The early season tailspin of the Cardinals season was due much in part the inability to close games out late. The struggles extended when the search to find the right arm to fill in to the final frame role. Yet, when Edward Mujica took the ball to close out for the first time on April 18 in Philadelphia, everything changed, because Mujica’s performance didn’t. He converted that save for the club, and hasn’t wasted a chance since, and it’s no coincidence that since he established himself even later in games, and this weekend he saved both of the Cardinal wins, running his season total to a perfect 13 for 13.

“Chief” has taken the same lock down performance he brought to seventh inning a year ago over this season, and has firmly established himself as the club’s most reliable reliever. Since arriving in St. Louis last August, he has put up a 1.19 ERA in 45.1 Cardinal innings, an effort that has also seen him perform unflappably in two different roles in the Cardinal pen. “Adding Mujica was huge for us,” pitcher Mitchell Boggs stated regarding his impact upon arrival last year. “He stabilized our bullpen and gave us another proven arm that could go out there night in and night out. We took off as a bullpen when we got him.”

Historically, he was not a final inning arm before coming to St. Louis. His career ERA in the eighth inning is 4.96, while 3.16 in the ninth. Yet, with his success closing out games raising his profile, it makes him a sleeper candidate for a guy having a huge contract year.

Hitting the market with a ninth inning grade is much different than a seventh/eighth inning one. Mujica, who is bringing in just over $3 million for the 2013 season, which was due from his final arbitration year, is setting himself up for a bigger boost due to the presence of one of the most rewarded stats in baseball: saves. And with Jason Motte on the mend and with no easy date to say when he’ll be ready to go, there’s a chance the Cardinals will have to get very competitive to keep him in the stable.

As things stand now, he’s aligning himself to be among the best relievers in the National League this season, and if history shows anything, it’s that a big jump in saves can equal a very solid jump in pay grade. When Brandon League saved 37 games for the Mariners in 2011, he had never bettered six before in a season. He also had never bettered $2.2 million per season either, yet when he neared free agency this past winter, the Dodgers handed him $27.5 million over the next four seasons, much in part due to that breakout year only one season removed. Similar cases can be seen recently with Joel Hanrahan, Grant Balfour and Francisco Cordero. The closer market overall will be very open for “jump biding” this winter, meaning it’s ripe for the over pay, which damages the Cardinals chances at retaining Mujica at a manageable price, even in a setup capacity.

Yet, the need for a return to St. Louis will be highly influenced by the price, as well as the contingencies. Trevor Rosenthal is in the wings, and is being groomed to be the ninth inning arm of the future, regardless of Motte’s status. If the price for Mujica surpasses the $5 million mark annually (which it seems guaranteed to do), is there a chance the Cardinals bow out in favor of parking one of the promising arms within the system in the role for nearly 90% less? With Rosenthal as well as Joe Kelly, Carlos Martinez, and potentially Mitchell Boggs, in the wings, the Cardinals hold over until Motte returns at the back of the bullpen is solid. And while Mujica has been without a doubt one of the great coups of John Mozeliak’s tenure, his continued success could continue to draw his time to close at Busch.

The St. Louis Cardinals notched their Major League Baseball-leading 14^th road victory Wednesday with a 5-4 win over the Chicago Cubs and continued a trend that could pay off later in the season.

The Cardinals are 14-7 away from Busch Stadium and have won more games on the road than eight teams have won at all this season. That’s partially because the Cardinals have also played the most road games in baseball, but it is also the type of record that could set the Cardinals up for a great summer stretch.

The team is just 7-5 at home this season, but they have also played just one team in those 12 games that is under .500 for the season, and that’s the Milwaukee Brewers, who are 15-16.

Coming up, the Kansas City Royals will be the only team above .500 the Cardinals will face at home in May before the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks visit during the first week of June.

So expectations have to be increasingly high for a team that has jumped to the best record in the National League while playing 21 of 33 games on the road and many of them being against quality opponents.

Their 21-12 record is also surprising, given the bullpen struggles throughout April, but the bullpen has improved significantly of late and hasn’t blown a lead since Joe Kelly imploded by giving up four runs April 27 to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the seventh inning of a 5-3 loss.

Since then, the team has won seven of its next 10 games and pulled out to a three-game lead over the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates heading into play Thursday.

Not many people expected the Cardinals to be this good, especially this early in the season. If anything, the Reds were supposed to run away with the division, but they are 19-16, including a 6-10 record on the road.

In fact, the Cardinals are one of just seven teams to have a winning road record so far this season, but it is a large determining factor in success because all but two of those teams, the Diamondbacks and Cleveland Indians, are first or second in their division.

