St. Louis Cardinals afflicted by deteriorating offence – MLB World Series Update
There was a lot to be desired when Game 4 of the World Series ended between the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals’ offence crumbled in front of resurgent Derek Holland whose eight inning feat brought about a 4-0 victory for the Rangers.
The result was shockingly unexpected. Only a night before the Cardinals beat the Texas Rangers by 16-7, bringing to fore the power of the Cardinals’ offence. However, that flair of invincibility vanished into thin air as Game 4 kicked off.
Derek Holland almost had a shut-out game with his majestically strong eight-inning spell, not allowing any run to the powerful Cardinals’ offence whereby the likes of Albert Pujols failed to live up to the fans expectations. This decline was unanticipated.
Only Lance Berkman had two hits in the game against Derek Holland. "You know the old saying. It's the next day's starting pitcher. That's what momentum is," said Lance Berkman, who had both of St. Louis Cardinals’ hits of a second-inning double and fifth-inning
single.
The momentum, for Berkman, was key which was conspicuously missing in the game.
With buoyant Texas Rangers, there is every possibility that the team once again utilises their most effective pitchers in the coming games. Game 4 was a treat to watch for the Texas Rangers’ manager Ron Washington.
"It was Holland and [catcher] Mike Napoli," said Texas’ manager Ron Washington. "[Holland] was able to use his pitches all around the strike zone. He had good offspeed stuff tonight, kept them off balance, moved them in, up and down.”
Holland impressed everyone in the game. From the awed fans watching Game 4 to the dazed St. Louis Cardinals’ offence, everyone was in a trance as the 25-year-old left-hander virtually rendered everyone useless in front of his magical eight inning spell.
It will be interesting to see how the Cardinals manage to revive their offence for the remainder of the World Series. The Rangers will be looking to come out and display the same pitching prowess and dominate the Cardinals’ offence in the next game of the
World Series.
Tags: