St. Louis Cardinals 2021

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#551      

pruman91

Paducah, Ky

CHICAGO — When the chaos calmed, every argument had been exhaled and exhausted, and their manager ejected, an umpire’s confused call on an infield-fly rule took the final out of Sunday’s game away from the Cardinals and instead left them dealing with the tying run at second base.
Four pitches later, they got the last out.
Again.

The Cardinals’ 4-2 victory against the Cubs on Sunday extended their record winning streak to 16 consecutive and put themselves one win shy of securing the National League’s second (and final) wild-card playoff berth as the season starts its final week.

The Cardinals rallied with Harrison Bader’s game-tying homer that carried over the wall and two runs scored in the ninth inning without a ball leaving the infield. The victory concluded the Cardinals’ road schedule with 11 consecutive wins — the first team to finish with that many since 1887, per Elias Sports — and closed Wrigley Field for the winter with a four-game sweep.

Closer Giovanny Gallegos walked two batters to invite the winning run to the plate in the ninth. Cubs first baseman Frank Schwindel, a .333 hitter since replacing traded Anthony Rizzo, skied a ball high toward third base and up into the Wrigley wind. Things got weird. An umpire clearly and correctly signaled the infield-fly rule. Nolan Arenado drifted with the ball, lost his footing and fell as the ball dropped in fair territory. Schwindel was out by rule. But the two runners had the right to advance — at their own risk. Both tried.

The Cardinals threw the ball to third base as if to get a force out that was not possible, by rule, and then to Tommy Edman at second. A force out wasn’t possible there either, only tag plays. But when Rafael Ortega coasted past second, Edman tapped him with the glove. Umpire Doug Eddings called Ortega out. Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt quickly, vehemently pointed out the out Edman had taken. The Cardinals — who have made such double plays an artform — thought they had pulled off another one for the final outs.


Game over. Or, not?
Another ump claimed he had called time — during a continuing play.

Asked by the media present at Wrigley to explain this decision and the play to a pool reporter, the umpires declined.

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The umps declined...................lol.....................
 
#554      

BillyBob1

Champaign
Given up for dead in the middle of the season to now a franchise 17 straight wins and in the post season.....

Lets go Cards..........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Middle of the season? How about early September! Really like seeing these player interviews.
 
#555      

pruman91

Paducah, Ky
Middle of the season? How about early September! Really like seeing these player interviews.
I was referring to beong in 4th place and walking 6 or more per game and cards striking out 8-10 times a game.....I had little hope of this happening....
 
#558      

pruman91

Paducah, Ky


Best Podcast in Baseball: Cardinals go on the offensive

The St. Louis Cardinals, one win away from securing a wild-card berth in the postseason, return to Busch Stadium riding the longest winning s…

It took a winning streak longer and unlike any before in club history to get these Cardinals to the time of year when all Cardinals throughout history are ultimately measured.
A team that looked up and down its dugout, in and out of its clubhouse, and asked how could it not have a better record has unleashed its best baseball at the best possible time as the team to watch in the playoffs. Led as usual by starter Adam Wainwright, the hottest team in the majors coolly claimed their place in the postseason by rallying to defeat Milwaukee 6-2 on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium. The win secured the National League’s second (and final) wild-card berth, inspired a champagne celebration in the clubhouse that spilled onto the field, and extended the club record winning streak to 17 games.

“And there’s no reason to stop,” Wainwright said. “We feel dangerous.”
In his 17th season in St. Louis, Wainwright got his 17th win on the night of the team’s 17th consecutive victory because of course he did. It’s been that kind of September.

Bring on October.
 
#561      

BillyBob1

Champaign
Can we hope for a tie with the Giants and Dodgers? Make them waste their top pitcher.
 
#562      

pruman91

Paducah, Ky
Does Jim Hayes wear a toupe?
is water wet ?
do birds fly ?

