Saturday’s matchup between the Cardinals and Pirates had an odd feel to it. Pittsburgh was planning on having a bullpen game and with Kyle Leahy on a strict pitch count limitation, St. Louis was, too. Eventually, it would be mistakes and who could make the most of opportunities that would decide which team would walk away with a win. In the end, the Cardinals and Pirates would join forces to try and defeat Pittsburgh, but neither was successful.
Kyle Leahy only made one mistake in the top of the 1st
inning, but that mistake traveled 364 feet when he threw a 91 mph slider to Brandon Lowe who sent it over the fence in right for a 1-0 Pirates lead. The Cardinals would pull even in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Joshua Baez hit his first Busch Stadium home run which barely snuck over the left field wall tying the game 1-1.
Kyle Leahy was pulled from the game after 3 innings as his pitch count hit 51. He was replaced by Brycen Mautz for the top of the 4th inning. He gave up what looked like an innocent single to left to Lowe, but Joshua Baez misplayed it as the ball got past him which resulted in a two-base error and Lowe standing at third base with no outs. He would score two batters later when Gonzalez singled to center giving Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead.
Pittsburgh would threaten again in the top of the 5th inning. Mautz walked Reynolds to leadoff the inning. He advanced to second on a wild pitch then advanced to third when O’Neil Cruz singled to right. With runners on first and third with just one out, Brycen struck out Mangum. A hanging breaking ball to Flores Jr. would doom Mautz as he blasted it deep into the bleachers in left-center for a 5-1 Pirates lead.
Just when it looked like Saturday’s game would go down the drain as a big dreary disappointment, the Pittsburgh Pirates decided to join the Cardinals in trying to defeat themselves. In the bottom of the 6th after Alec Burleson popped out, Jordan Walker smoked a ball directly to Gonzalez at short, but it went right through him into left field for an error (the first of many in the 6th). Nathan Church grounded into a fielder’s choice which resulted in another error by Gonzalez giving the Cardinals runners on first and second with just one out. The most outrageous error of the 3 by Pittsburgh happened next when Jose Fermin flied to centerfield, but O’Neil Cruz just completely blew the play which allowed Jordan Walker to score cutting the Pirates lead to 5-2. Sadly, that’s all the runs the Cardinals would get after Gorman and Baez both popped out to end the Cardinals 6th. Even with the Pirates helping, St. Louis couldn’t make much of the nearly unprecedented blunder-fest.
Cade Winquest made his Major League debut in the top of the 7th and his first effort was impressive. He made Bryan Reynolds look ridiculously bad striking him out on 3 straight pitches, the last one a wicked 79 mph curveball. Nasty (in a good way). He would end the 7th inning with 2 strikeouts and a pickoff.
The Cardinals offense was so pathetic for the first 2/3 of the game, they didn’t get their 3rd hit until the bottom of the 7th inning when Jimmy Crooks led off with a double down the right field line. The slumping JJ Wetherholt was unable to move him over as he broke his bat and popped out to short center. Ivan Herrera didn’t do anything productive either as he flew out to center. Perhaps it was peer pressure of not coming through with positive offense that led Alec Burleson to ground out to third to end the Cardinals 7th with no runs.
THIS TEAM IS SO FRUSTRATING TO WATCH ON DAYS LIKE THIS.
Back to positive thoughts. Cade Winquest looked impressive in the top of the 8th inning, too. The movement on his curveball is a sight to behold. Groundballs, strikeouts and not allowing hard contact are a reason to be pleased about his debut. Ryan Fernandez was brought in to handle the top of the 9th inning for St. Louis. His goal was to keep the Cardinals within reasonable striking distance for the bottom of the 9th in case the St. Louis offense decided to wake up and he was not successful. With two outs, he walked Lowe. Reynolds followed that with a single and Gonzales doubled to give the Pirates an extra run they likely would never need making it 6-2.
The St. Louis Cardinals would need to do something in the bottom of the 9th that they had not done in any of the previous innings Saturday. A come-from-behind win would require multiple back-to-back hits and a bit of luck. Lefty Mason Montgomery came in to close out the games for the Pirates. Oli Marmol sent up Thomas Saggese to pinch-hit for Nolan Gorman. It only took 3 pitches for Saggese to strikeout. Joshua Baez was next to face the 99 mph heat from Montgomery. He worked the count full before flying out to deep left-center for the second out. Ramon Urias was the Cardinals last hope Saturday. He struck out on a check swing strike 3 which was appropriate considering how the rest of the game went. A big bummer effort, Cardinals.
The St. Louis Cardinals wrap up their homestand before a long west coast swing as they’ll host the Pirates again on Sunday. Matthew Liberatore will give it a go for the Cardinals while the Pirates will start Braxton Ashcraft. First pitch is set for 1:15pm at Busch Stadium and the game broadcast will be available via Cardinals.tv.
