There is nothing better than a Cardinals win. But if there is anything better, it’s a Cardinals win over the Cubbies. The cherry on top is that Sunday’s Cardinals win over the Cubs meant that it was a SWEEP!
And how sweep it was!
The Cardinals swept the Cubs Sunday with a 3-2 win.
The win Sunday came just as it did Saturday with a walk-off blast from Albert Pujols. Here is Sunday’s shot, if you haven’t seen it (or want to see it again).
It was Albert’s 13th homer of the season and his fourth in the past three days. The Mang enjoys playing the Cubbies, obviously! The blast Sunday was one of those in which you and he just knew it was gone once the ball left the bat and his grin and run in to the home plate area only to be mobbed by his teammates left you with the hopes that maybe, just maybe, the REAL Albert Pujols is back!
Another good thing about Sunday? Ryan Theriot hit an RBI-double in the bottom of the ninth, to tie the game up.
You know what this means right?
RYAN THERIOT HAS A 19-GAME HITTING STREAK!!!!! How awesome is that!? I say, so awesome! Here is that hit if you haven’t seen it!
Lance Berkman sat out Sunday’s game after receiving a cortisone shot after Saturday’s game. Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch, discusses this and other odds and ends, including why Colby Rasmus wasn’t starting Sunday, right here.
The only really disappointing aspect of this game was Chris Carpenter not getting the win. Carp pitched nine innings, gave up seven hits, two earned runs and struck out six. Fernando Salas got his third win of the season pitching the tenth inning, where he struck out one. Check out Post-Dispatcher Jeremy Rutherford’s piece on Carp. He pitched well and deserved better! But, the Cardinals offense was facing Carlos Zambrano. And Big Z is always tough against the Cards. Thankfully, Carp is taking this rough start to the season in stride and was happy to see the team win Sunday.
He doesn’t play the blame game.
Want to know what I mean by blame game?
Check out this story from the Chicago Tribune. Zambrano ripped Carlos Marmol and other teammates after Sunday’s loss. While Zambrano has some legitimate beefs in his comments, it is interesting to see the reaction to Big Z. Even Cubs Manager Mike Quade said Z’s teammates could “deal with” what he said.
What? Aren’t you the manager … aren’t you supposed to manage the team? Prevent this sort of shenanigans?
Check out this column from the Chicago Tribune’s David Haugh saying it’s time for the Cubs and Zambrano to part ways.
The Cubs will play Cincinnati starting tonight. Sounds as if things could get interesting!
The Cardinals get a day of rest today as they head to Houston to play the Astros Tuesday night. Maybe Albert will hit a home run off the Crawford Boxes. Remember this one?
Miranda Remaklus is lead St. Louis Cardinals contributor for Aaron Miles’ Fastball. Follow her on Twitter, @missmiranda
Aaron Miles' Fastball 
How many times has a Chicago writer said that it’s time for the Cubs and Zambrano to part ways? Probably too many to count!
One thing Zambrano was correct on, though, was that it WAS Theriot’s at-bat that made the difference. Now that I am a little less giddy about the end of the game than I was yesterday (but just a little), what Theriot did was amazing. Not just to get the hit, but to hit it where he did so that Cruz could score. On top of making it a 19-GAME HITTING STREAK. Albert is becoming Albert again, so we expect great things. We haven’t really expected great things of The Riot. (Zambrano obviously didn’t either.) But maybe it’s time to expect the unexpected from The Riot too.
Still wish CC would have won, though. Damn.
I don’t generally pay attention to Cubbie media so it was kind of different to see the LEADER? of the team get thrown under the bus as such!
Carlos had points! LOL That team sucks!
The Ryan Theriot Fan Club is becoming more real to me. He is actually a pretty good little player. I like him a hell of a lot better than that last guy who played shortstop. And you take your pick on that! Felipe Lopez or Brendan Ryan! ;}
Pretty soon we will have posts speculating if the REAL Carp is back. I hope that happens soon!
The sun is brighter, the air is fresher, the food tastes better and not even a case of the Mondays matters. The Cardinals sweep the hated Cubs, leaving them in a mess of finger-pointing, complaining, demoralized disarray, just in time for them to go to Cincinnati.
And, by the way, talk about a series where it would be great if both teams lost.
And speaking of Cincinnati, I have to say this three-game series was perhaps the most gratifying since that grudge match in that toy box in August last year. Jaime bounces back from his debacle in Colorado, Allen Craig continues to prove that he can hit, Ryan Theriot extends the most improbable hitting streak in baseball history, and The Mang is back. Back again. Mang is back. Tell a friend.
As far as Zambrano, the Cubs are stuck, just as they are with Alfonso Soriano. Desperate to reverse the curse, Hendry and the Tribune Company signed off on these ridiculous, stupid, no-trade clauses while shoveling money out the door to lure the “best available” so-called “talent” in the free agent market. They now reap the results of their win-now desperation, painting themselves into a corner not only with the contracts, but are in violation of MLB rules on debt-to-earnings ratio.
The Ricketts thought they would be getting taxpayer funding to rebuild the crumbling Phil’s Corner Tap, but it seems as if Illinois taxpayers will be spared having their already sky-high taxes raised even more to subsidize some rich stockbroker. So the Ricketts will have two choices — hope the concrete doesn’t crumble, fall and kill someone; or, bite the bullet, pay the $100-200 million, and suffer the hit in revenue having the Cubs play somewhere else for two years.
Either way, the Cubs have a brighter present than they do future. And their present is deserved humiliation.
Which makes my Monday go down that much sweeter.
I don’t know if Soriano or A-Ram was a worse deal for them. They have an incredibly stupid front office. … I guess these guys are living the dream by selling the dream.
But the Cub fans are wising up, to a degree. They aren’t buying into the “selling the dream” anymore — they’re not going to Wrigley Field like they used to.
And the Ricketts were pretty dumb if they thought the Illinois taxpayers would pay for fixing their ballpark — or that they could actually get that approved. The state budget has much, much, MUCH deeper concerns, thanks to Blago’s mismanagement. Hey, maybe he could go work for the Cubs now …
This is awesome. I googled “sweep” and this image is the 4th suggestion.
It fits perfectly with any Sox fan too. Thanks for the awesome work!