By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor
(CARDINALS)—The St. Louis Cardinals went 13-12 in May, a record that might surprise some folks who once saw them nine games under .500 as late as May 11. The Cardinals closed out the month winning 12 of their last 16 games and got to break even on the next-to=last day of the Month before losing to Cincinnati.
The turnaround was fueled by some bats waking up to support the pitching staff. The Cardinals hit only 19 home runs in April. In May they hit 30. They had 23 more hits and scored 13 more runs in May than they did in April, most of that in the second two-thirds. They stole 17 bases in May, only 11 in April.
The Redbirds were 13-13 in April, 1-3 in March.
(ROYALS)—The Kansas City Royals have shown consistency in the first two months of the season, posting identical 17-11 records in April and May. As of the beginning of play last night, Salvador Perez was seventh in batting in both leagues, with a .315 average.
Bobby Witt Jr. was ninth in batting at .313 and was second in stolen bases with 17.
(BASEBALL STATS, GENERALLY)—Going into last night’s games, ESPN’s ranking of the top 50 players in hitting and pitching listed these Missouri players.
Pitching—Royals Seth Lugo is number two behind Ranger Suarez of the Phillies in ERA, Suarez at 1.70 and Lugo at 1.72. Both lead the majors with nine victories. The Royals have two other pitchers in the top 50—Brady Singer is twelfth with an ERA of 2.63 although he’s only 4-2; Cole Ragens is 31st in ERA at 3.21 with a 4-4 record. The only Cardinals starting pitcher on the top 50 is Kyle Gibson, fiftieth, with a 3.60 ERA and a 4-2 record.
Masyn Winn’s .299 average ranks 14th among major league hitters.
(HAWKS)—It wasn’t particularly pretty, but the St. Louis Battlehawks locked in a home UFL playoff last weekend, slipping past their top division rival, the San Antonio Brahmas. 13-12. Both teams finish the regular season 7-3 but St. Louis won both of the regular season games and therefore gets home field advantage for the playoff fame next Sunday.
The ‘Hawks led 10-0 at the half but the Brahmas But the Brahmas reeled off twelve unanswered points in the second half and completed a two-point conversion that would have given them a 14-12 lead. But the Battlehawks won a challenge that maintained a San Antonio player was an ineligible receiver downfield.
(CHIEFS)—The Kansas City Chiefs are beginning the serious preparations for the 2024=25 (they hope) season this week. The last of the voluntary workouts begins today with the mandatory week-long spring training camp starting next Wednesday, the 11th.
(MIZ)—Former Tiger lineman Justin Smith is one of 77 players and nine coaches nominated for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame this year. Smith, a Jefferson City native, played for the Tigers, 1998-2000. He was a Freshman All-American and made the national All-American first team in 2000. He still ranks fourth in sacks. He had a long pro career with seven years with the Bengals and seven more with the 49ers. Inductees will be announced early next year.
Tigers Roar and So Do Engines
(NASCAR)—There’s a car in there somewhere—
We thought it would be the yellow car of Ryan Blaney who had the race in hand, especially after this chief challenger, Christopher Bell, developed engine trouble. But it was the blue car of Blaney teammate Austin Cindric that did a furious burnout at the start-finish line at Worldwide Technology Raceway just across the river from St. Louis.
Blaney, the defending NASCAR Cup champion still looking for his first win of 2024,who had made his last pit stop was just one lap before Cindric’s last stop, ran out of gas on the next to last lap, had just enough fuel to run the last two laps and to celebrate the win. His tank went dry just before he got the white flag signaling one lap was left.
Cindric had not won a race in 85 outings since becoming a rookie winner of the Daytona 500 at thes start of the 2022 season and had recorded only one top-ten finish this year. He admitted afterwards that he had become so unfamiliar with the NASCAR winners’ rituals that he almost fell off the roof of his car when he shut it down and climbed out to celebrate.
“It was like my first time all over again, it’s been so long.” He said his win “is everything. It’s absolutely everything,” but he acknowledged that the third-place car in the race wound up winning because the two better cars—of Blaney and Bell—encountered late problems.
Bell wound up seventh with teammate Martin Truex Jr., bump-pushing him to the finish line. Truex, who had run into problems early and was far out of contention, finished 34th. Blaney coasted the final lap and was credited within finishing 24th.
Blaney finished 24th after coasting around the track with a silent engine.
(INDYCAR)—Years ago, IndyCar driver Tom Sneva was called the “gas man” because he stood on the gas and became the first driver to turn official 200 mph laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and was the fastest qualifier for the 500 four times.
There’s a new “gas man” in IndyCar today, Scott Dixon, who still goes fast at the age of 43 (he’ll be 44 next month) has been winning a lot of races because he “makes fuel,” or stretches his fuel loads father than other drivers. Last weekend’s race on the streets of Detroit added another example of that nickname by stretching his fuel to finish a full second ahead of Marcus Ericsson.
It’s his 58th career win, second to the legendary A. J. Foyt, who had 67 wins his career. Dixon made only two pit stops while most other teams made four or more. “A lot of guys that you know are going to be racing for a championship had a rough day,” he said of the race. His win has elevated him to the top of the point standings, twenty points ahead of last year’s champion, Alex Palou, who finished 16th, and 33 up on Will Power, who was sixth.
(Photo credits: Bob Priddy)