Cardinals Hand The Blue Jays Another L Thanks To A Walk-Off Grand Slam By Matt Carpenter
It’s been an odd start to the year for a handful of teams that were expected to be at or near the top of their respective divisions. The Blue Jays (6-16), Rangers (10-12), Mets (8-13), Dodgers (11-12), and Giants (8-15) have all gotten off to surprisingly bad starts. You know who else got off to a surprisingly bad start? The Cardinals. You know who wasn’t mentioned on my list of good teams that got off to bad starts? The Cardinals.
Why? Because since they started their season 3-9, after getting swept in three games by the red hot Yankees, the Cardinals have since gone 8-2, which is the third best record in the majors behind the Nationals (9-1) and the Phillies (7-1). Over their 10-game run to get back to .500, the Cardinals have posted the sixth best OPS in the majors (.823), and the fourth best team ERA (2.90).
Surprisingly, the top two starters in the Cardinals rotation have had nothing to do with this run that St. Louis has been on. Over their last 10 games, Adam Wainwright and Carlos Martinez have combined for a 5.64 ERA at two starts each, but Lance Lynn, Mike Leake and Michael Wacha have been great, combining for a 1.66 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and they’re averaging 6.1 innings per start.
As for the Blue Jays?