St. Louis Cardinals: Successful Sweeps of 2016

June 10-12, 2016

There’s a catching trend on this season: road wins.  To that tune, the St. Louis Cardinals again found road magic and revenge when they traveled back to Pittsburgh in June.  No one likes being swept but it is easier to forget an early season sweep when the Birds are able to return to the scene of the crime and commit a crime of their own.

In the first game of the series, Michael Wacha faced off against Gerrit Cole.  Wacha went seven innings and allowed only two earned runs on three hits.  This was the game that Cole exited very early with injury that would have him out for a while.  Despite Cole’s early exit, the Cards found it difficult to score until later in the game but won in large fashion via a 9-3 score.

The second game of the series had Martinez facing off (and going the distance) against former Cardinal-killer Francisco Liriano.  Carlos took the win going 8.1 innings surrendering one earned run on six hits.  The St. Louis Cardinals were able to jump on Liriano in the fifth inning for four runs and rode this to a 5-1 win with Rosenthal recording his twelfth save on the season.

We should take a minute to revel in the fact that Rosenthal had recorded his 12th save here in June.  We need to remember this as we now await his potential return here at the end of the season.  Might Rosenthal play a part for the 2016 St. Louis Cardinals down the stretch?  But that’s not what we are here for…

The final game of the revenge sweep of the Pirates had Leake pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals facing Jon Niese.  Leake pitched seven innings in which he surrendered three runs (2 earned) on six hits.  The Cardinals managed to score four runs before the fourth inning and then tacked on another four in sixth for an 8-3 win.

Revenge tastes even sweeter when it comes at the end of a broom, no?

Next: June Cubs Sweep