This Is What The Cardinals Do Best

What Molina said he told Gonzalez at plate: “If you’re going to scream at me you’ve got to be ready to fight.” #sltcards #cardinals #nlds

— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) October 4, 2014

It seemed even more improbable than Game 6 in the 2011 World Series. Adam Wainwright had been knocked out by the Dodgers after only 4.1 innings. He allowed 6 runs and 11 hits, his worst start since Game 5 in the NLDS in 2012 against Washington. The score was 6-1. Standing across from Waino was the People’s Favorite, Clayton Kershaw. The wondrous lefthander and second coming of Sandy Koufax who had only allowed 39 earned runs all season. At that moment, people would have placed the odds of a comeback against Kershaw right next to the odds of climbing Mount Everest in shorts. Forget about it!

This is what the Cardinals do best. When somebody tells them they can’t do something or its time to close up shop, they push back. They do it better than any other team. This is why the Cards have won the second most playoff games since 2000. People count them out, and they come running back as hard as they can. The Cards aren’t picked to win the series. Ever. This time of year, they are picked to lose. Several Cardinal fans around the area gave the Cards little chance of beating the Kershaw powered Dodgers. L.A. had a chip on their own shoulder from last October, when the Cards bullied them for a six game series win to capture the pennant.

There was the 3rd inning, where the Dodgers took a hit by pitch and tried to start a war. Yasiel Puig was plunked with a fastball up and in after Hanley Rameriz was buzzed back by one. Last year, Joe Kelly plunked Rameriz and broke a rib in October. So, the Dodgers took the role of stupidity when Waino hit Puig.  Adrian Gonzalez said something to Yadi and Molina took offense and went after the Dodgers slugger. An untrained monkey could notice that Waino didn’t want to hit the leadoff hitter in a playoff game, but the benches cleared and Yadi got steamed. The one player I have developed a new found disrespect for is Gonzalez. He seems to thrive on creating these stupid temper tantrums and escalating on field altercations.

The Dodgers turned a 1-0 Cardinal lead into a 6-1 lead. All hope seemed to be lost until the Cards came up in the top of the 7th inning. To this point, Kershaw was throwing a gem. He had allowed a solo home run to Matt Carpenter in the 6th to cut the lead to 6-2 but Kershaw had only allowed 2 hits(both solo home runs) to that point. The Cardinals seemed to be guessing up until the 7th inning.  Let’s take a look, player by player. Why? It feels good so roll with me.

It started with Matt Holliday blasting a single past Kershaw’s glove to lead the inning off. Holliday had looked horrible in swinging at a breaking ball in the dirt in the 4th inning.

Jhonny Peralta had also struck out in the 4th inning. He blasted a single to left center.

Two singles. No big deal if you are a Dodger fan. The Cards hit singles all year long and left runners on base.

Yadier Molina, still steaming from the homeplate discussion, lined a single to center field. The bases were loaded.

Matt Adams stepped in. The man picked by many to hold the key to a Cards breakout in this series. Another Matt in the Bird offense. Seeing him flail against Kershaw a couple innings before wasn’t just sad, it was telling. How would the big guy adjust? Adams got behind 0-2 and battled. He lined an RBI single back up the middle, scoring Holliday. It was 6-3.

Pete Kozma left his Kershaw magic in 2013 and struck out.

Jon Jay went up swinging and slapped a base hit to left field, scoring Peralta. The score was 6-4 Dodgers. At this point, I was happy. We had gotten to the Cy Young Award winner for 4 runs and made this a game. I wasn’t complacent but I was happy with the launch of a comeback.

Oscar Taveras came up and had no chance. Kershaw fired a first pitch fastball on the paint, and then dusted him off with two breaking pitches. Back to the bench Oscar. The kid was as effective as an extra thin strand of hair dangling from Kershaw’s head in front of his face. Easily swiped away.

