Surprise, surprise, surprise.
The Cardinals blew a one-run lead in the ninth for the third time in the four-game set with the Brewers to get swept and fall back to four games out of first place. It also allowed Milwaukee to put some distance between second and third place.
What can I say? Team management knows what's wrong with the Redbirds and they know what they need to do to fix it. It just refuses to do anything about it.
I'm afraid I can't opine any more about this subject because I find it difficult --- if not impossible -- to do so without using language that is inappropriate for a family friendly blog.
View From the Cheap Seats Cardinals Star of the Game: Ryan Ludwick for his diving catch to end the fifth inning with the bases loaded. At the time, it looked like that could be the turning point of the game. But they couldn't score any runs the entire series, at least not enough that the bullpen would have a cushion that it could defend.
Lowlight: Franklin, for the above mentioned reasons. There is really no excuse to let him appear as the closer again. He's worse than Isringhausen was. Even if they can't get Carpenter and Wainwright back into the swing of things, the Cardinals need to make Looper or Wellemeyer the closer and replace him in the rotation with Brad Thompson or one of the kids.
It couldn't possibly get any worse.
One last thing: Nice job, Cardinals, striking out back-to-back-to-back in the bottom of the ninth. Bravo.
