With 27 left on the schedule for the St. Louis Cardinals, every contest is important, every game seems to be a "must-win" affair. But there are a few on the schedule that seem even a little more important, if only for symbolic reasons.

As for "must-win" games, I'm not sure that exists in the NL Central.

The next two games at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals roll the dice with a pair of lefties that could greatly boost their chances or force the bullpen into some serious overtime.

When Mark Mulder was last seen in the big leagues, he made it through all of 1.2 innings before getting dispatched by the Florida Marlins in a 9-1 loss. Rotator cuff surgery followed in September. One year later, Mulder's road to recovery leads to the mound in Busch Stadium with his team one game out of first place.

The left-hander hasn't pitched in a contest with this much at stake since Game 6 of the 2005 NLCS.

On Monday, Pedro Martinez returned from rotator cuff surgery to throw 76 pitches while giving up two runs in five innings. I'm sure the Cardinals would be thrilled with a similar performance from Mulder.

Surgery and a lengthy rehab make Mulder's performance a question mark. As for Mike Maroth, who'll pitch on Thursday against the Pirates, an injury combined with ineffectiveness make him a real headscratcher.

Maroth made seven starts for the Cardinals before going on the disabled list in early August. In five of those starts, he gave up more runs than innings pitched.

Act 2 of the M&M lefty combination will pitch in the afternoon. Maroth's ERA during the day? 8.24.

Relievers could be bolting from the Busch Stadium bullpen faster than last night's squirrel.

A crazy 2007 just gets crazier. Guys you expect to take part in the pennant chase like Scott Rolen and Juan Encarnacion are done for the year. Instead, the September Redbirds feature players like Russell Branyan and Miguel Cairo.

And Mark Mulder and Mike Maroth.

Our favorite playoff projection system now says there is a one-in-three chance that the Cardinals will be playing baseball in October.

And with the Cubs and Brewers both having an off day on Thursday, St. Louis can make up ground against the last place Pittsburgh team and move the needle a little more.

The 1961 Yankees rode their M&M boys, Mantle and Maris, to a World Series title. The 2007 Cardinals can set their sights a little lower for the moment.

Improbable as it sounds and as unlikely as it may be, but if the Cubs and Brewers lose tonight and the Redbirds win their next two, St. Louis will have first place all to itself by tomorrow evening.

The M&M boys will have a lot to say about that.

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Postscript

Tony La Russa's six-man rotation, and Maroth's inclusion, is drawing criticism.

Will Carroll wrote yesterday that if Scott Rolen had surgery soon, he could be back for the World Series. Now that's some positive thinking. I thought I heard last night, though, that Rolen has decided to postpone the surgery for at least a week. With a six-week recovery time, that would seem to rule out that option - even if the Cardinals somehow made it back.