As it sit here, the Cardinals have once again let another lead slip to the Dodgers. With just a few more innings the Cardinals will find themselves looking up at the wild card standings without the letters STL taking a spot.
If today continues with such a poetic ending, Adam Wainwright will take the mound for game 4 against LA and will hope to bring the Cardinals back into a Wild Card spot…even if it is a tie with the Dodgers.
September has been as bad as August was good. After taking 2 of 3 against Pittsburgh at home, the Cardinals had an opportunity to bury Los Angeles in the Wild Card hunt. Instead they have opted to dig their own grave. Facing Clayton Kershaw, the team showed fight but fell 9-7 after starter Austin Gomber allowed 7 runs in 3 innings, which proved too much to overcome. Yesterday the Cardinals sent out Jack Flaherty to face Walker Buehler and Buehler won the fight 3-0 going 8 innings allowing just 2 hits.
And the offense decided not to show up again today. They have 4 runs off of a Patrick Wisdom grand slam, but it is just their 2nd hit of the contest. The Dodgers now lead 8-4 and look to take control of the rest of the game.
Which leads me to tomorrow. It’s fitting that it comes down to this. Adam Wainwright deserves to be a starter. But now he has to be more than that. He has to be his old self. In order to salvage this series, and potentially the rest of the season, it could come down to this one single game.
If the Cardinals lose, they will find themselves 2 games back of LA for the 2nd wild card spot. They still have games against the Cubs and Brewers, but they will seemingly come too late. It will leave the Cardinals facing yet another season without making the playoffs.
But let’s take a moment to see what this team has done. After 100 games this team sat at 50-50 on the season. Now they sit 81-66. That’s a pretty remarkable turnaround. But as I’ve said the best part of August has past and now September has reared its ugly head. The Cardinals are not playing good baseball. And it shows. The offense isn’t clicking. The starters haven’t gone deep into games, and the bullpen doesn’t have a trustworthy arm outside of Carlos Martínez. It’s a tough time to be a Cardinal fan… Watching the team collapse when it matters most.
Will Wainwright be able to come through. Even so, the team still has work to do. Losing 3 of 4 to the Dodgers isn’t what the doctor ordered and even worse… It’s in front of the home crowd. The fanbase has been restless for years and you’re fueling the discontent. This is not the time to stop fighting. These next couple weeks will show a lot of what this team will be able to do next season. Regardless of whether they make the postseason I want to see if this team will continue fighting. Because right now… It looks an awful lot like folding.
Now I certainly am not gifted enough to know if this team is folding. But there isn’t as much life in the clubhouse from my viewpoint. These last few losses have stung. And it shows.
I’m hoping this team finds a way to turn around. Wainwright might be the perfect person to make this final start against LA. His leadership is unrivaled in the clubhouse and if anyone is going to bring them out of this funk… It’s him.
It’s been a rough time recently. I’m not completely done with this team. The month of August showed me a lot about this team. But September has shown me plenty as well. It’s a vicious circle the sport of baseball. The ups and downs of a season are more poetic than an actual roller coaster.
Let’s hope the ride ends with the Cardinals on the winning side of things.
Thanks for Reading
Aaron M.