" The Cat with the Hairhat ""
He is a hoot tho and the players love to tease him....I'm glad I found a website where I can view the Bally Sports pregame , the game and post game shows...

How bout # 18 tonight ?????????????????????
 
#563      

BillyBob1

Champaign
is water wet ?
do birds fly ?

" The Cat with the Hairhat ""
He is a hoot tho and the players love to tease him....I'm glad I found a website where I can view the Bally Sports pregame , the game and post game shows...

How bout # 18 tonight ?????????????????????
I noticed Schildt was careful pouring liquid away from his hair.
 
#564      
Can tell how much Shildt cared about the streak now that they've clinched considering that he had Arenado, O'Neill, Edman, and Molina out of the lineup (though Yadi's been dealing with shoulder soreness the past few days)
 
#565      
Best news of the day
‘I’m absolutely coming back’: At home with Cardinals, Arenado says he won’t opt out after season

“I’m not opting out” of his contract, Arenado told the Post-Dispatch on Wednesday while sitting in the Cardinals’ dugout. “We can put that out there. I will not be opting out. I will be coming back. That was always the plan. I’m absolutely coming back. I feel like this year has been special in a lot of senses. I want to play with all these guys. I’m excited I’ll be back.”

With those comments, the Cardinals' All-Star third baseman made official what has been observed for most of the season — that he had little intention of exercising the opt-out clause in his contract that came with him from Colorado and allowed him to become a free agent this November. Because of the industry’s established opt-out practices, Arenado had to wait until near the end of the season to formally state his decision to return. He planned to personally tell the Cardinals’ ownership and front office officials Wednesday that he’s staying.
 
#568      

pruman91

Paducah, Ky
Goldie with a 9th inning walk off single to beat the lil bears 4-3.....

TON with 2 hr's , a double and a throw out at home in the top of 9th.....what a game.....TON has matured so much this year and is a rising star
 
#569      
TON has matured so much this year and is a rising star
It's interesting to watch him come into his own after so many people were angry that Marco Gonzales was doing well and TON was still a work in progress.
 
#570      

pruman91

Paducah, Ky
It's interesting to watch him come into his own after so many people were angry that Marco Gonzales was doing well and TON was still a work in progress.
yep.......Good to see him , and Bader , to an extent start to lay off the outside sliders that they can't reach....last year even the sliders in the dirt on the outside half were giving both fits..........
 
#572      
O'Neill needs to cut down on his strikeouts quite a bit before he can get into true star status.
I'd love it if he could have the same production with fewer strikeouts, but there's a decent chance his great numbers and strikeouts are both the products of an aggressive approach at the plate. He's 4th in the NL in adjusted OPS+, 5th in slugging, 7th in OPS, 7th in HRs and 10th in WAR (including pitchers, 7th amongst position players). Those numbers make him a true star, regardless of his very high strikeout rate.

I read an article about Harrison Bader recently this reminded me of. He's apparently adopted a more aggressive approach this season, swinging earlier in his at bats. This has resulted in a lower walk rate, but better numbers overall. Sometimes you have to take the bad with the good, as it can be impossible to improve all your numbers across the board.
 
#573      
I read an article about Harrison Bader recently this reminded me of. He's apparently adopted a more aggressive approach this season, swinging earlier in his at bats. This has resulted in a lower walk rate, but better numbers overall. Sometimes you have to take the bad with the good, as it can be impossible to improve all your numbers across the board.

Bader's walk rate is down this year but his K rate is down as well too.
 
#574      
Bader's walk rate is down this year but his K rate is down as well too.
This is true, and it's possible that O'Neill could lower his K rate without impacting his power numbers, I just have a hard time finding much fault with the guy's approach when he's putting up numbers that should get him some MVP votes. And I worry that sometimes too much tinkering can have unintended consequences.
 
#575      

BillyBob1

Champaign
What if the American League wild card race ended in a 4-way tie after tomorrow? Or a 3-way tie?
 
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