St. Louis Cardinals: A look ahead to close out April

The St. Louis Cardinals currently sit one game behind .500-ball at a record of 9-10. Will the remaining schedule for April prove favorable?

The St. Louis Cardinals limped out of the gate of Spring Training after having a better spring than they typically post. In the limping, fans worried and anxieties were raised. Then entered a stretch facing the Pittsburgh Pirates and the then-surging Milwaukee Brewers. The Cardinals swept the Pirates and won the series with the Brewers surprising fan (me for sure).

Now the idea is to keep the momentum moving in the upward direction. The idea is to continue to support the great starting pitching. The idea is to continue to find ways of generating offense and ways of bringing in ducks on the pond. And the idea is to patch and repair the bruised bullpen.

Before looking ahead, let’s take a moment to look back at the series that were. Hang in there as I go through these painful beginnings as a piece of reminder to us.

The St. Louis Cardinals opened the season at home facing the media darling Cubs. The Cardinals actually came out of the gate well behind their newly-minted ace, Carlos Martinez, and took the first game.

Then, then the Cardinals started their downward path and lost the next two games against the Cubs. During the Cubs series, the offense amassed nine runs across the three-game set (keep an eye on these numbers).

The second series of the season was against the Reds wherein the Birds lost two-of-three. In this series, the St. Louis Cardinals were blanked in the score column in the first and last game but erupted against Bronson Arroyo for a ten spot; the Cardinals scored a total, therefore, of ten runs in the three-game set.

The third series of the season had the St. Louis Cardinals visiting the Washington Nationals. Sadly, the nation’s capital was not welcoming ground as the Cards dropped the first two games against the Nationals. The offense showed its back-and-forth mentality yet again plating nine runs across the two losses and six runs in the finale wherein the Birds won.

The fourth series of the season brought the St. Louis Cardinals into a reunion with Matt Holliday in the New York. The reunion might have been nice but the outcome of the three-game set was anything but nice: the Cardinals’ first sweep of the season on the losing side of things. In the series, the offense started its decline and only managed to score eight runs across the three games.

Limping back to St. Louis, the Cardinals hosted the Pirates who were flying in off of a sweep of the Cubs. By all indications, the Pirates should have swept into St. Louis and left with another victory. The Cardinals had other plans.

In the fifth series of the season, the St. Louis Cardinals placed their names in the record books by sweeping the Pirates in three games with each game ending in the same score: 2-1. If you are keeping score at home, this means that the offense was only able to pull together six runs in three games.

The most recent series- the sixth of the season- took the Cardinals to Milwaukee to face the Brewers who had been doing well on the season. The Cardinals dropped the first game of the series but came roaring back to take the next three to secure their second series win. In the series, the offense plated twenty-one runs across four games.

To-date, the Cardinals offense has plated nine runs, ten runs, nine runs, eight runs, six runs, and twenty-one runs in their respective series. Certainly the twenty-one runs will get it done in a series but the six, eight, and nine leave much to be desired.

Let’s look forward now to see if the remaining schedule for April will usher in May flowers or if the April showers will darken the Cardinals’ door.