Monday, October 1, 2012 - At Busch Stadium III (Jaime Garcia - Starting Pitcher) - Opponent: Cincinnati Reds (Bronson Arroyo - Starting Pitcher) - Attendance: 38,480
The Cardinals got a quality start out of Jaime Garcia - not to mention a quality at bat - as the Redbirds beat the Cincinnati Reds by a score of 4-2, to remain two games ahead of the Dodgers for that second wild card spot. With just two games remaining on the schedule for both teams, the magic number to clinch their second straight postseason berth was down to a single game - one more St Louis win or one more LA loss would do the trick - and as it turned out, they got one of each.
This particular game was technically, a come-from-behind victory - although they weren't behind for long. Cincinnati scored a third-inning run on a one-out single from Drew Stubbs, a sacrifice bunt from pitcher Bronson Arroyo, and a single off the bat of Brandon Phillips - who was greeted with the usual chorus of boos from the non-appreciative Cards fans in the ballpark tonight.
Jaime Garcia personally got that run back, leading-off the bottom of the third for St Louis - with a well placed fly ball down the right field line that barely drifted into the seats for a game-tying home run. Inspired, the Redbirds kept pecking away at Arroyo. With one out, Carlos Beltran - arguably the best free agent signing in major league baseball in the wake of the Pujols defection - started the rally with a base on balls. After Matt Holliday singled to center, Allen Craig scored Beltran with a double down the left field line - then Yadier Molina scored Holliday with a sacrifice fly deep to center field.
In the St Louis sixth, Molina singled off reliever Alfredo Simon with one out - then scored on Daniel Descalso's two-out triple, to pad the lead to 4-1.
The Reds struck back in the seventh. With one out, former Cardinal fan-favorite Scott Rolen, launched a double deep to center field, then advanced to third on a rare passed ball by Molina. Ryan Hanigan brought Rolen in with a sacrifice fly to left field - to reduce the Cardinal lead to 4-2.
But that's as close as it got. After Drew Stubs singled with two out in the seventh, manager Mike Matheny brought in Edward Mujica to face Chris Heisey - and he got his man on a popup to second.
Mitchell Boggs pitched a perfect eighth, setting up Jason Motte for his National League-leading 41st save of the season. After retiring Jay Bruce on a ground ball to second, Motte finished 'em off in style - striking out Rolen and Hanigan to put this one in the win column for the Redbirds.
The 2012 Cardinals were about to prove the skeptics - who doubted they had what it took to reach the postseason without the services of the departed Pujols - wrong. Not only would the underdog Cardinals reach the postseason - they would go deep into the postseason. Alas, they would fall a game short of playing in their second consecutive World Series - but more postseason magic would unfold in the next year with another trip to the Fall Classic.
Alas, they lost to the Boston Red Sox last year - but while Boston was busy finishing in last place in the American League East in 2014, the Cardinals were winning an improbable NL Central title - and hoping to take care of unfinished business from last year's postseason run.
Showing posts with label Wild Card. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wild Card. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Sunday, September 28, 2014
September 28, 2011 - Carpenter's 2-Hit Shutout Punches Wild Cards' Ticket to Postseason Party
Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - At Minute Maid Park (Chris Carpenter - Starting Pitcher) - Opponent: Houston Astros (Brett Meyers - Starting Pitcher) - Attendance: 24,358
The Cardinals completed their most improbable quest for postseason play since 1964, with an 8-0 win over the Houston Astros. Chris Carpenter had his most dominant outing of the season - a complete game two-hit shutout, which also included eleven strikeouts and just one base on balls. Clearly, he was primed for postseason play.
The Cardinals took command of this game from the outset - scoring five first-inning runs on seven hits. The Redbirds tacked on another third-inning run when Carpenter got into the act with an RBI single to score David Freese - who also scored a fifth-inning run (his third of the game) on Skip Schumaker's second RBI of the game - on a run-scoring ground out.
Allen Craig added a ninth-inning solo home run to round out the scoring - for the game - and the regular season for the National League's most dominant offensive attack.
With Carpenter anchoring the starting rotation and a vastly improved bullpen, this team seemed to have all the pieces required to go all the way. And of course, they did.
In the meantime, after this game concluded, St Louis now held a one-half game advantage over the Braves for the coveted wild card berth in the National League. The game between the Braves and Phillies - which began an hour before this one - was still in progress - tied at three runs apiece.
As the Cardinal players gathered in the visitor's clubhouse to watch the conclusion of that game - the Phillies scored a thirteenth-inning run to take the lead. When Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman grounded into a season-ending 3-6-3 double-play - one hour and fifteen minutes after their win in Game 162 - the Cardinals were in - and the first of four wild champagne celebrations had begun.
Three years later, the Cardinals clinched their second straight NL Central title after Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto avenged last season's embarrassing wild card loss to the Pirates - and at least for a day - was not the most despised opposing player in Cardinal Nation.
The Cardinals completed their most improbable quest for postseason play since 1964, with an 8-0 win over the Houston Astros. Chris Carpenter had his most dominant outing of the season - a complete game two-hit shutout, which also included eleven strikeouts and just one base on balls. Clearly, he was primed for postseason play.
The Cardinals took command of this game from the outset - scoring five first-inning runs on seven hits. The Redbirds tacked on another third-inning run when Carpenter got into the act with an RBI single to score David Freese - who also scored a fifth-inning run (his third of the game) on Skip Schumaker's second RBI of the game - on a run-scoring ground out.
Allen Craig added a ninth-inning solo home run to round out the scoring - for the game - and the regular season for the National League's most dominant offensive attack.
With Carpenter anchoring the starting rotation and a vastly improved bullpen, this team seemed to have all the pieces required to go all the way. And of course, they did.
In the meantime, after this game concluded, St Louis now held a one-half game advantage over the Braves for the coveted wild card berth in the National League. The game between the Braves and Phillies - which began an hour before this one - was still in progress - tied at three runs apiece.
As the Cardinal players gathered in the visitor's clubhouse to watch the conclusion of that game - the Phillies scored a thirteenth-inning run to take the lead. When Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman grounded into a season-ending 3-6-3 double-play - one hour and fifteen minutes after their win in Game 162 - the Cardinals were in - and the first of four wild champagne celebrations had begun.
