The one thing that’s been fairly consistent through the mediocrity of the Cardinals going 31-31 has been the starting pitching. Yes, there have been those occasional clunker game from each of them — those things happen on occasion.

But when the starters have been good, they’ve often been very good. The Cardinals are tied with the Rangers for the MLB lead in shutouts with 11 (which is three more than the teams tied for second) and, as of yesterday, now has the big league lead in shutouts with four.

That’s thanks to Shelby Miller, who joined Adam Wainwright with two and Lance Lynn on that 2014 Cards shutout list. And, as Jenifer Langosch writes at Cardinals.com, his performance might have been even more impressive than last year’s leadoff-single-then-27-straight-retired performance last year: “While Miller may have relied on an overpowering fastball to mow down 27 Colorado hitters in a row in a start last May, this time he toyed with Toronto purely by pitching.”

It was pretty spectacular to watch.

Continue reading →