Series Preview: St. Louis Cardinals @ Atlanta Braves
St. Louis Cardinals: 72-65 overall, 29-41 on the road, 3-7 in last 10
vs.
Atlanta Braves 80-60 overall, 50-19 at home, 5-5 in last 10
As the season winds down, it appears more and more likely that the St. Louis Cardinals will not make the playoffs. There is hardly any room for error, and yet the Cardinals continue to drop tough loss after tough loss. Sadly, it seems as if the fans have more hope than the team itself.
Everybody thought the Cards were done for last week after they went 2-8 on a road trip against the Pirates, Nationals and Astros. Then the team seemed to start playing better, and hope was restored. Winning the Wild Card seemed like a possibility, and now fans are back to last week’s mindset of disappointment.
The Redbirds need to go on a tear, folks. And it just doesn’t seem like that is in the “cards” this September. With that said, if Tony LaRussa still has one more trick up his sleeve as his career seemingly comes to an end, he’ll need to use it tonight when the Cardinals begin a four-game set with the Atlanta Braves.
St. Louis has seven series remaining. If they can win, let’s say, six of those, we’re looking at 16-18 wins in the 24 games left in the season. That may, just may, be good enough to squeeze in. Is it possible? Yes, mathematically it is possible, but it needs to start tonight. If you win the battles, you’ll win the war. Let’s take a closer look at the upcoming “battle” down in Atlanta.
Game One – Thursday, September 9th – 6:10 CST
Adam Wainwright: 17-10, 2.34 ERA, 184 SO, 200.1 IP (5-0, 2.00 ERA, 27 SO, 36 IP vs. Atlanta)
Jair Jurrjens: 7-4, 4.10 ERA, 81 SO, 107.2 IP (1-3, 3.27 ERA, 13 SO, 22 IP vs. St. Louis)
Game Two – Friday, September 10th – 6:35 CST
Chris Carpenter: 15-5, 2.90 ERA, 158 SO, 204.2 IP (3-2, 5.83 ERA, 33 SO, 41.2 IP vs. Atlanta)
Mike Minor: 3-0, 5.33 ERA, 31 SO, 27 IP (has not faced St. Louis)
Game Three – Saturday, September 11th – 3:10 CST
Jake Westbrook: 1-3, 3.89 ERA, 36 SO, 44 IP (0-1, 7.20 ERA, 4 SO, 5 IP vs. Atlanta)
Tommy Hanson: 9-11, 3.58 ERA, 151 SO, 171 IP (has not faced St. Louis)
Game Four – Sunday September, 12th – 7:05 CST
Kyle Lohse: 2-7, 7.13 ERA, 39 SO, 65.2 IP (2-1, 4.70 ERA, 29 SO, 44 IP vs. Atlanta)
Tim Hudson: 15-7, 2.41 ERA, 117 SO, 198 IP (3-2, 3.96 ERA, 21 SO, 49 IP vs. St. Louis
Who’s Hot? (all stats from September 1-8)
Matt Holliday: .333/.462/.714, 4 runs, 2 doubles, 2 home runs, 15 total bases, 7 RBI, 3 walks
Colby Rasmus: .350/.435/.500, 2 runs, 3 doubles, 10 total bases, 3 walks
Skip Schumaker: .357/.357/.500, 2 runs, 2 doubles, 7 total bases, 1 RBI
Who’s Not?
Yadier Molina: .182/.182/.318, 1 run, 0 doubles or triples, 1 home run, 5 RBI (four came on GS)
Pedro Feliz: .092/.092/.095, 1 run, 0 extra-base hits, 2 RBI
Albert Pujols: .208/.250/.417, 5 runs, 2 doubles, 1 home run, 3 RBI, 4 strikeouts