Now, however, the Cardinals will have to maintain their pace in upcoming games at Busch Stadium against the Colorado Rockies, New York Mets and the Brewers because this is a wonderful opportunity to bank wins while the team has a generally healthy roster, a starting rotation that is putting up historic numbers and a bullpen that looks as though it can hold a lead in the late innings.

Four relievers combined to give up no runs and just two hits in the final 3.2 innings Wednesday against the Cubs after Jake Westbrook allowed four runs and nine hits in his 5.1 innings.

That kind of relief performance is what it is going to take for the Cardinals to maintain their success. The starting rotation has combined for a historically low 2.25 earned-run average so far this season, but it is not going to be able to keep that pace throughout the season.

But, it saved the Cardinals through the first month and perhaps the bullpen is coming around at the perfect time.

That could make for a lot of fun summer nights this season at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals leave out of Pittsburgh with essentially a split series due to the rain out of Tuesday evening, and also with a series that’s a tale of two halves. After an offensive eruption in game one, which they won 10-6 on Monday, they could barely find their way into the hit column two days later, dropping the final game of the series 5-0 to AJ Burnett. Now, as they depart to see the other Pennsylvania based team in the second leg of their current 10 game road swing, they’ve got nowhere to look but up. Here’s what to take from the Pittsburgh series, which was a revelation of some challenges that are remediable, but are becoming problems quickly.

1.Runs Parched: Last season, when the Cardinals were on, they were on. But when they were off, it was an ugly thing to see. The offense would turn off completely, and there would be no chance of scoring it would seem, only to then erupt to be able to produce runs seemingly at will. The rollercoaster hasn’t been too wide thus far this season, with them averaging 5.6 runs per game, good for third in the National League. Yet, the team’s average is still struggling (.248, good for 20^th in the NL), and they are truly living in the moment to produce runs.

The shutout suffered on Wednesday was the club’s second on the season. Burnett took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Carlos Beltran broke it up. Despite that, they still couldn’t manage to get any runs on the board, and not counting the rained out game on Tuesday, have officially not scored in the last 15 innings. With Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay awaiting, getting out of that funk in this series would have been timely.

2. Free Joe Kelly: Kelly made a rare appearance in Monday’s game, throwing two scoreless innings, while surrendering one hit. He had not pitched since April 7^th versus the Giants, and missed the entire home stand. Kelly made the team partially out of necessity due to the Jason Motte injury changing the bullpen’s capacity, but also due to the flexibility he displayed after moving to the pen late last year and throughout the playoffs. While it is good to have him available, this is still a 24-year-old that is a starter by trait. Finding more opportunities for him to work is essential, because if they are only going to present themselves once a week, he would potentially be better used in Memphis.

3. Warrior without a clue: Lance Lynn has been the definition of a workhorse this season…but one that leaves early every day. In his three starts on the season, he has pitched a total of 15 innings, and has thrown a whopping total of 294 pitches already. That is an awful lot of work for a starts that are reaching to hit the middle point of a ballgame. Although his record is 2-0, the numbers outside of it belie what is really at work for his season. His other read outs look are seven walks against 17 strikeouts, better than one hit per inning surrendered, good for a 1.60 WHIP, contributing to a 5.40 ERA.

The problem with Lynn’s efficiency is approach. While the stuff is good, he does not miss many bats or throw in places conducive to strikes (i.e. the off the plate). Also, due to heavy volume he throws in, he wears down very early in the game and virtually guarantees his starts to be heavy bullpen games. He has once again benefit from a heavy amount of run support (8 runs per game), which makes the bad inning not look as bad, because from a certain perspective, it’s not burying the team. But a pitcher should be able to win games, not just benefit from his environment, and the telling stat is what batters are doing to him the second time around. Batters are managing a whopping .433 average on his 31^st through 60^th pitches, which is usually his second and final time seeing a lineup. Roughly speaking, he’s average one time through, and horrible the next. In order to thrive (or potentially even survive) as a starter, Lynn has to become more deceptive and make location his friend, because the reliever-turned-starter approach he’s taking now is not going to cut it.

In last night’s game, St Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny opted to intentionally walk Bryan LaHair with two out in the eighth in favor of matching up Alfonso Soriano against Mitchell Boggs.

Why did Matheny do that?  In 157 ABs (172 PA) Soriano has posted a .261/.320/.420 line against the Cardinals.  He’s terrorized the Kyles, off whom he’s hit all 5 of his HR (3 off Lohse, 2 off McClellan).  Other than those two, and Lance Lynn (he’s 3-7 against Lance), current St Louis pitchers have largely handled Soriano.  On the other hand, there’s LaHair.  He has a much smaller sample size, having a total of 19 AB (22 PA) against St Louis, but he’s made the most of them.  LaHair has hit 3 HR in those 19 AB, and has a .368/.455/.842 line.

