Several Cards bearing down on club records, career marks
As the St. Louis Cardinals charge toward the postseason, several players have their eyes focused not only on some lofty team goals, but also some pretty heady individual milestones.
MLB.com took a quick glance at who's chasing what:
Trevor Rosenthal, saves: With 42 saves, Rosenthal has already joined Lee Smith as the only closers in franchise history with multiple 40-save seasons. Rosenthal is now taking aim at the all-time club record of 47 saves set by Lee (1991) and Jason Isringhausen (2004). Rosenthal saved 45 games last season. He's on pace to become baseball's 15th pitcher with 50 saves in one season.
Yadier Molina, games started: At age 33, Molina seems to be getting stronger. With 119 starts he's on pace to break his career-high 136 starts in 2009. His current pace also has him trending toward catching 100 more innings than in 2009, although the Cards' lead in the division could play a role in how much Molina gets behind the plate in the final weeks.
Carlos Martinez, Michael Wacha, wins: This is truly remarkable: Two more wins from Carlos Martinez would give the Cards their first pair of 15-game winners (Wacha currently has 15) age 24 or younger since 1934 with Dizzy Dean won 30 games and his brother Paul won 19. The last time such a feat happened in the NL was 1986 when the Mets had Sid Fernandez and Dwight Gooden.
Mike Matheny, winning percentage: Barring an historic collapse, Matheny is about to become the first manager in history to start his managerial career with four consecutive trips to the postseason.
(h/t MLB.com)