Three years later, the Cardinals clinched their second straight NL Central title after Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto avenged last season's embarrassing wild card loss to the Pirates - and at least for a day - was not the most despised opposing player in Cardinal Nation.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
September 21, 2011 - Freese Burns Mets: 2-Run Triple, 3-Run HR in 6-5 Comeback Win
Wednesday, September 21, 2011 - At Busch Stadium III (Jaime Garcia - Starting Pitcher) - Opponent: New York Mets (Chris Schwinden - Starting Pitcher) - Attendance: 40,658
David Freese gave fans a postseason preview tonight - his two-out two-run first-inning triple to right field - which scored Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman - was eerily similar to what happened in Game Six - when the Cardinals were one strike away from World Series defeat. Freese later won that game with, arguably, the most dramatic home run in franchise history.
In this particular game, with the Cardinals down 4-3 in the seventh-inning to the New York Mets - with two out and two on (Pujols and Berkman - naturally), Freese smacked an opposite-field home deep to right field off Mets reliever Danny Herrera - to provide just enough cushion for an eventual 6-5 win.
Meanwhile, down in Miami, the Marlins had already beaten the suddenly hapless Braves, 4-0 - whose lead over the Cardinals for the one and only wild card spot in the postseason had shrunk to 1.5 games. They were doomed - and they probably knew it.
The Cardinals were red hot - by far the best offensive team in the National League all season long - on the verge of taking it up another notch - just in time for the postseason.
Defensively, however, the Cardinals were well below average - and it was some bad glove work that nearly cost them this game.
After Freese had staked Jaime Garcia to that early 2-0 lead, Allen Craig added a second-inning run -scoring Yadier Molina from third with a single off Mets starter Chris Schwinden.
That 3-0 lead immediately evaporated as the Mets took their turn at bat in a nightmarish third-inning for Garcia - and especially for shortstop Rafael Furcal. After retiring the first two batters on strikes, Garcia couldn't put his mound rival away. Schwinden grounded one up the middle, just off second baseman Skip Schumaker's glove for an infield single - then all hell broke loose.
Jose Reyes doubled down the left field line - advancing Schwinden to third. Next up - Angel Pagan - hit a routine grounder to Furcal at shortstop, which should have ended the inning. Instead, the ball squirted under his glove and through his legs into shallow left center field - as two unearned runs crossed the plate.
Next up - David Wright advanced Pagan to second with a legitimate infield single off Furcal's glove.
Mets manager Terry Collins then sent Josh Satin in to pinch hit for Lucas Duda - and the strategy paid off, as Satin laced one down the left field line - scoring both runners - to give the Mets a 4-3 lead.
That's where the score remained until the Cardinals displayed their own brand of two-out-nobody-on magic. After reliever Miguel Batista - who briefly toiled for St Louis earlier in this season - retired the first two batters in the seventh, Pujols kept the inning alive with a base hit to center.
Exit Batista - enter Danny Herrera - who immediately served up a Lance Berkman single to left field.
Up to this point in the season, Freese had been a good - but far from great - hitter. He was most effective when he didn't try to pull every pitch - when he would drive the ball to dead center - or to the opposite field - as he did in this game. His blast into the Cardinals' bullpen suddenly turned a 4-3 deficit into a 6-4 lead.
The postseason dream, which seemed to be a complete fantasy at the beginning of the month, had come alive - as the crowd came alive - with one swing of the bat.
The Mets made things interesting in the ninth-inning - when the unofficial closer - Jason Motte - yielded a two-out solo home run to Willie Harris. Motte then sent the crowd into a frenzy by striking out Josh Thole to earn his eighth save of the season - preserving the 6-5 win for Jaime Garcia (7.2 IP - 6 H - 4 R - 0 ER - 0 BB - 5 SO), who improved to 13-7 on the season.
David Freese - in what had been his finest performance in any game during his brief career - was just getting started.
David Freese gave fans a postseason preview tonight - his two-out two-run first-inning triple to right field - which scored Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman - was eerily similar to what happened in Game Six - when the Cardinals were one strike away from World Series defeat. Freese later won that game with, arguably, the most dramatic home run in franchise history.
In this particular game, with the Cardinals down 4-3 in the seventh-inning to the New York Mets - with two out and two on (Pujols and Berkman - naturally), Freese smacked an opposite-field home deep to right field off Mets reliever Danny Herrera - to provide just enough cushion for an eventual 6-5 win.
Meanwhile, down in Miami, the Marlins had already beaten the suddenly hapless Braves, 4-0 - whose lead over the Cardinals for the one and only wild card spot in the postseason had shrunk to 1.5 games. They were doomed - and they probably knew it.
The Cardinals were red hot - by far the best offensive team in the National League all season long - on the verge of taking it up another notch - just in time for the postseason.
Defensively, however, the Cardinals were well below average - and it was some bad glove work that nearly cost them this game.
After Freese had staked Jaime Garcia to that early 2-0 lead, Allen Craig added a second-inning run -scoring Yadier Molina from third with a single off Mets starter Chris Schwinden.
That 3-0 lead immediately evaporated as the Mets took their turn at bat in a nightmarish third-inning for Garcia - and especially for shortstop Rafael Furcal. After retiring the first two batters on strikes, Garcia couldn't put his mound rival away. Schwinden grounded one up the middle, just off second baseman Skip Schumaker's glove for an infield single - then all hell broke loose.
Jose Reyes doubled down the left field line - advancing Schwinden to third. Next up - Angel Pagan - hit a routine grounder to Furcal at shortstop, which should have ended the inning. Instead, the ball squirted under his glove and through his legs into shallow left center field - as two unearned runs crossed the plate.
Next up - David Wright advanced Pagan to second with a legitimate infield single off Furcal's glove.
Mets manager Terry Collins then sent Josh Satin in to pinch hit for Lucas Duda - and the strategy paid off, as Satin laced one down the left field line - scoring both runners - to give the Mets a 4-3 lead.
That's where the score remained until the Cardinals displayed their own brand of two-out-nobody-on magic. After reliever Miguel Batista - who briefly toiled for St Louis earlier in this season - retired the first two batters in the seventh, Pujols kept the inning alive with a base hit to center.
Exit Batista - enter Danny Herrera - who immediately served up a Lance Berkman single to left field.
Up to this point in the season, Freese had been a good - but far from great - hitter. He was most effective when he didn't try to pull every pitch - when he would drive the ball to dead center - or to the opposite field - as he did in this game. His blast into the Cardinals' bullpen suddenly turned a 4-3 deficit into a 6-4 lead.
