St. Louis Cardinals: Successful Sweeps of 2016

July 18-21, 2016

The St. Louis Cardinals faced the San Diego Padres in the middle of July in a four-game set across four days with one rain-out and one double-header.  The rain-out came on my birthday on July 19 and all four games of the sweep came at Busch Stadium– the home that had and has proven a difficult place in which the Cardinals can win.

In the first game of the series, Leake faced off against Christian Friedrich.  Leake went six innings and allowed only one earned run on six hits.  Leake proudly struck out eleven batters in the competition and helped secure the 10-2 rout of the Padres.

The second game which was originally scheduled to have been played on July 19, was the first game of a double-header on July 20.  This game had Martinez facing off against Colin Rea.  Martinez secured his ninth win on the season going seven innings surrendering two earned run on four hits.  A close bout but the Cardinals pulled away in the fourth and took the 4-2 win.

The third game of the four-game series, the second game of the double-header on July 20, had Jaime facing Paul Clemens.  Garcia secured his seventh win on the season by going only 5.2 innings but surrendering only one earned run on six hits.  Similar to the first game of the series, the ending score showed the close bout and concluded with a 3-2 win.

The final game of the sweep of the Padres had Wainwright pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals facing Andrew Cashner.  Neither starting pitcher took a decision.  Wainwright pitched six innings in which he surrendered two earned runs on seven hits.  The close game turned into a bullpen game and the Cardinals pulled away when it mattered to secure a 6-5 win.

These four games, one rain-out, and one double-header proved to be successful but tiring for the birds on the bat.

Next: August Astros Sweep