For well over a week now I've been waiting and hoping for a momentum swing to happen for my favorite team in Miami. It never happened for the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it may have happened for the St. Louis Cardinals last night.
The Redbirds got off to a hot start this season, carrying over the momentum from one of the most improbably World Series runs in MLB history (I'll probably write about that in full detail at a later date). Many experts counted out the Cardinals after losing Albert Pujols, but I knew better. I knew David Freese took the leap last postseason, and that health was the only thing standing in the way of him putting up All-Star numbers. I knew Carlos Beltran, again if healthy, would help fill the void left by the departing Pujols.
What I didn't expect was how great the starting pitching would be for the first month of the season. Unfortunately the pitching faded, the lineup succumbed to a multitude of injuries (Skip Schumaker, Jon Jay, Lance Berkman, Matt Carpenter, Allen Craig, etc.) the Cardinals surrendered possession of first place in the NL Central on May 23rd after dropping eight of 10 games earlier in the month. Another five game skid to start the month of June set the Cards 3.5 games out of first, and at .500 for the first time all season. The Cards treaded water, but fell as much as 5 games behind the red hot Reds as recently as June 17.
The Cardinals still haven't found their way back into first place (2 games out), but they are starting to show signs of the team that gave us a roller coaster ride last October.
Things started to turn on Friday when Jay can Carpenter were activated off the DL. Jay was hitting .343 before heading to the DL on May 14. He started Friday and Saturday and got three hits, while helping the Cardinals sweep the lowly Royals, 11-4, 8-2 and 11-8. While Jay hasn't entirely held up his end individually on the offensive end, he's added a pretty sure glove back to center field, and having his bat in the No. 2 spot allows everyone else to fall in line, including a World Series MVP batting in the No. 7 spot!
Of course, a sweep over the Royals isn't exactly something to get that excited about, but what happened in Miami last night was pretty great.
(The next five paragraphs are a review of last night's game, so feel free to skip down if you know how it happened)
The Cardinals trailed the Marlins, 6-2, going into the bottom of the 9th inning, and things looked bleak, especially considering the Cards got their first two runs on a wild pitch and an error. On the bright side, the Cardinals did have the top of the order up, and were facing Heath Bell who, despite getting a three year, $27 million contract in the offeseason, has struggled mightily in a Miami uniform.
Rafael Furcal led off with a walk. Shane Robinson (who replaced Jay on a double switch earlier) struck out, but Matt Holliday kept hope alive with a double that placed Furcal at third (it should be noted that after a slow start, Holliday is batting .364. His power numbers aren't quite where they should be, but I'm confident he'll get there eventually). Beltran followed with a run-scoring single, and Craig hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Holliday. That set the stage for the Cardinals best clutch hitter (in my opinion), Yadier Molina. Yadi came through once again and crushed one over the left field fence to tie the game.
The bottom of the 9th saw some confusion as, after retiring the first batter of the inning, skipper Mike Matheny went to make a double switch to bring in pitcher Victory Marte. Unfortunately when Matheny said Marte was entering for the fifth position (Freese at third base), the umpire interpreted this as the fifth spot in the order. Long story short, Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen pointed this out to said umpire, and, not only did the Cards lose Freese in the order, but Craig (in the fifth spot) also had to come out. If this sounds confusing, don't worry, because it literally took the umpires 10 minutes to figure all this out.
After the Marlins threatened, St. Louis was fortunate enough to get an inning ending double play. Daniel Descalso led off the top of the 10th with an out, but Tyler Greene (who entered on the original double switch) followed with a single. Furcal gave the Cardinals the lead with a double to the left field corner that scored the speedy Greene from first. After Robinson grounded out, Holliday was hit by a pitch, and in order to bring up Marte's spot in the order due to the flubbed switch, Beltran was intentionally walked.
The Cardinals countered with all they had left on the bench, No. 5 starter Joe Kelly. After taking two hacks and missing, Kelly dribbled one to short and Jose Reyes was unable to make the play, allowing another run to score. Kelly's RBI ended up being the difference as Jason Motte tried to make things interesting in the bottom of the 10th.
So, have the Cardinals turned the corner? It's hard to say at this point, but it was nice to see some signs of life from a team that's been scuffling as recently as a week ago. The best wins are the ones where everyone contributed, and by my count, Molina, Beltran, Greene, and Kelly all came up with big hits in big situations, not to mention the solid bullpen work from youngsters Sam Freeman and Marte.
To me it's starting to look a lot like the team that overcame a 10 game deficit with two months to play last season. The biggest problem the Cardinals are facing right now in my opinion is inconsistency out of the bullpen. The starters have not been near as great as they were to start the season, but they're hanging in there, and Adam Wainwright is close to regaining his old form. If the Cardinals can get Lance Berkman and Chris Carpenter back at any point this season, things will really be looking up. Although right now, neither of those things seem too likely.
While things could certainly still head south for the Cardinals, and the injury bug is always lurking, I'd like to believe that, like it did with LeBron a few weeks ago, something clicked in Miami on Monday night, only this time, the good guys will come out on top.
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