On Monday Aug. 9 Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips said he hated the St. Louis Cardinals and called them “little bitches.” The following day the two teams had a benches clearing brawl. When the series was over the Cards left Cincy with a three-game sweep and a one-game lead in the division. Many people, including myself (and not just because I’m a Cardinals fan), thought the fight and sweep would propel the team. Man did it ever.
The Cardinals are 5-11 in their last 16 games. The Reds are 12-4 over the same stretch. St. Louis lost series to the Cubs, Brewers, Pirates and Nationals whose combined record is 218-308. The one-game division lead they held on Aug. 11 has turned into a six-game deficit. No worries though. Just ask Tony La Russa and Albert Pujols who found time to hang with Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin over the weekend.
St. Louis has 33 games left and they’re only three games back of the Phillies for the wild card but the way they’re playing doesn’t suggest a playoff berth. They look like they’ve nearly packed it in and if they lose the series to the Astros (already down a game with two left) and then the weekend tilt with the Reds it’ll be time to look to next year.
Cardinals fan huh?? That explains a lot….