5 takeaways from St. Louis Cardinals series win over Reds

It was a very frustrating series offensively for the Cardinals, but they were somehow able to grind out a series win over the Reds. 

The Cardinals lost Thursday 3-2. The Cardinals won Friday 6-5. The Cardinals swept the doubleheader, taking the afternoon game 5-1 and the evening game 1-0 in 11 innings. They lost Sunday 3-0.

While the injured list has been active, the Cardinals have allowed younger players to show off. While they have had their moments, no one has stepped up and taken over any position. This leaves the absence of players like Dylan Carlson and Tyler O’Neill as a gut punch for a team needing to regain their offensive form as October and the postseason nears, and the team waits on an uptick in production from Paul Goldschmidt and others.

The Cardinals are getting down to crunch time and must use the next couple of weeks wisely. The Cardinals took a plane west for a critical West Coast swing starting with a three-game set in San Diego.

Let’s discuss the takeaways from this five-game series with the Reds.

Lackluster Cardinals come up short in comeback attempt Thursday

Miles Mikolas earned his 12th loss of the season on Thursday. He pitched six innings, giving up five hits, three walks, and three runs, including two home runs to Nick Senzel and Aristides Aquino. Andre Pallante and Jake Woodford had effective relief appearances, each giving up a hit and a walk.

Paul Goldschmidt hit a double to left field in the third inning, scoring Lars Nootbaar. Unfortunately, Brendan Donovan was thrown out at home while making a mad dash to score.  In the ninth inning, Albert Pujols was out on a sacrifice fly to right field, allowing Donovan to score.

Unfortunately, that was all the Cardinals were able to muster.