ATLANTA — Even through the lowest trench of their recent losing stretch, the Cardinals had an element of their game tugging them forward out of the muck. They just couldn't get any of them coordinated. If they got strong pitching, the offense meandered. When the offense had life, the pitching fell behind early. If they flexed their depth, the defense stumbled.
Members of the team talked about what could happen if they got the various facets of their game finally moving in the same direction.
Friday is not what they had in mind.
In loss as troubling individually as this cascade of them has been collectively, the Cardinals couldn’t count on their starting pitcher or hitting and crumbled, 9-1, to Atlanta at Truist Park.