Tag Archives: 2014 postseason

Game 3: Important To Win? Yes, But …

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The setting for the National League Division Series now shifts to Chicago’s North Side, with Game 3 starting later today at 5 p.m. Central Time.

As you’re no doubt aware, it’s The Jake Arrieta Show!!! — meaning why are the Cardinals even bothering to play today, right? Shouldn’t they just forfeit and go have a nice team dinner instead — especially since, according to a stat I heard Matt Vasgersian spout off before yesterday’s Game 3 in the American League Division Series between the Royals and Astros — the team that wins Game 3 takes the entire series 80 percent of the time?

NLDS logoStatistics … they’re great.

Given that the Cardinals have a recent postseason history to look back on, we can also see just how that 80 percent stat holds up for our Redbirds — especially helpful considering the Cards won all four series.

Against the Dodgers in last year’s NLDS, they won Game 3 with Kolten Wong’s seventh inning 2-run homer putting them ahead, 3-1.

In 2013, Game 3 was in Pittsburgh, with Joe Kelly starting against Francisco Liriano … who was pretty unbeatable at home then, if you remember. Neither of the starters factored in the final outcome — a 5-3 Pittsburgh win.

Looking back to 2012 and the NLDS against the Nationals, Game 3 was a start by Chris Carpenter against Edwin Jackson — and Edwin was kind to his old teammates from the previous year. The Cards easily won 8-0.

Then there’s 2011. Game 3 was the first at Busch Stadium of the series, with the Phillies taking this one 3-2. All of the Phillies runs came on a home run by Ben Francisco, pinch-hitting for Cole Hamels in the seventh inning, off Jaime Garcia.

In summary, in their four-year run of winning the division series and advancing to the NLCS, the Cardinals have won Game 3 twice — then gone on to lose the NLCS. They’ve lost Game 3 twice, obviously still advanced to the NLCS, won the National League pennant each year, and then both won and lost the World Series.

So when all the hype kicks in about The Jake Arrieta Show!!! during the game (which I’ll definitely have the television muted for), just remember that losing this game isn’t necessarily doom and gloom for the Cardinals — despite any statistics the announcers (or Cubs fans) might spout off.

 

 

Counting Down To Opening Night: 16

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It’s Friday! It’s officially spring! The first day of the NCAA tournament really was March madness! And it’s just 16 days until the Cardinals play the Cubs on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball!

Time to celebrate!

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Yes, definitely plenty to celebrate today … including Kolten Wong, the current No. 16.

The Cardinals first-round draft pick in 2011, Wong has been a favorite here at AMF ever since then — he was here in the Quad Cities from late June on that season and thus a member of the Midwest League championship team (along with Trevor Rosenthal and Oscar Taveras, among others). Tara interviewed him back in August 2011 and got Kolten’s impressions on his fledgling pro career two months in.

Just under two years later, he made his major league debut with the Cards in Chicago.

And in the time since, he’s experienced the full range of emotions both on the field — and off. There was the unfortunate ending of World Series Game Three in October 2013, followed by the death of his mom at age 47 from cancer that December.

On the joyful end of the spectrum, there was this moment from Game Two of the National League Championship in October (which, of course, is what the above photo is from).

Ah, perfect feel-good moment for a Friday morning.

Just 16 more days!

The “Because Matheny” Season Ends Because Of Matheny

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Really, that was a fitting ending.

Painful, absolutely. Who can’t help but feel sorry for Michael Wacha, pitching for the first time in 20 days and making his 2014 postseason debut in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth inning with a Giants pennant on the line if they win?

MLB: NLCS-San Francisco Giants at St. Louis CardinalsWacha shouldn’t even have been in that situation — yet obviously he was. Because Matheny.

And what better way to end a 2014 Cardinals season filled with so many frustrating and infuriating and confusing decisions made by Mike Matheny that had no other explanation except “Because Matheny” than with a final “Because Matheny” moment?

The bullpen management in the past two games was just inexplicable. My Giants fan pal at work with compared Matheny’s rotating through all the relievers in Game Four to a little kid after trick-or-treating on his first Halloween: “Ooooh, this one! No, this one! Now this one!”

