ST. LOUIS — The clinching blowout victory over the Brewers on Sunday night was the 15th consecutive time the Cardinals had won before heading for the airport, a run they’ll risk against the American League champion Texas Rangers.
The wild-card Cardinals have the home-field advantage for the first time, thanks to Prince Fielder’s three-run homer in the National League’s All-Star Game win. They’re underdogs against Texas, making its second straight trip to the World Series.
It’s nothing new for this late-blooming team that was boosted by several trade deadline pickups.
All those getaway victories fueled an improbable surge for a team that trailed Atlanta by 10 1/2 games for the wild card on Aug. 25. Entering the final month, they were in serious danger of finishing out of the postseason for the fourth time in five years since winning the 2006 World Series.
The Cardinals were afterthoughts in 2006 too, after winning just 83 games. Albert Pujols, Chris Carpenter, Yadier Molina, Skip Schumaker and injured pitcher Adam Wainwright, who got the last out in both the NLCS and World Series, are holdovers from that team.
“When you get to the postseason, anything can happen,” Pujols said.
The Associated Press
