3 things we learned from the weekend set

The St. Louis Cardinals seemingly stunned the New York Yankees with a dominant three-game sweep.

That cardinals looked like a revived and improved team in defeating the New York Yankees, 4-3 on Friday, 1-0 on Saturday and 12-9 on Sunday.

It’s safe to say that most believed in the three-game set between the cardinals and Yankees would be exciting. Not many would have seen the Cardinals and taken over the series. But with a few consistent players making comebacks and a new pitcher eager to please on his debut, Cardinal fans were in for a pleasant surprise.

Let’s look at three things we learned about the Cardinals from this sweep.

3. Jordan Montgomery is an excellent addition to the rotation.

Montgomery was the surprise of the close for the Yankees and the Cardinals. Harrison Bader didn’t seem to be on the tradeaway radar. Montgomery promoted the first-place Yankees who would have thought they were trading a starter.

Cardinals fans are glad they did!

Montgomery earned his first win for the Cardinals and is now 4-3 this season. He pitched five innings Saturday, giving up two hits and a walk while striking one. According to Baseball Reference, 73.3 percent of his pitches on Saturday’s outing induced ground ball outs.

Cardinals starting to pitch have been dramatic lately, so it was great to see a pitcher put on a dominant performance like Montgomery. Aside from a moment when training staff had to visit him due to discomfort related to the heat and humidity of summer on the hill, Montgomery has had a great outing for the Cardinals that the team hopes to continue in the coming weeks becomes.

2. Paul DeJong’s comeback came at the perfect time.

DeJong had a terrible start to his 2022 season. After being demoted to AAA Memphis, DeJong seemed to have figured out what was ailing him. While many had him on the trading bloc or worse, the Cardinals appear to have trusted DeJong to figure things out and stage a comeback.

Your risk seems to have paid off.

On Friday, DeJong beat the game-winning double in the eighth inning from Clay Holmes, who drove in Nolan Arenado and Tyler O’Neill. And on Sunday he was 2-for-4 with two walks, three carries and four RBI. In the fifth inning, DeJong knocked a double to right field and scored on Lars Nootbaar.

And in the eighth inning, DeJong drove into the game-winning runs on his fourth home run of the season. Opposite field flies to left field in front of Scott Effross, who scores for Nolan Arenado and Tyler O’Neill.

DeJong’s comeback was spectacular to watch, with hopes he continues to channel that rediscovered mojo.

1. Yadier Molina is the captain of this team.

After several weeks on the injured list due to knee problems, Molina celebrated his triumphant return from his stint on the injury list that took him back to Puerto Rico. Since then, the atmosphere in the team has improved dramatically.

The Cardinals’ seemingly silent leader on the field and in the clubhouse is back and his presence is being felt. Whether it’s helping his pitching staff block out outside interference, cheering on his teammates at the plate, or navigating the ground paths, Molina’s influence is easy to see.

These are the final weeks of Molina’s career as a cardinal. It’s easy to see that the future Hall of Famer teammates want these final weeks to be memorable.