Perhaps the critical pieces of data for this discussion are these – Soriano was oh for 9 with 7 K’s career against Boggs.  LaHair had never faced the right hander.  And, while LaHair was 3 for 4 with a HR in the game to that point, Soriano was 0-3.

So with all that data in mind, Matheny walked LaHair.  Boggs promptly fell behind Soriano 2-0 and 3-1, then surrendered a single to left which allowed the tie-breaking run to score.  5-4 Cubs.  Chicago would tack on an insurance run in the ninth to win 6-4.

Did Boggs lose Soriano simply because he fell behind?  Perhaps, but Boggs had fallen behind in the count to Soriano on three previous occasions, and had recovered to induce a pop-out to first and 2 strikeouts.  He had only surrendered a 3-ball count to Soriano once before and it had turned into one of the 2 strikeouts noted above.

So did Matheny do the right thing here? Well, he did successfully navigate a scoreless seventh inning while directing 2 intentional walks.  And, had Boggs not fallen way behind in the count perhaps he could have retired Soriano successfully.  I think in this game Matheny rolled the dice once too many times.  He was bound to get burned.

Mike Metzger is a freelance writer based in San Diego.  He blogs periodically about the Padres.  Follow him on Twitter @metzgermg.

The year 1982 marked the first of three 1980′s appearances in the World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals. It also marks the one and only time that the Milwaukee Brewers reached the World Series.

With the two teams, now in the same league, prepared to face off for the National League Pennant, i70baseball brings you a look back to that series in 1982. A monumental series that took all seven games to decide a winner. A series that would see would see both teams win a game by a double digit margin as well as each team winning a game by two or fewer runs.

You can read more about Game One by clicking here.
You can read more about Game Two by clicking here.
You can read more about Game Three by clicking here.
You can read more about Game Four by clicking here.

The Series had been tied as of the night before, but it appeared that the Brewers had all the momentum. A six run seventh inning gave the game four victory to the Brewers as they headed into the Sunday night game at County Stadium, looking to take a three games to two lead. The Cardinals, still the heavy favorites to win it all, would look to reestablish a lead in the quest for their ninth World Championship.

Game Five: October 17, 1982
The night would be of historic value, even if the two teams were not aware of it at the time. While 1982 was the Milwaukee Brewers first appearance at the Fall Classic, it was not the first that Milwaukee’s County Stadium would see. The stadium had hosted series while being home to the Milwaukee Braves in 1957 and 1958 against the New York Yankees. On this night, the ball yard would host it’s final World Series game. In addition, Robin Yount, who had four hits in game one, would record four hits on this night as well, becomming the first player in history to record two, four hit games in a single World Series.

The Cardinals would send lanky hurler Bob Forsch to the mound to try to regain the upper hand. Forsch had a solid season, going 15-9 with a 3.48 earned run average. He threw six complete games, including two shut outs, and an impressive 233 innings. The Cardinals depended on him to anchor the rotation, and hopes were high with him on the mound, despite him being the pitcher of record in the 10-0 blowout loss in game one.

The Brewers countered with their game one winner, Mike Caldwell, a seventeen game winner on the season. A similar pitcher to Forsch, Caldwell had the same level of confidence from fans and teammates. The game was lined out to be a classic, and it would not take long to get things going.

It may very well have been the defense that set the tone for this game and it happened in the first inning. After Lonnie Smith would lead off the game with a base hit and promptly steal second base, he would be gunned down trying to steal third by Brewers catcher Ted Simmons with Keith Hernandez at the plate. Hernandez would stroke a single in that at bat, but the run had already been erased.

It was not just good defense that set the tone, however. After Forsch retired Paul Molitor on a flyball, Robin Yount and Cecil Cooper would each single. Forsch would then have Yount picked off of second base, but he threw the ball away and into centerfield. Both runners would advance and Yount would score on Ted Simmons ground out to first base. The score after the first was 1-0 in favor of the Brewers.

Cardinal leftfielder David Green would stroke a two-out triple in the top of the third, scoring on Keith Hernandez’s double in the following at bat and suddenly the score was tied. Milwaukee would not let it stay that way, however, as they would make Forsch pay for walking Paul Molitor with one out in their half of the third. A Robin Yount double would put runners at second and third and Milwaukee would score their second run the same way they scored their first, on a groundout to first base. The third inning came to a close with Milwaukee up 2-1.

Milwaukee would add on in the fifth inning when Cecil Cooper would lead off the frame with a two base hit down the left field line and moved to third on the efficient groundout to the right side by Jim Gantner. Molitor’s single would follow and drive in the run, and the Cardinals uphill battle would increase. The first five innings were complete and the Brewers were now up 3-1.

