It’s been a rough start to September. The Cardinaks were on the brink of history with an opportunity to win their 11th straight series. They took care of business against the Reds in game one of the three game series, but found themselves in a rubber match after falling 4-0 in game two.
Luis Castillo embarrassed the Cardinal offense, lasting 6.2 innings while striking out 11, a career high. The Cardinals only managed 2 hits and 4 walks on the night against the Reds.
Game 3 started off with a struggling Luke Weaver giving up 2 runs in the first inning. Weaver lasted just 4 innings and surrendered 2 earned runs, giving up 3 hits and walking 5. The Cardinals kept themselves in the ballgame, and going into the bottom of the 9th, they had an opportunity. Bases were loaded with no outs. Jose Martínez struck out, Marcell Ozuna grounds a ball to 2B and the Reds get the force out at Home, and Paul DeJong pops up to end the inning. Inning over.
Bud Norris comes in to the ballgame in the 10th inning, and after a Joey Votto walk, and a Scooter Gennett pop-up, Eugenio Suarez slams the door on the Cardinals with a 2-Run Home Run. Brandon Dixon for good measure hits a Solo Home Run following Suarez, and the Reds lead 6-3.
Patrick Wisdom scores in the 10th for the Cardinals, but too little, too late, as the Cardinals fall 6-4. The series streak is over. It had to end sometime, but this one was tough. They had it in hand, but could not come through. Time to regroup, and on to the next one.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they now must go into Washington and face Max Scherzer, who could be on his way to yet another Cy Young award.
Thankfully the Cardinals had a weapon of their own with Jack Flaherty. Flaherty was coming off a terrific August where he went 4-0 with a 1.13 ERA.
After the first inning against arguably the best pitcher in Major League Baseball, the Cardinals were up 2-0. They had made the giant bleed and were in control of things. Flaherty went 5 innings for the Cardinals and only surrendered 1 earned run while the Cardinals managed to score 3 runs off of Scherzer in 7 innings.
It was a similar situation. Going into the bottom of the 9th inning, the Cardinals were up 3-1, and Bud Norris takes the mound.
Runner on first, Bryce Harper up to bat.
And suddenly things… Changed
Washington Nationals on Twitter
Free baseball brought to you by Bryce Harper. https://t.co/Dkrkh9HhkX
Another game seemingly in hand blows up instead.
How would one describe these recent events?
Deflating is a good one. But regardless, this team went on one of the best runs in all of baseball. They still sit in the 2nd wild card spot a 0.5 game ahead of Los Angeles who they will face later this month. They own their own destiny moving forward. It has not been the best few days, but it has still been one hell of a season so far. They have potential award contenders with Matt Carpenter (MVP), Harrison Bader (Gold Glove, ROY), Jack Flaherty (ROY), Kolten Wong (Gold Glove), and Miles Mikolas (Comeback POY). They have gotten a number of quality outings from fireball pitcher Jordan Hicks. Rookies have played a huge role in how the Cardinals have played this season. These same rookies will be the force moving forward. Even if this season doesn’t end the way we plan, the future is bright. They have not surrendered this season. There is still time to make another strong push. At 100 games the Cardinals sat at 50-50 and now they are 76-62. They are on the up and up.
Aaron Mullins on Twitter
3/29 – 7/27 Bud Norris – 41 IP | 15 ER | 3.29 ERA | 52 SO | 8 BB Greg Holland – 25 IP | 22 ER | 7.92 ERA | 22 SO | 22 BB After 7/27 (Holland Released) Bud Norris – 14 IP | 7 ER | 4.50 ERA | 12 SO | 8 BB Greg Holland – 11 IP | 1 ER | 0.82 ERA | 13 SO | 4 BB #STLCards
I came into this season saying this was a 90 win team. I will continue to stick by this because I fully believe in this team and what they are capable of.
What do you think?
The Musial Suspects on Twitter
Same question we have asked before. Do the Cardinals make the playoffs? RT this! #STLCards @11InningStretch @Moz_Algorithm @frrobinson1957 @ballparkbeef @C70 @ArchCityMedia @IvesBaseballSTL @birdsonabatshow @bschaeffer12 @zjgifford
Thanks for reading!
Aaron M.
