BOSTON — If the Cardinals carry on and somehow wriggle out of their worst start in 50 years, win a 16th straight season and dominate their division for the second straight season, they will undoubtedly look to their game of the past week as a pivotal turning point.
Beating arch-rivals the Cubs two out of three times at Wrigley Field and then crushing the Red Sox in the last game of a three-game streak at Fenway Park could go a long way in turning around a Cardinals season that doesn’t seem so quickly to the finish just a week ago. After beating Boston in the ninth inning in back-to-back games, the Cardinals hit home runs from Nolan Arenado, Paul DeJong and Andrew Knizner to earn a 9-1 win on Sunday and the franchise’s first-ever win over the Red Sox.
“It reminds us that despite our bad start, we’re a playoff team, the talent is there, and we’re a very good baseball team,” said Miles Mikolas, who put the Red Sox on one run, four hits and two walks over six restricted innings on Sunday. “A good road trip like this helps, and coming back late in the games and showing we have what it takes when the game is on the line is huge for us.”
No one was more impressive compared to the previously strong Red Sox than Arenado, the superstar who was 2-of-5 on Sunday with a home run and four RBIs. In the series, Arenado hit three home runs, had seven of his 14 at-bats, and had seven runs.
After experiencing one of the worst starts to the season of his career, Arenado said he felt almost personally responsible for the Cardinals’ miserable performance in April. However, after helping the Cardinals win over Boston and scoring well at one of his favorite parks due to the giant green monster target in left field, Arenado believes the team’s game last week was more representative for the talent they play on is the roster.
“Obviously we have to take that home against a division rival in Milwaukee and LA who’s also playing well, but this has been a really good road trip for us,” said Arenado. “We needed that and we had to show that we could play that kind of ball. Hopefully we can continue with that.”
Despite a start that saw them fall ten games behind the lead in the National League Central, the Cardinals felt they were never far from falling behind. St. Louis was plagued by shaky starting throws, erratic hitting and a leaking bullpen so often earlier in the season and seemed to find ways to lose heartthrobs over an extended period. The low point was obviously the eight-game exit — one that also included streaks for the Dodgers and Angels — that preceded this upleg that saw them suddenly win six out of seven games.
“Getting back on track and that’s great, like we did against two good teams and with a really good style of play,” said coach Oliver Marmol. “I know I’ve said it a number of times but the clubhouse is built on trusting one another and that’s a big part of the whole thing. So definitely a really positive road trip.”
St. Louis defeated the Red Sox on Friday and Saturday by coming alive late in the game, scoring three runs in the ninth game against Kenley Jansen. On Sunday, the Cards left little doubt and needed no boost, scoring 14 goals and smashing two of their three long balls over The Green Monster. Lars Nootbaar had three hits from the starting spot in the evening, while DeJong (home run in the second inning for an early lead), Alec Burleson (two hits to relieve injured Dylan Carlson) and Knizner (two hits including a 432-foot homer that gave the left the bat at 106.8 mph according to Statcast) contributed from the bottom of the lineup.
“We’re finally gaining momentum, everyone’s playing well, the boys are batting and our pitching is good,” said Knizner, who will return to the reserve role on Monday while Willson Contreras will return to the catcher role. “This past streak shows what we’re all about as a team – that’s playing a full nine-inning game and just attacking every single pitch.”
“The Cardinals are back on track and feel like they’re a team that can totally put their terrible start behind them,” Mikolas said.
“We’re winning games and we’re happy,” said Mikolas. “We were tired of being sad because nobody likes to be sad. I think we just got to the point where we were fed up and tired of losing. You have to get the work done, and that’s exactly what we did.”