The seventh inning would continue the theme of the night. The Cardinals, utilizing a leadoff walk to Ozzie Smith, would plate a run in the top of the frame on a George Hendrick base hit to center and close the gap a little. However, the Brewers would once again answer quickly, this time off a solo home run into right field by Robin Yount. The seventh had come to a close, and the Brewers still led, now 4-2.

Bruce Sutter would take the mound in the bottom of the eighth and the Brewers would build a bit of a cushion. Sutter would surrender a one out single to Ben Oglivie and a two out walk to Dan Money, setting up the bottom of the order to do some damage. Charlie Moore, hitting eighth, would drive a single to right field, scoring Oglivie. Ninth place hitter Jim Gantner would follow with a single of his own to score Money and the Brewers would head to the ninth winning by a score of 6-2.

Caldwell would take the hill in the ninth, looking for the complete game and get himself into some trouble early on. A one out double to Green would lead to a run scored as Hernandez would make it back-to-back doubles. George Hendrick would follow with a single to center field, chasing Hernandez home and Caldwell from the game. Brewers closer Bob McClure would enter the game and surrender a single to catcher Darrel Porter. After McGee would strike out swinging for the second out, Whitey Herzog would enter Mike Ramsey to pinch run for Porter and send Gene Tenace to the plate to pinch hit for Kent Oberkfel for the second straight night. Tenace would not strike out like the night before, but his harmless fly ball to center field would bring and end to the game.

The teams would be set to return to St. Louis for the final two games of the World Series. The Brewers would simply need to take one of those games to claim the franchise’s first title. The Cardinals would need a sweep to extend their lead as the top franchise in the National League.

The next day was an off day for travel and we will bring you the game six recap on the same night of game six in the 2011 NLCS between the two teams.

Stay tuned as i70baseball brings you game recaps for all seven games of the 1982 World Series on game days of the 2011 National League Championship Series.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.

Before we get going, I have a confession to make. Prior to last night’s game, I was planning on writing about the need for Albert Pujols to step it up offensively and have a big impact on this series. I was getting ready to tell you he hadn’t hit a homerun since September 22^nd, how he’d only driven in 3 runs since then, and that the drought needed to end. I was even going to go as far as to suggest he could no longer work over playoff-quality pitching at the clip he once could.

The prosecution would obviously like to strike all that from the record.

Monday night in Game 2 of the NLCS, Albert put on a display for the ages. How’s this for stepping it up offensively?

First Inning: Home Run, 2 RBIs

Third Inning: Double, 2 RBIs

Fifth Inning: Double, 1 RBI (the aggressive base-running led to him scoring on a wild pitch)

Seventh Inning: Double, Run scored

Eighth Inning: Groundout to 2^nd, Milwaukee crowd gives home team a mock-ovation for finally getting Albert out. Resident pest, Milwaukee centerfielder Nyjer Morgan, sure didn’t waste much time backpedaling on his “Alberta” comment, saying after last night’s game:

“He’s special. I’ve never said anything about how (Pujols) plays. It was just talking smack. He’s still that special player, one of the best and greatest hitters around. You tip your hat to a guy who does his work like that.”

It was as if Morgan just then realized that it’s probably not such a great idea to poke the sleeping bear… especially a bear who nearly has as many career home runs (445) as Morgan has hits (467). Both Pujols and Morgan are 31 years old.

But it doesn’t take Morgan’s comments to cement the fact that it was an absolutely dominant performance, and awaiting in Game 3 is a pitcher in Yovani Gallardo that Pujols tagged for 2 home runs in a game just last month.

The Pujols v Gallardo matchup is just one of the many things the Cardinals have going for them as the NLCS returns to St. Louis for the first time since 2006.

Carpenter Pitching Twice: Splitting the first two games in Milwaukee was huge for the Cardinals, especially considering how much Milwaukee has struggled on the road this season (more on that in a minute). But the big boost comes in the form of Chris Carpenter, who after putting on one of the best lock-down pitching performances last Friday, is now set to take the mound in 2 of the remaining 5 games in the series (if necessary). Even though he’s going up against Brewers ace, Yovani Gallardo, in both games, you still have to feel good about the Cardinals’ chances of winning those games. Carpenter shutout Milwaukee on 4 hits in September, and went 8 innings allowing just 2 runs in a Cardinals win in mid-August (one of just 2 losses handed to the Brewers over a 21 game stretch at the time).

Braun’s Bat Neutralized: Milwaukee outfielder, Ryan Braun, is one heck of a hitter. With all due respect to Prince Fielder, Braun is probably the most frightening postseason hitter the Cardinals have seen since Carlos Beltran’s in the 2004 NLCS. Every time he comes up, it feels like he’s going to stroke a double into the gap… at least in Miller Park, that is. For whatever reason, Braun has been a much better hitter at home this postseason, as have most of the Brewers (though admittedly, it’s a small sample size). But that has also been the case over much of the regular season, so we’ll have to see how it all plays out here during these next 3 games in St. Louis.

