St. Louis Cardinals vs. Atlanta Braves: Game 3 – MLB Post Game Analysis
The St. Louis Cardinals completed a three-game series sweep over the Atlanta Braves after a comprehensive 6-3 win on Sunday, September 11 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Cardinals did well to restrict the Braves to three-runs in each of the three games to prove their pitching strength and bring themselves just six games shy of the top spot in National League Central. The Cardinals still have a chance of qualifying for
the postseason but it seems unlikely that they will manage to accomplish the feat this season. The Milwaukee Brewers are in top-form and surpassing them will be huge ask for the rather inconsistent Cardinals.
A five-run third inning was crucial in giving the Cardinals an added advantage in the game and Jake Westbrook’s immaculate pitching thereon sealed the game for the home side. Westbrook pitched into the sixth inning and leaked just two runs amid five hits
to plunge his earned-run average down to 4.61 for the season. He threw a decent spell of 89 pitches to strike-out four batters and bag his 12th win of the season with just eight losses thus far.
Westbrook has been in prime form this season but has not been consistent in halting the flow of runs. The Cardinals will want him to improve this area and put up an improved showing in the next season to give his team a fair chance of qualifying for the
postseason from the onset. Westbrook will also want to extend his duration at the mound as a mere six innings from a starter is not sufficient at the professional level. Pitchers are expected to pitch at least into the seventh inning and preferably into the
eighth inning to give their team a solid chance to retain the best relief pitcher for the closing job.
Westbrook agreed to the proposition of pitching deep into the game and said, "It was a good win for us. I would have liked to have gotten deeper in the game and saved our bullpen a little bit but that just wasn't the case."
Jason Motte proved his mettle yet again as a quality-pitcher in the depth as he threw a perfect ninth to save his fifth game this season. Motte struck-out three batters in his spell of 17 pitches, producing 12 strikes in the process to bring his ERA down
to an impressive 1.61 for the year.
Tim Hudson has been in top-form this season but a battering by the Cardinals in the third inning brought his tally of losses to double-figures for the season. Hudson was charged for a total of six runs in six innings to see his ERA rise to 3.32 for the season.
Jon Jay scored two runs for the home side, ending the game as the most prolific batter for the Cardinals. Jay went 2-for-3 in the game, taking his average to .307 after the game.
Hudson admitted his inconsistency cost his team the game and said, "I made my bed. I set them up for an inning and I just didn't make good pitches. They had good at-bats and made me pay for it."
The Braves are still significantly ahead in the race for playoffs via the Wild Card standings and are certain to make it through this season. However, team manager Fredi Gonzalez admitted that the team needs to regroup a bit after this loss and playing eight
road games in seven days has been a major factor for the dip in form.
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