A team that has consistently put runners on base, but only sporadically driven them home, stranded 10 runners in a 4-3 loss to the Reds at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position against a good-but-not-great Bronson Arroyo and a string of Cincinnati relievers.

"You've got to create chances," manager Tony La Russa said. "That's the way I look at it. I don't look at missing them. I look at creating them. One time we had a runner on third and didn't get him home. You've got to give Arroyo credit as well."

The Cardinals rank second in the National League with a .367 on-base percentage, just a hair behind the Cubs (who are also at .367). They've drawn a league-leading 136 walks, rank third in the league with 245 hits and first with 57 doubles. But at 4.56 runs per game, they're squarely mid-pack, eighth-best in a 16-team league.

Over the long haul, runners on base will equal runs crossing home plate. Over the course of a month, funny things can happen, and runners can get stranded at an alarming rate.

"That's baseball," said Yadier Molina, who missed two chances with runners in scoring position on Monday. "Sometimes you're going to do the job. Sometimes you're not. That's part of baseball. Sometimes it's going to happen. Sometimes they're going to fall, sometimes they're not."

Molina's two inning-ending at-bats tell much of the story of how luck and legitimate struggles have been intertwined. In the third inning, with a run already in and the bases loaded, Molina hit a routine ground ball to shortstop for a 6-4 force play, ending an inning that could have produced multiple runs.

In the seventh, with runners on first and second in a one-run game, he hit a hot shot to third base that Edwin Encarnacion snared and threw to second for the force play. They looked the same in the box score, but not coming off Molina's bat. The catcher was sure that his second ball was going to get through for an RBI.

"Oh yeah," Molina said. "I hit it pretty hard. He made a good play. He's a good third baseman, man."

Starter Todd Wellemeyer was decent but not especially sharp, allowing four runs on seven hits over six innings. Wellemeyer struck out five and walked two. He was hurt by a defensive miscue in the third inning. With two men on and two outs, Encarnacion lifted a fly ball to shallow left field. Chris Duncan lost the ball in the twilight sky, and it dropped between three Cardinals for an RBI double that made it 4-0 Reds.

"As soon as it got [above] the stands, I couldn't see it," Duncan said.

"Sometimes it's real tough," explained fellow outfielder Ryan Ludwick "You can pick it up coming up through the stadium, and then once it gets up in that sky, at times it can be real, real tough."

That was all Wellemeyer would allow, as he got stronger over his final three innings. But while his offense chipped away, it could never produce the "crooked number" that would let the righty off the hook. Troy Glaus brought home a run with a bases-loaded walk, Rick Ankiel hit a solo homer and Cesar Izturis added an RBI double.

The Cardinals fell to 16-11 on the year. They are in second place in the National League Central, one full game behind the Cubs, who come to town for three games over the weekend.