The postseason dream, which seemed to be a complete fantasy at the beginning of the month, had come alive - as the crowd came alive - with one swing of the bat.
The Mets made things interesting in the ninth-inning - when the unofficial closer - Jason Motte - yielded a two-out solo home run to Willie Harris. Motte then sent the crowd into a frenzy by striking out Josh Thole to earn his eighth save of the season - preserving the 6-5 win for Jaime Garcia (7.2 IP - 6 H - 4 R - 0 ER - 0 BB - 5 SO), who improved to 13-7 on the season.
David Freese - in what had been his finest performance in any game during his brief career - was just getting started.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
September 10, 2011 - Bullpen Nails Down 4-3 Win Over Braves
Saturday, September 10, 2011 - At Busch Stadium III (Jaime Garcia - Starting Pitcher) - Opponent: Atlanta Braves (Derek Lowe - Starting Pitcher) - Attendance: 40,689
In the second game of a crucial three-game series with the Braves - the Cardinals jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, then held on for a 4-3 win, thanks to three solid innings of relief from the back-end of a now very formidable bullpen.
Jaime Garcia (12-7) allowed three runs in six innings for the win, which was preserved by one inning of scoreless relief from each of three relievers: Marc Rzepczynski (1 H - 1 SO), Fernando Salas (0 H - 2 SO) and Jason Motte (0 H - 1 BB). Motte, who had unofficially become the Cards' closer - earned his 4th save of 2011.
Atlanta starter Derek Lowe (9-14) gave up an RBI single to Albert Pujols and an RBI double to David Freese in the first-inning - to stake Garcia to a quick 2-0 lead.
Then in the third, back-to-back doubles by Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman - plus an RBI single off the bat of Yadier Molina gave the Redbirds a 4-0 lead. That was just enough tonight.
Freddie Freeman made things interesting with a fourth-inning two-run home run - then Brian McCann made things even more interesting with a fifth-inning RBI single - to make it a 4-3 game - and that's where it stayed.
After Garcia pitched a scoreless sixth-inning, manager Tony LaRussa went to the bullpen to nail this one down - a formula he used to eventually earn the Cardinals a World Series championship.
Certainly, the Cardinals knew they needed to sweep the Braves in this three-game series if they were to have any chance of overtaking Atlanta in the wild card race. They won the first game on Friday night, after a rare blown save by closer Craig Kimbrell kept the Cardinals alive - en route to a ten-inning walk-off win. They would also take the final game on Sunday, to move within 4.5 games of the Braves - with sixteen left to play.
The wildest finish since 1964 was well under way. Nothing would be decided until Game 162 - aka Wild Card Wednesday. You know what happened. Nearly three years later, it's still hard to believe.
In the second game of a crucial three-game series with the Braves - the Cardinals jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, then held on for a 4-3 win, thanks to three solid innings of relief from the back-end of a now very formidable bullpen.
Jaime Garcia (12-7) allowed three runs in six innings for the win, which was preserved by one inning of scoreless relief from each of three relievers: Marc Rzepczynski (1 H - 1 SO), Fernando Salas (0 H - 2 SO) and Jason Motte (0 H - 1 BB). Motte, who had unofficially become the Cards' closer - earned his 4th save of 2011.
Atlanta starter Derek Lowe (9-14) gave up an RBI single to Albert Pujols and an RBI double to David Freese in the first-inning - to stake Garcia to a quick 2-0 lead.
Then in the third, back-to-back doubles by Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman - plus an RBI single off the bat of Yadier Molina gave the Redbirds a 4-0 lead. That was just enough tonight.
Freddie Freeman made things interesting with a fourth-inning two-run home run - then Brian McCann made things even more interesting with a fifth-inning RBI single - to make it a 4-3 game - and that's where it stayed.
After Garcia pitched a scoreless sixth-inning, manager Tony LaRussa went to the bullpen to nail this one down - a formula he used to eventually earn the Cardinals a World Series championship.
Certainly, the Cardinals knew they needed to sweep the Braves in this three-game series if they were to have any chance of overtaking Atlanta in the wild card race. They won the first game on Friday night, after a rare blown save by closer Craig Kimbrell kept the Cardinals alive - en route to a ten-inning walk-off win. They would also take the final game on Sunday, to move within 4.5 games of the Braves - with sixteen left to play.
The wildest finish since 1964 was well under way. Nothing would be decided until Game 162 - aka Wild Card Wednesday. You know what happened. Nearly three years later, it's still hard to believe.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
August 30, 2011 - Cards Nip Error-Prone Brewers, 2-1
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 - At Miller Park (Edwin Jackson - Starting Pitcher) - Opponent: Milwaukee Brewers (Shaun Marcum - Starting Pitcher) - Attendance: 42,384
In the first game of a three-game series, newly acquired Cardinal starting pitcher Edwin Jackson had a strong outing - limiting the Brewers to one run on six hits in seven innings of work. However, if not for two costly errors by the right side of the Milwaukee infield, Jackson would have exited this game on the wrong side of a 1-0 score - and more importantly, the Cardinals would have lost this game to remain 9.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves - the team they were chasing for that postseason wild card berth. Instead, thanks to a pair of unearned runs, the Redbirds kept their postseason hopes alive with a 2-1 win over the Brew Crew.
Brewers starting pitcher Shaun Marcum pitched admirably, but defensive lapses in the sixth-inning gave the Cardinals a golden opportunity to break a scoreless tie - and they cashed in.
The inning began with Skip Schumaker hitting a routine ground ball to first baseman Prince Fielder, which went under his glove and through his legs to right fielder Corey Hart - as Schumaker skipped to first base. Next up - Rafael Furcal bounced one - with a lot of topspin - to second baseman Jerry Hairston - who misjudged the effect the topspin would have on the ball when he tried to field it. He got in front of it, but the ball hit the heel of his glove for an error. Three inches lower, and he would have at least gotten the force out at second - perhaps a double play.
Instead, with runners on first and second, Yadier Molina lined a single to center to load the bases for Edwin Jackson - who drove in the first run of the game with base hit to right - as the bases remained loaded for Jon Jay - who drove in the second run of the game with a sacrifice fly. That was it: Two runs, two hits, two errors and two runners left on base.
The Brewers began the sixth-inning with back-to-back doubles by Corey Hart and Nyjer Morgan to cut the St Louis lead in half. But Jackson was able to prevent any further scoring - first, by striking out Prince Fielder with one out and the runner on third - for out number two. Then he got Casey McGehee on a fly ball to center to retire the side.
