Will the Giants be the Cardinals Next Victim?

Cardinals take Game 3 of the NLCS and are one game away from the World Series

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

By Katy Williams

The Cardinals were the last team to clinch a playoff spot in the National League this season. It was down to the wire, but they got it done. If the last two years are any indication, that’s exactly the way the Cardinals like it.

The reigning World Series champions are well on their way to making a deep run into the postseason once again this season, and the Giants are just the latest team to be standing in their path. If the first half of the series is any indication, the Giants are about to learn a lesson many teams before them have: in October, you can’t beat the Cardinals.

On paper, it makes no sense. How are the Cardinals, a team with slightly above average pitching, able to find victories series after series, postseason after postseason? Especially, since defense is usually the key to making deep postseason runs.  But in 2012, the story has been the Cardinals’ offense which goes against the conventional wisdom in playoff baseball.

All season, the Giants have not been led by their bats, but by their two pitching aces, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgartner. When the Giants lost strong hitter Melky Cabrera, their pitching became even more important. With the exception of Buster Posey and at times Pablo Sandoval, the Giants bats have been quiet.

But what proved to be a winning formula for the regular season has been fruitless against the Cardinals. In Game One at home Bumgartner was handed a loss, and three days later Cain was handed a loss in St. Louis in Game Three. The formula that worked so well for the Giants in the regular season has been betraying them now.

The Giants do have hope though. With Carlos Beltran going down at the beginning of Wednesday night’s game, one of the Cardinal’s loudest bats is now silent. However, the Cardinals did still win Game 3, erupting on offense for eight runs.

What does this mean for the Giants? The Cardinals may have lost one of their best hitters, but the rest of the lineup has proven they can produce. If the Giants want to move on to the World Series, they are going to have to start scoring runs. Because if there is anything the Cardinals have taught us, it is that offense does in fact win games.