The St. Louis Cardinals may have lost Albert Pujols to the Los Angeles Angels through free agency (i.e. "taking care of his family"), but this team surely should contend for a repeat World Series
The Cards massacred the Arizona Diamondbacks last night at Chase Field, a 7-2 win over the locals that capped a definitive three-game sweep.
Except for the final score, the game was a good one for the smallish crowd on hand, with lots of timely hitting, especially by St. Louis--pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter's go-ahead double in the sixth was a killer.
Need to give props to the good starting pitching efforts by the D-Backs' entertaining young lefty Wade Miley (didn't have his best stuff, but hung in there) and St. Louis' Kyle Lohse, who won his fifth game of this young season.
The loss was Arizona's fifth in a row at home, and seventh in eight games overall. In official sports parlance, that is what's called "a slump."
In other venues, it might be termed a downtick, or a bummer.
The Cards outhit the D-Backs, amassing 15 to Arizona's 12.
David Freese, the young and studly third-baseman for St. Louis, had three hits, and looks zoned in, as do several other St. Louis players--Rafael Furcal and his four hits immediately come to mind.
The Cards led 3-2 going into the top of the ninth, when they scored four times off once-feared closer J.J. Putz, who couldn't finish the inning.
The San Francisco Giants come into town this weekend, scuffling at 15-16 almost as badly as their desert rivals, who are 14-18 at the moment.
The word languishing comes to mind.
We know, things are just starting, and the D-Backs eventually will come around.
But obviously it's dangerous to get too far behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, who already are six-and-a-half games up on Arizona.