After working a scoreless seventh-inning, Jackson's night was over. The bullpen's night was just beginning. Reliever Arthur Rhodes got the first out in the eighth-inning, then turned the ball over to Jason Motte, who gave up a hit - but no runs - in his two-out stint.
Newly acquired reliever Marc Rzepczynski faced one batter in the bottom of the ninth - Prince Fielder - but the designated lefty specialist failed to get his man. Fielder walked.
LaRussa then brought in Fernando Salas to face Casey McGehee - who also walked. Betancourt was the next batter - who was up there bunting, trying to advance the runners to second and third. Instead, a hard charging Albert Pujols fielded the bunt and fired a strike to third base for a crucial force out of Fielder. The game ended when pinch hitter Mark Kotsay (replacing Hairston) grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.
And yes, the Braves lost tonight - at home - to the Washington Nationals - who pounded out four home runs in a 9-2 Atlanta beat down. The fun was just beginning.
In the first game of a three-game series, newly acquired Cardinal starting pitcher Edwin Jackson had a strong outing - limiting the Brewers to one run on six hits in seven innings of work. However, if not for two costly errors by the right side of the Milwaukee infield, Jackson would have exited this game on the wrong side of a 1-0 score - and more importantly, the Cardinals would have lost this game to remain 9.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves - the team they were chasing for that postseason wild card berth. Instead, thanks to a pair of unearned runs, the Redbirds kept their postseason hopes alive with a 2-1 win over the Brew Crew.
Brewers starting pitcher Shaun Marcum pitched admirably, but defensive lapses in the sixth-inning gave the Cardinals a golden opportunity to break a scoreless tie - and they cashed in.
The inning began with Skip Schumaker hitting a routine ground ball to first baseman Prince Fielder, which went under his glove and through his legs to right fielder Corey Hart - as Schumaker skipped to first base. Next up - Rafael Furcal bounced one - with a lot of topspin - to second baseman Jerry Hairston - who misjudged the effect the topspin would have on the ball when he tried to field it. He got in front of it, but the ball hit the heel of his glove for an error. Three inches lower, and he would have at least gotten the force out at second - perhaps a double play.
Instead, with runners on first and second, Yadier Molina lined a single to center to load the bases for Edwin Jackson - who drove in the first run of the game with base hit to right - as the bases remained loaded for Jon Jay - who drove in the second run of the game with a sacrifice fly. That was it: Two runs, two hits, two errors and two runners left on base.
The Brewers began the sixth-inning with back-to-back doubles by Corey Hart and Nyjer Morgan to cut the St Louis lead in half. But Jackson was able to prevent any further scoring - first, by striking out Prince Fielder with one out and the runner on third - for out number two. Then he got Casey McGehee on a fly ball to center to retire the side.
After working a scoreless seventh-inning, Jackson's night was over. The bullpen's night was just beginning. Reliever Arthur Rhodes got the first out in the eighth-inning, then turned the ball over to Jason Motte, who gave up a hit - but no runs - in his two-out stint.
Newly acquired reliever Marc Rzepczynski faced one batter in the bottom of the ninth - Prince Fielder - but the designated lefty specialist failed to get his man. Fielder walked.
LaRussa then brought in Fernando Salas to face Casey McGehee - who also walked. Betancourt was the next batter - who was up there bunting, trying to advance the runners to second and third. Instead, a hard charging Albert Pujols fielded the bunt and fired a strike to third base for a crucial force out of Fielder. The game ended when pinch hitter Mark Kotsay (replacing Hairston) grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.
And yes, the Braves lost tonight - at home - to the Washington Nationals - who pounded out four home runs in a 9-2 Atlanta beat down. The fun was just beginning.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
August 24, 2012 - Cards' 6-Run 6th Caps Come-From-Behind Win Over Reds
Friday, August 24, 2012 - At Great American Ballpark (Lance Lynn - Starting Pitcher) - Opponent: Cincinnati Reds (Mat Latos - Starting Pitcher) - Attendance: 36,162
The Cardinals entered the sixth-inning at Great American Ballpark trailing Mat Latos and the Reds by three runs - by the time they were finished, the Cardinals had turned the tables - turning that three-run deficit into a three-run advantage, en route to an 8-5 win. Joe Kelly, who entered the game in relief of Lance Lynn - inheriting two runners on base in the bottom of the third - worked three innings of mostly dominant relief to notch the win (4-5). Kelly allowed one run on five hits and one walk - with six strikeouts - all swinging.
As a matter of fact, all six pitchers used by manager Mike Matheny - Lynn, Kelly, Salas, Mujica, Boggs and Motte - all had at least one strikeout in the game. The final total of fourteen strikeouts featured thirteen that were of the "swing and miss" variety.
Starter Lance Lynn didn't last long in this one - however, he avoided total disaster in the first-inning - when with one run already in, and runners on first and third and nobody out - he induced Ryan Ludwick to ground into a 5-4-3 double play. A second run scored - but that was it - at least for now.
David Freese returned the favor in the second-inning - with runners on first and third and nobody out - he grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Allen Craig, who singled to open the inning, scored the run for St Louis.
The Reds came right back with another run in their half of the second - when Ryan Hanigan's sacrifice fly scored Todd Frazier from third, to make it a 3-1 Cincinnati lead.
After the Cardinals failed to score on Latos in the third, the Reds put the first two runners on base in their half of the third. Singles by Brandon Phillips and Ludwick prompted Matheny to bring Kelly in from the bullpen to restore order. After yielding an RBI single by Frazier and an infield hit by Scott Rolen - Kelly found himself in a bases loaded-one out jam - but he struck out Hanigan and Latos to avoid further damage.
The Cardinals - trailing 4-1 entering the fourth-inning - got a two-out single by Yadier Molina to keep the inning alive. Then with Freese batting, Latos uncorked a wild pitch to move Yadi up to second - and this time Freese drove him in with a base hit to center.
Kelly struck out the side in the bottom of the fourth - giving him a string of five straight strikeouts - but he ran into more trouble in the fifth-inning. With one run already in and runners on second and third with just one out - Kelly issued an intentional walk to Hanigan - then stuck out Latos again for the second out. Then, lead-off hitter Zack Cozart nearly hit one out of the park to deep center field - but Jon Jay hauled it in at the base of the wall to retire the side.