Matt Carpenter is the pest in Kershaw’s side. The guy who doesn’t need batting gloves, chokes up halfway on the bat between pitches and makes the Ace work. Carpenter was the guy who lined a double in Game 6 last year off Kershaw in an 11 pitch at bat. On the 8th pitch of this bat, with two strikes, Carpenter cleared the bases for a 7-6 Cardinal lead. Kershaw tried to be a tough guy and push fastballs past Carpenter. He knew Carp wouldn’t chase the junk that Taveras did so he had to rely on a very hittable 94 mph fastball. The leadoff batter and owner of 95 walks in the regular season feasted on the mistake.

This is where you think about everybody watching around the world. People in St. Louis. People on business or vacationing in Europe. Soldiers overseas. You think about their reactions. The Carpenter hit came in Game 1 of a Division Series game, but it felt as powerful as David Freese‘s three run triple three years ago. It created that kind of tingle in the spine.

Matt Holliday came up again in the inning and decided to swing a sledgehammer into the box score, obliterating a first pitch fastball from Dodgers reliever Pedro Baez. It was 10-6 Cardinals. In the span of maybe 30 minutes, the game had changed from a 6-2 Dodgers lead to a 10-6 Cards lead.

Fox Sports 1 announcers Joe Buck, Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci had counted the Cards out. They were already breaking down Game 2’s starters, Lance Lynn and Zach Greinke. Reynolds was in such disbelief(all that MLB Network Kershaw adoration takes its toll over 162 games) that he suggested the Cards were stealing signs from second base.

When asked about it after the game, Holliday had this to say to Ken Rosenthal, “We don’t do that. I’ve never, in my 11 year career, ever, stole any signs.” It was laughable but typical of the National media trying everything to come to come to terms with what just happened. Imagine getting hit over the head with a brick and trying to explain what happened before.

The media barely digested the Cards stunning comeback in 2011, their comeback in that 2012 division game Waino started, and their sneaky destruction of the Dodgers last year. They simply ran out of ideas and went back to sign stealing. Nice try, Harold, but no dice. Back to the guessing table.

The Cards have been smart hitters all season. It doesn’t always turn into runs but they can collect singles and take walks. They can strike for the occasional home run or bases clearing double. They are always capable of surprising someone.

Game 1 taught everybody a lesson. In the postseason, throw the book out. Throw away the predictions. If that happens in the regular season, Clayton Kershaw locks that down. Inside 21 days in the 2014 season, Kershaw beat the Cardinals twice. He pitched 14 innings, allowed 3 runs, 11 hits and struck out 21 Cardinals. The postseason is a different story. He lost a 1-0 duel with Michael Wacha last October in Game 1. He got slammed in Game 6, to the tune of 7 runs in a 9-0 loss. Last night, he allowed 8 earned runs. That’s 15 earned runs in his last two postseason starts against the Cardinals.

For all the praise dished on Kershaw, his postseason numbers aren’t pretty.

7 starts, 1-4 record, 5.20 ERA, with 41 hits allowed in 45 innings pitched. When looked at 12 hours later, the damage done against Kershaw shouldn’t be that surprising but that’s how baseball works. You assume something, the game knocks you on your ass for doing such a thing, and you recover and learn from it.

I won’t say that last night’s win was enough and now the Cards can pack it in. As a writer who covers the team and a fan, I want more and always will.

However, I will let this soak in today. I will bathe in it for a little while, as I am sure the team will. After the 8 run barrage, Kershaw looked like a kid who just had their Halloween candy stolen. During the game, fans started posting pictures of “Kershawing”, with their hands on their head as they sat on couches or benches. I won’t go that far but I will celebrate a little today before the madness starts tonight.

All I’ve said this week is throw out the predictions and the regular season stats when looking at this series. Forget history. Remember this. The Dodgers are a very good team but when push comes to shove, they don’t seem to be as good at this postseason thing as the Cardinals, not even with the best pitcher in baseball on the mound.

Thanks for reading and follow on twitter, @buffa82.