EKG.
Better known as the ‘Electro-Caridinals-Gram’.
When’s the last time you were so high, so low and so high in the same game? OK, probably last Friday… but STILL – what a game; what a disaster.
Kolten Wong's jersey after the Cardinals walk-off celebration pic.twitter.com/8IORtqDJHD
— Eric Rosenthal (@ericsports) October 13, 2014
The Cardinals got a win and evened the series at 1. The permutations and machinations needed to get there were akin to mowing your lawn with napalm – technically effective, but far from ideal.
So much good! So much bad! You can probably tell a lot about your co-workers today on which side of the conversation they fire their opening line on…
Nega-Nancys:
- “Yadi is done for the series… Cardinals suck without him.”
- “Rosenthal might be the worst closer of all-time – he’s got to be replaced.”
- “Is Mike Matheny pulling the most elaborate troll job of all time?”
Rainbows & Puppies:
- “Matt Carpenter! WOO HOO!”
- “Kolten Wong has really become a clutch threat, amirite?”
- “Finally, Oscar is breaking out!”
It’s probably for the best that there’s an off day today. I’m not sure that a win has ever been this divisive in Cardinals Nation.
Both sides have a point.
The Cardinals lost their team leader, their closer (probably) and needed every ounce of energy to get a split – at home.
But they also had a ton of clutch hits, took some massive blows that would have put down most other MLB teams and ended up getting the only thing that matters – a win.
Sigh.
Nothing is ever, ever easy with this team. Only 7 wins away from a World Series championship, but it ever feel like it’s a million miles away.
The Best? The Worst?
+ The Oscar Taveras experience thus far has been something, hasn’t it? For me, it always has come down to star power. I’m not sure how to describe it. I’m not sure how you get it. But I feel like OT has it. His PH home run, hopefully, is the breakout moment in his career.
– Hate. Loath. Abhor. Can’t think of a strong enough descriptor for Matheny calling for the bunt in the bottom of the 4th inning. You’ve got the Cardinals’ all time post-season hits leader up at the plate. No outs. Peavy on the ropes. And you’re going to give away an out? Grichuk came through to get 1 run. But with Lynn looming in the order, it wasn’t the play to make.
+ Big City. Big Bat Flips.
– The loss of Molina hurts. There just isn’t anything positive you can say about it. He’s the team leader and tremendously important to the pitching game. It’s up to the offense to do better the rest of the NLCS and see if he can’t pull off another miraculous healing job.
+ Lance Lynn had a very even start. It wasn’t spectacular (5.2 IP, 6H, 3 SO, 1 BB), but it got the job done. It’ll go down in the books as a no decision. But a blowup Sunday night would have finished the Cardinals off for good and Lynn handled the pressure well.
Highlight Of The Night:
[mlbvideo id=”36800459″ width=”650″ height=”324″ /]Photo: ABC News
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