Trailing 5-2 entering the sixth-inning - the Redbirds began teeing off on a suddenly ineffective Latos. Singles by Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday preceded Allen Craig's game-tying three-run home run to straight-away center field. Next up - Molina - made it back-to-back jack with an opposite field shot to right - which just got over right fielder Jay Bruce's outstretched glove. The Redbirds tacked on two more runs. After Latos walked Freese - the fifth straight batter to reach base - manager Dusty Baker finally pulled his starter - bringing in Alfredo Simon to face Skip Schumaker - who promptly singled to left, as Freese stopped at second. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third - still nobody out.
Rafael Furcal scored Freese from third with a single to center, as Skip skipped to third on the hit. Pinch hitter Matt Carpenter (for Joe Kelly) brought in the sixth and final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to center. It was also the first out recorded in the inning - but all good things must end sometime.
The Cardinals now had the lead - 8-5 - and that's how it ended.
Fernando Salas - in relief of Kelly - struck out the three batters he faced in the sixth.
Edward Mujica struck out the first two batters in the seventh in his perfect inning of relief.
Mitchell Boggs was perfect in the eighth - with one strikeout. He got Stubbs on a called third strike - a rarity in this game.
Jason Motte made it interesting in the ninth - allowing a pair of hits - but striking out Scott Rolen to earn his 30th save of the season.
Even with this win over first-place Cincinnati, the Cardinals (69-56) were still six games behind in the NL Central race. The race for the second wild card spot was definitely up for grabs, however. The Redbirds were a game and a half behind the Atlanta Braves for the number one spot - but they held a game and a half advantage over the Dodgers for that second slot.
Despite a fairly lackluster 19-18 finish, the Cardinals still held onto that second wild card berth, as LA could only muster an even .500 (18-18) stretch run.
The Cardinals entered the sixth-inning at Great American Ballpark trailing Mat Latos and the Reds by three runs - by the time they were finished, the Cardinals had turned the tables - turning that three-run deficit into a three-run advantage, en route to an 8-5 win. Joe Kelly, who entered the game in relief of Lance Lynn - inheriting two runners on base in the bottom of the third - worked three innings of mostly dominant relief to notch the win (4-5). Kelly allowed one run on five hits and one walk - with six strikeouts - all swinging.
As a matter of fact, all six pitchers used by manager Mike Matheny - Lynn, Kelly, Salas, Mujica, Boggs and Motte - all had at least one strikeout in the game. The final total of fourteen strikeouts featured thirteen that were of the "swing and miss" variety.
Starter Lance Lynn didn't last long in this one - however, he avoided total disaster in the first-inning - when with one run already in, and runners on first and third and nobody out - he induced Ryan Ludwick to ground into a 5-4-3 double play. A second run scored - but that was it - at least for now.
David Freese returned the favor in the second-inning - with runners on first and third and nobody out - he grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Allen Craig, who singled to open the inning, scored the run for St Louis.
The Reds came right back with another run in their half of the second - when Ryan Hanigan's sacrifice fly scored Todd Frazier from third, to make it a 3-1 Cincinnati lead.
After the Cardinals failed to score on Latos in the third, the Reds put the first two runners on base in their half of the third. Singles by Brandon Phillips and Ludwick prompted Matheny to bring Kelly in from the bullpen to restore order. After yielding an RBI single by Frazier and an infield hit by Scott Rolen - Kelly found himself in a bases loaded-one out jam - but he struck out Hanigan and Latos to avoid further damage.
The Cardinals - trailing 4-1 entering the fourth-inning - got a two-out single by Yadier Molina to keep the inning alive. Then with Freese batting, Latos uncorked a wild pitch to move Yadi up to second - and this time Freese drove him in with a base hit to center.
Kelly struck out the side in the bottom of the fourth - giving him a string of five straight strikeouts - but he ran into more trouble in the fifth-inning. With one run already in and runners on second and third with just one out - Kelly issued an intentional walk to Hanigan - then stuck out Latos again for the second out. Then, lead-off hitter Zack Cozart nearly hit one out of the park to deep center field - but Jon Jay hauled it in at the base of the wall to retire the side.
Trailing 5-2 entering the sixth-inning - the Redbirds began teeing off on a suddenly ineffective Latos. Singles by Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday preceded Allen Craig's game-tying three-run home run to straight-away center field. Next up - Molina - made it back-to-back jack with an opposite field shot to right - which just got over right fielder Jay Bruce's outstretched glove. The Redbirds tacked on two more runs. After Latos walked Freese - the fifth straight batter to reach base - manager Dusty Baker finally pulled his starter - bringing in Alfredo Simon to face Skip Schumaker - who promptly singled to left, as Freese stopped at second. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third - still nobody out.
Rafael Furcal scored Freese from third with a single to center, as Skip skipped to third on the hit. Pinch hitter Matt Carpenter (for Joe Kelly) brought in the sixth and final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly to center. It was also the first out recorded in the inning - but all good things must end sometime.
The Cardinals now had the lead - 8-5 - and that's how it ended.
Fernando Salas - in relief of Kelly - struck out the three batters he faced in the sixth.
Edward Mujica struck out the first two batters in the seventh in his perfect inning of relief.
Mitchell Boggs was perfect in the eighth - with one strikeout. He got Stubbs on a called third strike - a rarity in this game.
Jason Motte made it interesting in the ninth - allowing a pair of hits - but striking out Scott Rolen to earn his 30th save of the season.
Even with this win over first-place Cincinnati, the Cardinals (69-56) were still six games behind in the NL Central race. The race for the second wild card spot was definitely up for grabs, however. The Redbirds were a game and a half behind the Atlanta Braves for the number one spot - but they held a game and a half advantage over the Dodgers for that second slot.
Despite a fairly lackluster 19-18 finish, the Cardinals still held onto that second wild card berth, as LA could only muster an even .500 (18-18) stretch run.
Monday, October 15, 2012
"Wild (St Louis) Cards" Getting Some Respect
When the St Louis Cardinals secured that second Wild Card spot in the National League, most baseball "experts" gave them little chance to last more than one game into the postseason. After all, they had to battle the Atlanta Braves on their home turf with their sensational young ace on the mound - Kris Medlen - who seemed to be more invincible than Whitey Ford or Carl Hubbell. Of course, those two Hall of Fame hurlers managed to start a major league record 22 games in a row in which their team secured victory.
