Phil Hughes has been more erratic than one would like, but nobody questions his ability. I mean, look at how well he pitched against a difficult Baltimore lineup in Game 4 of the AL Division Series.

Marco Scutaro, painful left hip and all, contributed a two-run single, the biggest hit in a four-run fourth inning Monday night, as the Giants evened the National League Championship Series with a 7-1 triumph over the St. Louis Cardinals.

The first encounter between Cardinals second baseman Daniel Descalso and Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford wasn’t on a diamond, but on a pitch — as in, soccer field.

This postseason, the Cardinals’ rotation has put the onus on the offense and bullpen to pick it up. Neither could provide the lift on Monday, leaving the Cardinals with a 7-1 loss to the Giants at AT&T Park and a split of the first two games of the National League Championship Series.

If you’re a depressed Yankees fan, convinced there’s no hope in this American League Championship Series gone bad against the Tigers, a history lesson might be just the thing to lift your sagging spirits.

The term ace is thrown out too frequently in baseball. Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia, however, are legitimate aces. And they are using this postseason to underscore why they are head and shoulders above others.

The Phillies announced Monday the hiring of Wally Joyner as assistant hitting coach.

There might be a committee, but there is no controversy. The way Tigers manager Jim Leyland sees the bullpen situation, Jose Valverde is still his closer. That does not mean Leyland doesn’t have other options.

The box scores of seven postseason games are enough evidence to sound the alarms. Unless Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez can find a way to reclaim their strokes, the next game played at Yankee Stadium will involve goalposts, first-down markers and referees.

If you doubt that Jim Leyland can piece together a bullpen-by-committee, look at the stats from his Pirates teams that dominated in the early 1990s. The year the Bucs won their first division title, Bill Landrum led the team in saves, with 13. No one on Pittsburgh teams that won division titles ever saved 20. Leyland can mix and match. He’d just rather not.

Well, sure, now everybody is coming out of the woodwork to slap Dave Dombrowski on the back and tell him they knew all along his trades would work out.

The family of Yankees manager Joe Girardi issued a statement on Monday, the day funeral services were to be held in Tampico, Ill., for Girardi’s father, Jerry.

The Braves have said goodbye to iconic figures in the past. But they have never encountered the challenge that they now face: preparing for life without Chipper Jones.

The Reds and manager Dusty Baker agreed to terms Monday on a two-year contract extension through the 2014 season.

On a team that features a pair of postseason heroes in the starting rotation, one of them a former National League Cy Young Award winner and the other a two-time serious contender for pitching’s top award, the rock of the starting rotation in 2012 was someone else entirely.

For the first time on his remarkable journey back from midseason surgery, the Cardinals’ Chris Carpenter ran into a road block.

On Monday, a day after Yankees manager Joe Girardi argued for expanded use of replay after a key call at second base went against his club in Game 2 of the AL Championship Series, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny was similarly frustrated about a call near first in Game 2 on the National League side.