Carpenter: Tough stretch not 'ideal', but Cardinals aren't panicking
The St. Louis Cardinals, once coasting with not only the best record in MLB but a seemingly unobstructed stroll through September en route to another NL Central title, have hit a road block.
They've gone 2-8 in their past 10 games, allowing the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs to bridge some of the gap that was previously between them.
Don't assume, though, that the Cards have hit the 'panic' button just yet.
As Matt Carpenter told MLB.com's Jennifer Langosch on Saturday, after the Cards lost 5-1 to the Cincinnati Reds, "There is no need and there is no feeling of panic here. Teams that end up doing that end up falling out of this deal. Every year you go through a stretch where it doesn't look good. We've been fortunate enough not to have one all season. Now we're seeing it. It's not an ideal time for it to come. But at the same time, we're not panicking."
Langosch broke down some of the numbers involved in the 2-8 skid, and they're not particularly pretty. After Saturday's loss, St. Louis has been outscored 61-23 during the 10 games. Their starting pitching corps has also been uncharacteristically off as well, with Lance Lynn picking up another loss on Saturday.
Manager Mike Matheny echoed Carpenter's claims of 'no panic' by mentioning to Langosch that the club has to just 'stay the course' in order to get back on track.
After all, they were rolling for the first five months of the season - and it seems hard to imagine their combination of seasoned veterans and gifted young players struggling like this the rest of the way.
