ICYMI: Cardinals win a thriller

The first half of the weekend turned out to be a nail-biter for the St. Louis Cardinals.

In a game that saw former Cardinals pitcher Shelby Miller make a triumphant return to Busch Stadium. it was St. Louis that emerged on top with a 1-0 victory.

The Cardinals improved to 63-34 overall and moved seven games up on the Pittsburgh Pirates and 11 1/2 games up on the fading Chicago Cubs, who were no-hit by Cole Hamels and the Philadelphia Phillies.

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

So what is going right with the Cardinals this second half of the season?

You can’t deny it’s the return of Matt Holliday, among other things. But it’s also the ability of the team to adapt to most any situation, such as the one the Cardinals faced on Saturday.

The Cardinals only had two hits, one from Kolten Wong and one from Yadier Molina, and it was Pete Kozma who scored on a sacrifice fly by Stephen Piscotty.

That was all the offense, and yet St. Louis still won. Get the feeling this team is blessed?

Okay, maybe Carlos Martinez is blessed. He struck out six batters in eight innings of work to pick up the victory, with help from Seth Maness and Randy Choate. In fact, it was Choate who picked up the save in place of hard-working closer Trevor Rosenthal.

Whatever the case, even without offense the Cardinals are finding a way to win, and that’s scary.

Stay with Redbird Rants this week as we approach 4 p.m. on Friday, which is the Major League Baseball trade deadline. There should be some interesting moves made, but will the Cardinals need to make any with a team like this?

Up next

Michael Wacha closes out the series for St. Louis at 2:15 p.m., as he faces Atlanta pitcher Matt Wisler.