option for 2018. Craig should get a look in left field with the Red Sox, effectively taking over for Jonny Gomes, who was traded to Oakland earlier in the day. Of Craigs 117 career starts in the outfield, 35 have been in left. With Craig leaving St. Louis, that leaves an everyday job for top Cardinals prospect Oscar Taveras. The 22-year-old has struggled (hitting .208 with a .508 OPS in 32 games) this season, but hes the top prospect in the organization, so hell get a crack at the everyday job. If he cant hack it, Jon Jay can handle right field for the Cardinals, with Peter Bourjos in centre, if need be. Lackeys contract situation obviously helped the Red Sox secure real value in return and they got two pieces that could be part of a contending club in 2015. The Indians Get: OF James Ramsey. A first-round pick by the Cardinals in 2012, 24-year-old James Ramsey is an outfielder that is having a pretty strong showing at Double-A, hitting 13 home runs, and hitting .300 with a .916 OPS in 67 games. Ranked by Baseball America as the Cardinals No. 8 prospect in the offseason, Ramsey is likely not too far away from getting his shot in the big leagues. Considering how the season was going for Masterson, thats not a bad move for the Tribe. They get a prospect who will have a chance to play in their outfield in the not-too-distant future, and they can keep young righthanders Trevor Bauer and Danny Salazar in the rotation for the rest of the season. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Cheap Royals Jerseys . Price was hurt at the start of Wednesdays practice after facing just one shot as the team worked on their power play. He left the ice in discomfort and appeared to be favouring his leg. A Habs source told TSNs John Lu that Price suffered the injury in Sochi and not before the Olympics. Royals Jerseys 2020 . The R&A announced Monday that golfs oldest championship will return to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland for the first time since Max Faulkner won in 1951. https://www.cheaproyals.com/ . The club says Fridays surgery was successful. Holiday, a former Eastern Conference All-Star acquired from Philadelphia last summer, has not played because of the shin injury since Jan. Kansas City Royals Gear . So what happens? Stevenson lands a huge left to Dawsons temple only 76 seconds into the opening round and walks away with the championship belt. "I said Id knock him out," said Stevenson (21-1). Custom Kansas City Royals Jerseys . "He came up to me and said, I want to train," said Toronto coach Ryan Nelsen. The 26-year-old midfielder is expected to play Saturday night when Toronto hosts D.C. United, returning to his Major League Soccer squad with mixed feelings about the Americans World Cup run -- sad that it ended when it did but proud of his teams performance.ATLANTA -- Arizona manager Kirk Gibson found no fault with Josh Collmenter after the right-hander settled down in the third inning. Collmenter gave up a career-high 11 hits, and the Diamondbacks couldnt solve Ervin Santana or the Atlanta bullpen in a 5-2 loss to the Braves on Friday night. "He went out there and did the best he could and got through six innings. We were unable to score runs," Gibson said. Freddie Freeman drove in two runs, and Santana won his second straight start for Atlanta, which stretched its winning streak to eight games. Arizona began the night tied with Houston for the most losses in the majors with 51. The Diamondbacks have lost seven of 11. "Were trying everything we can to turn around things, but its not happening," third baseman Martin Prado said. "Were trying to have good at-bats and everything. I feel like were pretty close. Theres a bunch of guys having good at-bats." After earning three victories from June 20-28, Collmenter (7-5) allowed five runs, one walk, and struck out three in six-plus innings. The Braves have won 10 of 11 to move 10 games over .500 for the first time since April 29. They lead the NL East by 1 1/2 games. Santana (7-5) gave up six hits and two runs with one walk and six strikeouts in 7 1-3 innings. The Braves made it 2-0 in the first on Freemans RBI single and Jason Heywards RBI groundout. Atlanta went up 4-1 in the third on Andrelton Simmons bases-loaded RBI single and Justin Uptons RBI walk, but Collmenter stranded the bases loaded when Heyward popped out. Collmenters night ended after Simmons led off the seventh with a double. Oliver Perez, the next Arizona pitcher, allowed another RBI single by Freeman to make it 5-1. "I wasnt missing so much up in the zone as missing over the plate, enough for them to get a piece of the ball," Collmenter said. &qquot;I just didnt capitalize on my opportunities when I could have made a pitch.dddddddddddd" Santana seemed in sync most of the night, but that hasnt been the case over the last few weeks. After winning 2-0 against the Cubs on May 10, Santana went 1-5 with a 5.96 ERA over his next eight starts before earning a 10-3 victory last Saturday at Philadelphia. "Everything my way is getting back again, so I just have to keep it up," Santana said. "Keep my mind positive and keep working down in the zone." Santana retired 11 straight before Didi Gregorius singled to begin the eighth. He left the game one out later when Ender Inciarte singled. After Luis Avilan retired David Peralta on an RBI forceout, Jordan Walden gave up a double to Paul Goldschmidt before striking out Miguel Montero to end the threat. In the ninth, Craig Kimbrel struck out Prado, retired Gerardo Parra on a groundout and got Nick Ahmed to fly out for his 27th save in 31 chances. Arizona cut the lead to 2-1 in the second when Prado led off with a single, moved to second and third on groundouts and scored on Santanas wild pitch. Santana didnt make many mistakes. "He was spotting," Prado said. "I saw him pretty good, but he was commanding his fastball. They took advantage of the first inning and scored a couple runs, and that was good enough for him." NOTES: Collmenter allowed 10 hits in a 6-0 loss at Detroit on June 25, 2011. ... The Braves announced a sellout with a season-high crowd of 48,815. ... Freeman, who went 2 for 4, is hitting .365 over his last 19 games. ... Atlantas bullpen has a 0.42 ERA over a span of 21 2-3 innings during the eight-game winning streak. ... Peralta went 2 for 4 and is hitting .406 over his last nine games. ... Perez had stranded 10 straight inherited runners before Freeman drove in Simmons. ' ' '