Cardinals Continue August Hot Streak

The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 on August 28th, running the Redbirds’ record to 20-5 in August, and 27-12 since July 12th. The Cardinals have leapt back into the post season picture; with a record of 74-58, they are 4 1/2 games behind the N.L. Central leading Chicago Cubs, and are the top Wild Card in the National League.

St. Louis was 47-46 in early July when the club fired manager Mike Matheny and replaced him on an interim basis with Mike Shildt. This week, Shildt was signed on as the full time manager of the club through the 2020 season. The Cardinals don’t have a lot of household names in their lineup, but they have a pretty decent offense led by 1st baseman Matt Carpenter and 3rd baseman Jose Martinez. Carpenter leads the N.L with 34 home runs, plus he’s driven in 71. Martinez leads the club with 75 RBIs and a .309 batting average. Yadier Molina has been a fixture behind the plate forever and the perennial All Star is hitting .273 with 16 homers and 57 RBIs. Outfielder Marcell Ozuma, picked up from Miami in the off season, got off to a slow start but is hitting .275 with 16 homers and 69 RBIs. He was on a hot streak before being sidelined with a shoulder injury earlier this month but is expected back soon.

Cardinals pitchers are led by Miles Mikolas, who has quietly gone 13-3 with a 2.94 ERA. Rookie Jack Flaherty has been a pleasant surprise, with an 8-6 record and 149 strikeouts to go with a 2.87 ERA. The team ERA of 3.69 was fourth in the National League. After missing out on the playoffs the last two years, the Cardinals will be a factor down the stretch in a crowded list of post season contenders in the National League.

Here’s some highlights of the August 28th win over the Pirates: