It wasn’t Westie’s night.

Five runs on four hits and five walks in five innings.

It wasn’t the rest of the lineup’s night, either. At least not like it had been the previous two evenings.

Just four hits. Three runs. Six runners stranded. One-for-nine with runners in scoring position, and three left with two outs. No magic two-out RBI this time.

And the Pirates won, to boot.

No, it wasn’t the Cardinals’ night. But, they’re going to be better. Winning teams make adjustments. They take nights like last night and figure out how to avoid the same mistakes again. That’s the idea, anyway.

“I’m going to be better,” Westbrook said. “It’s just a matter of figuring it out and getting back into the swing of things and getting back to where I was earlier in the year, getting a lot of ground balls and limiting my walks and getting a lot deeper in the ballgame than I have been.”

You know the best part about this road trip? It’s almost over. One game left today, and it’s over. You know what else? There’s absolutely nothing the Cardinals can do about the last 10 games. The wins were big. They were loud. Yet, the losses were louder. Even so, just like a good pitcher has to have a short memory, so does an entire team.

The last 10 games have been a struggle. But, a win today would make the Birds 3-1 in the last four … which, yes, is a bit misleading. No matter how you look at it, though, those games are over. Now, it’s all about being better the next time.

It’s about Lance Lynn repeating his last outing, and Carlos Beltran staying hot. It’s about Matt Carpenter resting up to recharge his mojo, and Adam Wainwright taking a little pressure off his own shoulders. It’s time for Tony Cruz to show the world what he’s made of, and for Mike Matheny to speak up when his team needs the right buttons pushed. And it’s time for guys like Joe Kelly, Daniel Descalso, Jon Jay, Rob Johnson, and yes, even Pete Kozma to jump in when they’re “down to their last strike” and spark a rally or two.

What’s that saying? “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going…”

Time to get going, boys! Take one more in Cincy, then come on home. It’s going to be better. Westie said so.