The Cardinals continued their winning ways on Sunday with a 2-1 win over the Washington Nationals. Adam Wainwright was effective but not spectacular as he gave up 3 hits and 3 walks but only one run over 6 innings. An Albert Pujols RBI single driving in Colby Rasmus in the sixth gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead, and the bullpen kept the lead the rest of the way to give Adam Wainwright (16-7) his MLB leading win total. Ryan Franklin came in in the eighth with two outs and recorded a four-out save, his 35th of the year.
The Cardinals, who improved their record to a season best 22 games over .500 at 77-55, completed a sweep of the Washington Nationals and are currently 5-1 on this homestand. The second place Cubs, who lost to the New York Mets today 4-1, now own a record of 65-63 and are 10 full games back of the Cardinals.
the Cardinals are off tomorrow, and finished the month of August with an amazing 20-6 record. The Chicago Cubs on the other hand, who play Houston on the last day of August tomorrow, have gone 11-16 in August (so far), so the Cardinals have gained 9.5 games on the Cubs just in August. At the beginning of the month, the Cardinals were in first place but only a half game ahead of the Cubs. In an amazing month, the Cardinals have basically put the Cubs away.
the Cardinals now have September to prepare for the playoffs and hope to earn the best record in the National League in order to secure home field advantage. The Cardinals trail the LA Dodgers by 1.5 games for the best record in the NL, and with an easy schedule, the Cardinals have a good chance of catching them. Go Cardinals!
Showing posts with label New York Mets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York Mets. Show all posts
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Cards lose, split series - Is there an invisible ceiling for the Cardinals?
Kyle Lohse (4-7) gave up 5 runs and 7 hits in 2 and 2/3 innings as the Cardinals lost to the New York Mets at Citi Field 9-0. Even though the Mets lost their starter Jon Niese in the second inning to an injury, the Mets shut out the Cardinals behind excellent relief pitching, something that the Mets lacked last night in their 10 inning loss.
With the loss, the Cardinals dropped to 59-51 and a half game behind the Chicago Cubs, who play the Cincinnati Reds this evening.
the one positive of the day for the Cardinals was that Albert Pujols continued his hot streak that began yesterday by hitting 2 doubles in the game.
Since the Cardinals reached a record of 17-7 on May 1st and then lost their next game on May 2nd(to the Nationals 6-1), the Cardinals have had six opportunities to get back to .500 and have lost them all. If the Cardinals want to win the NL Central they are going to have to crack through this invisible ceiling and get over the 10 games over .500 mark. If the Cardinals finished the season 10 games over .500, their record would be 86-76, a mark that would not likely earn them a playoff bid.
the Cardinals this weekend play a three game set with Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, so this will be a great chance for the Cardinals to hurdle this invisible ceiling.
With the loss, the Cardinals dropped to 59-51 and a half game behind the Chicago Cubs, who play the Cincinnati Reds this evening.
the one positive of the day for the Cardinals was that Albert Pujols continued his hot streak that began yesterday by hitting 2 doubles in the game.
Since the Cardinals reached a record of 17-7 on May 1st and then lost their next game on May 2nd(to the Nationals 6-1), the Cardinals have had six opportunities to get back to .500 and have lost them all. If the Cardinals want to win the NL Central they are going to have to crack through this invisible ceiling and get over the 10 games over .500 mark. If the Cardinals finished the season 10 games over .500, their record would be 86-76, a mark that would not likely earn them a playoff bid.
the Cardinals this weekend play a three game set with Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, so this will be a great chance for the Cardinals to hurdle this invisible ceiling.
Offensive Surge Gives Cardinals Big Comeback Win Over Mets
If you would have told me before the game that Joel Pineiro would not have a good night, and Johan Santana was pitching for the Mets, I would said, "Easy loss for the Cardinals."
It was not the case, as Santana was not totally on his game either, and Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez gave up his fourth blown save of the year. What was on for the Cardinals was their bats, as they scored 12 runs in 10 innings to beat the Mets in a comeback win, 12-7. Even bigger for the Cardinals might be that Albert Pujols came out of his slump and went 4-for-5 with two home runs, 11 total bases and 5 huge RBI's, one a homer off Santana in the 8th and the other a grand slam in the 10th inning to put the game away off Mets reliever Sean Green.
It was a great offensive display for the Cardinals, who came back from a 7-4 deficit with one run in the 8th and two runs in the 9th to tie the game at 7-7. Seven batters for the Cards had at least one RBI and the Cardinals pounded out 15 hits.
This was a huge win for the Cardinals and kept them in a tie for first place (but 2 back in the loss column) with the NL Central leading Chicago Cubs. The Cubs (57-48) beat a woeful Reds team 6-3 and are now 9 games above .500, while the Cards record goes to 59-50.
It was not the case, as Santana was not totally on his game either, and Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez gave up his fourth blown save of the year. What was on for the Cardinals was their bats, as they scored 12 runs in 10 innings to beat the Mets in a comeback win, 12-7. Even bigger for the Cardinals might be that Albert Pujols came out of his slump and went 4-for-5 with two home runs, 11 total bases and 5 huge RBI's, one a homer off Santana in the 8th and the other a grand slam in the 10th inning to put the game away off Mets reliever Sean Green.
It was a great offensive display for the Cardinals, who came back from a 7-4 deficit with one run in the 8th and two runs in the 9th to tie the game at 7-7. Seven batters for the Cards had at least one RBI and the Cardinals pounded out 15 hits.
This was a huge win for the Cardinals and kept them in a tie for first place (but 2 back in the loss column) with the NL Central leading Chicago Cubs. The Cubs (57-48) beat a woeful Reds team 6-3 and are now 9 games above .500, while the Cards record goes to 59-50.
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