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By Matthew Leach / MLB.com

• Cards bring up MacDougal, option Salas
• Molina playing, thriving through pain
• Baby Birds
• Worth noting

NEW YORK — Rumors continued to fly around the Cardinals on Wednesday, but not much appeared to be actually going on with the club as Saturday’s non-waiver Trade Deadline approaches.

Foxsports.com reported on Wednesday that the Cardinals are “no longer pursuing” Roy Oswalt, which shouldn’t come as a major surprise. It had grown clear in recent days that despite Oswalt’s willingness, even desire, to pitch in St. Louis, a trade fit was going to be difficult. The Astros are reportedly seeking a major haul for the right-hander, and the Cardinals lack high-end Major League-ready talent in their farm system.

Later in the day, Foxsports.com’s Ken Rosenthal tweeted that the Cardinals are “showing interest” in Miguel Tejada. A club official declined to comment on Tejada, but it’s difficult to envision him as a fit for the Cardinals. The club has had interest in him in the past, but Tejada is no longer a viable shortstop, and his offense has drastically declined this season.

The Cards are not looking for a bench bat, general manager John Mozeliak said on Tuesday, and their greatest needs in the everyday lineup are at second base and shortstop. Adding Tejada could allow the club to move Felipe Lopez to second base or shortstop, but that move could happen soon anyway if David Freese returns from the disabled list.

The club remains interested in a potential starting pitcher addition, whether it be a front-line starter or a pitcher who offers back-of-the-rotation depth, as well as a possible upgrade at second or short.

Cards bring up MacDougal, option Salas

NEW YORK — The 12th spot on the Cardinals’ pitching staff has been a bit of a revolving door this year. The latest man to walk through that door, however, has a chance to end the carousel. He certainly got off to a good start.

Right-hander Mike MacDougal had his contract purchased from Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday, joining the Cards as a replacement for Fernando Salas, who was optioned to Memphis. In the short term, it’s a move to add an available reliever after Salas worked hard on Tuesday night. But in the longer view, MacDougal could catch on.

MacDougal got right to work, pitching a perfect 12th inning for the win as the Cardinals beat the Mets, 8-7, in 13 innings. He became the first Cardinals reliever to record a win in his team debut since Troy Percival in 2007.

“I’ll take it,” he said with a smile after the game. “Pretty nice for there to be enough innings for me to get in there.”

MacDougal, who just last year racked up 20 saves for the Nationals, joins after allowing four earned runs in 9 1/3 innings at Memphis. His record as a late-inning reliever caught the Cards’ eye, and if he’s successful in the short term, he could stick for a while.

“He’s had his periods of success,” manager Tony La Russa said. “The most basic [criterion] I have, I told him when I saw him — when I don’t like it when a guy comes in to face us, I’d like to have him on our team. And I never felt comfortable with him in the game. He’s got nasty stuff. And [Memphis manager Chris Maloney] says he still has a lot of life. So, yeah, we’ll see. He’s got a chance.”

MacDougal exercised an out in his contract after pitching for Washington’s Triple-A Syracuse affiliate for the first two months of the season. He signed with St. Louis, and now three weeks later, he’s in the big leagues. He enjoyed his Memphis experience, but he’s also glad it’s over.

“I was throwing well when I left there,” he said. “I had a great time. The guys there are awesome. I’m just looking forward to the start here.”

Molina playing, thriving through pain

NEW YORK — Yadier Molina continues to deal with soreness in his left shin, but he may not get a day off any time soon.

When the Cardinals fell behind by a healthy margin on Tuesday night, manager Tony La Russa got his catcher out of the game, giving Molina in effect a half-day off. Thus, though the manager was pondering resting Molina for Thursday’s series finale at Citi Field, Molina may instead start that game.

“Originally, it was the plan,” La Russa said of starting Jason LaRue on Thursday. “Now, getting him out yesterday, we’ll see how today goes.”

The situation is complicated by Molina’s recent improvement at the plate. He entered Wednesday with a .324 batting average and .425 on-base percentage since the All-Star break. Still, it would be beneficial if Molina could get completely healed.

“He’s got a big bruise on his leg,” La Russa said. “I think every time, like yesterday, you can choose to rest him, it’s all to the good.”

Meanwhile, though Albert Pujols appeared to wince in pain after a third-inning groundout on Tuesday night, the slugger said he is feeling no significant discomfort.

“I’m fine,” he said Thursday.

Baby Birds

NEW YORK — Donovan Solano had three hits for Triple-A Memphis on Tuesday night, but unfortunately the rest of his teammates combined for two hits in a 1-0 loss to New Orleans. P.J. Walters pitched six excellent innings in the loss (one run, one hit, one walk, five strikeouts). … Nick Additon pitched six shutout innings and Daryl Jones doubled twice as Double-A Springfield beat Arkansas, 4-0. … Jarred Bogany doubled, homered and drove in three runs in Class A Palm Beach’s 7-5 loss to Daytona. … Class A Quad Cities and short-season Batavia were off on Tuesday. … Kleininger Teran had two hits and a walk in Rookie-level Johnson City’s 6-4 loss to Burlington.

Additon is the player of the day. The left-hander allowed four hits and two walks, striking out five, in the win. Additon, 22, is 6-6 with a 4.45 ERA at Springfield this year, with 80 strikeouts, 42 walks and 17 home runs allowed in 113 1/3 innings. He was a 47th-round Draft pick in 2006, signing in 2007 as a “Draft-and-follow” player after a year of junior college.

Worth noting

NEW YORK — Colby Rasmus returned to the lineup for Wednesday night’s game against the Mets and promptly doubled in his first plate appearance. Rasmus had been out of the lineup the previous three games as he battles a slump. … Though Ryan Ludwick has a reverse platoon split in 2010, manager Tony La Russa said that he sees nothing in Ludwick’s skill set to indicate that Ludwick should not have success against left-handed pitchers. Ludwick did not start against the left-handed Johan Santana on Wednesday. … Nick Stavinoha started at first base and went 0-for-4 on Tuesday night in the second game of his rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Memphis. Stavinoha is recovering from a shoulder injury.

Matthew Leach

<a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100728&content_id=12729974&notebook_id=12738470&vkey=notebook_stl&fext=.jsp&c_id=stltag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100728″>Oswalt no longer on Cards' Deadline radar