Press Box: There’s some panic going on in St. Louis

News Tribune Sports Commentary

Last week, I used this valuable piece of real estate to pass along some valuable advice.

New week, opposite advice. But for a different team.

Last week, I tried to assure Cardinals and Royals fans it was way too early in the season to make any final decisions about the fates of the respective teams.

Any early struggles can be attributed to it being so early. And what do you know? Things have changed for the better.

The Cardinals have morphed into the 1927 Yankees and are hitting home runs at a Barry Bonds-Mark McGwire pace. That, along with what appear to be games against teams that really don’t figure to be very good, has played a big role in them winning six of their last 10.

So things are better and nobody wants to fire hitting coach John Mabry. At least today.

And the Royals are being the Royals, coming through late in games to pull victories from the jaws of defeat.

Not that this last week hasn’t maybe, possibly could have shown a couple of cracks in the armor of both teams. And for both teams, they have come in the starting rotation.

Adam Wainwright struggled Saturday for the Cardinals. Really, really struggled. Just like he struggled in his first two starts this season.

Staked to a four-run lead against the Reds, he coughed it up like a hairball. Wainwright allowed seven runs on 10 hits while working into the sixth inning in what turned out to be a 9-8 loss. His ERA this season is 8.27 after Saturday.

But don’t forget Wainwright is still recovering from an injury that cost him the majority of last season. It may be a matter of an adjustment here or there and he’s back to the Cy Young caliber pitcher of recent seasons.

The Royals had a starter struggle Saturday as well. Chris Young is now 0-3, the only three losses for Kansas City.

Young is a great story, a pitcher who bounced around the big leagues before playing a role in the Royals winning the World Series last year. But the 2016 version of Young is not good, a 7.93 ERA who has allowed 20 hits and seven walks in 13 2/3 innings in three starts. There’s not much hope — or history — to look to in thinking things may get better.

But as the Saturday postgame quotes from Wainwright and Young show, there’s no panic yet.

Not like the team that plays down the street from the Cardinals in St. Louis. Panic, thy name is the St. Louis Blues.

In the third period of Friday night’s Game 2 of the opening playoff series with the Blackhawks, two key calls went against the Blues in what turned out to be a 3-2 loss.

And I’ll let Blues coach Oliver Stone, otherwise known as Ken Hitchcock, explain exactly what and whom his team is up against starting this afternoon in Game 3 when he spoke to media Friday night.

“If we expect to beat Chicago in this series, we’re gonna have to fight through more than just Chicago,” Hitchcock said. “They’re a (heck) of a hockey club. They have a lot of information on how to win.

“But there’s other elements there that we’re gonna have to fight through and we’re gonna have to find a way to do it. If we’re going to beat them, we have to know calls aren’t going to go our way.”

OK, that’s not so bad. But he didn’t stop talking.

“It’s more than just playing against Chicago,” Hitchcock said. “There’s a lot of other things that go into it when you’re the defending champions.”

Translation, we have to beat not only defending champion Chicago but the NHL as well.

Maybe it’s a master plan to inspire the Blues to get fired up for the rest of the series. But should you have to do that? It’s the playoffs. It sounds a little desperate to me.

Panic mode, engaged.