YGY Series Preview Show Rewind: Yankees-Cardinals (5/26-5/28)

May 20, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) connects for a double against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Diamondbacks 5-0. (Photo Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports)

On this episode of the Yanks Go Yard Series Preview Show, I started the show by talking about the New York Yankees’ split of a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox. There were rough patches for New York on this Chicago road-trip, but they end up finishing 3-3 in the six games against the Cubs and White Sox.

After losing the first two games of the series on a dominant start by Chris Sale on Thursday and a blown save by David Robertson on Friday night, the Bronx Bombers found a way to come-from-behind on Saturday afternoon in the top of the ninth to tie the game. In the following inning, they won the game on a solo home run from Jacoby Ellsbury. Then, on Sunday, the Yankees got four runs in the top of the second to break the game open for Masahiro Tanaka. Tanaka gave up just one run in 6.2 innings to pick up his seventh win of the season. Now, the New York Yankees (26-23) stand just two games behind the Blue Jays in the AL East as they head into Memorial Day. Their next opponent will be the defending National League champion St. Louis Cardinals (28-22) at Busch Stadium.

For the Cardinals , it was not the best start for them after a NL pennant a season ago. Mike Matheny‘s squad finished the month of April 14-14, but they have hit their stride as of late as they have won eight of their last ten games. Fortunately, for the Yankees, they will not see Adam Wainwright, who struck out 12 batters in eight innings on Sunday night against the Reds in a victory.

The Cardinals added Jhonny Peralta in the off-season to play shortstop and he has not disappointed. The former Tiger, who missed 50 games last season due to a Biogenesis suspension, leads the team with nine home runs. The Cardinals are toward the bottom of the league in runs scored (21st in MLB), but Yadier Molina is still their leader behind the plate and he is hitting .330 on the season. Plus, the pitching is key for the Redbirds as the team’s ERA of 3.27 is sixth in all of baseball.

For this episode, I spoke with Bob Hudgins, a staff writer from Redbird Rants. Hudgins gave me his insight on the reason why St. Louis has clicked as of late as well as their struggles this season with runners in scoring position. You can find the other topics that Bob and I discussed along with the link to the preview show below:

• The buzz around St. Louis with the Yankees coming to Busch Stadium for first time since 2005
• Spark to St. Louis’ success being Peter Bourjos and Kolten Wong?
• Michael Wacha‘s (Monday starter) and his high strikeout totals
• Can Chase Whitley give the Bronx Bombers more than five innings on Monday?
• David Phelps (Tuesday’s starter) showing some good signs
• Which Lance Lynn will show up for St. Louis on Tuesday?
• Why Hiroki Kuroda vs. Shelby Miller on Wednesday could be a home run fest
• Players To Watch on St. Louis: Jhonny Peralta and Matt Holliday
• Players To Watch on Yankees: Derek Jeter and Ichiro Suzuki
• Any concern in St. Louis about Trevor Rosenthal as the closer?
• Evaluating St. Louis’ chances in the NL Central
• How I evaluate the Yankees at the first unofficial checkpoint of the season (Memorial Day)

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE YANKEES-CARDINALS SERIES PREVIEW SHOW!!!