With their win over Roy Halladay and the Philadelphia Phillies coupled with another Atlanta loss, the St. Louis Cardinals have pulled within 2.5 games of the Braves in the National League Wild Card race.
The Cardinals only managed 6 hits against Halladay last night but 4 of them went for extra bases. St. Louis’s pitchers continued to stymie Philadelphia’s offense, as Kyle Lohse allowed only 1 unearned run over his 7.1 innings of work.
Jason Motte and Arthur Rhodes did their best to reverse the trend in the 9th, but Octavio Dotel came on to record the game’s final out, giving the Cardinals the series win against the NL East Champs.
Meanwhile in Florida, the Braves overcame a rocky start to carry a 1 run advantage into the game’s final frame. Jonny Venters redeemed himself after Sunday’s debacle, sitting down the side in order during a perfect 8th inning.
As he’s done so many times before, Venters passed the baton over to Atlanta’s closer, the 23 year old Craig Kimbrel.
While Kimbrel’s been absolutely ridiculous this season, he wasn’t quite good enough last night.
After retiring the first two batters he faced, Kimbrel gave up an infield single to Emilio Bonifacio, bringing the winning run to the plate. Omar Infante proceeded to hit his former team where it hurts, launching a game winning 2 run shot into the left field seats.
St. Louis has turned things up a notch when it matters most. After taking 3 of 4 from the club with the best record in the Majors, the Cardinals have now won 10 of their last 12 games.
And then you’ve got the Braves.
Atlanta’s dropped 2 of 3 at home to the Mets this weekend, and followed that uninspiring performance with last night’s heartbreaker. With the loss, the Braves are now sporting a September record of only 7-12.
Looking at their remaining schedules, the Cardinals appear to have the more favorable matchups. St. Louis has 9 games remaining, none of which will be against clubs with winnings records. 6 of the 9 come at home, as the Cardinals welcome in the Mets and Cubs before finishing the year with a 3 game set in Houston.
Atlanta has 2 games remaining against the Marlins and will follow the series up with three in D.C. The Braves will then return home to end the year hosting the Phillies.
For more on the Braves and Cardinals, be sure to check out Tomahawk Take and Redbird Rants.