Cards Put A Vice Grip On Series

It’s hard to look at Monday’s game and point out just one hero because there were several. A few Cardinals stepped into the wonderful sea of red at Busch Stadium and became big players. Let’s run down the list.

Look at John Lackey, silencing the doubters with another October performance that gave fans a chill in their bone thinking back to last October. Lackey always saves his best for last, powering sliders away from hitters and locating his big fastball. When asked what Lackey had to do to be successful, Viva El Birdos scribe Joe Schwarz offered this Monday morning, “He will bare down. Just has to locate the fastball early, which I think he will.” This is what Lackey lives for. October baseball. The fall coolness touching the field and helping his fastball neutralizing opposing bats. He struck out Yasiel Puig twice before allowing a triple to the adolescent Dodgers outfielder. Lackey tied Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Kemp up in knots all night. The only two players to truly find a way against the veteran were Hanley Rameriz and Puig with the one big hit. For seven innings, Lackey provided shut down baseball. The angry Texan did his job and outpitched the other guy, the nasty Hyun-Jin Ryu. I noted in a Sunday column Lackey simply had to be better Monday night than the other guy. He was. How about that trade now, folks? Lackey lowered his postseason career ERA to 2.92 and picked up his 7th win.

How about Matt Carpenter? The third baseman broke out the toolbox tonight, collecting two hits, one of them a game changing solo home run off Ryu in the third inning. After striking out on a breaking ball in the first inning, Carpenter got a Phillips screwdriver out and adjusted his swing and his approach. Carpenter has 3 HR and 7 RBI in the series so far, and easily qualifies for the MVP. He also holds the award for tightest most finely trimmed batch of Fall Facial Hair, but that’s a whole other story. The man is a unique talent. He can bleed a pitcher dry with his walks and sneak up and knock them out with power.

That Wong guy showed up. Kolten blasted a two run game winning home run in the 7th inning, providing all the nightmoves the team needed on offense. All year, the kid showed flashes of true power and lifted this team on his shoulders. The home run last night gave him a regular season/playoff total of 13. He is a rookie and he cranked 13 home runs, with more games yet to play. Wong may have the occasional rookie mental error on the bases and on defense, but he is the real deal. The finish of promise personified. Wong deserves to play every day and this is why. He gives you the complete player on the field. That is something Pete Kozma and Daniel Descalso could never do. Hopefully, he is in there tomorrow against Clayton Kershaw.

Pat Neshek took his pride back with a wicked 9 pitch 8th inning. No one took the brunt of the Hollywood ending in Game 2 harder than Neshek. He was an All Star up until early August and suddenly started becoming more vulnerable. John Rabe noted on Twitter that maybe Cardinal fans had given up on Neshek too soon. I don’t see it that way. I just think he spoiled us with his greatness for so long that we took him for granted. Neshek got human and fans got restless. Monday, he was devilish out there.

Trevor Rosenthal is like an extended erratic guitar solo out there in the 9th inning. He brings the legion of boom and lays down the guts and glory every night, and makes a nation of followers quiver. He allowed two hits, struck out Kemp and got two rather scary looking flyouts from Jose Uribe and A.J. Ellis to end the game. While he isn’t easy to watch, Rosenthal is still an electrifying talent.

The Dodgers had to whine about the strikeout because what else are the West Coast Housewives going to do when they lose? The Cards are doing it again. Overcoming expectations and proving the critics wrong. The Cards can’t hit home runs? Wrong. They have hit 6 home runs in three games. The Dodgers have better pitching? Well, that’s debatable. The Dodgers have a better offense? Cards are outscoring them 15-13. October doesn’t carry predetermined scripts. It’s written as the days roll on. That’s the great thing about it. You never can tell what will happen next.

Tuesday, the Cards can finish things. Will Shelby Miller ride his newfound level of “pitching” to an efficient first playoff outing? Will Oscar Taveras find his way into the starting lineup now that Randal Grichuk is 2-12 in the series but offers superior defense in right field. Does Mike Matheny keep the same lineup as he did in Game 3? At this point, the manager needs to stick with what feels right and worry about the young kids in 2015. Just stick with what works.

Here’s the important thing. It’s 2-1 Cards. The Dodgers have to win 2 in a row. Don Mattingley is putting his cards on the table. He is sending Kershaw back out there on 3 days rest. He did last year in the Division series, and Kershaw pitched well. It’s too bad the Cards know his bag of tricks well and cracked his safe on Friday. This may sound illegal to say but I like our chancestonight. Hope that doesn’t sound too much like a homer parade.

At this point, it’s hard to bet against the Cards. I’ll let the National Media do that.

Thanks for reading,

DLB