Entering play last night, the Cardinals were in first place in the NL Central, with the third-best record in the National League (I’d ask for a show of hands from people who predicted Atlanta, St. Louis, and Arizona to lead the NL with close to a quarter of the season played, but that wouldn’t achieve anything but the identification of liars). They’ve had a healthy dose of good fortune that needs to be acknowledged: for example, their BaseRuns record, which strips out good/bad luck in the sequencing of events, says they’ve played more like a 19-16 team than a 21-14 one.
The Cardinals offense has been led from behind
