Game Summary
Michael McGreevy opened for the Cardinals, giving M. Liberatore an extended break from pitching. He pitched a tidy seven innings, retiring 11 in a row at one point. The Cardinals put up runs in the middle innings to accumulate enough to hang a 6-2 loss on the Rockies.
Pre-Game Notes
- Coming off a losing sweep in AZ, should be interesting to see what the Cardinals have.
- Lots of buzz about the recent struggles better defining their strategy for the trade deadline.
- Mathews pitched for Memphis yesterday. Velo down. Control not yet there. Some red flags, here.
Line-up (and roster) machinations
- Michael McGreevy opens for the Cardinals, giving M. Liberatore an extended break. Graceffo sent down to make room.
- The Cardinals have signed their entire draft class. I’m looking for where players start to appear on rosters.
The Game Summary
A night game, so will just hit the summary parts with observations and not so much the score card annotations.
The Cardinals opened with two quick singles but couldn’t cash in. McGreevy was peppered with singles each inning at the outset.
Some good defense saved some runs, but then Scott misplayed a routine single that led to both runs. in the third. First, a runner on scored all the way from first on a single, then the batter who hit that advanced to second and scored on a subsequent single. It appears that he is struggling a bit with breathing - the thin air here will do that. I feel it, too. Can’t quite get a full breath.
On the flip side of the ledger, Gomber started out having similar results as most other lefties against the Cardinals. However, in the 4th, WIllson Contreras breaks out from a mini-slump with a long, long homerun (revealed to be 443 feet). Seemed longer. Is it my imagination or have Cardinal batters been super aggressive with swings lately? ... seems like 90% first pitch swings and super low pitch counts for opponent pitchers. Along with the Contreras HR, the Cardinals tied up the game in the 4th with a Winn RBI double. Contreras followed that up with a two-out RBI single in inning five to give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead. In the sixth, an RBI single by Pages and a SacFly by Donovan extended the lead to 5-2. The Cardinals tacked on again in the seventh with a Walker RBI single, getting out front 6-2.
On the flip side, after McGreevy allowed the 2-spot in the third inning, he ended that inning with a double play ball and then set down another nine in a row after that to settle things. It looked like he got better as he got his sweeper(?) dialed in. With 1 K and a hittable FB, I am reminded he is right out of Cardinal Central Casting - pitch to contact. If I can distinguish him from some others, he seems to have more precise command. I want to see the Umpire Scoreboard tomorrow. I felt like this ump squeezed him pretty regularly. Romero and Maton finished with two strong innings.
Cardinals win 6-2.
Post-Game Notes and Observations
- Cardinals had 15 hits tonight. Even a couple of the extra base variety.
- I’m not sure there were more Cardinal fans that Rockies’, but I think the Cardinal contingent made more noise.
- I’m noticing that Herrera seems to be getting a very steady diet of breaking balls. His last AB tonight: Slider. Slider. Slider. Slider.
- I’m not much for predictions (mostly because I’m terrible at them), but I am wondering if Contreras gets back to .800 OPS before the end of the year.
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- Exploring the St. Louis Cardinals’ multitude of pitching prospects
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- A look back at the Matt Holliday trade
