After the Tragedy

Last night the Cardinals played their first game after the tragic loss of Josh Hancock. Hancock was killed in a car accident on Sunday which appropriately caused the Cards Sunday night game to be postponed. It didn’t particularly help that St. Louis had to play against the first place Brewers and lost 7-1 in Milwaukee. This is, sadly the second time in 5 years that a St. Louis player has passed away during a season. In 2002, starting pitcher Darryl Kile was found dead in his hotel room before a game against Chicago.

Elsewhere in major league baseball:

Roy Halladay of the Blue Jays only allowed 5 hits against the Rangers last night while tossing a complete game to move to 4-0. It’s surprising that this is the first time in his career that he’s been 4-0 considering how he’s in the upper-echelon of starters today. Then again, starting against the likes of Boston and the Yankees as often as he does can often result in a loss or two.

Tim Hudson of the Braves saw his ERA rise to an incredible 1.40 after giving up two runs on four hits to the Phillies en route to a 5-2 win. Hudson has really turned it around since last season, but I’m just as much shocked by the fact that Mike Hampton is hurt; seriously, that guy’s a warhorse.

If you’re a Yankee fan, you might just be in trouble according to some interesting stats that ESPN dug up. Since 1982, only 5.6 percent of the teams that made the postseason were three games or more under the .500 mark. This also applies to teams like the Astros, Cardinals and the Cubs meaning the NL Central is somewhat the Brewers’ for the taking. I’m not willing to buy into a Milwaukee postseason trip just yet, but seeing the Yankees excluded from October baseball isn’t too much a stretch – unless they land Clemens, then it’s on.