At 11-5 away from Busch Stadium so far this season, the Cardinals have MLB's second-best winning percentage on the road. However, that success will be put to the test over the next seven games against the Padres and Athletics.
Admittedly, Burleson said he didn’t even know that the Cardinals were 11-5 away from Busch Stadium this season because his squad tries to bring the same sense of urgency to games regardless of whether they are at home or on the road. Still, the Cardinals' 687 winning percentage on the road ranks second in MLB only to what the Braves (14-6, .700) have accomplished, and it is just ahead of the surging Yankees (12-6, .666) and the surprising Nationals (12-7, .631).
“I mean, we have the same mindset every day where we’re trying to play hard, play the right way and win games,” admitted Burleson, the reigning National League Player of the Week for a torrid skid he started last week when the Cardinals swept the Pirates over a four-game series in Pittsburgh.
“It’s always fun to go into a place – we’ve had two (road) sweeps – and you leave there feeling really good,” Burleson continued. “I don’t think there’s anything to (their road success so far). We just show up and do the things that we do and it’s worked out for us on the road so far.”
The Cardinals will likely need their road magic tonight when they begin a four-game series against the surging at Petco Park. In addition to being 22-14 overall, the Padres have won two in a row and are 11-8 at home this season under first-year manager Craig Stammen.
Originally, the Cardinals were slated to be in one of their toughest stretches of the season with them scheduled to play 17 games in 17 days, but Tuesday night’s rain out at Busch Stadium gave them a reprieve. Still, they went 7-4 before the wash out and would love to bounce back from Wednesday’s home loss to the Brewers with a strong series in San Diego and later Sacramento against the Athletics.
“We’re basically just evaluating how we’re going about it, and with the way we’re playing right now, I’m comfortable playing just about anybody,” Cardinals’ manager Oliver Marmol said earlier in the week. “It has more to do with our consistency right now more than anything.”
Cards have been road warriors thus far
The Cardinals have MLB’s second-youngest roster, but they have somehow found consistency in hostile environments. The Cards lost two of their first three road games in Detroit, but rallied to win the next series in Washington, D.C. They swept the Astros in Houston from April 17-19 but dropped two of three in Miami the next week. Then, following a hard-fought home series where they suffered two gut-punch losses and were swept by the Mariners, the Cards responded by impressively taking all four from the rival Pirates in Pittsburgh from April 27-30.
“For us, it’s just about continue doing the same things, which is playing hard every day, and it doesn’t matter who the opponent is,” said catcher/designated hitter Ivan Herrera, who ranks eighth in MLB in on-base percentage (.406) with his 32 hits, 27 walks and eight hit by pitches.
The Cardinals have been able to outplay expectations – they sit at 21-15 despite having a negative run differential (-1) and computer models have their expected record at 18-18 – largely because of their stellar defense, elite base-running and a strong closing crew at the back end of their bullpen. They also have shown a knack for never being out of games with 10 come-from-behind wins.
Posting late rallies in San Diego might be more difficult than normal considering the success this season for Mason Miller, who has gained national headlines for how he has dominated hitters. Miller, a third-round draft pick in 2021 out of tiny Gardner-Webb, is 11 for 11 in saves with a 1.004 ERA in 17 games. He has allowed just seven hits and two earned runs in 17 1/3 innings while striking out 34 and walking just three. He ranks in MLB’s 100th percentile in average fastball velocity (101.2 mph), chase rate (44 percent), whiff rate (57.8 percent), strikeout rate (55.7 percent) and hard-hit rate (16.7 percent).
Burleson, who ranks in MLB’s top 84th percentile in strikeout rate (15.4 percent), said the best strategy for dealing with Miller is to keep the star closer out of the game.
“He’s got a good heater, you have to honor the fastball and he’s going to throw it, so you had better be ready for it,” said Burleson, who has faced Miller once in his career. “But hopefully we don’t see him for four games.”
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