Now Game Five and using Michael Wacha in that situation.

Ugh.

Predictable ending? Unfortunately yes in that situation, though perhaps not with Travis Ishikawa delivering the final blow of a walk-off pennant-winning home run to send the Giants to the World Series (of course! It’s an even year!) to face the Cinderella-story Kansas City Royals.

Yes, Matheny has led the Cardinals to the National League Championship Series in each of his first three years as manager. Yes, the 2014 Cardinals won 90 regular season games and were NL Central champs for the second straight year. Yet I don’t believe even the most die-hard Matheny fan out there cannot say Mike Matheny regressed as a manager in 2014.

Ultimately, the season ended last night because of it.

Now I need to end this so I can leave for work. And if the Giant fan’s first words to me this morning aren’t “Thanks, Matheny!” I might have to punch him.

Because Matheny.

October Baseball’s Emotional Rollercoaster

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How’s your mood this afternoon, 18 or so hours after yesterday’s NLCS Game Three loss?

Mine is still bad.

Emotional+rollercoaster+_8bb60080880a1600ffe893b9a80a9efbIt wasn’t surprising I was angry about the outcome of last night’s game when I went to bed, even though it was tempered a bit after watching the Royals win. (No, I’m not a Cards fan who hates the Royals. I was a Cubs fan in 1985. I harbor no resentment, plus love a good story — and the 2014 Royals are a fantastic one so far.)

When I woke up this morning, I was still angry and continued to feel that way on my drive to work. My thought was the mood lingered because I knew I had to face the Giants fan at work — a lifelong, die-hard Giants fan who spent Monday and yesterday being mad about Sunday’s outcome.

Yet even after our talk — which literally was a water cooler conversation since he happened to be filling his water bottle when I was going to fill mine — my mood hadn’t changed one bit. I didn’t want to hear his concerns that Posey, Panda and Pence aren’t hitting — your team won the game! Gift-wrapped by Mike Matheny! And your team has had all kinds of gifts given to them this October — just be grateful!

Those were not my exact words — well, OK, some were, like maybe that last sentence. And maybe it wasn’t really a quiet discussion, since my friend in the office next to mine was laughing when I walked back.

Continue reading →

Good, Bad, Ugly, Joy All In Game Two Win

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We all love happy game endings — no matter what it takes to get there.

Game2

Photos: St. Louis Post-Dispatch/STLToday.com

Of course, we shouldn’t expect the 2014 Cardinals to do anything different in October than what they did the previous six months before they reached the NLCS, right? Why wouldn’t Game Two of the NLCS be filled with drama and a range of emotions, when it’s this team playing? The Cards had good, bad and ugly before the ultimately satisfying and joyful conclusion of a walk-off 5-4 win over the Giants.

Actually, we probably didn’t expect how they won last night. Four home runs from the team that hit the fewest in the National League during the regular season — even though they had turned on the power in the NLDS against the Dodgers.

You really can’t script October.

Although, if we could, we certainly wouldn’t want any kind of story to include an injury to Yadier Molina.

But that unfortunately happened, as a strained left oblique forced him from the game in the sixth inning. No update on his condition yet today, but we all know that kind of injury takes time to heal.

The game was tied 2-2 when Yadi left, after the Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the first on (who else but) Matt Carpenter’s solo homer and a 2-0 lead with a bases-loaded Randal Grichuk single. Both obviously contributed to the “good” portion of the game. Continue reading →

Cards NLDS Win Is So Much Deja Vu

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The Cardinals against Clayton Kershaw — again.

The Cardinals trailing the Dodgers in the seventh inning — again — with Kershaw dominating — again.

Matt Holliday leading off the seventh with a single off Kershaw, followed by Jhonny Peralta singling — again.

A big hit by a Matt to stun Kershaw and the Dodgers and give the Cardinals the lead — again.

In Game Four, however, it was Adams instead of Carpenter — and he launched a no-doubt-about-it-even-Joe-Buck-got-crazy-excited-3-run-bomb into the Cards bullpen (which of course you want to see again and again even though you’re already watched it countless times).

Oct7

Another classic Cardinals postseason home run, this time from Matt Adams (Photo: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Huy Mach)

In the ninth inning, Trevor Rosenthal in for the save and makes it interesting — again.

Yet that’s a winner — again!

And a win that’s a division series clincher — again, like in 2013. And 2012. And 2011. Continue reading →

And Now Another Amazing October Friday Win

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Friday nights in October seem to be made for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Looking back over the most memorable postseason games since 2011, some of the best were on Fridays. Game Five of the 2011 NLDS and the masterful performance by Chris Carpenter. Game Seven of the 2011 World Series (nothing more needs to be said about that, obviously!) The wacky and weird wild card game in 2012 against the Braves. Game Five of the 2012 NLDS with that incredible comeback against the Nationals.

Game1

Photo: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Then there was last October and Game Six of the NLCS, Cardinals up in the series 3-2. One more win against the Dodgers, though it would have to be a win against Clayton Kershaw — would send the Cards to the World Series. Kershaw gave up 7 of the runs scored by the Cards in the 9-0 pennant-clinching victory. No doubt a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. Clayton Kershaw would never have that kind of night in the postseason again …

Especially in 2014, after his not just Cy Young but possibly MVP-worthy season in which he went 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA.

Especially when Adam Wainwright unfortunately had a Game-Five-of-the-2012-NLDS-like night and allowed 6 runs to the Dodgers, leaving in the fifth inning with the Cards down 6-1.

Especially when Kershaw, after allowing the first-inning home run to Randal Grichuk then retired 16 straight Cardinals and struck out seven until Matt Carpenter homered to make it 6-2 in the top of the sixth.

Then came the seventh inning. Continue reading →

It’s The Postseason! Here Comes The Cardinals Bashing Again!

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After breathing a sigh of relief on Sunday after the Pirates lost to the Reds (and ignoring just how it happened) and then watching the Cardinals celebrate their second-straight NL Central championship, we fans can now just relax and enjoy and wait for the National League Division Series to begin on Friday. Right?

stlSure … as long as we ignore what’s now become an annual ritual: Cardinals bashing.

Ah, yes, tomorrow is October. Time to mock the Cards, and Cards fans!

And it begins with no less an astute publication than the Wall Street Journal, which published “The 2014 Baseball Playoff Hateability Index” yesterday. Although I’m not exactly sure we can call this quite the astute publication it used to be. Right now, on the WSJ.com website, the second-most popular video — right after “Aerial Drone Captures Scale of Hong Kong Protests” — is “George Clooney, Amal Alamuddin Wed in Venice” (which you can find here, if you’re so inclined).

Hmmmm.

Anyway, back to the Journal’s so-called hateability “index.” The words are in quotes because, really, how fair can it be when one of the criteria applies specifically and only to Cardinals fans? Not that we necessarily always call ourselves the (now trite) best fans in baseball, but of course the Cardinals are who most people will think when seeing a questions that reads “Are fans routinely labeled ‘best in baseball’?”

Shockingly (ha ha ha), the Cardinals are the only one of the 10 teams listed to earn a point in that category — and the more points, the more hateable the team. You really can’t do better than that, Wall Street Journal? Continue reading →

Whatever Happens, It Won’t Be A Surprise

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Here we are, the final weekend of the regular season. The Cardinals are playing in the postseason — this much we know. So are the Pirates.

What we don’t yet know, unfortunately: the National League Central champion.

Standings 9-25The standings tell the story — and the Cardinals, to be trite, control their destiny. That’s been the case since we started counting down the magic number to win the Central. Just keep winning and there’s nothing to worry about.

Except they haven’t won as much as we would like. Since last Saturday, when their victory over the Reds and the Pirates loss to the Brewers gave the Cardinals a 3 1/2 game division lead and reduced the magic number to five, the Cards have lost three of four. The Pirates have won four of five.

Thus the one-game lead and magic number of three with just tonight, tomorrow and Sunday left to play. Continue reading →