On May 27th of 2004, the Cardinals started a 3-game winning streak that would propel them to an easy victory in the NL Central. From that date, they are outplaying the majors by a wide margin. Through Sunday's games, the Cardinals are 129-63, fourteen ahead of the next closest team in that time period, the Atlanta Braves (115-77). When the streak started, they were just 23-21, three games behind the Reds. The Reds are 49 1/2 games behind the Cardinals since that date.

How have they managed this stellar .672 winning percentage over more than a full season's worth of games? They have the lowest ERA in the majors by nearly .2 of a run (3.58 to the Twins 3.75). The starters pitched well, third in the majors in ERA, but the bullpen's been unbelievable, posting a 2.76 ERA in that time. The next closet pen belongs to the Angels at 3.44. I'm not a big fan of the constant switching of pitchers, but over the last 13 months La Russa's used it to shut down the opposition.

The offense has the higest BA in the NL over that time (.279) and all the averages are excellent (.349 OBA/ .452 slugging). That's good enough for first in the NL in Runs per game and third in the majors.

The main offensive contributors are here. Ninety-nine home runs between Pujols and Edmonds, 214 RBI and 270 runs scored. A look at the pitching contributors shows the importance of the bullpen. The top four on the list have only allowed 20 home runs in 284 innings.

It's a great run by a great team, and the Cardinals are showing no signs of letting up.