The Cardinals are still determining where the 2014 team will rank in the pantheon of great teams.
And, yes, considering that only 27 Cardinals teams have made the playoffs in their 114 year history, this team has already become of the greats. Can they crack the top 11? Time will tell.
If they do, time is the key word. It will take a bunch of it.
The Cardinals lack a knockout punch. When the opponent opens themselves up to be finished, the Birds don’t ever seem to take the opportunity. They wait the other guy out… eventually the calendar decides an ending point and they’re still standing.
They’re the Floyd Mayweather of baseball.
Mr. Mayweather is a professional boxer who long has had a reputation as a great boxer, but one that is frustrating to fight. He’s patient. Waiting for his opportunity to score points. And before the other fighter knows it, it’s the 10th round and he’s having to swing for the fences to avoid getting beat on the cards. Mayweather always prevails.
It’s not the crowd-friendliest way to fight. But it’s effective.
After a 2 run blast to tie the game in the 8th inning of Saturday’s game, the Cardinals had the Dodgers up against the ropes.
https://twitter.com/BenHundreds/status/518619969576517632
They had been unable to break through on Zack Greinke all night long, but here they were tied. Jon Jay reaches base. Matt Adams gets intentionally walked. And Jhonny Peralta steps in with two on and only 1 out. Push a run across here and it’s over.
Not just the game – the series.
We all know what happened. Double play. End of inning. Matt Kemp home run to immediately take the lead back. Game over. Series tied. Best of 3.
Did the Cardinals do what they needed to do in LA? Yes. They did.
Did the Cardinals do all they could do in LA? No. They did not.
It’s been their achilles heel all season long. (See: NL Central race) And it’s continued on to the playoffs. They can’t seem to exploit the openings they have to end what they’ve started.
The Best? The Worst?
+ Lance Lynn gave the Cardinals everything they could have wanted on the road against a stacked line-up. 6 innings and 2 earned runs isn’t a line that will go down the annals of great performances, but it is what the kids call a quality start. There were some opportunities for the Dodgers to break it open, but Lynn bore down.
– Looks like Kolten Wong is cultivating quite the reputation for playoff boners. Despite what you hear about MLB’s ratings, there are casual baseball fans that only pay attention in the playoffs. And these people are probably wondering how the hell the Cardinals are still playing Wong. Listen, we PROMISE he doesn’t do these things in the regular season. Believe us!
+ What’d you guys think of the defensive player graphic in the top right corner of the MLB Network telecast? I didn’t really care for it at first, but it grew on me as the game went along. I think I’m a fan. Maybe.
– Yadi. Yadi. Yadi. We haven’t seen this bad of hitting from him since his first couple years in the big show. It’s not that he’s not getting hits or figuring out a way to reach base… he looks totally lost. Usually one of the toughest outs in baseball – he’s gripping. Chasing stuff he doesn’t chase. Let’s hope the comfortable environs of Busch Stadium settles him down in the box.
+ An L for Kershaw and a ND for Greinke. That leads to a GM 3 math-up with John Lacky vs Hyun-jin Ryu. Give Cardinals fans this option on Friday afternoon and most of us would have took it.
Highlight Of The Night:
[mlbvideo id=”36752407″ width=”650″ height=”324″ /]Photo: LA Times
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