It has been a rough week for the St. Louis Cardinals.
At a time where you need to play your best, they have seem to have done the complete opposite.
For the fifth time in six days, the Cardinals lost, which now sets them three games behind the San Francisco Giants for the first Wild Card spot, and two behind the New York Mets (who won 3-0 on Friday night) for the second Wild Card spot.
They continue to stumble at a time when they need to be at the peak of high performance.
Luke Weaver got the start for St. Louis on Friday night, and he was off to a good start, striking out the side in the first inning. But it was a poor case of peaking too early, as the night only went downhill from there. A six-run third inning by San Francisco made it 6-0, Weaver only lasted 2 2/3 innings, the worst start of his young career by far.
From there, the bullpen was able to hold the Giants in check, aside from a two-run home from Buster Posey when Jaime Garcia entered the game for his first relief pitching appearance since his first season back in 2008.
Giants starter Matt Moore (4-4) had a much more improved start than in the past few starts with his new team, allowing two runs over five innings, striking out four batters and walking three. St. Louis had a prime chance in the fifth inning, when down 8-1, to narrow the gap in the score with the bases loaded. Yadier Molina walked to make it 8-2, but they could not shorten the home team’s lead, and crushing any momentum that could have shifted into their favor.
Time is running out for the Cardinals. If they want to make yet another postseason, they need the spark within them that has propelled the team to multiple magic finishes in the past.
INJURY NOTE: Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday gave an update on his thumb injury which has kept him out of action since Aug. 11th. “I’d love to play but I can’t do it at jeopardizing putting my finger in a bad situation,” Holliday said. “It’s clearly not 100 percent. It’s still fractured but there’s a screw in there. It’s more stable than it would be if I had not had the surgery.”
