St. Louis Cardinals: Lather, Rinse, Repeat

The instructions on a shampoo bottle tell the user to lather, rinse and repeat.

The St. Louis Cardinals are following those instructions when it comes to winning ballgames.

The Cardinals won for the third time in as many nights, all three times in extra innings and all three times in walk-off style. On Sunday it was Kolten Wong hitting a home run in the bottom of the 14th inning as St. Louis swept the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2, at Busch Stadium.

More from Redbird Rants

• Cardinals Rumors: 3 pros and cons of signing Carlos Rodon
• What’s next for the St. Louis Cardinals after Contreras signing?
• Report: Cardinals Emerge As Mystery Team for Carlos Rodon
• Cardinals: Trade targets after signing Willson Contreras
• Reflecting on the 2013 Cardinals’ top 30 prospects

The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-3, in a game that couldn’t save the job of manager Ron Roenicke. The Cubs dropped to 4 1/2 games behind St. Louis, so the Cardinals can’t lose first place for the next four days (more on that later).

For now, let’s take a look at a long day at Busch with our stars of the game:

*Wong was the obvious star for his extra-inning heroics, but Matt Carpenter also hit a home run during the game as the Cardinals banged out 12 hits.

*Michael Wacha went 6 2/3 innings, walked two and struck out two as his earned run average dropped to 1.93. He didn’t factor in the decision, but Wacha continued his red-hot play this spring.

*Miguel Socolovich was the accidental winner, as he was on the hill when the 14th inning took place.

*Jhonny Peralta banged out two hits along with Matt Adams as the Cardinals spread out their offensive attack.

How the Cardinals won each game was funny. To win by walkoff? In extra innings? Every game?

This is how come St. Louis is 4 1/2 games in front in the National League Central. Teams that are successful find a way to win no matter what.

St. Louis begins a big series on Monday against the Cubs. If St. Louis wins a few, it could put some distance between itself and the Cubs. Stay tuned.