The Cardinals are up 1-0 in the World Series. Their magical run continues -- everybody Tony La Russa brings in out of the bullpen seems to suddenly be unhittable, with his new closer, Jason Motte, leading the way with a 97-99 mph fastball.
Motte, a converted catcher, has pitched 9 post-season innings in relief, and has given up 1 hit, 0 walks, and 0 runs, and is 5 for 5 in saves. I looked up Mariano Rivera's statistics, since he's generally thought of as the greatest post-season closer of all-time. Rivera's best post-season ever was in 1998 when he pitched 13 1/3 innings, gave up 6 hits, 2 walks and 0 runs in earning six saves as the Yankees won the World Series. Adam Wainwright's miracle season in 2006 is another possible comparison: Wainwright went 9 2/3 innings, gave up seven hits, two walks, and 0 runs in earning four saves.
In other words, and without jinxing him (I hope), Motte is on pace to record the greatest post-season year for a closer ever. Wow.
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