Road Woes: The Brewers went 39-42 on the road this season, not a terrible record considering how bad of a start they got off to, but here’s what is bad: Including the playoffs, Milwaukee is now 10-21 against teams who made the playoffs this season. Considering Carpenter’s dominance the past 2 times the Brewers came to Busch, and Jaime Garcia’s near-miss at no-hitting them at Busch earlier this year, Milwaukee might need to win Game 4 if they plan on bringing this series back home for a possible Game 6 and 7.

Starting Edge: There’s really no reason to believe that the Brewers will have the upper hand for the rest of the games in the NLCS from a starting pitching standpoint. We’ve already been over what Carpenter and Garcia have done to the Brewers (Game 3, 5, and 7 starters), we’ve already touched on Pujols’ success against Yovani Gallardo, who the Cardinals beat twice in one week early last month (he’s slated for Games 3 and 7). In game 6, you have a rematch of Game 2… and we all know how well that worked out for St. Louis. That leaves only game 4 where the matchup might be even… but Kyle Lohse has been hot the past month and a half for the Cardinals, and Randy Wolf, the Brewers’ #4 starter, just got bombed by the Diamondbacks in the NLDS.

With that said, I leave you this fair warning: The Cardinals and Brewers are not simply tied at one game apiece… they’re tied 10-10. In 20 games this year, the teams have split them evenly. So despite home field advantage, the Brewers’ road woes, and the Cardinals’ apparent pitching edge… don’t expect the Cardinals to wrap this series up at Busch and coast into the World Series. What you can expect, more than likely, is another heart-stopping, nerve-wracking, intense as all get-out Game 7 at Miller Park.

On September 22, a rain delayed Thursday afternoon game, the Cardinals lost a heartbreaker to the New York Mets. Trailing Atlanta by just 1 1/2 games, the Cardinals were just three outs from closing that gap to just a single game, when a tired and perhaps over-used bullpen blew up, and the Mets won.

I70-baseball writer, Dathan Brooks, suggests that the loss is not the end of the season in his most recent article, If Ya Gotta Lose (And You Do), Lose That Game. We now know that the Cardinals also lost the following game to the Cubs, making it that much more difficult to win the NL Wild Card. With fans suddenly exiting the Cardinals bandwagon, I thought it might be interesting to look back at some other disappointing losses, to see if we can put that Thursday afternoon catastrophe in some sort of perspective.

The list started with ten through six in a previous post, which can be read here. With that as background, here are my top five Most Disappointing Cardinal losses.

5. October 8, 2009 – Los Angeles 3, St. Louis 2

Chris Carpenter had pitched the opening game of the 2009 National League Divisional Series on short rest, and it looked like it. The Dodgers were hitting the former Cy Young winner hard, and often. They had taken Game One, at home, but were still looking like the underdog in this series.

That was apparent when Cy Young hopeful, Adam Wainwright pitched one of the best games in his short career. 8 innings, 3 hits, 7 strikeouts and just one walk – in a must win game. A Colby Rasmus double in the seventh inning would give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. It was still 2-1 when Ryan Franklin took the mound with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Manny Ramirez would fly out to center field for the second out. One more out, and the Cardinals would leave Los Angeles with a split in the series, and all of the momentum.

Oops

That’s what we all thought would happen when James Loney lines out to left field. But Matt Holliday lost the ball in the lights, and dropped it for a two base error. Two walks, a passed ball, and two singles later, the Dodgers won the game, and the 2009 season came to an end for the Cardinals.

Oh, there was still one more game to be played, Game Three in St. Louis. That was just a formality as a truly defeated Cardinals team just went through the motions for nine innings to complete the Dodgers sweep.

It is hard to believe that there are more disappointing losses than this one, but there are.

4. October 1, 1974 – Montreal 3, St. Louis 2

This is a game that has been somewhat forgotten over the years, and it is unfortunate. The Cardinals and Pirates entered the last game of the season in a tie for first place. The winner of the division will have the monumental task of playing the Cincinnati Reds at the peak of their Big Red Machine days.

The two teams were playing their respective games at nearly the same time, so there was a huge emotional swing as we paid as much attention to the scoreboard as we did to the game we were watching.

