A starters duel is settled by the bullpen. Cards lose 2-1.
Game Result
Another taut, playoff type game broke out in Game#1 today. Phillies scratched out two late runs off Stephen Matz to bring home a 2-1 win and end the Cardinals 9-game winning streak.
Pre-game Notes
- The Cardinals/Phils play a split doubleheader today, as a result of a rain-out yesterday. This has a familiar ring to it. This is the fourth installment of what was supposed to be a trilogy.
- Weather could play a factor today. The field has taken a lot of rain last 24-48 hours. Will be windy. Rain chances decline through the day, so suspect they will get it in (they almost have to). If they don’t, some hyperbolic writer will call a doubleheader rainout on the last day of a season series “unprecedented”. Either way, this portends to be a long day. Both teams have tomorrow off, so you never know.
- The Cardinals look to extend a 9-game winning streak and also look to secure a winning road trip for the first time this season. A win today would also secure winning the season series with the Phillies. They have won 3 of 4 games played thus far, with the last two today (hopefully today).
- The Cardinals have a whole slew of injured pitching prospects. Drew Rom has entered the rehab pipeline and has shown well at Palm Beach. Chen Wei Lin fit right in behind him the other night. Quinn Mathews is expected to toe the rubber in the coming days, in Jupiter I believe. To keep balance in the force, Sem Robberse was placed on the full season injured list. Yet another Memphis pitcher goes down.
Line-up (and roster) Machinations
- Game 1 is the original pairing slated for today. A fellow by the name of Luzardo goes for the Phillies, having been fleeced from the Marlins. He is a lefty, and a good one.
- Fedde goes for the Cardinals.
- Svanson is the 27th man today. Both games.
- Standard line-up for game#1. Pages at C. Herrera at DH.
- The bullpen should be in good shape all around. Extra man. Day off yesterday, another tomorrow. Usage has been light recently.
The Game
An inning-by-inning breakdown, with score card entries and observations along the way. This format is one I usually reserve for day games during the week, with a bit more detail as I suspect people can’t readily listen or watch.
T1 – Nootbaar leads off with a K. Winn and Donovan pop out. 3 quick outs.
B1 – Fedde starts with a K. 4-3. F9 against old HS teammate Bryce Harper. Even quicker half inning. 7 pitches.
T2 – Arenado K’s. This guy Luzardo is really good. 98 velo on the FB. Nasty breaking stuff. Contreras walks. Herrera HBP. Pages K’s. Walker lines out. Such is the life when you are slumping. Good swing. Took a waist-high FB on the outside corner to right, but it found a glove. 104 mph. Process good, even if results not.
B2 – 4-3. Single to right by Castellanos. K. SB, with no throw. Bohm walks. I dislike walks. K by Marsh ends the inning.
T3 – Scott lines out. Nootbaar walks. Winn GIDP.
B3 – Lead-off Walk, followed by a pop out to center that doubles off the runner. 4-3 ends the inning.
T4 – Donovan grounds out 4-3. Arenado out 6-3. Contreras singles to left, breaking up the no-hitter. Herrera force out 4-6. Still 0-0.
B4 – Harper leads off with a double. Advances to third on an F8. Held there with 6-3, infield in. Stranded there with 4-3.
T5 – Pages with infield single (yes!). Walker switches places with Pages with a force out 5-4. Then steals 2nd. Scott and Nootbaar K to end the threat.
B5 – F9 (foul). L7. Scott and Walker flub an easy pop out. I got it, no you take it. Awarded single. 95% catch probability on that play for Scott, less so for Walker. Hijinks between those two not quite so funny as the other day. Ground out ends the inning. Still 0-0. Pitch count at 72 for Fedde. Very manageable, even considering his high pitch count last outing (109).
Note: I believe Fedde is now at 16.1 IP of shutout baseball. FYI.
T6 – Luzardo comes in at 71 pitches. Winn singles on pitch#7. He is not bad at working a count. 103 mph. Then promptly gets himself picked off on a third disengagement by the pitcher. Oli challenged, but the call stands. Donovan K’s. Arenado pops out. A promising start fizzles.
B6 – Turner leads off with a walk after starting 0-2. Ugh! Too much nibbling and picking at times. I dislike walks, particularly those in front of Harper. SB. Harper walks. Fedde now afraid to throw strikes. 10 straight balls. No one warming. Schwarber, surely sitting on a FB middle-middle gets one on a 2-1 count and pops out (infield fly). That was 100 mph nearly straight up. Castellanos replicates that outcome with another pop-out (infield fly). The second infield fly in an inning ties a major league record. Fedde out at 93 pitches, many of them high stress this inning. Matz in to face the lefty, Kepler. I will be curious to see the umpire scoring on this game. This ump has seemed inconsistent on a lot of “edge” calls, both ways. Backwards K ends the inning. Nice job for Matz. Still 0-0.
T7 – Luzardo comes back out. Contreras pops out. Herrera doubles. Pages pops out. But Walker comes through with an RBI single. Good to see some success for him! Scott grounds out. Cards now up 1-0.
B7 – Matz back out. 4-3. Wilson, pinch hitting, singles. Another single. Runner advances to third, trail runner makes second after a replay overturns an out call at second. Infield hit ties the game. Followed by a pop out. This comes down to Matz v. Harper. Think they will pinch-hit to get the match-up? A bloop single to center scores another run, with a second runner being called out at the plate, followed by a challenge of the call. Call stands, inning over. Phillies take the lead 2-1.
T8 – Alvarado in. Nootbaar singles. Winn walks. Donovan advances them to 2nd and 3rd with an infield single after two failed bunt attempts that were not particularly well-executed. I was a bit surprised they’d be bunting with the #3 hitter up and nobody out. Kerkering in for Alvarado. Arenado pops out. Contreras with a backwards K ends the threat.
B8 – Matz back out again. The old 1u played out as they draw it up. Graceffo in for Matz. A good spot for him. Backwards K on 98.1 FB. If GG keeps doing that, I suspect they are going to let him. F9 ends the inning.
T9 – Romano in for Kerkering. Herrera leads off with a K. Gorman pinch hitting K’s. Burleson pinch-hitting K’s.
Post-game Notes
- Saw a Twitter (X) post with a headline “Positive signs during Cardinals winning streak”. No kidding, really? That is kind of in the category of “It’s getting lighter out as the sun comes up”.
- Game#2 starts in about 2 1⁄2 hours, at 5:15 Central.