Brad Penny excels with Cardinals

Cardinals outfielder Colby Rasmus is on his way to a very good second full season in the big leagues, outhitting Albert Pujols in April. No one has had a bigger impact on the Cardinals than Brad Penny, whose work with Dave Duncan has him pitching better than any time in his career, and rookie lefty Jaime Garcia. … The Yankees entered the weekend 114-55 since Alex Rodriguez returned from hip surgery last May. People around the team credit his less selfish approach as a contributing factor. … The Brewers were counting on Trevor Hoffman to be solid, but he has converted only three of seven save chances, giving up six homers in his first nine innings. The lack of an alternative more attractive than Todd Coffey or struggling LaTroy Hawkins lengthens the rope Manager Ken Macha will give Hoffman. … Mike Bacsik, the lefty who gave up Barry Bonds’ 715th home run, was canned last week by a Dallas radio station after an alleged TUI infraction (Tweeting under the influence) that included slurs directed toward San Antonio’s Latino population. … The Braves, a fashionable pick after an excellent spring, are off to their worst start under Bobby Cox. After a 16-5 victory over the Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano on opening day, they averaged 3.1 runs in their next 21 games, including the nine-game losing streak that ended Friday night. … Zambrano, never a leader as a starting pitcher, has a chance to become one if he can thrive out of the bullpen. … Missing velocity played a big role in White Sox pitcher Jake Peavy’s finishing April 0-2 with a 7.85 ERA — a fact he has acknowledged by addressing his mechanics. He threw 19 fastballs during the Rangers’ five-run fifth inning Wednesday, and they averaged 90.2 mph on MLB’s radar gun. He peaked at 94 to 95 in his first start for the White Sox last September but was never above 92 in his latest one. … The Rays are hardly alone in having attendance issues. Entering the weekend, 25 of the 30 franchises were down in average attendance, with the biggest drops for the Mets, Blue Jays, Indians and White Sox. Some of that will work itself out, as April is never as important as the summer months, but it doesn’t appear baseball is beginning the recovery from the economic downturn that began late in 2008.