DENVER -- Before their old friend burned them, before the floodgates opened, and before the Cardinals began what unraveled into a 9-1 loss to the Rockies on Saturday night, Mike Shildt sat in the visitor's dugout and outlined, in breathless detail, just how the Cardinals' bullpen has transformed from weakness to a strength.
The key to that turnaround, Shildt says, is the flexibility of his new unit. Flush with options that can provide length, Shildt is afforded the luxury of improvising when necessary. It's a strategy that's largely worked. But a night after pushing all the right buttons in a win the bullpen saved several times over, Shidlt's relief corps did the exact opposite.