It’s already June? Dang. Welcome to the new month. And welcome to my new feature here at STL Sports Central: Breakfast with Bernie, which I’ll write early in the morning on most weekdays. I’ll serve up observations, opinions, notes, facts, stats, praise, cheap shots, randomness, and some weirdness as I have my first cuppa or two of the day. We’ll (mostly) go “Buffet” style to give you a chance to graze before I write a different column that I’ll post much later in the day. On most days during the week, I’ll lead off with a Cards recap/review or something similar.
Five Reasons Why the Cardinals Won 2 of 3 Games From the Cubs
1. Outstanding work from the bullpen: In the two victories Cards relievers combined for 9 and ⅔ innings, allowed two runs and seven hits, struck out nine, didn’t walk any Cubs and pitched to a 1.86 ERA. In Friday’s 6-5 the pen had to fill six innings after a short start by Andre Pallante and gave up just one run. The load was handled by Justin Bruihl, Gordon Graceffo, George Soriano, JoJo Romero, Ryne Stanek and Riley O’Brien. Then in Sunday’s 5-1 series clincher Hunter Dobbins was promoted from Memphis to cover for a tired bullpen, took over for starter Matthew Liberatore and allowed one run in 3 and ⅔ innings. In May the St. Louis bullpen ranked ninth among the 30 MLB teams with a 3.02 ERA, and raised its strikeout rate.
2. Instant impact from a new bat: Down 3-0 going into the bottom of the first, the Cardinals got the equalizer on a three-run homer by left fielder Nelson Velazquez, who ripped a first-pitch fastball offered by Shota Imanaga for a tying three-run homer. Not a bad first swing as a Cardinal. The blow was a momentum-changing strike that reset the series and the Cardinals rolled from there.
3. Runners in scoring position scored: The numbers weren’t gaudy, but before I get into it just remember that before the series the Cardinals ranked 29th in the majors with a .198 batting average with runners in scoring position in May. In their two wins over the Cubs, Redbirds stepped up in RISP situations by delivering five hits in 20 at-bats (.250) with the Velazquez homer and nine RBIs. In the two wins the Cards scored 82 percent of their runs on RISP hits
4. JJ Wetherspoon and Ivan Herrera, 1-2 punch: in the Cards’ two triumphs, the No. 1 and No. 2 hitters in the lineup combined for six hits in 13 at-bats, reached base nine of their 18 plate appearances, and scored six runs.
5. Bottom’s up: The Cards offense has struggled terribly with the 5-6-7-8-9 spots in the lineup, but as a group those slots came through during the two wins. In Friday’s victory, the 5-6-7-8-9 spots combined for five hits, including a home run and double, and knocked in two runs. As a series capper the 5-6-7-8-9 spots collectively plated four RBIs in Sunday’s win. Masyn Winn (two), Alec Burleson (two), Jose Fermin and Thomas Saggese were the RBI guys from those spots in the two wins.
Let’s head to the buffet …
— By prevailing on Sunday, the Cardinals (31-26) moved up to No. 8 among the 30 teams with a .544 winning percentage on the season.
— There are too many good TV shows to watch these days, and in the Miklasz home this requires creative scheduling. And some scrambling. Our current rotating playlist includes “Margot’s Got Money Troubles” (Apple), “Widow’s Bay” (Apple), “The Boroughs” (Netflix), “Dutton Ranch” (Paramount+), and “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed” (Apple).
— With all of this TV, how do I keep up with sports? Weeknights, I’ll watch the first three or four innings of the Cardinals’ game, take a break to watch a non-sports show with Mrs. Bernie, then return to the ballgame and pick up where I left off. Not that anyone cares.
— Speaking of TV and sports, it is fantastic to see NBC back together and major-league baseball back together again. As is the case with baseball fans of a certain age, the NBC game of the week every Saturday was a big deal in our home. Sunday’s Cubs-Cardinals game was the perfect way for NBC to make a return. It was great to see Bob Costas, Albert Pujols and Ozzie Smith involved in the telecast. I enjoyed Anthony Rizzo’s contributions, and play-by-play man Jason Benetti was (as always) excellent.
— If Jose Fermin can play center field in the big leagues, so can the Cardinals’ exciting power-hitting prospect Joshua Baez.
— Welcome back to St. Louis, Skip Schumaker. The first-year manager of the Texas Rangers has his injury-challenged team sitting at 28-31 and in third place in the AL West. But they Rangers are in the American League wild-card picture, and they come to Busch Stadium after a three-game weekend sweep of the KC Royals. Before that, Texas had lost 15 of its previous 24 games.
— Dallas Morning News columnist Tim Cowlishaw recently gave his assessment of Schumaker’s early work as manager. Citing the team’s record, Cowlishaw wrote, “Not exactly the improvement team president Chris Young had in mind when he split with Bruce Bochy and hired the in-demand Schumaker.”
