Surprising Cards stay in Central race
All season the Cardinals have defied baseball experts by hanging around the National League Central leaders, mixing and matching and scratching and clawing to keep up with the big boys.
Saturday, the Cardinals decided to ditch their small ball for the long ball.
St. Louis banged 4 home runs off Carlos Zambrano - the most the Cubs' ace has ever allowed - and pounded out 16 hits in their 12-3 thumping.
Faced with falling 8 games behind the Cubs, the Cardinals instead moved within 6. That, and not necessarily solving Zambrano, got the music cranked in the St. Louis clubhouse after the game.
"There's enough significance in us getting even in this series, keeping our October chance alive," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said of beating Zambrano. "That's enough right there. (The) significance is now tomorrow we play a rubber game."
In a 3-2 loss Friday, the Cardinals tried everything to push across a run, from suicide squeezes to aggressive baserunning to drag bunts.
Saturday, they simply swung from their heels, starting with the first batter. Skip Schumaker laced a double on the first pitch of the game.
"I think Zambrano is one of the best pitchers if not the best pitcher in the National League," Schumaker said. "I wanted to be aggressive and try not to spot him strike one because he can do so many things to put you away."
The Cardinals haven't hit Zambrano well throughout his career. He beat the Cardinals 2-0 on the Fourth of July this year, improving to 9-4 lifetime against St. Louis with a 2.26 ERA (before Saturday).
Troy Glaus also hadn't had much success against Zambrano, hitting .167, but broke out in a big way. Glaus launched a 2-run home run in the fourth and a 3-run shot in the fifth that ended Zambrano's day.
La Russa dropped Glaus down one spot to sixth with his third baseman entering the game in an 0-for-10 slump, and hitless in his last 31 at-bats against the Cubs.
"He got it going today against one of the best," La Russa said.
So did the Cardinals. Now they'll send Chris Carpenter to the mound Sunday trying to make the National League Central race a little more interesting.