The Cubs would take an early lead against the Pirates, as would the Cardinals in their game with the Expos. Bob Gibson was on the mound for St. Louis, and while he had struggled though injury and sore legs through most of the season, he was vintage Gibson in this game. As the clock passed through 8:15 pm in St. Louis, it seemed as if the Cardinals would win the National League east. By 8:30, that all changed on a pair of home runs, one in Pittsburgh, the other in Montreal. Pittsburgh would win the NL East by one game, and St. Louis would not return to post-season for nearly a decade.

This is perhaps an alternate ending for the fans who questioned Tony La Russa’s decision to remove Chris Carpenter from a tie game with the Cubs on night following the Thursday Afternoon Meltdown. Like Gibson, Carpenter had struggled through most of the season, but had found one more A+ game. Red Schoendienst chose not to remove Gibson, and he would end up taking the loss.

There is a huge difference between these two. Gibson’s game was a must win, Carpenter’s was just a really good one to win. That’s the difference between game 162 and 156. There is still time in 2011.

3. October 2, 1964 – New York (NL) 1, St. Louis 0

After nearly completing a miraculous comeback in 1963, the Cardinals again found themselves in a playoff race in the final series of the season. Holding a slim one game lead over the Reds and Phillies, and facing the New York Mets, still playing like an expansion team, you had to like your chances if you were a Cardinals fan.

Oh, let’s also add in that Bob Gibson, winner of 17 games so far, was on the mound for the Cardinals. Bring on the Yankees.

Not so fast. Al Jackson, the little left-hander with an awful career win/loss record had a different idea. Ed Kranepool would single home George Altman in the third inning for the Mets. It would be the only run of the game as Jackson throws a complete game shutout. The little guy that would flirt with no-hitters several times in his career, held the Cardinals to just 5 hits.

To make matters worse, Ray Sadecki would get bombed in the next game as the Mets won, 15-5. Johnny Keane was forced to use eight pitchers in the game, which left his bullpen in shambles for the final game. What looked most promising on Friday night, was now a Sunday afternoon nightmare.

When Curt Simmons struggled in the final game, Keane took a chance and went to Bob Gibson, pitching on one day rest after throwing 8 innings. It was the gutsiest performance in Cardinals history, pitching on fumes while the Cardinals bats finally woke up, giving him his 18th win.

That final weekend in 1964 was supposed to have been played without any drama.

2. October 10, 1968 – Detroit 4, St. Louis 1

Denny McLain, Mickey Lolich and the Detroit Tigers had an amazing season, but they were supposed to be just a speed bump on the Cardinals path to their second consecutive World Series title, the third in five years. That was apparent when Bob Gibson dominated in Games One and Four, and the Redbirds steamrolled to a 3 games to 1 lead. It didn’t matter that the Tigers had roared back to force a Game Seven, so did the Red Sox a year earlier.

For the first six innings in Game Seven, this was as good as baseball gets. Mickey Lolich and Bob Gibson are putting up zeros at an alarming rate. The turning point in the game happened in the home half of the sixth inning. Both Lou Brock and Curt Flood were picked off first base. That just didn’t happen, especially to those two. The momentum swung to the Tigers side of the diamond, and they capitalized in the top of the seventh.

Bob Gibson would quickly retire Mickey Stanley and Al Kaline to start the inning. What happens next caught the entire baseball world off guard. Nobody was concerned when Norm Cash and Willie Horton singled – this was Bob Gibson. Then the unthinkable – Jim Northrup rips a line drive into left center field. Curt Flood had been playing Northrup to pull the ball, so was shading him to right field, and somewhat shallow. Flood misread Northrup’s hit initially, and then slipped on the wet turf as he tried to correct his path to the ball. It flies well over Flood’s head and rolls all the way to the wall for a 2 run triple.

That would prove to the the game winner, as Lolich goes the distance and earns the win.

That brings us to THE most disappointing loss. Although we still argue about why the Cardinals lost this game, I doubt that there is any debate about this being the worst loss in Cardinals history.

1. October 26, 1985 – Kansas City 2, St. Louis 1

This game is remembered for Don Denkinger’s ninth inning call that, more than 25 years later, still divides a state. One half wants the other half to get past it, while the other half still have video tapes of the game buried somewhere in a closet.

What has been forgotten about this game are the performances of the two starters, Danny Cox for the Cardinals and Charlie Leibrandt for the Royals. Of the three big horses at the top of the Cardinals rotation, Cox was the guy you wanted on the mound in a must-win game. And he pitched a gem, going seven scoreless innings, striking out 8.

But Leibrandt was just as effective, as the Vince Coleman-less Cardinals just couldn’t do much against the Royals lefty.

The game was still scoreless in the eighth when pinch hitter, Brian Harper singled with two outs, driving in Terry Pendleton. That gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead with just six outs from a World Series title. Ken Dayley worked a quick bottom of the eighth inning to set up the now famous “Call”.

