Tuesday night, the St. Louis Cardinals’ second consecutive 8-5 win over the Washington Nationals highlighted an amazing trend that has helped keep the Redbirds atop the standings all season. With scheduled starter Carlos Martinez scratched due to minor back soreness, fans could’ve easily expected the Redbirds’ impressive eight-game winning streak over the Nationals to finally come to an end. It was a giveaway game for a team that had won eight of the previous nine contests. However, giving away wins isn’t ‘The Cardinal Way’ and instead the ball club rode a wave of youngsters and newbies to pull off yet another magical, come-from-behind victory.
Straight Outta AAA Memphis, the start was given to Marco Gonzales, who was called up courtesy of the expanded MLB rosters in September. Gonzales proceeded to give up four runs in less than three innings. I’m sure the Cardinals clubhouse could’ve used a parental advisory sticker as Mike Matheny and Derek Lilliquist likely cussed and fussed every time a Nationals player crushed another Gonzales ball into the outfield. Luckily for the home team, Nationals starter Joe Ross’s arm was trying out for a cameo on AMC’s The Walking Dead, seeing as how many walks and free runs he gave up in his short night on the mound.
When the visiting team took a 5-3 lead in the seventh inning, hordes of fans left the stadium. They missed yet another late-inning comeback by the Cardinals. It wasn’t the Cardinals big guns that drove them to victory. It wasn’t Yadier Molina, Jason Heyward or rookie phenom Steven Piscotty that repossessed the win. It wasn’t Matt Holliday, Randal Grichuk, Matt Adams or Jon Jay (all injured) powering the almighty St. Louis ship. It was the virtually unknown guys such as Tommy Pham, Greg Garcia and Cody Stanley coming up with big at bats when it counted. It was the recently acquired (and recently struggling) Brandon Moss who crushed a 1-0 pitch 421-feet over the center field wall to give the Cardinals a walk-off victory.
Sure, the talented, but underperforming Nationals aren’t likely to make the playoffs. The win may not be big in the sense of being over the Pittsburgh Pirates or Chicago Cubs. The importance in the victory lies in how it was won. The Cardinals continue to get production when and where you expect it the least. Scan the team’s statistics and there are no MVP candidates to be seen. The Cardinals have zero players in the Top 15 of the National League in batting average, RBIs and home runs (with a qualifying number of at bats).
Heyward, who struggled mightily at the start of the season has rebounded and now sports the team’s best qualifying batting average at .290. When his game was down in the dirt, Carpenter was lighting it up with his bat. When Carp went cold, Heyward took off.
Piscotty was the club’s top-hitting minor league prospect going into the season, so it’s unfair to say he came out of nowhere. However, I think it’s fair to say that nobody outside the Piscotty family expected him to hack away at a .338 clip as a mid-season call up. Grichuk was another youngster performing above expectations before his recent stint to the DL. Whether a key Cardinals player is struggling or shut down due to injury, it seems like the next man up always produces.
Some Cardinals fans are nervous about the team finishing with at least 100 wins. The last two times the club reached the century mark, they were bounced out of the playoffs. In 2005, they lost in the NLCS to the Houston Astros. In 2004, they were swept in the World Series by the Boston Red Sox. Conversely, when the Cardinals have squeaked into the playoffs in 2006 and 2011, they emerged with championships. Those fans should take solace in the fact that the Cardinals insane amount of injuries this season could be a blessing in disguise.
Holliday, Grichuk, Jay and Adams (though he recently suffered a minor rehab setback) are all expected to return in mid-September. If they can return at least two weeks before the playoffs, in order to work off any rust, they should all be well-rested and rejuvenated for a long playoff run. Adam Wainwright, the team’s fallen ace, is also hoping to return in time for the postseason despite a serious Achilles injury. My gut says that a Waino return is still a longshot. However, even if he is cleared and works strictly out of the bullpen, it will be a huge adrenaline boost to an already confident and capable team. Even if a few of those players don’t make it back to full health or is re-injured, the team has proven that it can take a licking and keep on ticking.
In the days when superstars like Mark McGwire and Albert Pujols anchored the Cardinals lineup, opponents knew which batters to avoid in critical situations. Now the Cardinals are more like ninjas. You never know where the strikes are coming from. As the old boxing adage states, “It’s the punch you can’t see that hurts you the most.”
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