The St. Louis Cardinals were never supposed to reach the 2011 NLCS. Not after Adam Wainwright went down with a season-ending injury in spring training. Not after they fell 10 games behind the Brewers in the National League Central Division and 10 ½ games behind the Braves in the wild card standings on August 24. […]
It’s an old baseball axiom that pitching and defense win championships. The Cardinals certainly used that formula to beat the Brewers 7-1 in Game 5 of the 2011 NLCS. With the series tied 2-2, the Cardinals pounced on four Brewers errors and once again relied upon a bullpen that had allowed just four earned runs
October 14, 2011: Cardinals capitalize on Brewers’ errors to win NLCS Game 5 Read More »
Early in the season, a five-inning start from Chris Carpenter wouldn’t have been enough for the Cardinals and their beleaguered bullpen. By the time the 2011 NLCS Game 3 rolled around, the Cardinals’ once-shaky bullpen had become key to their success, as evidenced by the four innings of scoreless relief provided by Fernando Salas, Lance Lynn,
2011 NLCS Game 3: Bullpen shines in Cardinals win Read More »
Heading into the Cardinals’ three-game, early-June series against the Chicago Cubs, Albert Pujols was experiencing a power outage. By the time the Cardinals left Busch Stadium with three victories – including back-to-back walk-off home runs – he had reminded everyone once again why Tony La Russa considered Pujols to be the greatest player he had
How Albert Pujols hit back-to-back walk-off homers vs. the Cubs Read More »