[jg2977]

Alright, here’s what I love about October.
We spend all week building narratives — “Colorado’s hot,” “St. Louis is rested,” “Rockies mash,” “Cardinals are disciplined.” And then Game 1 shows up and says: You thought this was going to be normal baseball? That’s adorable.
Colorado jumps out 5–0. On the road. In Busch. Against a 109-win machine. Santillan hits a two-run bomb in the first, Setton follows him. They’re ambushing fastballs. It’s loud early. It feels like carryover from the Wild Card chaos.
And this is where I want to pause.
Last postseason? Mike Jankowski struggled. Pressed. Expanded the zone. Looked tight. You could feel the weight on him.
Tonight? Completely different guy.
Down 6–0 in the fourth, he hits a three-run inside-the-park homer. That’s not just a swing — that’s urgency. That’s flipping momentum. That’s saying, “We’re not letting this get out of hand.”
Then in the fifth, when Colorado’s starter is wobbling, what does St. Louis do? They go adult mode. Double. Triple. Triple. Jankowski again — clutch single. Four-run inning. They take the lead.
That’s culture. That’s not panic. That’s 109 wins talking.
And here’s the bigger takeaway: Colorado can hit. We knew that. Sixteen hits. Eleven runs. Santillan goes deep again. Reyes homers. Williams triples twice. This lineup is explosive.
But St. Louis is relentless.
They tied it at 7. Took the lead. Gave it up. Took it back. And then in the eighth — and this is the part contenders do — they slammed the door with authority.
Four straight home runs. Four. Cork. Cruz. Smith. Dominguez. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. That’s not just winning. That’s psychological warfare.
Then Eckert triples. Montes hits a two-run homer. Seven-run inning. Game over.
And Jankowski? Two hits. Two walks. Four RBIs. Stolen base. Active. Loose. Engaged. That’s growth. That’s a guy who learned from last October.
Here’s my takeaway:
Colorado is dangerous. They can score with anybody. They are not intimidated.
But St. Louis has layers. They can slug. They can situationally hit. They can survive early punches. And when the moment gets big? They don’t speed up.
Game 1 goes to the Cardinals, 18–11 — which is absurd — but the message is simple:
The Rockies brought fireworks.
The Cardinals brought depth.
And if Jankowski plays like this? This series might not be as long as Colorado hopes.