It’s almost September?
By Danielle
It is hard to believe that it is almost September. Where has all the time gone this season?
It seems to be like it was only yesterday that
David Freesebecame a household name with his Game 6 walk-off home run for the ages. A home run that
STILLgives me the chills when thinking about it. A home run that left me screaming and jumping up for joy as it happened. A home run that added the third baseman to baseball infamy.
Like many of us that belong to Cardinal Nation, we will never forget Joe Buck paying homage to the late Jack Buck when he said: “We will see you tomorrow night!” Of course, some of the other calls like “Go crazy, folks!” or “I don’t believe what I just saw!” would have been just fine.
For a season that has been lost for Chris Carpenter, the Cardinals are still in the thick of it. The Cardinals are only 7.5 back of the Cincinnati Reds, who have been playing without Joey Votto, their star first baseman. Who knows what happens when Votto does come back? Consider me surprised that the Reds are still a contender even without Votto.
If the season ended today, both the Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates would be playing each other in a one-game playoff. However, the Los Angeles Dodgers and our beloved Cardinals are not too far back. The Cardinals are only a game back. If they are able to beat the Pirates today, it should help in the standings.
Not including today’s afternoon, the Cardinals have 6 games against the Reds and 3 games against the Pirates remaining in the schedule. There is a four game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the middle of September. By taking most of those games, the Cardinals will help themselves in their hopes to make the postseason by climbing the standings in not just the NL Central but also the Wild Card standings as well.
The Cardinals have 9 games against Houston. The Astros have been struggling this season but if the Cardinals win those games and the Pirates and Reds lose on those days, it will certainly increase the chances of another postseason.
Things have changed with the addition of a second wild card for the 2012 postseason. The facts remain that it is at this point of the season that every win starts to count as teams race for a berth in the postseason.