On Sunday afternoon in the same room a series of changes to his staff and roster had been announced two days prior, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny mentioned how a series sweep of the Phillies helped his team lighten its load after a stretch of struggles had started to feel, in the manager's word, heavy.
A team meeting in Cincinnati had changed things, according to some Cardinals. A shuffling of coaches is always a wake-up call. Same for the cutting of ties with a veteran, in this case infielder Jhonny Peralta.
If the Cardinals really are back on track -- taking three against the lowly Phillies is a rather small sample size -- it is more likely that a series of nudges, not one, pushed them in the right direction.