The State of the Cardinals: A couple old ballparks help Birds regain their stride

5 of 6 wins at Wrigley and Fenway erase embarrassing record.

A week in a Major League Baseball season can change things. In a league where you fill a week of a calendar with games, the St. Louis Cardinals seized control of their season before it could run off the tracks.

How bad was it getting? Going into the finale of their home stand a week before Sunday, the Cardinals had 10 wins in their first 35 games. Coming back home today eight days later, they’re six wins better and less than ten games out of first place. Division deficits shouldn’t be a notable thing in mid May, but being unable to see first place, even this early in the season, is far from wise. This isn’t Pittsburgh or Cincinnati, where a great April can be shocking.

All it took was a couple archaic ballparks, ones where St. Louis can usually run into trouble. The Chicago Cubs are nothing to worry about this season, but they’re still the home team in a ballpark with ivy on its outfield walls and treacherous corners. Cardinal Nation has seen several teams go into that place hot and come out cold, but a lifeline was all they needed last week.

Winning streaks happen when more things on a roster go right than not, and when the pitching is there. The only Cardinals starter who got truly beat up was Jordan Montgomery, who happened to be their best starter through 41 games. Outside of that, the starters either did their job or the embattled bullpen sealed the game shut.

A 10-4 loss to Chicago was the only loss of the road trip, after the Cards walked into Boston and outplayed an AL East team that came into the series with a 22-16 record. With the way St. Louis was playing, this road trip was a way to get married to the 2023 campaign, or slowly start burying yourself.

Jack Flaherty’s work in Chicago wasn’t notable, but he held the line. Before Miles Mikolas shut down the Red Sox last night, he couldn’t last five innings at Wrigley, but he only allowed a single run. If you can’t last deep into the game, a starter’s job should be to keep the game in hand. In other words, don’t give up 4-5 runs in the early going. That’s something Adam Wainwright has been able to accomplish in his first two starts. Steven Matz put up good numbers against Boston.

Nolan Arenado woke up this weekend, pounding a pivotal home run on Sunday. After leaving Busch with a batting average barely hanging above .230, Arenado comes home with a .256 average and six home runs. The team won’t go nowhere if their two biggest guns go silent.

A new weapon in Nolan Gorman continues to change games in crucial moments. He struck big in Boston, coming up with back-to-back ninth inning hits that swung the game around in St. Louis’s direction. Gorman’s special sauce this spring is being able to affect a game with multiple at-bats, or even just one.

Willson Contreras’s world definitely changed over the past week. When he left Busch, the only words he couldn’t get out of his head centered around being pulled from an everyday catcher position due to a team problem. Friday, he helped sink Chicago and emphatically motioned to a menacing Wrigley crowd. In Boston, he disrupted closer Kenley Jansen so much that St. Louis got to him for two blown saves.

It’s fun reading about wins and better play instead of losses and dreadful team drama, right? Instead of Oliver Marmol asking reporters questions and deflecting strategy moves, he’s talking about a rotation that could be pulling up for air. That’s the bittersweet beauty of baseball, a game that demands the most out of fans.

One big thing tonight: Milwaukee is in town and Flaherty makes a start tonight with Contreras behind home plate. A win means the record brightens and the momentum remains, but it’s the troubled ace-wannabe who needs a good night. The season isn’t even two months old, and Flaherty already has lashed out at the media for asking about a very real velocity question.

Catching him tonight is the same newly acquired catcher, Contreras, whom Flaherty indirectly called out weeks ago when whining about the lack of results. Instead of saying I gave out more charity (21 walks in April alone!) than Oprah, he complained about signs and location. Correcting that takes a good start with Contreras leading the way.

It’s the same thing with a hockey or football team. A key position is filled, a future Hall of Famer’s in this case, and disarray occurs. A new warehouse gets three new employees, and mistakes will be made. A professional sports team gets a new guy, and mistakes may follow.

Flaherty’s start now controls the momentum of this new upward trend. Let’s hope he can find his way and be efficient. For this city’s sake (XFL lasting another year?), the Cards need to keep winning.

Thanks for reading.