Cardinals' Eckstein handicaps the race

As a member of two world championship teams over the past five years -- Anaheim and St. Louis -- shortstop David Eckstein knows what it takes to come through down the stretch.

He was asked to give a thumbnail sketch on the two teams ahead of the Cardinals in the race for the NL Central title. Here's how he sizes up the competition:

Milwaukee

"I think the loss of Tony Graffanio (knee injury) might hurt, but they have veterans that know what to do. They've got a good one in (former Cardinal) Jeff Suppan. Whatever he can do on the mound is great, but what he can do in the clubhouse is even better.

"They've got great pitching, which can take some of the pressure off some of the guys that haven't been there yet. But I don't see Prince (Fielder) backing down or Ryan Braun backing down.

"If you make inexperience a factor, then it's a disservice because then you're saying you can't win for a couple of years. It's more of the outside world saying that you can't do this, but if you believe within yourself that you can, then why can't you?"

Cubs

"The Cubs have a good club. They got hurt by (Alfonso) Soriano getting injured. That's a big blow to the club. And (Aramis) Ramirez was out for a while, too. When you lose those guys for a time it's hard.

"But they've got pitching also. They're starting pitching is right up there with anyone's. It's going to be interesting. I think there's a good chance it'll go down to the wire."