A week that a month ago was deemed The Hard part of September. The Cardinals are making it look easy. The once dormant offense was now getting critical hits, and the pitching seemed to be rounding into shape. The thought was if St Louis could come up with a respectable 4-2, that would be acceptable. What they did was pull off back-to-back sweeps to go 6-0. (The third time this year)
Let's break it down.
Game 1, September 13, @ New York Mets, Cardinals 7- Mets 0
In what was dubbed the AARP game of the week, Adam Wainwright(40) faced off with his elder Rich Hill (41). The last time two forty-year-old pitchers squared off against each other was in 2015, When RA Dickey (40) opposed Bartolo Colon (42).
Wainwright would work best with his counterpart 6IP, 4H, 0R, 3BB, 4SO. Hill's numbers 5IP, 6H, 3R, 2BB, 4SO. The Cardinal bullpen once again took over and collectively said, we got this!
TJ McFarland one inning pitched one-hit No runs.
Alex Reyes on inning one hit one walk, then struck out the side.
Kodi Whitley said, hold my beer. One inning striking out Kevin Pillar, James McCann, and Luis Guillorme on just ten pitches.
Offensively, Yadier Molina and Harrison Bader would each have three hits. While Tyler O'Neill and Paul Goldschmidt would each have 2. They scored early and late in this one.
The Cards got things going in the second on a Dylan Carlson double to go up 1-0.
In the third, it was Goldschmidt's turn with an RBI Single 2-0.
In the fifth, Goldy would strike again. This time with a Solo home run 3-0.
In the ninth, the Redbirds would get RBI singles from Nolan Arenado, Molina, Edmundo Sosa, and Bader to round out the scoring 7-0.
The win made the birds 2-0 for the week and improved their overall record to 74-69 and looking for a sweep. **The win also brought the Cardinals in a Tie with the Padres for the second wild-card slot; 1/2 game ahead of the Reds, 2 games ahead of the Phillies, and 3 games ahead of the Mets.
Arenado- 3 RBIs short of 100
Goldschmidt- Now has 25HRs and 84RBIs.
Wainwright- is only 10 innings away from 200. The last time he pitched 200+ innings was in 2014(227). The last time he was close to 200 innings was in 2016(198.2). He is also 3 Strikeouts away from 2,000 for his career.
Game 2, September 14, @ New York Mets Cardinals 7 Mets 6 in 11 innings.
The Cardinals had to come back three times and stave off an 11th inning challenge to get past New York on the road. Jake Woodford, in only his second start since coming back from the minors, looked good. He allowed only two runs on four hits and two walks.
Daniel Ponce DeLeon would start the fifth he left with one out and the bases loaded after three straight walks.
Kodi Whitley would get the final two outs, but a run would score on a sac fly. That run would be charged to Ponce DeLeone. Whitley would pitch a one, two, three sixth.
Genesis Cabrera would pitch a three up three down seventh and get the first two outs of the eighth. Luis Garcia would come in and get the last out. Giovanny Gallegos came in with a save opportunity in the ninth. He would give up a home run to the first batter he faced tying up the game. Alex Reyes would pitch a scoreless 10th inning earning him his eighth win, and Kwang Hyun Kim would have a tenuous 11th to get his first save.
The Cardinals had some big hits and timely hits to overcome two leads and two ties to win.
The Mets started things off in the first on a
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Michael Conforto RBI single, then Javier Baez would reach on an infield single to make it two zip Mets.
In the fourth, Tyler O'Neil would beat out an infield hit for an RBI to be driven later by a Dylan Carlson sac fly.
The Mets would jump back on top in the fifth on a Conforto sac fly to make it 3-2 Mets.
The Cards took the lead in the eighth on an O'Neill home run (he's 26th), a two-run shot making the score 4-3 Redbirds.
Baez led off the ninth for New York with a solo shot that tied the game once again.
The Cards plated three runs in the 11th, the first on an RBI single by Edmundo Sosa and two more on an Andrew Knizner single, which would be the difference.
The Mets would make it enjoyable with a Pete Alfonzo RBI double and an error by Kim allowing a run to score. But, Kim would come back to get the final out and secure the victory. The win was the Cardinals second week(2-0) and the fourth win in a row. Giving them a 75-69 record overall. The win coupled with a Padres loss gave the Cardinals sole possession of the second wild card.
Kim - The save was the second of his career with St Louis.
Goldschmidt - 29 doubles ties him with Jared Walsh in fourth place for double by a first baseman this year.
O'Neill - Has hit safely in 8 of his last ten games.
