Cardinals catch fire in August
LOS ANGELES — Matt Adams could see something special going on with the St. Louis Cardinals from the opposing side of the field with the Washington Nationals.
He recognized the solid pitching and timely hitting that have made the Cardinals baseball’s hottest team in the dog days of August. So Adams couldn’t believe his luck when he found out St. Louis had claimed him off waivers this week.
The move brings Adams back to the organization that drafted him in 2009. More importantly, he’s on a team that has gone from wild-card hopeful to threatening the NL Central-leading Cubs.
“They’re playing with a fire and taking every pitch like it’s the last pitch they’ll ever play,” Adams said. “How they go about their daily business is something special to watch.”
St. Louis has undergone quite a transformation since firing manager Mike Matheny on July 14. At that time, the Cardinals were 47-46 and trailed the Cubs by 7 1/2 games. After completing a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday to win their eighth consecutive series, the Cardinals have won 24 of their past 35 games and are 17-4 in August.
In just more than a month, the Cardinals have gone from a team in line to miss the playoffs for a third straight year — something they haven’t done since 1999 — to contending for a division title. Boasting a 37-29 record away from home this season and an eight-game streak of road wins, St. Louis visits Colorado tonight.
“Everyone’s kind of getting amped up,” Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong said.
The turnaround is happening under bench coach Mike Shildt, who replaced Matheny when he was fired after seven years in a dramatic move by a club that hasn’t changed managers often. Matheny was just the second skipper since 1996.
Shildt began as a scout with the Cardinals organization and eventually combined those duties with being a part-time coach in the minor leagues. Elevating the 50-year-old veteran to interim status has gone over well in the clubhouse.
“Shildt’s been really good at letting us play our own game and letting us play the way we want to play. That’s the biggest thing,” Wong said. “We have so many different personalities and different guys in this clubhouse. You just have to allow people to be themselves, and eventually people are going to mesh together.”
The Cardinals outscored Los Angeles 13-6 over three games in their first sweep at Dodger Stadium since 2006, putting the five-time reigning NL West champions into a tailspin.
St. Louis is succeeding with a mix of youngsters and veterans who have embraced each other.