The definition of surging is to move suddenly and powerfully forward or upward. And that is exactly what the St. Louis Cardinals are doing with 20 games left in the 2019 regular season.

Friday night, the team and Cardinal Nation lost former Cardinal Chris Duncan to brain cancer at only 38 years old. Duncan was the type of player that no matter what, you wanted to see him play. With Danny Mac announcing it during Paul DeJong’s at bat, the entire mood of the game changed. Everything changed in that moment for fans, family, and writers like me.

The Cardinals didn’t win Friday night, losing to the Pittsburg Pirates 9-4. The lights went out at PNC and the loss of Duncan was ultimately greater than the loss of the game.

With Duncan in mind, Adam Wainwright took the mound on Saturday night and didn’t hold back. His final line of the night 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO. He also went 2-4 at the plate and scoring the first run of the night. He got the win and in the “cursed” victory blues that had only one victory before Saturday night’s game.

Before the All-Star Break, the Cardinals postseason dreams were just that – a dream. And now? It’s quite the reality for a team that has proved themselves in the dog days of the regular season.

Going into Sunday’s day game, the Cardinals are holding first place in the NL Central by 3.5 games with Jack Flaherty on the mound. His current ERA is 0.85 since the All-Star Break.

Follow along for live game-day tweeting here and here!

(Photo credit: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)