Medlen broke that record after his final start of the regular season; it was a foregone conclusion the Braves would win for the twenty-fourth consecutive time with Medlen starting that critical Wild Card game for them. Of course, that didn't happen. The bad news for the Braves: Their postseason journey ended abruptly. The good news: Postseason games don't affect Medlen's official MLB record, which still stands at 23 straight Atlanta wins when he started the game; small consolation, I know; but that's life.
Critics of the new Wild Card format opine that the teams should play at least a three-game set to determine which one truly deserves to advance into the postseason. Some of the most vocal critics were players for the Atlanta Braves - most notably, the retiring Chipper Jones. Ironically, it was his throwing error, on an easy double play ball, which helped pave the way to a fairly easy (albeit controversial) Cardinal win.
With Atlanta's shocking infield-fly-rule-defeat has come an outpouring of negative sentiment directed towards the Cardinals for having the audacity to advance in the playoffs; after all, they only won 88 games. The mighty Braves won 94 games! "That's not fair!"
Please, get over it.
With St Louis advancing to the NLDS, their opponents - the NL East champion Washington Nationals - were expected to restore order in the best of five showdown with the Wild Cards. After all, the Nats had led all of major league baseball with 98 wins; ten games more than the upstart Redbirds. The script seemed to be going as planned when Washington took Game One, with a come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
That frustrating defeat seemed to wake the Wild Cards out of their funk, as they scored 20 runs over the next two games to forge ahead in the series, two games to one. But, whatever momentum the Cardinals had seemed to disappear in Game Four's agonizing defeat to the Nats by a 2-1 score; featuring Jayson Werth's dramatic walk-off home run on the 12th pitch he saw from Lance Lynn.
Game Five began ominously for St Louis when starting pitcher Adam Wainwright was roughed up for six runs in less than three innings. About that time, a gleeful Chipper Jones, who recently got hooked on Twitter (@RealCJ10) tweeted "Ball Game!"
Not quite, Chipper. You should know better than that. The rest of Game Five is glorious Wild Cards' history, featuring a relentless comeback that had St Louis down to their last strike on two different occasions in the 9th-inning, still trailing by a couple of runs. With Carlos Beltran perched on third base with two outs in the ninth, the Wild Cards had a 3.5% chance of winning the game. Yet, they did.
Naturally, this was a revolting development for those smug-now-stunned Nationals fans who were expecting to party on Friday night; not attend a franchise wake. Although most of the blame went to nearly everybody in the Nationals organization, many fans joined the growing legion of Cardinal-haters, simply because it seemed like the right thing to do.
Now, the Wild Cards are in the NLCS, facing a worthy opponent - the San Francisco Giants - who made postseason history, themselves, by sweeping the final three games of their NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark. Of course, it was the first time all season the Reds managed to lose three games in a row at their own ballpark. Postseason pressure can do that to a team.
Postseason momentum was still with the Wild Cards last night, as they beat the Giants in Game One of the NLCS at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Home field advantage, anyone? Later this evening, Chris Carpenter will try to make it two in a row over the Giants, before the two teams head to St Louis for the next three games (if necessary). ***Update: Giants tie Series 1-1 with 7-1 win over Cards.
Those of us who are into saber-metrics know there is a more accurate measurement of a team's relative strength than simply checking their won-loss record. The Pythagorean Winning Percentage is based on a team's run differential. The higher the differential, the stronger the team. It's really that simple. Of the ten teams that got into the postseason, here's how they all stack up, saber-metrically:
TEAM PYTHAGOREAN W-L (RUN DIFFERENTIAL) ACTUAL W-L
Washington 96-66 +137 98-64
NYY 95-67 +136 95-67
St Louis 93-69 +117 88-74
Atlanta 92-70 +100 94-68
Oakland 92-70 +99 94-68
Cincinnati 91-71 +81 97-65
Texas 91-71 +80 93-69
San Francisco 88-74 +69 94-68
Detroit 87-75 +56 88-74
Baltimore 82-80 +7 93-69
From a relative strength standpoint, the Cardinals were the third best team in major league baseball. Strangely enough, they're better than their division rivals - the NL Central champion Cincinnati Reds. Hey, they're also better than the Atlanta Braves, Chipper!
For all those naysayers who are still indignant about the St Louis Wild Cards' early success in the postseason; I say, it shouldn't be a big surprise. They may even go on to win the World Series, again. Back-to-back World Championships for the St Louis Cardinals? From Wild Card to World Series champion two years in a row? I'd bet Atlanta would love that.
Maybe Chipper would post a nice tweet about it?
Medlen broke that record after his final start of the regular season; it was a foregone conclusion the Braves would win for the twenty-fourth consecutive time with Medlen starting that critical Wild Card game for them. Of course, that didn't happen. The bad news for the Braves: Their postseason journey ended abruptly. The good news: Postseason games don't affect Medlen's official MLB record, which still stands at 23 straight Atlanta wins when he started the game; small consolation, I know; but that's life.
Critics of the new Wild Card format opine that the teams should play at least a three-game set to determine which one truly deserves to advance into the postseason. Some of the most vocal critics were players for the Atlanta Braves - most notably, the retiring Chipper Jones. Ironically, it was his throwing error, on an easy double play ball, which helped pave the way to a fairly easy (albeit controversial) Cardinal win.
With Atlanta's shocking infield-fly-rule-defeat has come an outpouring of negative sentiment directed towards the Cardinals for having the audacity to advance in the playoffs; after all, they only won 88 games. The mighty Braves won 94 games! "That's not fair!"
Please, get over it.
With St Louis advancing to the NLDS, their opponents - the NL East champion Washington Nationals - were expected to restore order in the best of five showdown with the Wild Cards. After all, the Nats had led all of major league baseball with 98 wins; ten games more than the upstart Redbirds. The script seemed to be going as planned when Washington took Game One, with a come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
That frustrating defeat seemed to wake the Wild Cards out of their funk, as they scored 20 runs over the next two games to forge ahead in the series, two games to one. But, whatever momentum the Cardinals had seemed to disappear in Game Four's agonizing defeat to the Nats by a 2-1 score; featuring Jayson Werth's dramatic walk-off home run on the 12th pitch he saw from Lance Lynn.
Game Five began ominously for St Louis when starting pitcher Adam Wainwright was roughed up for six runs in less than three innings. About that time, a gleeful Chipper Jones, who recently got hooked on Twitter (@RealCJ10) tweeted "Ball Game!"
