As precious as pitches and innings are going to be for the Cardinals as they lean on their arms to press through the dense soup of their revised schedule, it will be vital for the fielders to give them a hand, a steady hand, to avoid unnecessary strain.
“We’ve got to play as clean as possible,” manager Mike Shildt, “and not give extra outs.”
A team that orchestrated a historic turnaround a year ago — from slipshod to the game’s most-sterling defense — has loosened its grip with eight errors in a four-game span. Three of those errors came in a costly series Thursday during Pittsburgh’s doubleheader sweep at Busch Stadium.