One Cardinal Dies Predictably, Another Stays Aloft

Well, Arizona lost to New Orleans 31-7. I figured Arizona's odds of winning in the Big Easy were pretty slim, but I expected it to be closer than that. The Saints held the Cards to less than 250 yards total offense. Swell, now the Saints have a defense. Who the hell told them that was OK?

The Cardinals did have some success running, 89 yards on 16 carries. So did New Orleans, though, and both teams collected 4 sacks. I'm impressed Arizona (mostly Darnell Dockett) could get to Brees so often. Too bad it didn't do them any good.

On the baseball front, the Cardinals won 2 of 3 from the Brewers, this after taking 2 of 4 against the Rockies. Not exactly the domination I would have preferred, but they still have a 2 game lead over Pittsburgh and Cincy, so that's encouraging. Of course, now the Cardinals have to play the Nationals, who need to win every game to keep any hope of the postseason alive. Meanwhile, the Pirates draw the suckass Cubs, and the Reds face the Mets. The Cardinals couldn't expect to have it easy forever, but they just have to do enough to keep ahead until the final series. Then the Cards get the Cubs, and the Pirates and Reds hopefully pummel each other.

It occurred to me this morning that at the beginning of the season, I mentioned I thought the Cards were a mid-80s win team. Or something like that. I felt sure they would have a winning record, but their chances of winning the postseason weren't fantastic. So they outperformed expectations. Even so, I can't help being concerned about them if they make the playoffs. The rotation worries me, between Miller and Wacha reaching uncharted territory in terms of innings, Kelly's vulnerability to the randomness of balls in play, and Lynn's results never seeming to match up with his peripherals. Don't even get me started on the terrifying possibility of Westbrook veteraning his way back into the rotation.

At the same time, I worry about the offense. This seems strange considering the Cards rank first in the NL in runs, but they don't hit for a lot of power, at least not in terms of home runs, and they have no speed whatsoever. Which means they aren't likely to score multiple runs by a walk and homer strategy, or by guys stretching singles into extra base hits, or scoring from first on doubles. I really feel like it's necessary for them to string together a lot of hits to score many runs. Which puts them at the mercy of the balls in play luck like Joe Kelly (cause sometimes all the squibbers find holes, and sometimes line drives smack right into gloves). Also, I'd expect it to be more difficult to rattle off a string of hits against better pitching, which they're likely to see more of in the postseason.

At the same time, recent postseasons have taught me anything can happen in the small samples, and what does happen will probably be something I would never expect. So maybe there's no point in worrying about it.