Aside from Albert Pujols's single being a grounder up the middle, and not a line drive through an infielder's glove, that was almost exactly the game the St. Louis Cardinals needed after a promising win at the end of a lost series. I don't know what else there is to ask for. Lance Berkman homered twice—four extra-base hits in the same game!—David Freese continued to de-slump; and the Cardinals got a fine performance from two middle relievers, Jason Motte and Mitchell Boggs, who will play a major role in keeping Viva El Birdos competent to stand trial over the next several months for the criminal harrassment of Ryan Franklin. They scored eight runs, they only allowed two, the gamethread was as pleasant as you might imagine.
Kyle McClellan Watch, meanwhile, remains inconclusive, but—again—pleasantly so. Allowing 11 baserunners in six innings is not typically a way to hold teams to one run, but so far he seems more than competent enough for the fifth starter assignment.
The current Fan Confidence reading, taken through Saturday, is 33, nearly half the reading of any other St. Louis team. I submit that it will go up in the next reading, to be taken on April 13. At the risk of throwing off this highly accurate scientific instrument by observing it, I'd like to know: What do you think the next number will be, coming off two consecutive wins but with two more games to go in the interim?
Personally, I have no idea. Lately I've been hovering around 60, which seems like a nice guess at how likely the Cardinals are to make the playoffs combined with a small homerism bonus.