By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor
(BASEBALL)—-It was dusty and covered in cobwebs in the corner of the garage, but the Cardinals were able to find their broom this weekend against the Red Sox. The Brewers had theirs closer-by and used it on the Royals
(CARDINALS)—All of the sudden, the Cardinals are starting to look like a contending team again. They finished a 5-1 week with a sweep of the Red Sox in Boston, culminating in a 9-1 pounding Sunday night. After taking two of three from the Cubs, the Cardinals took all three form Boston. They’ve gone six out of seven after an eight-game losing streak left them at the bottom of the division and their fans at the bottom of their tolerance.
The Birds still roost in last place but they’re only 2½ behind the Reds and 3½ behind the Cubs, who are only two games under .500 as we start the second half of May. St. Louis is the only team in the division with a winning record in the last ten games (6-4).
They opened a three-game series last (Monday) night with a chance to make a big move on the division-leading Brewers. The Cardinals jumed out with three runs in the bottom of the first, added a single run in the second, add four in the sixth and demolish the Brewers with ten runs in the Cardinal half of the ninth. The Cardinals hammered the Brewers 18-1 to start the week.
Jack Flaherty, who has struggled, went seven full, struck out ten, and gave up only one run.
(ROYALS)—When a team goes 4-6 in its last ten games and it’s considered progress, you know things are, well, terrible.
The Royals finished the weekend 12-30, a .218 percentage. Milwaukee took all three games as the Royals once again were blasted by one big inning by opponents.
The Royals are a better team on the road than at home, which is damning by faint praise. They’re 6-13 on the road but 6-17 at home. They started the week at home against the Padres with a disappointing performance—held hitless by former Cardinals Michael Wacha through seven innings before Michael Massey got a hit to start the 8th. Vinnie Pasquantino had the only other Royals hit, the ninth as the Padres shut them down 4-0, dropping Kansas City to 12-31 for the year. Oakland is worse, still, at 9-34.
(RACING)—Retired NASCAR driver Carl Edwards of Columbia admits he’s getting the itch to get back on the track. Edwards made a rare public appearance this weekend at Darlington, where NASCAR officially introduced its list of 75 greatest drivers in its 75-year history. He retired in 2016 and has seldom appeared at a race since. He told FOX’s Mike Joy, “I got to race with my dream, got to do all the fun stuff. I’ve been on adventures around the world, been farming a little, been raising my family.” Being at Darlington “is very important for me to come here and just show how much appreciation I have for NASCAR, all the fans, all the drivers. It’s been great.”
Edwards was a guest in the FOX broadcast booth for the second stage of the race and was asked by long-time competitor on Missouri tracks and on the NASCAR circuit, Clint Bowyer, if he’d consider returning to NASCAR, he noted, “It was easy to not race when I first stepped away, but it’s getting harder and harder,” he admitted. “I like sliding stuff around and driving cars. So there’ll be a time when I go do something. Maybe sim work, something like that … to see if I could still drive. It’s a step-by-step process.”
Edwards, always a fitness geek, looked trim and could still fit into his old fire suit. His hair is longer now and we thought we noticed a little touch of gray at the temple (after all, he’ll turn 44 on August 15).
In the race—William Byron took advantage of a late-race collision between front-runners Clay Chastain and Kyle Larson to clam his third win of the year, the first driver with three victories this year.
(INDYCAR)—Practice begins on the oval at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today for the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 in two weeks. INDYCAR kicked off its month of May with Alex Palou winning on the road course, his first win of the season. The victory moved him into first place in the points standings.
He finished almost 17 seconds ahead of Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi. Pole-sitter Christian Lundgaard had his best finish of the year, in fourth, with Felix Rosenqvist fifth. O’ Ward, Rossi, and Rosenqvist are teammates with Arrow McLaren.