Just Keep Winning: A St. Louis Cardinals Franchise

[skeletore2002]

No matter what changes are made in the offseason, no matter who goes where, there's always one rule in baseball: don't count out the Cardinals. For some reason every year, the Cardinals are never viewed as one of the World Series favorites. Yet just about every year, there they are playing in October. Last year the Cardinals were supposed to fall back to the pack with the loss of slugger Albert Pujols, and the retirement of Tony LaRussa. Yet the Cardinals made it back to the NLCS, losing out to the eventual champions, the San Francisco Giants.

The Cardinals did not make any huge moves going into the 2013 season, but there is still optimism in St. Louis, largely due to their fantastic farm system, and the impact players ready to contribute. Shelby Miller and Trevor Rosenthal are on the 25-man roster to begin the season, and Oscar Taveras has a good chance at being called up at some point during the season. While the Reds certainly have an outstanding roster, Cardinals fans will like their chances to compete.

Despite their continued playoff appearances, the Cardinals continue to fly just below the radar, which is just fine by them.

[skeletore2002]

I finally got a new PS3 after my previous one bit the dust last month. Due to this, I'm obviously unable to continue my Dodgers franchise. Since I still want to play all 162 games, and I have a lot of catching up to do, I'm not going to do the back story that I've previously done in my franchises. I want to focus more on the actual games being played.

[skeletore2002]

Cardinals at Diamondbacks |
Apr 1, 2013	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Extras	R	H	E
St. Louis (0-0)	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0 0 0 2	4	16	0
Arizona (0-0)	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0 0 0 0	2	6	0
W: Mitchell Boggs (1-0) L: Heath Bell (0-1) S: Randy Choate (1)

John Jay knocked in Rafael Furcal with the eventual winning run in the top of the 13th on Opening Day, as the Cardinals outlasted the Diamondbacks, 4-2. Matt Holliday added an insurance run with an RBI double, scoring Jay. Randy Choate pitched the bottom of the 13th to earn the save.

Adam Wainwright started for the Cardinals and was solid, but not spectacular. The right-hander gave up 2 runs on 3 hits in 5 innings, but walked 5 batters. Wainwright limited the damage, in part due to his 6 strikeouts. But the Cardinals bullpen was fantastic, pitching 8 shutout innings, and giving up only 3 hits, all of them by Edward Mujica.

Wainwright was solid, but not dominant

The Diamondbacks took an early lead, scoring a run on a fielder’s choice in the 1st inning. They then added to the lead in the 6th inning, scoring a run on a double-play. The 2 runs looked to be enough to win the game for starter Ian Kennedy, but the Cardinals would tie the game in the 7th on a 2-run single off the bat of Allen Craig. The Diamondbacks then looked to have the game won in the bottom of the 9th, loading the bases on an error and 2 walks. But Mujica proceeded to strike out the next 3 batters, sending the game into extra innings and allowing for Jay’s eventual heroics.

[skeletore2002]

Cardinals at Diamondbacks |
Apr 2, 2013	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Extras	R	H	E
St. Louis (1-0)	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	1	0 0 0 0 0 0	5	12	1
Arizona (0-1)	0	0	0	0	3	0	2	0	0	0 0 0 0 0 1	6	14	2
W: Heath Bell (1-1) L: Joe Kelly (0-1)

After the Cardinals won in extra innings on Opening Day, it was Arizona’s turn in game 2, as a Cliff Pennington's sacrifice fly scored the winning run in the bottom of the 15th inning, as the Diamondbacks won the game, 6-5. The game was a tough one to swallow for the Cardinals, who came from 3 runs behind in the 8th to tie the game. But luck was not on their side this time, as Joe Kelly surrendered the winning run, after the Cardinals had used up their entire bullpen.

The Cardinals scored first this time, John Jay knocking in a run on a groundout in the 4th inning. But starter Jake Westbrook was not able to hold the lead for long, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits in the bottom of the 5th, as Arizona took a 3-1 lead. Allen Craig brought the Cardinals within one run with an RBI single in the 7th, but the deficit became 5-2 when Arizona scored two runs off rookie pitcher Trevor Rosenthal in the bottom of the inning.

Pennington made up for his 9th inning throwing error

But the Cardinals would not give up. Pinch-hitter Matt Adams knocked in 2 runs in the 8th inning on a double, cutting the lead to 5-4. The Cardinals then got the tying run to 3rd base with 2 outs in the top of the 9th against Diamondbacks closer J.J. Putz. But the game looked to be over as David Freese hit a grounder to Pennington at short. But Pennington’s throw sailed into the stands, allowing the tying run to score and giving the Cardinals new life. Unfortunately the team was not able to take advantage of their luck, as the Arizona bullpen did its job in extra innings.

[joshrmlb]

Nice to see a Cardinals dynasty started. Good luck capturing that 12th ring.