ST. LOUIS — Considering the way he hits the ball, defending third base at his typical Golden Glove level and playing like a solid MVP candidate, Cardinals star Nolan Arenado rarely gets it wrong these days. For this reason, it is worth paying attention to him when he speaks.
When Arenado recently said he thought the Cardinals were about to start playing some of their best baseball and deserved to be named one of the league’s top teams, many raised eyebrows. After all, the Cardinals had very few starting pitches back then and a forgettable record (18-27) against teams with positive records.
Fast-forward the clock to Sunday night, when the music blared in the Cardinals clubhouse and the smiles recurred after the first sweep in franchise history against the mighty Yankees, and those words d’Arenado seem full of wisdom. . Of course, those predictions tend to be much better when the slugger Arenado is in the middle of the lineup, hitting three-point homers and pushing teammates with his fiery personality.
“We’re playing good baseball, all-around baseball,” said Arenado, who had three hits, drove in four runs and hit his 22nd homer of the season in St. Louis’ 12-9 win over the Yankees. “The way we’ve been playing lately, we couldn’t really do that in the first half, but now we’re hitting and throwing and playing good defense. I remember saying we didn’t put it all together, but in this home stay, we did.”
Wow, they showed their best baseball this weekend. After coming back to beat the Yankees on Friday with a key double from Paul DeJong and holding on all game to win 1-0 on Saturday thanks to a pitch and good defense, the Cardinals bats woke up in the last of the series , chaining 11 hits. and take eight walks. In total, the Red Birds have swept their two home series this week and have now won seven in a row to take a two-game lead over the Brewers in NL Central.
“Beating teams like that and putting numbers like that we can show we have a terrific group here,” said DeJong, who has three home runs, three doubles and 10 RBIs in eight days since returning to the majors.
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On the other side, they also noted the level displayed by the cardinals. “They did a good job offensively, taking advantage, getting people on base, working the counts, controlling the strike zone. They’ve got a really good team,” Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson said.
Showing that fighting ability that was lacking for long stretches earlier in the season, the Cardinals scored five times in the second inning to rally from a 4-1 deficit after starter Adam Wainwright struggled early. . And again, when the Yankees scored two goals in the top of the fifth on a brace from Aaron Judge, St. Louis responded with three dashes to put the lead back within a comfortable margin.
“It was a big home run, and it was great to see us respond after taking the lead,” said Arenado, who scored it in the second inning. “I feel like in the first half… it would have been difficult for us to come back. It was really good to see us fight and work in quarters against these great pitchers. I got really excited because we went up. We needed that.”
“It was one of the most memorable games I’ve ever played here,” DeJong said. “I’ve had a lot of fun since I’ve been back and I’m enjoying every day here.”
Tags: Showing their best baseball Louis swept the Yankees
