On Wednesday, the St. Louis Cardinals came into their series finale against the powerful Texas Rangers riding a five-game losing skid.

They also owned the worst record in the National League.

And so, they turned to right-hander Jack Flaherty hoping to stop the skid.

Flaherty received a no-decision, but gave the team six scoreless innings, marking the first quality start by a Cardinals starter since Miles Mikolas’ eight-inning gem against the Kansas City Royals.

An eighth-inning home run by Alec Burleson put the Cardinals in front, where they would stay for a 1-0 win.

On Twitter, the Cardinals celebrated Flaherty’s strong outing with a cool graphic featuring the right-hander’s line against Texas.

Need a shutdown start? There's Jack for that. #STLCards x @ANG_Recruiting pic.twitter.com/xJUioCHC3A

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) June 8, 2023

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The young right-hander allowed just three hits over six scoreless frames and managed to strike out eight Rangers hitters.

The only downside was the fact that Flaherty walked five batters.

However, that didn’t deter him as he played the role of stopper for the Cardinals in a key spot, as he helped them snap their skid and gain a game on the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Wild Card race.

Flaherty owns a record of 3-4 this season.

With his six scoreless innings, the 27-year-old lowered his ERA to 4.15 on the season.

He also has struck out 72 batters over 69.1 innings of work in his 13 starts this season.

The Cardinals banked heavily on Flaherty returning to his 2019 form.

So far, the young right-hander has performed well, save for one start against the Los Angeles Angels, where he surrendered 10 runs.

Since then, he has looked more like his old self, and he certainly performed like the ace he was intended to be on Wednesday.

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The Denver Nuggets did just what they needed to do.

They took that blow to the chin after dropping Game 2 in the final 12 minutes of that contest, and it didn’t take long before they regrouped and bounced back with a big win of their own.

Mike Malone’s side arrived in South Beach with the sole purpose of getting home-court advantage and the series lead right back, and that’s exactly what they did in Game 3.

Now, they have history on their side and are in a privileged position, as 80% of the teams that win Game 3 when the series is 1-1 have gone on to win their series.

History is on the Nuggets' side after winning Game 3 #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/HFRjAHclFF

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 8, 2023

Of course, stats are just reference and trends are only an indication of what may or may not happen, but you have to feel great about your chances if you’re a Nuggets fan after watching them play like they played yesterday.

So much for the “Heat have to make Joker a scorer and not a passer” narrative, and even with Michael Porter Jr. scoring just seven points, Malone’s side was able to make a statement on the road and prove why they were so heavily favored to get the job done.

They still need to win a couple of more games, and the Heat have proven to be a resilient team that’ll never go down without a fight.

But with Jokic and Jamal Murray playing this way, there’s not much Miami — or any other team, by that means — can do to stop them.

The post The Nuggets Have History On Their Side After Game 3 Win appeared first on The Cold Wire.

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The Denver Nuggets have built their project around Nikola Jokic.

Jokic is one of the most unique superstars in today’s game, and we’re not talking just about the way he handles himself on the basketball court, but also off it.

He’s humble, down to earth, and the ultimate team-first kind of guy, and it showed again with his response when asked about how he felt about making history in the NBA Finals.

Jokic became the very first player to record at least 30 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists in an NBA Finals game, but he claims it, honestly, didn’t mean much to him.

Joker pic.twitter.com/deZo6SaQZ8

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 8, 2023

That’s classic Nikola Jokic 101, and a response that would make Gregg Popovich or Bill Belichick blush.

Jokic has never been about the individual accolades or the recognition; he’s all about winning and taking care of business.

You won’t find many players with that same mindset.

They’d all talk about how humbled they are about making history and how that meant a lot to them and how they grew up dreaming of a moment like that; but not Jokic.

The Nuggets have now stormed right back to get the series lead and home-court advantage back in this series.

They ran the Miami Heat off their own court and never took their foot off the gas, this time being able to prevent another fourth-quarter comeback as it happened in Game 2.

There’s not much you can do against a player that’s able to do what Jokic does, and this series could end quite fast if Erik Spoelstra doesn’t find a way to slow him down.

The post Nikola Jokic Has A 2-Word Answer On What It Meant To Make Finals History appeared first on The Cold Wire.

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