The Cardinals have gotten plenty of well-deserved attention for the big strike offense this year. They are blasting home runs at a record pace, and winning games that way. In this era of the home run, the fundamentals of the game can get easily overshadowed. True, over the course of a season, a big, powerful offense will win you more games than a sacrifice fly, but poor fundamentals can still cost you a game. And it cost the Cardinals one last night. Eduardo Perez failed to come up with a tough, off-balance throw from Edgar Renteria, and that allowed a run to score. Later, with runners at second and third, Craig Paquette failed to hit the ball to the right side. That ended up costing the Cards’ the tying run. Throughout the 90’s, the Cardinals were a horrible fundamental team. They struck out a lot, failed to move runners, and played shaky defense. Their defense is better this year, and their big offense is covering many of the other holes, but the Cardinals still aren’t a great fundamental team. I hope it doesn’t cost them a game in October.
