Game Summary
This is a familiar tune. A long, 2-run HR off the starter Mikolas propels Miami to an early lead, giving them all the offense they needed. A toothless offense remains mired in the mud, unable to muster even hard-hit baseballs. Marlins complete a back-to-back shut-out the Cardinals 2-0.
Pre-Game Notes
- I haven’t researched this at all but have noticed the last start or two from Mikolas has included a FB 96+. Is that new for him? I don’t remember that being a feature of his arsenal. Will be watching for that tonight.
- Very sparse crowd tonight.
Line-up (and roster) machinations
- The long anticipated Helsley trade is complete. 3 prospects coming from the Mets in exchange for the longest-tenured Cardinal, Ryan Helsley.
- King to 15-day IL. Graceffo up.
- I gather the bullpen will be one short tonight. Good there is a day off tomorrow.
- Saggese in at SS. Winn gets a day. He is reportedly dealing with back and knee issues.
- Herrera back in LF tonight. That should be an adventure. Pozo at C.
- Quantrill on the mound for Miami. Mikolas for the Birds. It is possible that we see ZERO strikeouts tonight.
The Game Summary
A night game, so will just hit the summary parts with observations and not so much the score card annotations.
Getting out to a quick start, Miami gets 2nd and 3rd with 1 out in the first, but they fail to score. Sanchez
tattoos a low change-up for a 436 Ft HR to CF in the 3rd inning. Traffic every inning but MM weaving around it with well-placed K’s.
The Cardinal offense, really everything, is the epitome of a deflated team. They have mustered two weak singles through the first 4 innings.
The game itself is so listless there really aren’t any video highlights to speak of, and the radio broadcast interviewed Joe Torre without interruption or even background crowd noise for an entire inning.
In the 5th, Jordan Walker gets another hit. Boy that sounds good, huh? His season BA and OPS are slowly creeping up. He stole second and Saggese walked behind him. Scott walked behind him. Funny how I’m sitting here researching O-Swing%, walk rates and plate approaches and walks start falling out of the sky. Alas, the Cardinals can do nothing with the gifts as Donovan K’s and Herrera grounds out. Cardinals remain down 2-0.
Mikolas ends up at 6 IP, 2 R, 5 K, 0 BB for pretty decent line. A quality start that often translates into a win if there is any offense.
O’Brien pitched a nifty 1.1 IP and Romero continued his recent excellent work to finish the 8th. Leahy in the 9th. The bullpen was solid tonight, but the offense was absent. Final score 2-0.
Post-Game Notes and Observations
- In following Statcast, MM is indeed throwing his 4-seam FB 95 or greater on occasion. 12 occasions at last look, maxing out at 96.4
- Gorman with a HR and a double in Springfield tonight, playing second. Nootbat got a hit at DH, too. That is quite a line-up in AA tonight.
- Something I will need to research more, but what I’m seeing is that Cardinal hitters are in total swing mode, not taking walks, hitting a lot of warning track flyballs. Kinda of reminds me of spring training ABs. Saw a lot of this in Colorado, too. It’s as if the whole team has adopted Alec Burleson’s plate approach. As I researched it during the game, I am realizing that with Pozo, Burleson and Saggese in the same line-up, you indeed have a pretty good swatch of the line-up that really refuses to take a walk. Arenado and Walker don’t walk much either. In fact, all of the players I’m listing walk less than Burleson who himself swings at out-of-zone pitches at > 30% rate.
- Twelfth shutout of the year.
- Off to San Diego to face the Padres and hopefully put July behind them. I will be there.
More from vivaelbirdos.com:
- It's time to say your goodbyes to Matt Holliday
- The Cardinals probably won the Brandon Moss trade
- Exploring the St. Louis Cardinals’ multitude of pitching prospects
- St. Louis Cardinals Prospect Report: Carptenter Homers; Weaver Strikes Out 9, Is Promoted
- Seung Hwan Oh and the Cardinals get a second chance and win it!
- Cards News and Notes: NL Central, Holliday, Weaver
- A look back at the Matt Holliday trade