The Call

Todd Worrell would take over for Dayley in the ninth inning. Worrell had been called up just before the September 1 post-season eligibility deadline and had taken over as the Cardinals closer. To underscore his level of experience, he had not appeared in enough games to lose his rookie status for the following season. That’s what makes the first play in ninth inning such a tragedy.

Jorge Orta starts things off by hitting a ground ball to Jack Clark at first base. He tosses the ball to Worrell, covering first base. That’s one mistake. It is still unclear what Don Denkinger thought he saw, but he called Orta safe at first base. Then the wheels came off, and quickly.

Steve Balboni hits a pop up over in foul territory behind first base. Jack Clark gives chase, and is unable to make the catch. That’s mistake number two. Balboni takes advantage of Clark’s miscue by hitting a sharp single.

Jim Sundberg tries to help the Cardinals cause by bunting the ball back sharply to Worrell, and he is able to throw out the lead runner at third base.

Then comes the final mistake, a passed ball. If any of Denkinger’s call, Clark’s error or Darrell Porter‘s inability to block Worrell’s pitch in the dirt don’t happen, the Cardinals probably win the game. But all three did, and that set up the winning run.

With runners at second and third with just one out, Whitey Herzog has no choice but to intentionally walk Hal McCrae to load the bases. That brings Dane Iorg to the plate, and he delivers a walk-off two run single against his former club. The Royals win 2-1, and that forces a Game Seven.

Game Seven seven was a complete disaster. It was a combination of a complete Cardinals meltdown and a terrific pitching performance by Bret Saberhagen. St. Louis would be embarrassed 11-0 and the Kansas City Royals would win the only World Series in their franchise history – at least so far.

Those are my top 10. And no, the Thursday Afternoon Disaster does not make the list. Do you agree or disagree ? Please let me know in the comments section.

Bob Netherton covers Cardinals history for i70baseball.com and writes at On the Outside Corner. You may follow Bob on Twitter here or on Facebook here.

Chasers Take Game 1 of Championship Series
Omaha pitching holds River Cats attack to three hits in series opener

Mike Feigen / Omaha Storm Chasers

OMAHA, Neb. — Storm Chasers left-fielder David Lough scampered around third and crossed the plate uncontested, scoring the most improbable of go-ahead runs in the Chasers’ 3-2 victory over Sacramento Tuesday night. The win gave Omaha a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five Pacific Coast League Championship Series, the second-straight series in which they have grabbed a Game 1 victory.

The decisive bottom of the seventh inning began innocently enough, as Kurt Mertins and Jarrod Dyson were retired to start the frame with the Chasers and River Cats tied 2-2. Lough then lashed a hard grounder toward the right-field corner, but as he charged toward second he tumbled and fell to the ground, finding himself on his hands and knees on the infield dirt. Somehow he managed to return safely to first ahead of the throw, keeping the inning alive.

Lorenzo Cain then stepped into the box, already 2-for-3 on the day to raise his batting average to .500 (11-for-22) for the postseason. Cain took a big cut at the first offering from Vinnie Chulk (0-1), popping it high in the air toward shallow right field. Grant Green raced in from his position in deep right-center while second baseman Wes Timmons turned and ran toward the line, but neither player found himself in position and the ball kicked off Timmons’ glove and rolled away. Lough sprinted home all the way from first on the Cain single, giving Omaha the lead for good.

By scoring in the seventh, Omaha starter Luis Mendoza (2-0) was given an opportunity to win for the second time in the playoffs and the 14th time this season. He closed the year with victories in his final four starts and has run that streak to six-straight counting the postseason. Mendoza is 14-5 with a 2.10 ERA overall this year, including 13-2 with a 1.33 ERA in 128.2 innings since May 26.

Mendoza got some help not only from Cain’s blooper but from Kelvin Herrera, who earned the save with two dominant innings. Following up on his excellent performance in Game 1 vs. Round Rock, Herrera fired two perfect innings, striking out two. In his two postseason outings totaling four innings, Herrera has retired all 12 batters he has faced – striking out six – throwing 43 pitches, 34 for strikes.

The Chasers got Mendoza an early lead, thanks to a nice piece of two-out hitting by shortstop Irving Falu. With the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the first, Falu chopped an offering from Sacramento right-hander Graham Godfrey over the mound for an infield hit, scoring Jarrod Dyson to give Omaha an early 1-0 advantage.

The lead would hold up until two were down in the fourth, when Josh Donaldson drilled an opposite-field home run to knot the game at 1-1. The hit was the first of the game for Sacramento, one of just three they would wind up with on the night. The River Cats added to their lead in the top of the sixth inning, when a Carter RBI double brought home Jermaine Mitchell from first base to make it a 2-1 advantage for the visitors.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Chasers rallied to tie the score. Manny Pina looped a two-out single down the right-field line to get aboard safely, and last-minute starter Lance Zawadzki brought him in with an RBI double off the wall in right to tie the game and put the Chasers in a position to win. The double was Zawadzki’s first hit since the sixth inning of the Chasers’ 11-10 win at New Orleans on August 28, snapping a personal 0-for-24 skid at the plate.

