Ok, I had to lighten the mood here somehow. After last week when the birds on the bat went 2-4, the hopes of a better week did not pan out, with the Cardinals gaining splits against Detroit and Pittsburgh. Not to say that good things did not happen, just not enough of them.
Game 1, August 24, vs. Detroit Tigers 4 - Cardinals 3
Jack Flaherty, in his 3rd game since his return from the IL, Would only be able to go two innings before being taken out for shoulder soreness. He would later be placed on the IL date of return is unknown at this time.
Flaherty would only go two innings giving up four runs on four hits and three walks and striking out only one. He would be taken out in the third after giving up back-to-back home runs.
Mike Shildt turned to his bullpen, calling on Daniel Ponce De Leone. He would come in and quiet the Tiger offense for 2 1/3 innings. He allowed no runs on two hits, walking one, striking out two. Andrew Miller would come in with a two-one-out situation and get a double play on three pitches.
Kwang Hyun Kim would cover the next 2 2/3 innings giving up no runs on no hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
TJ McFarland would finish the eighth and start the ninth going 2/3 of an inning, no runs on one hit, walking none, and striking out one.
Luis Garcia would get the final 2/3 of an inning in the ninth. No runs, no hits, walking one, striking out one.
The Cardinal bats were silent for most of the game. Until the eighth, with Tommy Edman and Nolan Arenado doing the damage. But it would not be enough.
The Tigers would start in the second inning. After one out, Flaherty would sandwich a single between a pair of walks to load the bases. He would then give up a single to Derek Hill for an RBI. Then he would issue a bases-loaded walk to Casey Mize to score another run, making the score 2-0 Tigers.
Flaherty would give up back to back home runs to Robbie Grossman and Miguel Cabrera in the third. It would be Cabrera's 501st of his career. Making the score 4-0. The dip in velocity concerned the bench. Flaherty would leave the game with shoulder soreness. Tests have revealed no structural damage but still have no timetable for his return.
In the Cardinals eighth after a leadoff triple by Harrison Bader and a walk to Edmundo Sosa set up a first and third no outs. Tommy Edman then grounded to SS, which scored Bader. Three batters later, it was Nolan Arenado with two on and two out. The Tigers made a pitching change, binging in Michael Fulmer Nolan welcomed the new pitcher with a double to right field, scoring two and pulling the cards within one at 4-3. That, however, is where the rally and the comeback died. The loss started the week off 0-1 and dropped the overall record to 63-61.
Edman - Has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games.
Bader - His first triple of the year.
Arenado - tied with teammate Tommy Edman and Atlanta's Ozzie Albies for NL lead in doubles with 32.
Garcia - Has not given up an earned run in 15 1/3IP
McFarland - Has not given up a run in 11IP
Game 2, August 25, vs. Detroit Cardinals 3 - Tigers 2
John Lester scattered seven hits over five innings and allowed just one run. The bullpen bent a little but picked the slack. Paul Goldschmidt provided the offense. He would need extra-inning help from Lars Nootbaar to Give J T McFarland his first win as a Cardinal and salvage a split.
Lester, aided by a couple of double plays and a runner caught stealing by Andrew Knizner, made it unscathed through the first four innings. His line was 5IP, 7H, 1R, 2BB, 4SO.
Louis Garcia pitched the sixth no runs, one hit, one strikeout
Genesis Cabrera handled the seventh no hits two strikeouts
Giovanny Gallegos pitched a scoreless eighth one-hit one strikeout.
Alex Reyes pitched the ninth, giving up a run on two hits.
McFarland took the 10th inning. The only thing he would surrender was a walk-in shutting down Detroit.
Paul Goldschmidt was the offensive show for St. Louis. He belted a first-inning solo home run to Left Field to give the birds the early lead 1-0.
He would do the same thing in the third but to Right Field, giving the birds a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers countered in the fifth with an RBI single by Jonathan Scoop. to make the score 2-1. In the ninth, With Alex Reyes on the mound and two outs, Miguel Cabrera doubled, and Harrold Castro would single to tie the game at 2-2.
In the 10th, after McFarland shut down the Tigers, the Cardinals went to work.
With Tommy Edman placed on second base, Goldschmidt was intentionally walked. With Nolan Arenado at the plate, Edman stole third, and Goldy took Second. Arenado was intentionally walked.
