171 games later, we still don’t have a clue what the hell this Cardinals team is.
Light hitting pushovers willing to succumb to the softest of tossers? Baseball juggernaut eager to pound the top teams in baseball? Clutch? Anything but clutch?
It’s like a baseball glory hole.
Last night the Brewers evened the best of 7 tilt with a long, boring 4-2 win, denying Kyle Lohse his first post-season victory and earning Randy Wolf his. I spent a while last night on Twitter trying to figure out who to pin the blame on; the responses were numerous, however, a consensus they were not.
Jon Jay’s weak armed toss from center field? After all, if a runner isn’t past third and you’re 250 feet out, you should be able to make a play at the plate, right?
Ryan Theriot’s boot? More egregious was having Holliday at third with one out and failing to get that run in. Those missed opportunities are killer in the post-season and chasing the hard heat screams that somebody cared more about having a big game than contributing to the collective.
Rafael Furcal? Another golden collar for the lead-off man, failing to reach base and taking another 0-5 night in the post-season that has been feast or famine.
Forced to name names, it looks like the Cardinals in totality have to take the blame for this one. 0-8 with runners in scoring position? At home? Against Randy Wolf? That’s called shitting the bed, friends. Hell, both runs the Cardinals did score were HRs right inside the RF foul pole that both hitters (Holliday/Craig) didn’t know were HRs until the very last second and easily could have been foul balls.
It wasn’t good, people. It wasn’t good.
Now the Cardinals have moved Game 5 squarely into the ‘Must Win’ column. Go back to the best home field advantage in MLB to win 2 straight? No thanks. At least we have the mentally tough Jamie Garcia ready to pitch the biggest game of his life.
Pass the Makers.
STUD: Matt Holliday. Of course, I write that if he hits, the Cardinals cruise to a series victory. So he gets a HR and a double and the Cardinals get beat. Nothing can be said of this Cardinals team that isn’t true or completely un-true.
DUD: Jon Jay. The 0-4 is more tolerable, if it’s ever tolerable, in the 8 hole than at lead-off. But the wet noodle toss from center field really is embarrassing. That run should have been erased.
BOTTOM LINE: We thought this sucker was going the distance. And it’s probably going the distance. I haven’t got a zit in 10 years, but all of a sudden I have two. This team is making me UGLY!
More reaction:
- From McKernan @ InsideSTL: LINK HERE
- From Bernie @ STLToday: LINK HERE
- Carpenter @ Yahoo! Sports: LINK HERE
- Hunt @ JS Online: LINK HERE
- DanUp @ VEB: LINK HERE
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