Not quite, Chipper. You should know better than that. The rest of Game Five is glorious Wild Cards' history, featuring a relentless comeback that had St Louis down to their last strike on two different occasions in the 9th-inning, still trailing by a couple of runs. With Carlos Beltran perched on third base with two outs in the ninth, the Wild Cards had a 3.5% chance of winning the game. Yet, they did.
Naturally, this was a revolting development for those smug-now-stunned Nationals fans who were expecting to party on Friday night; not attend a franchise wake. Although most of the blame went to nearly everybody in the Nationals organization, many fans joined the growing legion of Cardinal-haters, simply because it seemed like the right thing to do.
Now, the Wild Cards are in the NLCS, facing a worthy opponent - the San Francisco Giants - who made postseason history, themselves, by sweeping the final three games of their NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ballpark. Of course, it was the first time all season the Reds managed to lose three games in a row at their own ballpark. Postseason pressure can do that to a team.
Postseason momentum was still with the Wild Cards last night, as they beat the Giants in Game One of the NLCS at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Home field advantage, anyone? Later this evening, Chris Carpenter will try to make it two in a row over the Giants, before the two teams head to St Louis for the next three games (if necessary). ***Update: Giants tie Series 1-1 with 7-1 win over Cards.
Those of us who are into saber-metrics know there is a more accurate measurement of a team's relative strength than simply checking their won-loss record. The Pythagorean Winning Percentage is based on a team's run differential. The higher the differential, the stronger the team. It's really that simple. Of the ten teams that got into the postseason, here's how they all stack up, saber-metrically:
TEAM PYTHAGOREAN W-L (RUN DIFFERENTIAL) ACTUAL W-L
Washington 96-66 +137 98-64
NYY 95-67 +136 95-67
St Louis 93-69 +117 88-74
Atlanta 92-70 +100 94-68
Oakland 92-70 +99 94-68
Cincinnati 91-71 +81 97-65
Texas 91-71 +80 93-69
San Francisco 88-74 +69 94-68
Detroit 87-75 +56 88-74
Baltimore 82-80 +7 93-69
From a relative strength standpoint, the Cardinals were the third best team in major league baseball. Strangely enough, they're better than their division rivals - the NL Central champion Cincinnati Reds. Hey, they're also better than the Atlanta Braves, Chipper!
For all those naysayers who are still indignant about the St Louis Wild Cards' early success in the postseason; I say, it shouldn't be a big surprise. They may even go on to win the World Series, again. Back-to-back World Championships for the St Louis Cardinals? From Wild Card to World Series champion two years in a row? I'd bet Atlanta would love that.
Maybe Chipper would post a nice tweet about it?
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Wild Cards Facing Long Odds Again
Here we go again. Last year, it took a miraculous comeback by the St Louis Cardinals, along with an epic collapse by the Atlanta Braves, to give the Wild Card Redbirds a shot at postseason glory. Of course, they capitalized on that opportunity; winning the franchise's eleventh World Championship in a classic seven game showdown with the shell-shocked Texas Rangers.
This year, the Cardinals were the National League's beneficiaries of the new Wild Card format, which allows an extra team from each league into the postseason mix. Ironically, the team they square off against on Friday are those same Atlanta Braves, in a one-game winner-moves-on-loser-goes-home showdown in Atlanta. To say the odds are stacked against the Cardinals is an understatement. Here's why:
The Cardinals are the only team in the postseason with a losing record on the road.
Pitching for the Atlanta Braves will be Kris Medlen who recently established a new major league record when the Braves won for the twenty-third consecutive time in a game started by Medlen. The previous record of 22 straight wins by a team was shared by Whitey Ford (New York Yankees) and Carl Hubbell (New York Giants).
Pitching for St Louis will be Kyle Lohse, who pitched well during the regular season, but has never pitched well in postseason play.
The Cardinals lost five of six games vs the Braves in 2012.
Sentimental Braves' favorite Chipper Jones is retiring at the conclusion of this season. This will surely have the fans riled up; not to mention his teammates.
As if that weren't enough, approximately 45,000 giant red tomahawks are being doled out to the Atlanta faithful to be used at the appropriate tomahawk chopping time during the game. That can be quite a distraction; really, for both teams. What happens if that stupid stunt backfires and the Redbirds start tomahawking balls out of Turner Field instead? Can you imagine seeing 45,000 tomahawks strewn over the entire playing field by disgruntled fans when the score is 12 - 2 in the bottom of the eighth-inning; and those twelve runs don't belong to the Bravos? Yikes!
It should be quite an interesting game, to say the least. Whether it's the only postseason game in the Cards for St Louis remains to be seen. Certainly, the Cardinals are a resilient bunch. They seem to thrive on adversity; many fans in other cities (particularly Cincinnati and Milwaukee) absolutely despise them, for reasons that I don't quite understand. Maybe it has something to do with their success; after all, they're the defending World Champions (for the eleventh time).
Yet here they are, having the audacity to return to the postseason when they should be fat and happy, resting on their laurels. Not this time; in their entire history, the Cardinals had only returned to the postseason on two other occasions after winning a World Series the previous season (1943 and 1968). They've never won back-to-back World Championships. Very few experts are giving them much of a chance to do it again this year; especially as a lowly Wild Card team playing the elimination game on the road against a team that never loses when their good luck charm is on the mound.
Stranger things have happened. I wonder how many experts picked the Oakland Athletics to dethrone the once mighty-now-shell-shocked Texas Rangers to win the AL West; on the last day of the season, no less? How many experts picked the Baltimore Orioles to make it to the postseason as well; nearly dethroning the mighty New York Yankees from their top spot in the AL East?
Yes, the Wild Cards are facing long odds again; I just wouldn't bet against them.
This year, the Cardinals were the National League's beneficiaries of the new Wild Card format, which allows an extra team from each league into the postseason mix. Ironically, the team they square off against on Friday are those same Atlanta Braves, in a one-game winner-moves-on-loser-goes-home showdown in Atlanta. To say the odds are stacked against the Cardinals is an understatement. Here's why:
The Cardinals are the only team in the postseason with a losing record on the road.
Pitching for the Atlanta Braves will be Kris Medlen who recently established a new major league record when the Braves won for the twenty-third consecutive time in a game started by Medlen. The previous record of 22 straight wins by a team was shared by Whitey Ford (New York Yankees) and Carl Hubbell (New York Giants).
Pitching for St Louis will be Kyle Lohse, who pitched well during the regular season, but has never pitched well in postseason play.
