The Cardinals won a slug fest in Colorado as Matt Holliday led the Cardinals against his former team as they won 9-6. The Cardinals (56-48) did not gain any ground in the Central but they are now 3.0 games behind in the Wild Card.  There is still plenty of baseball left and the Cardinals can easily make it to the playoff’s and I still believe this team can win the division. A lot has to go right and the Cardinals are looking pretty hot right now, their offense truly is the best in the NL.  Here is a quick recap of last nights game, I apologize for me not getting this up last night. 

Matta-Boy: 

Matt Holliday continued his torrid pace, hitting two homers and driving in five runs. He ended the day 3-5 with three runs scored. Holliday is on fire and he may possibly be an MVP candidate when it is all said and done.  We really need Holliday to keep this up and lead this team, that is what Mo entrusted in him when he signed Holliday to that monster contract and I believe he can do just that. He is even starting to come up in the clutch, something some fans always dis Holliday on.

Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Westbrook:

Is he a decent Woody Williams type pitcher or another Kip Wells? One game he pitches seven shut out innings, one a quality start, one a six run explosion, there is not much consistency to Westbrook.  Westbrook did get the win, he went six innings, he allowed nine hits, five runs, and walked four. Not a great outing for Westbrook but thanks to our awesome offense, Westbrook improved to 10-8 on the season.

The New Kid on the Block:

Edward Mujica arrived on the team wearing number 44 and ready to pitch for his new team. Mujica was given the ball in the seventh and had a quick 1-2-3 inning picking up his first hold with the Cardinals and 13th on the year. Mujica is going to be a key to this team, we need that seventh inning guy and I think he fits the bill. With shut-down Boggs in the eighth and our closer Motte in the ninth, this teams bullpen is much improved from the beginning of the season.

Heating up?:

Carlos Beltran appears to be getting over his large July slump, he has been hitting more homers lately and had another good game last night. He went 2-5 with his tenth stolen base of the year. We really need to have the Carlos Beltran of April and May, not June and July.  Beltran is still on pace to end the year strong and with 30 plus homers, but it would be nice if he could get that average back over .300 and start helping out the team all over again.

Player of the Game: 

Holliday, he is now tied with Beltran for the NL lead in RBI, he had a fantastic two homer game and could be on the way to an MVP award.

Conclusion: 

The Cardinals still have a lot of work to do to make it to October baseball, but it is still very reachable. The Reds are in a huge hot streak, but with so much time left I think that there is plenty of time left for them to hit a dry spell. Also how long can we expect the Pirates to stay at this pace, the team is young and inexperienced and I doubt they will stay in the game all the way through September. If the Cardinals offense is really coming alive, the bullpen is healed, and the rotation remains solid, this team can win it all agian!