I love the St. Louis Cardinals and have since I was old enough to hold a transistor radio (remember those?) up to my ear but damn this season is off to a resounding thud. I guess it's how Cubs fans feel every year but I'm not used to the suck. So I'll vent for a minute on the 1-3 start. The Cards hit into two more double plays last night and went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. That makes seven twin killings in four games they've grounded into, tied for the most in the Major Leagues.
* Holliday, who was 3 for 4 in the debut, is out injured.
* Pujols is 2 for 16 (.176) and has grounded into 4 double-plays.
* Molina is 2 for 15 (.133).
* Freese is 2 for 13 (.154).
* Franklin has had 1 save opportunity, and blew it.
* They're 23rd (out of 30 teams) in batting average (.231).
* 28th in slugging percentage (.299).
* 25th in runs scored (11) and the 5 teams behind them haven't played 4 games yet.
* 20th in ERA (4.50).
This blows. At least not as bad as the gawd awful NCAA championship game last night, but pretty bad still. 1 positive? Garcia threw a 9 inning shutout for the win! Hopefully he can do that about 35 times this year.
I predict the offense wakes up tonight and scores 10 runs. No... really. I do. And do you know why? The good luck Cardinals' gnome has already made an appearance. Foolproof luck changer right there friends.
Albert hit .345 with 7 HR and 19 RBI last April for the record... I expect the same this year by the time the month is up.
