Take 2 Roundup: Games of Tue, 12/25/07

[bernieh]

[size=24:4aff81f942][b:4aff81f942]CARD SHARKS[/b:4aff81f942][/size:4aff81f942]
[size=18:4aff81f942]St. Louis Wins 7th Straight[/size:4aff81f942]

<img src="http://fantasygames.sportingnews.com/images/baseball/stratomatic/1986/story_photos/osmith_wmcgee_150x221.jpg" align="left" border="1" width="150" height="221" style="margin-right: 10px;" /> John Morris hit a pinch-hit, bases-loaded walkoff single in the bottom of the 9th to lift St. Louis to a [url=http://www.sportingnews.com/baseball/1986/scores/boxscore.php?id=569]3-2 win over the visiting Astros[/url] on Tuesday night. The suddenly hot Cardinals have won 7 games in a row, improving to 23-21 on the season and a tie with the Expos for 2nd place in the NL East, despite ranking dead last in the NL in homeruns, and second-to-last in team OPS (.676).

What's been the key to St. Louis' turnaround? Most obviously, it's the pitching, which has given up 3 runs in the last 5 games, and ranks 3rd in the NL with a 3.23 team ERA. The 5 starters in the rotation sport ERAs of 2.32, 2.57, 3.04, 3.08, and 3.15. Aside from that, Willie McGee and Ozzie Smith (pictured) have played sparkling defense up the middle, and although the lineup has just one power threat, that bat (Jack Clark) is doing plenty of damage, with 10 HR and a .557 slugging percentage.

[i:4aff81f942]photo: SN Archives[/i:4aff81f942]