The Cardinals lost five of six games vs the Braves in 2012.
Sentimental Braves' favorite Chipper Jones is retiring at the conclusion of this season. This will surely have the fans riled up; not to mention his teammates.
As if that weren't enough, approximately 45,000 giant red tomahawks are being doled out to the Atlanta faithful to be used at the appropriate tomahawk chopping time during the game. That can be quite a distraction; really, for both teams. What happens if that stupid stunt backfires and the Redbirds start tomahawking balls out of Turner Field instead? Can you imagine seeing 45,000 tomahawks strewn over the entire playing field by disgruntled fans when the score is 12 - 2 in the bottom of the eighth-inning; and those twelve runs don't belong to the Bravos? Yikes!
It should be quite an interesting game, to say the least. Whether it's the only postseason game in the Cards for St Louis remains to be seen. Certainly, the Cardinals are a resilient bunch. They seem to thrive on adversity; many fans in other cities (particularly Cincinnati and Milwaukee) absolutely despise them, for reasons that I don't quite understand. Maybe it has something to do with their success; after all, they're the defending World Champions (for the eleventh time).
Yet here they are, having the audacity to return to the postseason when they should be fat and happy, resting on their laurels. Not this time; in their entire history, the Cardinals had only returned to the postseason on two other occasions after winning a World Series the previous season (1943 and 1968). They've never won back-to-back World Championships. Very few experts are giving them much of a chance to do it again this year; especially as a lowly Wild Card team playing the elimination game on the road against a team that never loses when their good luck charm is on the mound.
Stranger things have happened. I wonder how many experts picked the Oakland Athletics to dethrone the once mighty-now-shell-shocked Texas Rangers to win the AL West; on the last day of the season, no less? How many experts picked the Baltimore Orioles to make it to the postseason as well; nearly dethroning the mighty New York Yankees from their top spot in the AL East?
Yes, the Wild Cards are facing long odds again; I just wouldn't bet against them.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Will Extra Wild Card Restore Order?
Since major league baseball added the "wild card" to the post season mix in 1995, ten different "wild card" teams have advanced to the World Series in those seventeen seasons; five of them managed to capture the World Championship: The '97 Florida Marlins, the 2002 California/LA/Anaheim Angels, the 2003 Marlins, the 2004 Boston Red Sox, and the 2011 St Louis Cardinals.
For the Cardinals, last year's World Championship was the eleventh in franchise history, and their first as a "wild card" entrant; likewise, the 2004 Red Sox not only won their first World Series as a "wild card" entrant, their stunning ALCS comeback against the New York Yankees - winning four straight games after trailing 3 games to none - propelled them to an easy four game sweep of the Cardinals in the World Series; ending the historic Curse of the Bambino in the process.
For the Marlins, the only time they've ever won the World Series came in those two "wild card" seasons; likewise, the Halos have only appeared in the Fall Classic that one "wild card" season, and with a little help from the Rally Monkey, captured their one and only championship since the franchise came into existence over 50 years ago (1961).
Clearly, "wild card" teams have had little trouble prevailing over higher seeded teams in advancing to the World Series; and thanks to the luck of the draw, four out of the five "wild card" World Series champions had the all-important home-field advantage when playing for all the marbles. The only "wild card" team to overcome home-field "disadvantage" were those pesky 2003 Marlins, who handled the seemingly invincible Yankees in six games.
Strangely enough, the Yankees have had their share of "wild card" trouble over the years; aside from that upset at the hands of those '03 Marlins, the Bronx Bombers have been bounced from the post season by the 2002 Angels, those '04 Red Sox, and the '06 "wild card" Detroit Tigers. Of course, the Yankees were the original American League "wild card" edition back in '95, but they failed to get past an inspired Seattle Mariners team in a truly classic five game ALDS; capped off by Edgar Martinez' clutch two-run double which plated a jubilant Ken Griffey, Jr with the deciding run.
Many baseball purists despise the entire concept of allowing "wild card" teams into the post season to begin with. It's "unfair", they contend, to give marginally talented teams an opportunity to eliminate superior teams in a short, five game series; or even a slightly longer, seven game series. To make matters worse for these purists is the shocking reality that 50% of those lucky, talent-less "wild cards" have had the audacity to win the World Series (through 2011)!
For those wishing to have order restored in the world of post season baseball, there is good news: Each league will add one more "wild card" into the mix. Theoretically, ten teams will now enter the post season with a chance to win the World Series. However, one of those "wild card" teams will have their hopes dashed in one fell swoop - a one game playoff between the "wild cards" quickly brings the total of World Series hopefuls back down to eight. However, the surviving "wild cards" will be facing much longer odds in their attempt to continue advancing in the post season; after all, that one game victory over their fellow "wild cards" means a less favorable pitching rotation when the league division series begins. It won't be impossible for "wild card" teams to prosper in the post season; but it will be extremely difficult. It could be a long, long time before we see a repeat of what the St Louis Cardinals pulled off last year.
For those wishing to see the odds stacked back in favor of teams that win division titles, this expanded playoff picture should do the trick. Only time will tell, but it seems as though the extra "wild cards" should restore order in major league baseball.
Many baseball purists despise the entire concept of allowing "wild card" teams into the post season to begin with. It's "unfair", they contend, to give marginally talented teams an opportunity to eliminate superior teams in a short, five game series; or even a slightly longer, seven game series. To make matters worse for these purists is the shocking reality that 50% of those lucky, talent-less "wild cards" have had the audacity to win the World Series (through 2011)!
For those wishing to have order restored in the world of post season baseball, there is good news: Each league will add one more "wild card" into the mix. Theoretically, ten teams will now enter the post season with a chance to win the World Series. However, one of those "wild card" teams will have their hopes dashed in one fell swoop - a one game playoff between the "wild cards" quickly brings the total of World Series hopefuls back down to eight. However, the surviving "wild cards" will be facing much longer odds in their attempt to continue advancing in the post season; after all, that one game victory over their fellow "wild cards" means a less favorable pitching rotation when the league division series begins. It won't be impossible for "wild card" teams to prosper in the post season; but it will be extremely difficult. It could be a long, long time before we see a repeat of what the St Louis Cardinals pulled off last year.
For those wishing to see the odds stacked back in favor of teams that win division titles, this expanded playoff picture should do the trick. Only time will tell, but it seems as though the extra "wild cards" should restore order in major league baseball.
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