2012 MLB: St. Louis Cardinals win the NLDS only to face elimination in the NLCS – Part 7
The year that started with an apparent tumultuousness for the St. Louis Cardinals had now transformed into something promising. They had made another successful bid for the National League Championship Series with their resounding win over the Washington Nationals in the five-game National League Division Series.
First and foremost, the first Washington Nationals appearance in the post-season games made them a force to reckon with in the National League. They had ostensibly made a rather good start with a win in Game 1, beating the Cardinals 3-2.
But having retained an enviable record and jealously guarding the championship they had won in 2011, the Cardinals were to fight and compete hard. Which they did with the ability to eliminate the Nationals from the NLDS.
The Nationals had a year wherein they had scored 98 victories. They seemed a potential winner here as well with the 6-0 lead the club made in the first few innings of Game 5. But all that changed as the Cardinals rebounded.
Undeniably, the Cardinals put genuine efforts to rise up to the occasion.
Cardinals' manager Mike Matheny said, “I was thinking out loud because I've seen a six-run lead last less than a blink of an eye at this place. It takes a mentality to keep pushing at this field.”
However, coming to where the Cardinals had managed was indeed not an easy task. After all, this was the first year of Mike Matheny as the manager of the Cardinals – that too in a year when the Cardinals were to defend the World Series championship.
For Matheny, the Cardinals' players epitomize competitiveness. The fact that they do not give up and fight is where the manager thought the Redbirds stood apart.
Matheny said, "It's been this style of team all season long. They just don't quit, and I think that just says a lot about their character."
He also had coaches to praise for the kind of performance that the club exhibited throughout the year.
Matheny added, “I could not have been more impressed by the way these coaches went about their business last season, and I am excited by the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead as we continue to grow as a team.”
With the elimination of the Nationals from the NLDS, the National League Championship Series brought about a challenge that probably caught the Cardinals by surprise. They, after all, were not used to losing.
However, that was what actually happened at the end when they met the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS, having a lead initially but could not maintain it and went on to be deprived of their championship title.
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