Game September 3 15, @ New York Mets, Cardinals 11- Mets 4
Jon Lester took the hill, closing in on 200 wins. Lester would go six innings and scattered six hits, no walks, and struck out seven. The Mets would get three runs off of Lester(only two earned). Adam Miller would face 3 batters in the seventh but not record giving up three hits and 1 run. TJ McFarland would nail the door shut. He had some outfield help from old what's his name. With a first and third in the bottom of the seventh, the score of 8-4, Pete Alonso tried to close the gap. However, he forgot to get permission from rookie Lars Nootbaar!
McFarland would go on to pitch two innings and give only 2 hits
Justin Miller would pitch the ninth, giving up a hit while striking out one.
The Cardinals greeted Met starter Tyler Megill very rudely in the first with five runs after a walk, and a double Tyler O'Neill would start the scoring with a two-run double with no one out. Dylan Carlson's had an RBI single. Harrison Bader would single in two more, giving the birds the first inning 5-0 lead.
The Mets Came back in the second on an Alonso home run, making the score 5-1.
They scored again in the second on a fielding error by Edmundo Sosa, closing the gap to 5-2.
In the fourth, Bader got a run back with a solo home run giving the birds a four-run lead at 6-2.
Kevin Pillar would homer in the sixth, cutting it to a three-run lead again at 6-3.
The seventh solo shots by Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado put St. Louis up 8-3.
A pinch-hit single with a runner on third by Jose Peraza cut the Cardinal lead once again 8-4.
In the eighth, Sosa led off with a home run. Then Goldschmidt had an RBI single, followed two batters later by an Arenado RBI single. When all was said and done, the lead was 11-4. Miller would make it dicey in the ninth but would shut down the Mets.
The win gave the Cards a three-game sweep in Citi field the sixth time this year they have swept an opponent on the road. It makes a five-game win streak and raising the overall record to 76-69
Lester - His next win will be number 200.
Arenado - Needs 1 more RBI for 100
Edman - Now leads all second basemen in doubles(39). and he is second in all major league baseball
Game 4, September 17, vs. San Diego, Cardinals 8 - Padres 4
Miles Mikolas took the hill for the seventh time, looking for his first win this season. The 33-year-old right-hander had his best outing of the year, looking more like the Miles Mikolas of 2018 when he went 18-4. and it was against the team that originally drafted him, the Padres.
Mikolas shut out the Padres on three hits, walking two and striking out three over 5 1/3 innings. T J McFarland would finish off the sixth but run into trouble in the seventh. The first two runners would reach and set up a second and third NO one out. Louis Garcia would come in and allow two runs. While Garcia would give up the two runs they were inherited, his scoreless inning streak stayed intact. Alex Reyes 2/3IP, 1BB, 2SO, and Genesis Cabrera 1/3IP combined to pitch the eighth, and Kodi Whitley pitched the ninth, striking out one.
Rookie Dylan Carlson was a one-person wrecking crew for St Louis. The 22-year-old went 2-4 with 2 runs scored, two home runs, and 5 RBIs to lead the Cardinal assault.
Paul Goldschmidt had two hits, and Tyler O'Neill had two RBIs as well.
The Cardinals started when Goldschmidt singled home a run, then O'Neill took the Padres starter Vince Velasquez deep for a two-run shot, giving the Cards the early 3-0 lead. Carlson would go deep on Velasquez in the fourth with a solo shot, making it 4-0 Redbirds. The Padres would strike back in the seventh with two runs; one on a pinch-hit sac fly by Jake Cronenworth and another on a single by Jurickson Profar.
In the eighth, Carlson would do BIG damage with a grand slam home run off of Ross Detwiler, who had just come into the game.
With the win, the Cards improved to 4-0 for the week and 6 straight wins matching their longest winning streak of the year. It puts the Cardinals at 77-69, 8 games over the .500 mark for the season. The only other time this year they have been eight games over .500 was MAY 29
Garcia - Has allowed only three inherited runners to score out of eight inherited so far (37.5%)
Carlson - First 5 RBI games of his career. ( He has had two 4 RBI games earlier this year) It was his second grand slam in his career.
Goldschmidt- Has hit safely in 8 of his last 10 games. hitting .378 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs
Game September 5 18 vs. San Diego, Cardinals 3 - Padres 2
With a chance to further solidify their wild card slot. As was the case, the Cardinals turned to Adam Wainwright 16-7 against Yu Darvish 8-10.
Waino seemed to struggle at times. He gutted out six innings, giving two runs on seven hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out two.
Kodi Whitley pitched the seventh, giving up two hits and striking out one.
Justin Miller pitched a scoreless eighth earning the win his first.
Giovanny Gallegos pitched the ninth, not allowing a base runner and striking out one, to earn his ninth save.
The Cardinals could only manage five hits and two walks vs. the Padres, but they made them count. It was Tyler O'Neill doing damage yet again.