With the victory, the Chasers are now 4-1 in the playoffs, with just one more game remaining at Werner Park during the magical 2011 season. Right-hander Vin Mazzaro (8-2, 4.22 including postseason) will get the ball to face his former team, while Tyson Ross (3-3, 7.38 including postseason) will pitch for the River Cats. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m., with gates at 5:45. Tickets are available at the Werner Park ticket office, by phone at (402) 738-5100 and online at www.omahastormchasers.com.

Naturals sweep weekly awards
Lisson, Smith, Odorizzi honored as team wins division title

Texas League President Tom Kayser announced Monday that three Naturals combined to earn the Texas League’s weekly individual awards for the period of August 29-September 4, as Mario Lisson and Tim Smith shared Player of the Week honors and Jake Odorizzi was named Pitcher of the Week.

Lisson’ led the Naturals’ playoff-clinching surge last week, going 11-22 (.500) at the plate with five doubles and two home runs, including a game-tying blast in the seventh inning of the team’s clinching game on Sep. 3. Those two home runs also made Lisson the Naturals’ all-time leader in that category (31). Lisson ended the regular season on an eight-game hitting streak and overall, the 27-year-old native of Caracas, Ven. hit .293 with a .372 on-base percentage, 21 doubles, 15 home runs and 45 RBI.

Smith also finished the regular season with an eight-game hitting streak, as he was 14-30 (.467) with three doubles, two home runs and 10 RBI in the final week. A 25-year-old from Toronto, Ont., Smith played in 69 games for the Naturals in 2011, hitting .311 with 13 doubles, 10 home runs and 49 RBI.

Taking the mound against the Arkansas Travelers on Sep. 2, Odorizzi turned in his best pitching performance at the Double-A level. He held the Travelers hitless until the seventh, allowing just one hit over seven scoreless innings while striking out six and walking two. A 21-year-old resident of Highland, Ill., Odorizzi has made 12 starts for the Naturals since a mid-season promotion from Advanced-A Wilmington, going 5-3 with a 4.72 ERA. In 68 2/3 innings pitched, the right-hander recorded 54 strikeouts against 22 walks, holding the Texas League to a .254 batting average.

These three players become the fifth, sixth, and seventh Naturals to earn a weekly Texas League honor in 2011. Buddy Baumann was named as Pitcher of the Week for May 23rd-29th, the team swept the awards given for the week of May 9th-15th, as Nick Van Stratten earned Player of the Week and Will Smith was named Pitcher of the Week, and Salvador Perez was named Player of the Week for July 18-24.

The Naturals will look for those contributions to continue as they have named Odorizzi their game one starter for Wednesday night’s playoff opener in North Little Rock.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark, located in Springdale. Visit our website, nwanaturals.com, for information on season tickets and ticket plans.

Mendoza Earns PCL Pitcher of the Year Honors
Storm Chasers’ right-hander adds to his hardware haul in memorable 2011 season

OMAHA, Neb. — Omaha Storm Chasers right-hander Luis Mendoza has been named the 2011 Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year, the league office announced Wednesday. Through August 30, he has compiled an 11-5 record with a PCL-best 2.15 ERA, a league-best 1.25 WHIP and has held opponents to a league-low .241 batting average.

In addition to his PCL Pitcher of the Year Award, Mendoza has been a part of the 30-member mid-season PCL All-Star Team, the 12-member post-season All-PCL Team and won the league’s Pitcher of the Week award for the week ending August 21. He has also been named the Omaha Pitcher of the Year by the Kansas City Royals organization.

Mendoza has been professional baseball’s best pitcher over the past three months. Since May 26, the 27-year-old has gone 10-2 with a 1.24 earned run average over 108.2 innings pitched, including 9-0 with a 1.19 ERA in 10 road appearances. He has taken no-hit or one-hit shutouts into at least the seventh inning of four starts, including a complete-game one-hitter against Memphis on July 18. He has also earned two saves out of the bullpen.

Mendoza is the first pitcher to be honored as the PCL Pitcher of the Year since Omaha joined the league in 1998. He is the third member of the franchise in 43 years to win his league’s top pitcher award, joining Mark Littell (1973) and Mark Huismann (1985) from the American Association.

The Veracruz, Mexico native earned more than two-thirds of the votes by the league’s field managers and media. He will start Wednesday night’s game against the Round Rock Express.