You want 5 reasons to be pissed about the Cardinals 3-2 loss to the Nationals in Game 1of the NLDS? Ok, I'll give you 5. But you don't need 'em.
Beacuse Mike Matheny took an gamble he didn't need to and the house took his money. It was bold. It was wrong. And it put the Cardinals in a deep hole.
1) Matheny brining in Rzepczynski in a critical spot.
Why? WHY? WHHHHHYYYYYYY?
Mike Matheny, microscope. Microscope, Mike Matheny, I mean, it'd be one thing if Rzepczynski was even OK the last 1/3 of the season. But I'm not sure that if the Cardinals had another viable LH option in the bullpen he'd even be on this team at all. So when you need one out, in a pressure packed situation with pinch hitter called on specifically to bait you into using Rzepczynski, what do you do?
You bite.
Single. 2 runs. Ballgame. And OHAI, why don't we use Motte in the 9th just to add insult to injury. This loss is on Matheny. If you want to keep reading to find things to be pissed about, feel free. But you really don't have to.
2) Jason Werth robbing another Cardinals post-season home run.
Worse, these were almost exactly 24 hours apart. And both sun drenched blind stabs that sno-coned before becoming long outs. Son. Of. A. Biscuit. One is bad enough, but 2 games and the Cardinals have already been Endy'd twice? Brutal.
3) Kozma's defense.
Coach Lou brown was not happy with that OLAY bullshit. Peter, you finished the season strong. But you're not Derek Jeter. Move your feet and get in front of a ball. You do not win in the postseason by giving teams extra outs in the 7th, 8th or 9th innings. It comes back to kill. Everytime.
4) Cardinals not scoring a run with the bases loaded and 0 outs in the 7th
What can you say here? That was the ballgame. Guy comes in with the bases loaded and 0 outs and you let him off the hook in two pitches? Two as in two PITCHES. Molina, you're better than that.
5) Carpenter's third strike call.
Come on blue, that call was TURRRUBLE. Low, outside and pretty much a sign that you're looking to make your 6:30 table at Shannon's. The guy isn't wearing any batting gloves. That means he's here to HIT!
Cardinals had a runner at 2nd stranded. The game was pretty much in the bag when blue started jumping in.
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