ICYMI: Thoughts on Cardinals’ performance

Because the St. Louis Cardinals were delayed by rain Wednesday night and the game didn’t finish until well into the overnight hours, I thought I’d wait and share my thoughts until today on what turned out to be an unimpressive two-game stretch against the Chicago White Sox.

Let’s rewind: The White Sox were supposed to be the team that turned heads in the Windy City. An impressive pitching staff and strong hitting were supposed to produce a division contender. Meanwhile, the Cubs were widely perceived to be one or two years away from really contending for the National League Central.

To say the White Sox have been disappointing is an understatement. Yet the Cardinals somehow managed to blow two games against them, the last one coming when the White Sox scored five times in the ninth in a 7-1 win.

To be fair the Cardinals managed to go 11 innings in the Tuesday game and withstood a strong performance by Chris Sale. Yet St. Louis faced Jose Quintana on Wednesday and could only muster one run.

What gives?

The only offense was really provided by Jhonny Peralta, whose first-inning RBI double scored Kolten Wong. Otherwise, that’s it.

Look, I’m not going to criticize the Cardinals every time they have a bad game. That’s counterproductive. One bad game isn’t going to make people tear their hair out. Two in a row will cause some consternation.

When your team is facing the Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates next week before the All-Star break, you need to enter those series on a high note. Maybe a four-game set with the San Diego Padres will clear some heads.

In the meantime, the Cardinals are still 51-26 and have the best record in Major League Baseball. Enjoy it.