Cardinals pull out a nail-biter that was more difficult that it needed to be
Game Result
Cardinal offense musters 6 early runs against rookie Tidwell. Cardinal pitcher’s issue 8 walks to keep the Mets interested, but yeoman work by Romero and Helsley rescue a game that threatened to capsize. Final 6-5 Cardinals.
Pre-game Notes
- The Cardinals/Mets play a split doubleheader today, as a result of a rain-out yesterday. Am I supposed to do one long recap or one for each game? I dunno … I think if they play 2, I’ll write 2.
- Yesterday, between injuries and transactions, Memphis pitching is so thin they went with a bullpen game and used a position player to pitch 2 innings of a 4-3 game, which the ultimately won 5-4.
- Herrera DH’ed that game and was 2-4. Siani hitting .182 at Memphis. Reports are his bat is in good shape but the knee is still bothering him a bit (per Goold).
- Roby with a not very strong start at Springfield yesterday. 3 IP. Wetherholt was out again. He has played sparingly for 2 weeks, due to “flu-like symptoms”. Been a rough year for the Cardinals minor league system on the medical front.
Line-up (and roster) Machinations
Roster changes occur in the organization almost daily, and we try to track them here. As well, the line-up itself is daily re-construction based on match-ups, needed off-days, and the desire to keep everyone fresh and involved.
- A fellow by the name of Tidwell goes for the Mets, called up from Syracuse. He and his 5.00 ERA / 3.21 FIP at AAA. In keeping with the Mets new pitching style, he is high K, high BB. Flighty command. Fly ball heavy. #7 on Mets prospect list.
- Fedde goes for the Cardinals.
- Roddery Munoz is the 27th man today, both games.
- A bit of a unique line-up for the early game. Burleson the DH bats 2nd. Walker out again, with Donovan to LF, Nootbar to RF, Gorman to 2b. Barrero spells Winn at SS. Unusual for Oli to stack LH hitters like this.
- Mets counter with 4 lefties at the top of their line-up, sandwiched around Alonso.
- Generally, I’d expect everyone in the bullpen up for this game. No game yesterday, and 2 of the 3 relievers used Friday were dispatched to Memphis for reinforcements. They may go easy on King, but with a double-dip, easy might be he gets held over to the night-cap.
The Game
An inning-by-inning breakdown, with score card entries and observations along the way. I’ll do one game in this format, and the next game in another format and you guys can tell me which you prefer. 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 – K. Soto hits one to the wall for an F9. Alonso hits that wall for a double. Nimmo blasts one off same wall for an RBI double. BB. A hard-hit liner to left ends the inning. Lots of missiles. 1-0 Mets.
This line-up creates problems. The first three (Lindor, Soto, Alonso) are a gauntlet. Then 2 more lefties that are at least league average hitters invite the pitcher to work around, but then you just speed up the turnover of line-up back to 1-2-3. Some choice for the P. This is a well-constructed line-up.
B1 – Noot taps out 4-3. Burly singles, followed by a WP. Donovan pops out. Arenado taps out.
T2 – 4-3. Infield single (to second). Pop out to second. Tap out to second. Gorman was busy this inning. Got spiked for all his efforts.
B2 – Contreras leads off with HR to right-center. Gorman walks. Pages K’s in a poor AB. Scott with a bunt single. Barrero pops out. Nootbar with the backwards K to continue the Cardinals RISP woes. Tidwell can bring it. 97-98 mph. Game tied 1-1.
T3 – Soto with a bloop hit. Alonso with a ringing double. Nimmo with a comebacker, 1-3. Winker with the SacFly. PB on Pages advances runner to third. Torrens walks. Walking lower order guys is a recipe to disaster with these guys. McNeil pops out. Mets now up 2-1.
B3 – Burleson pops out. Donovan singles. Arenado singles. Contreras follows with a bloop single, loading the bases. Gorman follows with a foul SacFly. Contreras gets back picked during the play to end the inning. Game tied, 2-2.
T4 – Fedde at a manageable 49 pitches. But he has been all over with some of his pitches. Command is an issue. Acuna leads off with another walk to a bottom of the order hitter. Backwards K. Followed by a SB, where Pages dropped the ball trying to make a throw. He’s had a tough day already. Another K to Linor helps, but Soto looms. Backwards K.
B4 – Pages pops out. Tough, tough day for him. Scott with a single. Barrero HBP. Nootbar pops out again. Burleson walks!! Donovan singles in two runs. Arenado walks. Contreras singles in two more. Be nice to have something more than singles at some point. Old friend Genesis Cabrera replaces Tidwell. Gorman flies out to end the inning. Cards now up 6-2. Why am I anxious with a 4 run lead?
T5 – Pop out to left (nice play by Noot in foul territory). Nimmo out 4-3. Vientos walks. These bottoms of the order walks are driving me crazy! 5-3 ends the inning.
B5 – Pages lines out. Scott out 4-3. Barrero singles. Nootbar pops out again. He and Pages can commiserate on how frustrating baseball can be sometimes. Cards still up 6-2.
T6 – Fedde back out. Not sure about this decision. A walk and a single reverse the decision and bring in Leahy, under pressure. A 1-4 force out, followed by a ground ball to Barrero, who kicks second but can’t complete the double play on the speed Lindor, for a run. Soto K’s. Nice job Leahy. Cards now up 6-3.
B6 – Burleson 1-3. Donovan F9. Arenado singles. Brazoban in for Cabrera. Contreras HBP. Gorman K’s to end the threat.
T7 – Alonso F9. Nimmo walks. Another walk! Vientos GIDP ends Leahy’s very good inning. Cards still up 6-3.
B7 – Warren in for Brazoban. Pages out 3-1. Scott walks. Barrero K’s. Nootbar flies out to left.
T8 – Maton in for Leahy. Obligatory lead-off walk follows. McNeil grounds into 1-6 force. Single. Single. Single. This chases Maton, who was not good. Romero in. He walks Soto. He is a tough AB! But, another walk! But he K’s Alonso and gets Nimmo F8 to escape with a 6-5 lead.
B8 – Garrett in for Warren. Burleson flies out. Donovan walks. Arenado grounds into force play. Contreras K’s.
T9 – Helsley in for Romero. Vientos singles. Torrens K’s. A WP advances the runner. McNeil lines out to right. Runner advances to third. Acuna pops out for the winner. 6-5 Cards. Helsley was really cutting it loose. I saw some triple digits on the FB.
Post-game Notes
- Don’t look now, but Josh Baez is a league average hitter in A+ Midwest League at 21 (young for the level). That is a lot of progress for him. K rate is more manageable than prior years. Power still needs to come, but that comes last, I hear.
- Chen Wei-Lin made his season debut today for Palm Beach in a rehab start. 2 IP. 4 K’s.
- Fedde battled today, himself mostly. 6 hits, 5 walks in 5 innings. I believe all the walks were at the bottom of the order. The nibble-and-pick routine was excruciating to watch.