Not only are the St. Louis Cardinals losing the NL championship series 3-1, they're losing their cool. Manager Tony La Russa and Jim Edmonds were ejected for arguing pitch calls in the seventh and eighth innings of Sunday's 2-1 loss to the Houston Astros, another frustrating game for them in an increasingly frustrating series. Nothing has gone right the last three games, all Astros victories, for the team that led the major leagues with 100 victories, swept the Padres in the first round and went 11-5 against the Astros in the regular season. Before losing the manager who's third on the career victory list behind only Connie Mack and John McGraw, plus their second-best run producer, the Cardinals had already been short-handed. They were down to their third choice at third base, John Mabry, given that Scott Rolen had season-ending shoulder surgery in August and Abraham Nunez sustained a deep left thigh bruise in a collision with Astros baserunner Jason Lane in Game 3.