— Cowlishaw wasn’t really criticizing Schumaker. It was more about the Rangers, who are nine games under .500 during the regular season since winning the 2023 World Series.
“He performed wonders in one season with the Marlins in 2023 but is supposed to have a better roster (at Texas.) Supposed to,” Cowlishaw wrote. “It’s too soon to see how Schumaker’s brand fits the Rangers. A mediocre baseball team that just can’t hit most nights is a tough one to watch, let alone manage.”
— Rangers first baseman Jake Burger, a Chesterfield native, had this to say about Schumaker during a recent interview on MLB Network. "I played with him in Miami for a year and a half, and kind of getting him back into the mix was awesome," Burger said. "Y'know, he brings this energy and this communication factor. He keeps a tab on every guy. He always has a pulse on the clubhouse, and he's there to battle every single night.”
— I wanna be Al Hrabosky when I grow up. The Mad Hungarian is a St. Louis treasure. Tarps Up, Hungo. This Bud’s for you.
— Wemby in the NBA Finals!
— Nolan Gorman had an ultrathin .295 slugging percentage in May. With a minimum 50 plate appearances in a month, this was his third-worst monthly slugging percentage of his MLB career. Gorman slugged .229 in June of 2023, and had a .243 slug in the final month of the 2025 season.
— When the Cardinals lose a couple of series or don’t play well, Cardinal fans will feel better just by looking across the state at the Kansas City Royals. Before the start of the season, the Royals were viewed as a strong contender to win the AL Central. The PECOTA forecast model at Baseball Prospectus had the Royals winning the division with an 84-78 record. PECOTA also forecast a 66-96 mark for the Cardinals in ‘26.
— Well, the Royals are a long, long way from 84 wins. They’re 22-37 (.373) and already trail the first-place Guardians by 11 games. KC has been swept in four of its last six series and are 3-16 since May 10. A battered pitching staff is competing without four injured hurlers: starting pitchers Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic and relievers Carlos Esteves and Nick Mears.
— Overachieving Cardinals: based on underlying metrics including run differential, the Cardinals’ record should be 27-30 instead of 31-26.
— On this date in 2013, Betty Lee Miklasz passed away at age 79. In a story that is so typical of a busy sportswriting career, I was interviewing Shelby Miller in the Cardinals clubhouse when my brother called to inform me of our mother’s death. I owe everything – starting with my life – to this strong woman. She encouraged me, pushed me, held me accountable, and was there whenever I had to pick up the pieces of a setback.
I think about Betty Lee at least 25 times a day, every day. When I was about six weeks away from being born, my mom and her friends watched the famous 1958 NFL Championship Game pitting the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants. The first sudden-death overtime game in NFL history. And one of the most exciting games in league history. She told me that I kicked and moved around the entire game. And it was then, she said, that she knew her child would be a sportswriter.
Thanks for reading …
–Bernie
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Bernie was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. During a St. Louis sports-media career that goes back to 1985, he’s won multiple national awards for column writing and sports-talk hosting – and was the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch from 1989 through 2015.
Before that Bernie spent a year at the Dallas Morning News, covering the Dallas Cowboys during Tom Landry’s final season (1988) plus the sale of the team to Jerry Jones and the hiring of Jimmy Johnson as coach.
Bernie has covered several Baseball Hall of Fame managers during his media career including Tony La Russa, Whitey Herzog, Earl Weaver, Joe Torre and (as an interim) Red Schoendienst. In his career as a beatwriter and columnist, Bernie covered Pro Football Hall of Fame coaches Joe Gibbs, Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson and Dick Vermeil on a daily basis.
Bernie has covered and written about many great St. Louis sports team athletes including Albert Pujols, Kurt Warner, Brett Hull, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, Jim Edmonds, Marshall Faulk, Scott Rolen, Mark McGwire, Orlando Pace, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Al MacInnis, Brian Sutter, Bernie Federko, Chris Pronger, Dan Dierdorf, Jackie Smith and Aeneas Williams.
Bernie covered every baseball Cardinals’ postseason game from 1996 through 2014 and was there to chronicle teams that won four NL pennants and two World Series. He provided extensive coverage on the “Greatest Show” St. Louis Rams and has written extensively on the St. Louis Blues, Saint Louis U, and Mizzou football and basketball.
Bernie was/is a longtime voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Heisman Trophy and the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.
You can access his columns, videos and the podcast version of the videos here on STLSportsCentral, catch him regularly on KMOX (AM or FM) as part of the Gashouse Gang, Sports Rush Hour, Sports Open Line or Sports On a Sunday Morning shows.
And you can catch weekly “reunion” segments here at STL Sports Central featuring Bernie and his longtime friend Randy Karraker.