St. Louis Cardinals: What made win Friday great, make losses sting

The Cardinals are fully capable of pulling off impressive victories like Friday, which makes the losses fans witnessed Saturday and Sunday sting. 

Friday evening’s 11-0 win for the Cardinals over the Dodgers was memorable. Albert Pujols knocked his 699 and 700th home runs. Lars Nootbaar and Juan Yepez knocked a home run, and Alec Burleson joined in on the fun to hit the first home run of his major league career. Tommy Edman, Dylan Carlson, and Brendan Donovan contributed to the huge victory.

They can get hits and move teammates as well as score runs. Lots of them.

The hitting was made better with a gem of a pitching performance from Jose Quintana. He pitched 6.2 innings giving up five hits while striking out six batters. He looked sharp and like someone the Cardinals could rely upon as we head into October baseball.

Zack Thompson pitched 1.1 innings, giving up a walk and striking out one batter. Corey Dickerson was the latest position player to get a turn at pitching. While he got through his inning of work, he gave up two hits and walked one. It was enough to make you nervous!

But the Cardinals pulled off an awe-inspiring victory that included a future Hall of Famer in Albert Pujols, achieving a fantastic fete in getting his 700th career home run. He did this in front of the fans of a team that took him in after getting unceremoniously released from the Anaheim Angels, revitalizing his career and inspiring him to continue and end it out with the team where he started it all.

It was a moment that would pull at your heartstrings.

So what they did Saturday and Sunday is just disheartening.

Cardinals losses on Saturday and Sunday are frustrating

The Cardinals lost Saturday 6-2 and on Sunday 4-1.

Jordan Montgomery did not look like the pitcher the organization had been so excited to get at the trade deadline in exchange for Harrison Bader. Instead, he looked like a pitcher who had been figured out.

He earned his 6th loss of the year after four innings, giving up seven hits, one walk, and six earned runs, including three home runs to Will Smith, Tracye Thompson, and Miguel Vargas. Dakota Hudson came into the game to relieve Montgomery. And he looked great. Hudson pitched three innings, giving up two hits and walking one.  Seems that trip to Memphis did Hudson well, as he will be helpful down the stretch for the Cardinals.

Chris Stratton pitched the eighth inning, walking one and striking out three. Outstanding effort!

The Cardinals got their two runs from Nolan Arenado, who hit his 30th home run of the year, scoring Albert Pujols. Arenado now has 30 homers and 100 RBI for the seventh season in a row. Another amazing accomplishment!

Adam Wainwright earned his 11th loss Sunday and looked like he was still experiencing “dead arm” issues. Wainwright could use the time off for rest. The team is going to want an effective Wainwright for October, they are not going to get that in his current state.

Wainwright pitched three innings, giving up six hits, three walks, and four earned runs. He did strike out a batter.

Zack Thompson pitched two innings of relief, striking out three batters. Jojo Romero pitched an inning, striking out two batters. Jake Woodford pitched an inning, and Andre Pallante pitched an inning, striking out one.

At least the relief corp is looking good.

The Cardinals got their lone run, thanks to Yadier Molina. He singled to left field, scoring Yepez and moving Carlson to third. But that was all they could muster. It was frustrating.

What is next for the Cardinals?

The Cardinals have Monday off to travel for a two-game set against the Milwaukee Brewers. Their magic number is now 3. So this will be an essential series for the Cardinals. It will be necessary for the hitters and pitchers to show up and show out. Miles Mikolas and Jose Quintana will take the mound for St. Louis.

The Cardinals know this is a crucial set of games. Here’s hoping they prove it.