Cardinals only needed a weekend to lose good vibes, turn fans back against them

Preseason expectations for the St. Louis Cardinals might've been at an all-time low, at least in recent memory. It seemed like we were at the first step of a rebuild that would be hard for fans to endure. That's why we saw some uncharacteristically light crowds at Busch Stadium early in the year (despite what the team might've said). Yet, something unexpected happened with that — namely, the Cardinals were winning.

St. Louis opened the year by sweeping a three-game set against the Minnesota Twins. Though they lost two of three at home against the Angels, a big win in the finale to the tune of 12-5 had fans at least cautiously optimistic. More importantly, the vibes seemed to be much higher immediately than they were to begin the season.

A trip to Boston has now ruined that completely.

It'd be hard to fully express how badly things went on the road at Fenway Park against the Red Sox, admittedly a good, highly talented team. They opened the series on Friday by giving up 13 runs to Boston and then adding three in the final inning to make the 13-9 loss look better. Saturday's game then was postponed to a Sunday doubleheader. That's when things really started to go off the rails.

After taking a late 4-2 lead in the first game matinee, Ryan Helsley looked nothing like himself, walking in the two tying runs to force extras. Wilyer Abreu then broke the Red Birds hearts with a walk-off hit in the 10th. That set the tone for a Sunday Night Baseball bloodbath as the Red Sox put together nearly 20 runs in seven innings and just tortured Cardinals pitching while the bats, despite facing Hunter Dobbins in his MLB debut, went quiet as they fell behind 18-3 through seven innings.

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Cardinals fans crash back to reality in brutal sweep vs. Boston

Naturally, with the wheels falling off so dramatically after a positive start for St. Louis, Cardinals fans were quick to react to the immediate turn of vibes they were witnessing.

It really was the equivalent of Aaron Rodgers' four plays in 2023 when you think about the Cardinals' hot start.

Mikolas was an easy target as well, giving up 11 hits and nine runs in only 2.2 innings while not giving up a home run, which is honestly almost impressive.

That last reaction really gets to the heart of why this series was so demoralizing for the Cardinals, and that's before you consider that red-hot Ivan Herrera left the first game of the doubleheader with an injury. This lineup has been hitting well outside of the series finale on Sunday night, good enough to win games. The pitching staff, however, has not even remotely held up their end of the bargain. Mikolas was an extreme example but it's been an early consistent theme.

Maybe the Cardinals get hot again at some point but, while at risk for equally overreacting, this feels like the norm. This team is going to be a constant headache for fans and the first two series didn't fully prepare them for the exhaustive 150+ games that still remain on the schedule and are yet to torture the fan base.