Paul DeJong would reach on a fielder's choice, but Edman was thrown out at the plate.
Enter Rookie Lars Nootbaar. With Michael Fulmer on the mound, Lars would lace a two-ball one-strike pitch to right field to score Goldschmidt from third, giving St Louis the win. The win makes them 1-1 for the week and 64-61 overall.
Goldschmidt - First multi-home run game this year.
Nootbaar - Risp .429/.471/.643. As a pinch hitter, .429/.600/1,000
Garcia - Scoreless inning streak 16 1/3IP
McFarland - Scoreless inning streak 12IP
Game 3 August 26, @ Pittsburgh Pirates 11 - Cardinals 7
What looked liked an easy Cardinal win turned into a nightmare. The Cards scored seven runs in the first three innings. Then watched as the Pirates chipped away then lowered the BOOM in the seventh inning.
DeLeon
Miles Mikolas started and only went 4 1/3 giving up three runs on eight hits. He only walked one and struck out three.
TJ McFarland would finish out the fifth with a scoreless 2/3 of an inning.
Andrew Miller pitched a scoreless sixth he gave up a double and a walk.
Genesis Cabrera took over and allowed six straight hits, the last one a two-run homer.
Daniel Ponce De Leone came in and put out the fire but brave up a hit and a walk. Junior Fernandez pitched a scoreless eighth giving a hit and striking out one.
The seven-run attack was a welcome sight for most fans, scoring early and often. Home runs by Nolan Arenado and Edmundo Sosa each had two RBIs also. Tommy Edman also had 2 RBIs. Paul Goldschmidt would also have an RBI.
Arenado would start things off in the first inning with his only hit, a two-run homer. 2-0 Redbirds
Edman doubled home two in the second, and Goldschmidt single made it 5-0
The Pirates would answer in the second on a Kevin Newman ground out to SS
The Cards would be back at it in the third on a two-run homer by Sosa
The Pirates would get those two runs right back in their half of the third on a two-run shot by Colin Moran.
It was in the seventh when the wheels fell off the cart. Andrew Miller faced two batters giving up a double and a walk. Cabrera came in with two on and no one out. Six batters later, the damage was done. RBI singles by Bryan Reynolds and Wimur Difo, then an RBI double to Gregory Polanco. That gave the Buckos a 9-7 lead. The next batter Yoshimoto Tsutsugo then hit a two-run homer making the score 11-7. The Cards could not answer, going six up and six down in the final two innings. Making the Cards 1-2 for the week and 64-62 overall.
Sosa - His third multi-RBI game
Arenado - Has 24 multi RBI games
Edman - Has hit safely in 13 of his last 15 games.
Ponce De Leone - Has given up one run in 5 1/3 IPs since coming off the IL.
Game 4 August 27, @ Pittsburgh, Cardinals 4 - Pirates 3
After a devastating comeback loss, the Birds on the bat needed a good sign in steps, JA Happ. Happ a deadline trade that many fans have referred to as a dumpster dive. Happ pitched really well since coming to the Lou. He entered the game with a 1.99 ERA and Two wins, no losses, and one no-decision since joining the Cardinals.
It was a pitcher's duel for the first four innings, with Happ retiring 12 of the first 13 batters he faced. His counter-part Dillon Peters did his best to keep up, only allowing two base runners in four innings.
Happ would make it two outs in the sixth, the issue a walk before Luis Garcia took over. Garcia did allow a single that scored a run, but it would be charged to Happ.
Giovanny Gallegos handled the eighth, giving up a run, and Alex Reyes pitched the ninth, earning his 29th save.
The Cardinal offense managed nine hits, but a Tommy Edman sac fly made the difference.
In the first four innings, the Cardinals managed only two hits, both by Paul Goldschmidt. But neither time could they bring him around. In the fifth, the Cardinals struck. First, Harrison Bader drew first blood with an RBI double. Two batters later, Edman took a pitch to the left for a two-run Homer to give the birds a 3-0 lead.
The Pirates returned with a fifth-run run on a Yoshimoto Tsutsugo triple to cut the lead to 3-1.
In the sixth, Kevin Newman walked with the bases loaded. making it 3-2
In the seventh that St Louis brought home, run number four on a Tommy Edman sac fly, giving him 3 RBIs for the day.
The Bucks could push across another run in the eighth on a Colin Moran single to lead to the final score of 4-3.
