Cardinals Crush Reds, Rebound in Road Finale

On the flip side, the pitching is settling down as well.

– Lance Lynn’s pattern of early season success – mid-season struggles – late season success appears to be repeating itself again. After going through an eight-game stretch during which he posted a 3-4 record and a 6.32 ERA, he’s quietly put together three solid outings, posting a 1.71 ERA in 21 innings while striking out 24 and allowing just 12 hits. Lynn’s now in a three-way tie (along with Adam Wainwright) for the NL lead in wins with 13. If he’s rounding back into form, he could be a key piece the last two months.

– Joe Kelly has also been an overlooked asset, in part because of his early struggles combined with his irregular appearances. He’s pitched just three times in the last 30 days, but those three starts have been doozies:

17.2 innings pitched, .203 average against, 1 earned run, 0.51 ERA

His walks are still a big concern (nine walks in that stretch against eleven strikeouts), but as a fifth starter he’s been more than sufficient.

In other news…

The trade deadline came and went without much action on the Cardinals side. There was a hot rumor that the Cardinals offered Carlos Martinez for White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez, which was quickly dispelled by John Mozeliak.

The only minor moves made before the deadline involved two relievers who had fallen out of favor with the organization, sending Mitchell Boggs to Colorado for bonus money for the international signing pool and Marc Rzepczynski to Cleveland for a minor league shortstop.

This means the Cardinals will build their playoff run with a largely rookie bullpen:

– Trevor Rosenthal’s pitched in a grand total of 74.2 innings.

– Seth Maness has appeared in 37.2 innings, all this year.

– Not to be outdone, Keith Butler’s pitched in 18.1 innings, all this year.

– “Old geezers,” says Kevin Siegrist, who’s thrown in just 16.2 innings.

This could either prove to be a good thing (young, fresh arms, especially considering the lighter workloads for Rosenthal and Maness, who were groomed to be starters in the minors) or a very bad thing (Randy Choate and Edward Mujica are the only relievers with any post-season experience).

Coming up

The Cardinals face one of the hottest teams in baseball, but at least it’ll be at home, where the Cardinals have gone 32-17. Wednesday is Star Wars Night! If you’re there, look me up. I’ll be the guy rocking the Yoda backpack.