Welcome back to "about last night with the St. Louis Cardinals." After a brief time away from writing and social networking, I am back in the game this week, so let's talk about Monday's win over San Diego.
The Cardinals played as perfect of a game as a baseball team could hope to during their 5-2 triumph. The starting pitching climbed into the seventh inning, and the bullpen held firm with little give. The lineup put up enough runs to keep the blood pressure down, and the Redbirds enjoyed an error-less game. Mike Matheny spun some fine bullpen moves and didn't get in the way of winning, so that was pleasant.
Let's take a closer look at the game.
5) Jose. Martinez. Red hot. The guy collected his tenth 3-hit game of the season while also reaching ten home runs on the year with a two-run blast. I really don't like pulling him for defensive purposes, even if Matt Carpenter is a better glove over there. If the Padres tie it, you are out a great bat, probably your best. You can isolate stats on a website in talking about Martinez, or just marvel at what he's doing for league minimum. With Tommy Pham last year, you saw the crumbs on the floor in previous seasons. With Cafe, you saw nothing to prep for this. Good for him and the Cards.
4) Bud Norris hasn't been as flawless over the past couple weeks as he was in April and May, but he notched save #13 Monday night. That's not that bad for a guy who didn't have a role in February or a career direction just a year ago. The man has been a pleasant surprise on a team stocked with them.
3) When Marcell Ozuna gets into one, he leaves no doubt. Home run #7 traveled 442 feet, and it was Ozuna's fourth home run this month. He collected three home runs in March, April, and May combined. Sometimes, you just have to wait. The man was getting hits-but these days, he's just hitting them farther away.
2) Dexter Fowler starts and goes 0-4 with a strikeout. What happened to the people who said he was turning it around with a few decent games? He's hitting .173 and looks as lost as ever. Start Bader.
1) Jack Flaherty was roughed up by Miami last week, so it was nice to see him get there and put the brakes on a hot team. 6.1 innings and six strikeouts with minimal damage allowed is exactly what I'll take and expect from a talent like Flaherty's from here on out. He can do that every time out if he controls his pitches and doesn't let a few bad drops derail his night. Big pitching night.
The Cardinals played last night like a team that should be ten games over .500. They had some close moments late and had to put up an extra run to extend the breathing, but in the end, they made easy work of Ron Burgundy's team. Matheny may seem like the manager version of the 1970's hapless broadcaster, but he didn't get in the way of winning last night. He knew what he was doing, and the moves worked out.
It makes you wonder how many times this season the Cardinals have gotten in their own way-and what could happen if that happens less. Think about it. Can the Cards reach 10 games over the .500 mark? We will see this week.
Thanks for reading, and here's something before you go. I like doing these unique recaps. I'll leave the standard reporting to the pros and the standard recaps to the writers who like to fall asleep at the keyboard, but I do like adding my own touch to a game. Taking something away from it. If you don't like it, don't read it. If you do, I say thank you.
