The St. Louis Cardinals seem to be catching fire. They are 7-3 in their last ten games and are currently on a three-game win streak. Each of those three wins have given reasons to believe in the Cardinals. Let’s take a quick look at those victories.
Cardinals Week in Review 7/30
Wednesday (7/27)
The Cardinals came back from a 4-3 deficit against the New York Mets in the 9th. The Mets had been 48-0 this season when leading after the 8th inning, and Jeurys Familia hadn’t blown a save in his last fifty-two chances. Familia came on in the 9th and the Cardinals scored two runs off of him in what was most likely their biggest (and perhaps most exciting) win of the season. The Cardinals hung on to win by a final of 5-4.
Thursday (7/28)
St. Louis played their series opener against the Marlins in Miami. The obstacle they had to overcome this time was Marlins ace Jose Fernandez. Fernandez, one the the best pitchers in the league, was a jaw-dropping 26-1 with a 1.47 ERA at home in his career entering Thursday’s game. The Cardinals collected five runs off of Fernandez in just five innings; three of those runs came courtesy of RBI from Fernandez’s childhood friend and youth league teammate, Aledmys Diaz. The Cardinals won by a score of 5-4.
Friday (7/29)
The Cardinals plated eleven runs on Friday night against the Marlins. Every position player for the Cardinals had at least one hit in this game. Four players had multi-hit games. Yadier Molina, Tommy Pham, Greg Garcia, and Kolten Wong combined for ten hits. Wong finished the night just a home run shy of the cycle. St. Louis won the game 11-6.
Who’s Hot
1. Yadier Molina
The undisputed leader of the Cardinals is batting .500 in St. Louis past seven games (10-20). He’s also currently boasting a thirteen-game hitting streak.
2. Kolten Wong
Wong is hitting .375 the past week (6-16) and is showing signs of turning the corner for the better. Through his first fifty-nine games (April through June), Wong hit a lousy .230 with just four extra-base hits and seven RBI. However, in July (twenty-two games) he’s hitting .275 with seven extra-base hits and six RBI, definitely a good sign for a guy who has the talent to be a very good player in the big leagues.
3. The Cardinals Bullpen
The Cardinals bullpen has really turned it around for a unit that has struggled most of the year. In the past week, the bullpen’s ERA is 0.33. They’ve given up just one run in their past twenty-seven innings of relief. Take away Jonathan Broxton‘s two innings pitched during that span, and you get a bullpen with a collective ERA of zero.
Who’s not
1. Cardinals Starting Pitching
The starting pitchers for the Cardinals struggled mightily in the beginning of the year. However, they had tightened up and started pitching extremely well for about the past month and a half. That is, until this week. During the past seven games, the Cardinals starters’ collective ERA is 8.23. They gave up thirty-two runs in thirty-five innings pitched. Yikes. The biggest contributor to that horrid ERA was Mike Mayers, who made his major league debut on Sunday and gave up nine runs in just an inning and a third pitched.
2. Stephen Piscotty
Piscotty has had a great year. However, all players go through some sort of slump during the season, and Stephen is in the midst of his. Over the past week, he is 4-20 with eight strikeouts.
3. Jedd Gyorko
What happened to Jedd? This man was on an absolute tear a little over a week ago. In the last seven Cardinal games, he is 3-23, making for a .130 average in that span.
The Cardinals will play their third game of a four-game series tonight against the Marlins. Jaime Garcia will be on the mound for the Cardinals on short rest. Many Cardinal fans wanted to see St. Louis number one prospect, Alexander Reyes, called up for the start. That may have happened if not for the horrendous MLB debut of Mayers on Sunday. Reyes will get called up before the season’s over; when he does, expect him to start out in the bullpen.
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