The win evened out the record for the week at 2-2 and 65-62
Edman - Third time with Three RBIs and has hit safely in 14 of his last 15 games.
Goldschmidt - His three hits marked the 10th time this year he has had three or more hits in a game.
Garcia - 14 straight games no runs scored covering 17 2/3IP
Happ - His fifth game since joining the Cardinals of 5+ innings.
Game 5 August 28 @ Pittsburgh, Cardinals 13 - Pirates 0
The Cardinals broke out an 18 hit attack scoring 13 runs, while Adam Wainwright, Junior Fernandez, and Kodi Whitley combined to shut out the Pirates on 5 hits.
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Wainwright pitched seven innings and gave up only three hits. He walked only one and struck out five. Anymore, this is just Adam being Adam.
He did have help, though, in the last two innings. Fernandez pitched a scoreless eighth giving up only one hit, one walk, and struck out two.
Whitley pitched a scoreless ninth giving up one hit and walking one.
Both Tommy Edman and Edmundo Sosa went 4-6, Sosa had 5 RBIs. Paul Goldschmidt added 3 more.
As the Cardinal offensive attack scored early and often.
The Cardinals began in the first on a triple by Sosa, making it 2-0,
In the third, Goldschmidt singled to drive home a run. That was followed by Sosa's second triple of the game driving in two more runs and giving him four RBIs for the day. An Adam Wainwright singles capped off the inning, giving St Louis a 7-0 lead.
In the sixth, Goldschmidt drove in another run with a double, increasing the lead to 8-0
In the seventh, an infield single by Edman and a bases-loaded walk to Goldschmidt would make it 10-0
St. Louis rounded out the scoring in the eighth on a Dylan Carlson two-run homer followed by an infield single by Edman, making the final score 13-0.
The win puts the Cardinals at 3-2 and 66-62 overall.
Sosa - Now has four multi-RBI games.
Wainwright - now has three wins in his last four games and eight wins since the All-Star break. He has now gone at least seven innings or more in seven of his last eight games.
Goldschmidt - Has now had three or more RBIs in five games this year.
Edman - now has 35 multi-hit games.
Game 6 August 29, @ Pittsburgh, Pirates 4 - Cardinals 3
Kwang Hyun Kim was back in the rotation. Three bullpen arms kept the game in check. However, Alex Reyes gave up a home run in the 9th blew his third save in his last five outings.
St Louis put KK back into the starting rotation.
He got through four innings, giving up one run on three hits, one walk, and three strikeouts. Three relief pitchers combined to cover the next four innings;
Luis Garcia 1.1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2SO
TJ McFarland 1.2IP, 0H, R, 1BB, 1SO
Giovanny Gallegos 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 1SO
Reyes came in for the ninth pitch 1/3 of an inning, giving up three runs on one hit and two walks.
Offensively Tommy Edman had another multi-hit and multi-RBI game. Tyler O'Neill added an RBI. The Cardinals could only manage six total hits.
The Cardinals jumped out to the lead first in the third on an O'Neill triple. 1-0 birds
The Pirates answered back in the fourth when Yoshimoto Tsutsugo hit a sac fly to drive in a run tying the game 1-1.
In the fifth, the Cardinals got a two-run homer from Tommy Edman, putting the Cardinals up by two. The in the bottom of the ninth Reyes, walked a batter struck out a batter. He walked a second batter, then gave up a three-run home run to Tsutsugo for a Pirate walk-off winner.
The loss dropped evened out the week to 3-3 and a 66-63 overall record.
Edman - Is now at 36 Multi-hit games. Hew has had multiple hits in four of his last five games.
Garcia - Now has 19 consecutive scoreless innings.
The Cardinals are 22-17 since the All-Star break. They are 3.5 games behind The Reds, 2 games behind the Padres, and .5 games ahead of the Phillies.
Next up for St Louis, the road trip continues to Cincinnati and Milwaukee.
August 30 John Lester 4-6 vs. Louis Castillo 7-13
August 31 Miles Mikolas 0-1 vs. Wade Miley 11-4
September 1 JA Happ 7-7 vs Sonny Gray 6-6
September 3, Adam Wainwright 13-7 vs. Freddy Peralta 9-3
September 4, Kwang Hyun Kim 6-6 vs Adrian Houser 7-6
September 5, John Lester 5-6 vs. Corbin Burns 9-4