Here come the Redbirds

I think it was pretty universally acknowledged in Cardinal Nation that the Cards needed pull off at least a 5-2 road trip in order to still be in conention by the time the trip was over. It seemed a difficult, if not impossible task for two reasons. 1) We had not fared well on the road so far this year and 2) We would be playing the very two teams who had played well enough to be ahead of us in the division.

But the Cardinals came out of the gate with a startling urgency. With some of the younger players wanting to make a good impression and fighting for possible starting spots next year and the veterans of the club starting to turn it on, the Cardinals downed the Brewers in 3 straight games. After which, came our most hated rival, the Cubs. The Cubs squeaked by with the first two wins of the series, which meant that with a sweep we would be right back where we started. Following a rainout, however, the Cardinals came back and won a hard fought game against the Cubs, making it a 4-2 road trip. Not quite the 5-2 we were hoping for, but with the rainout, I'll certainly take it. It puts the Cardinals squarely in conention, sitting a measly 3 games back of the Brewers and the Cubs who are both tied for first.

But it's certainly far from over. As the Astros found out last year around this time, it's easier to hold a team off than to catch them. Not to mention we are chasing two teams, which, obviously, is much harder than chasing just 1. Still, the teams we are chasing are having a terrible August that might just continue long enough to get us into the lead. So far in August the Cubs are 7-11, the Brewers are 6-12 and the Cardinals are 9-9. Just by plaing .500 ball we are looking good compared to the other two teams. Just think where we'd be if we had played good against those last place teams. And even though the Cardinals are .500 in August, they're starting to turn it on as of late. In the last two weeks, they are 9·4 and have won 3 out of 4 series. And that´s basically how we have to get back in this thing......winning one series at a time.

We close out the month with the Marlins, the Braves and the Astros. Of those teams, only the Braves are playing .500 ball. Florida and Houston are both 13 games under, so hopefully we win both of those series, at least. Especially if our big guys keep producing.

In his last 7 games, Pujols is hitting .464 with 4 walks, 4 home runs, 5 RBI and 9 runs. The only thing bad here is that he only has 5 ribbies on 4 homers. That´s way too many solo shots. Guys need to be getting on base ahead of him, so that he can really do some damage. He´s had home runs in his last 3 games.

In his last 7 games, Rolen is hitting .367, with 5 extra·base hits, including 1 homer and 6 RBI. Who is this guy? Rolen´s really turned it on in the last week or so. I hope there´s more where this came from.

In his last 7 games, Edmonds is hitting .286, has 3 extra·base hits, including one home run, 7 RBI and 3 runs. And .286 is actually down for him. He´s hitting .371 for the month of August and slugging .474. That´s pretty good for a guy who was hitting a measly .250 in July and slugging a mere .143. If these guys keep this up and really start to get in the groove at the same time, it should be a good rest of the month.

Ankiel also went deep last night for his 4th home run since his August 9th call·up. That´s 4 dingers in 9 games for a .750 slugging percentage. And he´s hitting .313 to boot. I certainly don´t expect him to keep hitting home runs at this pace, but it´s provided some nice pop in the outfield for now. And best of all is his arm. I´ve stated for a long time that we really need another good arm in the outfield. Edmonds defense in center is great and he can definitely throw guys out, but when he´s not in the line·up, our outfield seriously lacks the ability to throw guys out at the plate or anywhere else for that matter. But after Ankiel gunned Ryan Theriot out at 3rd yesterday, more teams are going to be careful running on him. It´s sort of like Molina. Your reputation takes away half of would·be base runners.

Only 3 games out,

Tiffany