Friday was Cards' turn to look awful

Bernie Miklasz • bjmiklasz@post-dispatch.com
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/
October 5, 2013

Gerrit Cole pitched six innings and allowed one run to lead the Pirates on Friday. (Getty Images)

Usually when we look at rival teams, we go heavy on the cliches. We say something like, “The Cardinals and Pirates bring out the best in each other” and talk about how special their games are.

Oh, please.

These teams bring out the worst in each other.

The Pirates and Cardinals take turns putting on the clown shoes and fright wigs and racing around the field in those little beeping, honking cars that go around in endless circles. High jinks ensue, guys start stumbling and slipping all over the place.

Truth is, it’s been pretty bad entertainment. Most of their games this season have been blowouts.

One team looks like the 1927 New York Yankees and makes the other resemble the hopelessly impoverished and overmatched St. Louis Browns.

The National League division series is playing out the same way so far.

The Cardinals slapped the Pirates around 9-1 Thursday in Game 1. The Pirates won Game 2 on Friday, romping to a 7-1 victory. It was the Cardinals’ day to put on the bulbous red noses, sad-eye makeup and garish polka-dot suits.

Losing Cardinals’ starter Lance Lynn was terrible, and in three career postseason starts he’s now 0-2 with a 6.94 ERA. Manager Mike Matheny made the call to start Lynn in Game 2 over rookie Shelby Miller, who had the most wins and lowest ERA of any Cardinal starter at Busch Stadium this season.

Matheny is taking heat for the decision, which is curious considering that (A) Lynn had also pitched well at Busch this season; (B) the Cardinals’ defense was embarrassingly messy Friday; (C) their hitters were dominated by rookie Pittsburgh pitcher Gerrit Cole in his first career postseason start.

Hey, but if you want to make this all about Matheny and Lynn, please do. Go ahead and give the other Cardinals free pass for playing such lousy ball in Game 2. There are always plenty of good seats available in the Short Attention Span Theater, so come on down. There are prime seats in the “It’s All on Matheny” section, and I believe we can get you in the second row of the “It’s All on Lynn” mezzanine.

All I know is this: As bad as the Pirates were in Game 1, the Cardinals matched it in Game 2. And there’s plenty of blame to go around.

“The Pirates weren’t happy last night and we’re not happy tonight,” Cardinals third baseman David Freese said. “That’s what playoff baseball is all about.”

I don’t understand the extreme swings in the Pirates-Cardinals clashes this season. They’ve now played 21 times in 2013. In their 11 wins the Pirates have outscored the Cardinals by an average 5.6 runs. In their 10 wins, the Cards have outscored the Bucs by an average of 5.6 runs.

And these are two very good teams, so I don’t know why they can’t play good baseball on the same field for nine innings. We’ve seen only glimpses and highlights of elite performances. Cardinals Carlos Beltran and Adam Wainwright in Game 1. Pirates Cole and Pedro Alvarez in Game 2.

The Pirates were sloppy in the first game, and the Cardinals couldn’t catch the ball, do anything with the bat, or get a big pitch from Lynn in Friday’s fall-down.

That’s what’s so frustrating. The home team had the chance to seize control of the NLDS but played poorly and let the Pirates get out of town with a 1-1 series tie. That’s a successful trip for the Pirates, who get to play Games 3 and 4 at home.

“It’s important, there’s no doubt,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “You get in these scenarios and you lose (the first) two games, that’s a tough hole to dig out of. We wanted to get a game — we got a game.

“And now we’re getting back to our house, which has been a good place for us to play.”

The Cardinals are in a jam here.

If they lose both games in Pittsburgh, their season is over.

(I know, I know... if the Cardinals win both games in Pittsburgh, the Pirates’ season is over. That can happen, too. But the Cardinals would be bucking the odds; after all, they went 3-7 at PNC Park this season and were outscored 39 to 8 in the seven losses. But yes, it can happen.)

To attain a split of the first two games Sunday-Monday at PNC Park, the Cardinals have a few important things to pull off.

They’ll have to find a way to demystify Pirates lefthanded starter Francisco Liriano in Game 3. He’s owned them this season, going 3-0 with an 0.75 ERA and limiting STL to a .127 batting average.

If the Cardinals can’t shake themselves from Liriano’s hold, they’ll have to try and bully Pirates Game 4 starter Charlie Morton.

The Cardinals need big-time starts from two young pitchers, Joe Kelly in Game 3 and Michael Wacha in Game 4. They’ve never started an MLB postseason game. Can they deliver as Cole did for the Pirates?

If the Cardinals lose Game 3, it will put a lot on Wacha to ask him to possibly save the season in Game 4. Wacha has abundant talent and poise, but he’s a rookie with only 64 2/3 big-league innings. Cole had 118 innings for the Pirates this season.

“We’re going to go to their house and there’s no doubt about that, they’ve been able to play good games over there against us,” Beltran said. “But we have to stick with our plan, and hopefully go there and score early. And we have confidence in the guys we have on the mound.”

This will be a fascinating trip to Pittsburgh. Now that the Cardinals and Pirates are finished kicking each other around in the first two games, I think the real drama is about to kick in.

The Cardinals will be coming home. We just don’t know if it will be for Game 5, or to prepare for the NL championship series, or to begin a harsh and restless offseason.

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