St. Louis Cardinals: The Good, Bad and Ugly from Atlanta

The Good: Three games, Three wins

After all of the struggles in Pittsburgh, getting a sweep in Atlanta was huge for this club, particularly considering the 4-0 hole they dug themselves in game one on Friday.

Had the Cardinals not been able to come back and eventually win that game 7-4, this series could have gone a lot differently.

I credit Jeremy Hazelbaker and Aledmys Diaz for what the home runs they hit meant in that ballgame and for their club as they looked to get out of a funk.

Although the offense had scored three runs prior to the pinch-hit home runs, they still looked sluggish and out of sync before the rookies made their impact felt.

From the end of the 8th inning in game one through the end of game three this afternoon, the Cardinals have scored 26 runs in 19 innings.

After scoring just seven times in the three game set in Pittsburgh, that kind of rebound is exactly what the offense needed to get itself into gear.

In my mind, Hazelbaker and Diaz were the catalysts that kicked it all off.

The starting pitching was better, but still not where it needs to be. Jaime Garcia was better than his line showed on Friday, and he really seemed to lock in for the final three innings of his start after allowing four earned runs in the bottom of the third.

Carlos Martinez was good, mostly because his stuff is just so nasty.

He struggled to find a release point most of Saturday evening, but he still turned in a quality start after going 6 innings and allowing two earned.

I didn’t think Adam Wainwright was bad today, outside of really just one mistake pitch that came back to bite him.

Drew Stubbs got him for a three-run shot in the bottom of the 4th, but outside of that, I thought that Waino threw the ball fine.

The bullpen was fantastic once again, as they allowed just a single earned run in 10 innings of work against the Braves.

Next: The Bad: Big Bats Still Struggling