This was a Cardinals team built on the foundations of pitching and defense.
Last night, facing a winner-moves-on scenario in the Wild Card round of the expanded playoffs, the Cardinals were set up to win with their strengths.
Jack Flaherty was on the mound, ready to be the ace that he’s supposed to be. He gutted through 100+ pitches over 6 innings. He wasn’t perfect. He didn’t even have his best stuff. But he more than did his job. He struck out eight while giving up 6 hits.
He lost the game and the Cardinals season ended because he made one mistake.