Cardinal Series Review 6/1-6/8

The Cards had a rough homestand this time around. The pitching had been fantastic, allowing only 17 runs in 9 games, but things started to get shaky when the Reds came to town and the wheels fell off once the Rockies came in.

Cincinnati, 6/1-6/4

The first red flag on the Cardinal offense started going up during the month of May. The Cards only scored 6+ runs five times the entire month (compare that to 10 in April). As of June 8th, they had not scored 6+ in any game. They traded wins with the Reds to open the homestand, with wins of 5-2 and 3-1 in Games 2 and 4, and losses of 3-5 and 3-9 in Games 1 and 3.

Cardinals record: 2-2 (8-5-2 series)

Colorado, 6/5-6/8

And then the wheels fell off. The bullpen completely fell apart. Wainwright left Game 1 with the Cardinals down 1-3, but by the end of the 7th, it was 11-1. The Rockies scored 9 runs in the 7th inning, and it was all over from there. Game 1 was followed by three more absolutely flat performances by the Cardinals, all losses: 1-10, 2-7, and 2-5. The Rockies aren't a bad team, but there is no reason why Jorge De La Rosa, Aaron Cook, Ubaldo Jimenez and Jason Marquis should look like Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine and Avery. I have a feeling that this is going to be a series that we look back to later in the season.

Cardinals record: 0-4 (8-6-2 series)

The Cardinals are hitting the road for the next six games, visiting both Florida and Cleveland. We'll catch back up on the other side.