St. Louis Reaches 50 Wins Quicker Than Any Team Since 2005
The St. Louis Cardinals are 51-24 on the season, have won 6 straight and eight of their past 10. The Cardinals are 9 games ahead of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Central. Simply put, the Cards are on fire.
With their 8-1 win on Saturday night, the Cardinals reached 50 wins quicker than any other team since the 2005. The Chicago White Sox were the last team to reach 50 wins so quickly. That season the White Sox went on to win the World Series.
Going back more than 50 years, St. Louis is one of only 18 teams to win 50 games prior to losing 25. Four of those previous teams the 1984 Detroit Tigers, the 1986 New York Mets, the 1998 New York Yankees and the previously mentioned White Sox, all won the World Series in the same season.
Thirteen of the past 17 teams to record 50 wins by this time of the MLB season completed the regular season with 100 or more wins. Only two of those 17 went on to miss the postseason.
With its sensational start, St. Louis has increased its lead to 9 games over the Pirates.
Mike Matheny the manager for the Cardinals said that everyone on the club is doing his part to help the team win even when not all the stars on the team are playing.
In the storied history of the Cardinals organization only once prior to this season has the team had such a torrid start. That season was 1944 and the Cardinals were 52.-21-2 and won 105 games during the regular season.
When asked about the start, Matheny said he did not know how he should respond to it since he and his coaches are telling the players it is far too early to look at any record even if the team has started quicker than the vast majority of teams have in the past.
One of the most shocking aspects of the success St. Louis has had to start the season is the club has done it with some of their stars not playing.
The disabled list for the Cardinals is loaded with key players.
Adam Wainwright the ace of the pitching staff is out for the season. Jordan Walden a set up reliever has not pitched since April. The No. 3 hitter Matt Holliday and No. 4 hitter Matt Adams have missed significant time because of injured quads.
Jon Jay, Lance Lynn, Randel Grichuk and Jaime Garcia all have spent different amounts of time on the DL.
This season the team has a winning streak of 8 games, a current one of 6 games, four of five games and two of four straight games.
St. Louis has lost three straight on one occasion and is 29-7 at home. The Cards are also 16-11 in games decided by one run. The team has won six games after entering the eighth inning trailing and has won six games with walk off wins.
Let’s just see if all this success carries through the season and deep into the postseason.
