Daily Rant: Wainwright & Co. Take The Series

The Cardinals faced the Cincinnati Reds in the rubber match, and their bats were again up for the challenge.  Adam Wainwright looked like his old self again; that is until the 6th inning, when he allowed Ryan Hanigan and Wilson Valdez singles leading off the frame.  The St. Louis Cardinals would not be outdone though, as they had  17 hits and 8 runs on the day.

Box Score

Behind the Box Score:  Adam Wainwright was not nearly as good as he was in his last start, but he pitched just short of a quality start on Sunday.  90 pitches through 5 2/3 certainly isn’t dazzling, but Waino was solid if nothing else.  He even lowered his ERA by 2 hundredths of a point.

Marc Rzepczynski, Edward Mujica, Mitchell Boggs, and Fernando Salas were marvelous in relief, allowing just one hit total.  None of the 3 who went an inning needed more than 15 pitches to do so.

Allen Craig hit his 20th homerun of the season,  scoring both he and the red-hot Matt Holliday.  He later had an RBI single, which again scored Holliday.

Matt Holliday had a 4-5 day.  He also pushed his league-leading RBI total to 89 after 4 RBI for the game.  He also scored twice.

Jon Jay had an RBI single in the 3rd to begin the scoring for the Redbirds.

With another 17 hits on Sunday, the Cardinals absolutely crushed the ball against the Cincinnati Reds over the weekend!  They totaled 42 hits and 18 runs in the 3 games against their division rivals.

Quick Look At The Standings:  The St. Louis Cardinals now are only looking up at one team, and that’s the Cincinnati Reds.  After taking 2 of 3 over the weekend, they sit just 6 games back in the overall standings.  The Cardinals still have the MLB’s best Run Differential, and if they can have good showings this week against Pittsburgh and Washington, there’s no telling how quickly they’ll move even closer to the Reds.

You’ve got to be happy with the way the Redbirds have looked, and with a series beginning today against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the St. Louis Cardinals have a chance to put even more distance between themselves and yet another division rival.