The Padres opened the scoring in the fourth When Tommy Pham burned his former team with an RBI single. Victor Caratini reached on an infield single, driving the second run for the West Coast Fryars, staking them to the 2-0 lead. Darvish was making life tough for Redbird hitters setting the Cardinals down in order in five of his seven innings. In the eighth, with Emilio Pagan pitching, the Cardinal bats made things count. Tommy Edman drove home a run with a sacrifice fly. Then O'Neill, with a man on and two out, BAM a two-run shot to give the Cards the lead and ultimately the win 3-2.
The win was the Cardinals seventh in a row and gave them a 78-69 record and put even more cushion between themselves and the Reds 2.0 games and the Phillies and Padres 2.5 games for the second wild card.
There was a disturbance in the Padre dugout in the 5th after Fernando Tatis Jr. was Struck out. He took issue with the umpire. Padre manager Jayce Tingler went out to argue the call and was thrown out of the game. Manny Machado confronted Tatis in the dugout. Machado could be heard shouting, "it is not about you." He also said, "you go play baseball."
The late-inning comeback fitting as the Cardinals honored the 2011 World series winning team before the game, with Chris Carpenter and David Freese throwing out the first pitch.
O'Neill - 3 home runs an9 RBIs in his last 4 games. He now has 28 for the season.
Gallegos - Has earned a save in 5 of his last 6 attempts.
Game September 6 18, vs. San Diego, Cardinals 8 - Padres 7
The Cardinals started strong but had to hold off a late-inning run by San Diego.
Cardinal starter J.A. Happ had issues with the Padres lineup and could only go four innings. He gave up three runs on four hits, walked one, and struck out two.
Alex Reyes pitched two innings and gave up a Run on one hit, one walk, and striking out one.
T J. McFarland also pitched an inning, giving up a run on two hits while striking out one. In the eighth, Luis Garcia would see his scoreless innings streak end at 25 1/3. He gave up two runs on two hits and only last 1/3 of an inning. Genesis Cabrera would come in and put out the fire. And Giovanny Gallegos would pitch a scoreless ninth, striking out two to pick up his 10th save. Reyes would get the win, his ninth.
The Cardinals banged out 10 hits were given two walks and a costly error by Fernando Tatis Jr. Dylan Carlson (1-3), Edmundo Sosa (2-4), and Harrison Bader (1-4), would each have two RBIs in the game. And Tyler O'Neill would score three times.
Early in the first, the Cardinals had bases loaded and no outs Nolan Arenado at the plate. He would hit a shallow pop-up that Tatis could not come up with. After picking up the ball, he tried to throw Tommy Edman out at the plate and was way too late. Carlson then hit a sac fly to drive in another run. Then Sosa would double in a run. After a pitching change, Bader would double home the fifth Cardinal run of the inning, scoring 5-0.
The Padres would get a run on a Tatis RBI single in the third, making it 5-1. They would score two more in the fourth, Eric Hosmer would ground out plating a run, and Will Meyers would single home another to make the score 5-3. The Cards would answer in the fifth When O'Neill would single to drive a run home, and Sosa would double a run home, making it a 7-3 ballgame.
In the sixth, Tommy Pham would hit a solo shot making it 7-4
The Cards would get that run back in the seventh on a Carlson RBI single making it 8-4.
In the eighth, the Padres would threaten when Pham doubled, and a throwing error brought one run in. Hosmer would ground out to first scoring a run, but that was all they would get. The 8-7 win means back to back Sweeps for the Redbirds helps give them 8 wins in a row. The last time a Cardinal team had an 8-0 stretch was August of 2018. The win makes the Cardinals 79-69. They have a three-game wild card lead of both Philadelphia and Cincinnati and a 3.5 game lead over San Diego.
Sosa - It was his 19th multi-hit game.
O'Neill - Has an 8 game hitting streak and 5 straight games with an RBI.
Cabrera - Has a 7 game 8 inning scoreless streak.
Next, can the streak continue
Milwaukee Brewers 4 games
September 20 Jon Lester 5-6 vs. Freddy Peralta 9-4
September 21 Jake Woodford 2-3 vs. Bryan Woodruff 9-9
September 22 Miles Mikolas 1-2 vs. Brett Anderson 4-8
September 23 Adam Wainwright 16-7 vs. Adrian Houser 9-6
Chicago Cubs 4 games
September 24 J.A. Happ 4-2 vs. Justin Steele 2-4
September 24 Jack Flaherty 9-2 vs. Zach Davies 6-11
September 25 Jon Lester 6-6 vs. Adrian Sampson 1-2
September 26 Jake Woodford 3-3 vs. Keegan Thompson 3-3
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