Game Recap - 8/9/24 - In see-saw game, Cardinals run down the Royals 8-5

Top-line Results

Cards jump out to early 3-0 lead, powered by 2-run HR by Contreras and solo shot by Burleson. Royals light up Miles Mikolas to take the lead back, but Cardinals recover and run down Royals, led by another 2-run HR by Contreras, an RBI ground out by Pham and a Victor Scott 2-run RBI double. Matthew Liberatore throws 3 exceptional relief innings to allow the offense recovery time. The high leverage guys do their thing and Cardinals win 8-5.

Pre-Game Notes

• Tink Hence pitched 3.2 innings last night. 54 pitches. He seems to be on a +10 pitch progression, pitching every 6th day.
• Matz continues his progression, now up to 50 pitches. 3 more MiLB starts for him, maybe?
• O’Brien pretty much seems done with rehab and it’s now a baseball decision whether or not to bring him up, if they think he can help. He is scheduled to pitch with Memphis tonight. Leahy pitched last night like he could feel someone breathing down his neck. Personally, I’d like to see them bring another arm that could be used in high leverage situations. They play a lot tight of games.
• Lynn is playing catch.
• Tonight is a must win I suppose. That’s the beauty of being in the playoff hunt. You need to win. Unlike last year, when no one cared by now.

Line-up (and roster) machinations

• Mikolas takes the mound for the Birds. Lorenzen for the Royals.
• Pretty much the standard line-up against RHP. Goldy back at first, Gorman in at second. Goldy hitting 6th. Contreras at C. Noot gets a day off.

The Game

T1 - Winn leads off with a walk. That is kind of rare, but welcome. Burleson lines out, but Contreras puts a lightning bolt in things with a 2-run HR. Arenado K’s. Donovan singles. Goldy bloops a double, but Gorman K’s to end the inning. Cards up 2-0.

B1 - Mikolas gives up a quick single and hard line out by Witt. Pasquantino pops out (say that fast 3 times!). Perez K’s.

T2 - Pham pops out. Scott pops out. Winn out 6-3.

B2 - Line out. Fly out. Dejong taps out to Contreras for quick, clean inning. Mikolas hitting 95? Almost as rare as a Winn leadoff walk.

T3 - Another lightning bolt as Burly leads off with a HR. Who had him being first to 20 HR among the Cardinals? Contreras backwards K. Arenado pop to left. Donovan pops to 2nd. Cards now up 3-2.

B3 - Garcia leads off with a single, followed by an RBI triple. That is followed by an RBI single. Witt out F8. Pasquantino out 4-3, with runner moving to second. Perez drives him in to tie the game. Renfroe K’s. New game, now tied 3-3.

T4 - Goldy leads off with a single. I think the 6 spot agrees with him. Gorman lines out. Pham K’s. Scott grounds out.

B4 - Another lead-off single. 3rd time in 4 innings. I appreciate that Mikolas throws strikes and is always around the plate, but this ump appears to have a generous zone and I’d like to see MM try to utilize that generosity, instead of throwing 2-strike pitches in the zone. Tonight, just off the edge is a strike. Like the AB against DeJong this inning. MM got a strike on a FB off the plate, which ump has been giving, but he never went back to that. Why not? DeJong popped out anyway. Garcia with an RBI double. Another single. I’d say the wheels are off. 5 of last 9 hitters have reached. SacFly to CF wall drives in another. That came close to going out. Royals teeing off. Witt K’s. He is 0-3, unbelievably. Royals now up 5-3.

T5 - Winn out 6-3. Long in for Lorenzen. Burly singles and Contreras walks. Just as the announcers are extolling how good of a baserunner Burly has become (checking BsR right now...), Arenado hits a soft, hump back liner to SS that ends up doubling Burly off. How does that happen? Burly almost could have caught that himself. End of rally. Note: Burly BsR -1.3. Hmmm....Sometimes the data does not support the narrative.

B5 - Libby in for Mikolas. MM line not very good. This is a PG recap, so I’ll spare you the gore. I disliked his approach tonight, too. F8. F7. 6-3. Libby has quick inning. He is funny. Kind of Jekyll and Hyde. I’m suspecting he pitches better when he has less time to think and prepare. I wonder if he over-thinks....

T6 - Donovan F8. Goldy walks. I love walks! Gorman threads a double down RF line. How does 1b miss that? It was 78 mph and he was holding Goldy on and somehow the ball got past him down the line? What a gift. Pham grounds out, driving in Goldy. Scott out 6-3. Cards pull to within 5-4.

B6 - Libby back out. 6-3. K. Walk. 4-3. Almost boring. Almost.

T7 - Erceg in for Long. Winn 6-3. Burly K’s. Contreras doubles, but Arenado pops out with RISP.

B7 - Libby back out for a third inning. K. 1-3. K. Definitely almost boring. What a line for Libby. 3 IP, 3K, 1BB, 0 ER. Giving team a chance. Nice, nice job for him. When he is good, he is really good.

T8 - Smith in for Erceg. Donovan greets him with a double. Goldy advances him to third with a productive 4-3. Pages PH for Gorman. Smith has to face him given the 3 hitter requirement. Pages walks. Stratton in for Smith. Pham drills a ball right at the third baseman who bumbles in and then tried to turn DP. Royals challenge the slide at second, the safe call at first, and everything else they can protest, all to no avail. Another RBI for Pham. But wait, NO!!! Donovan never left third base. What? Didn’t we just do this like last week. First and third, 1 out, runner on third should be going home on any ground ball, yet? Ugh. Another base running mistake. Anyway, Scott bails the whole thing out with a 2-RBI double off the wall. Winn F9. Cards now lead 6-5.

B8 - Kittredge in. F7. K. Infield single. Then a walk. I HATE walks! Followed by a pop out to center that Pham runs over and takes from Scott. Can’t trust rookies in key moments :-).

T9 - Zerpa in for Stratton. Burly greets him with a hit, his third. Contreras greets him with a hit, his third, too. Oh, and Contreras was yet another 2-run HR. 111 mph! Third ball tonight over 100 mph for him. Sizzle! Arenado walks. Donovan singles. Goldy K’s. Nootbar, the defensive replacement, walks. McArthur in for the not-so-effective Zerpa. With bases loaded and one out, Pham and Scott both K. 1-12 with RISP tonight. BTW. Now 8-5.

B9 - Helsley in for Kittredge. F7. Single. Witt walks. I hate walks! Especially those that put the tying run at the plate. No reason to nibble there. Helsley slider is way off. He should not be throwing it with a 3 ball count. Trust the 101. Pasquantino ends the whole mess with a GIDP. Cards win 8-5.

Post-game Notes (and random musings)

• Most of the remaining games are against +.500 teams fighting for a playoff spot. I prefer the stretch run be this way. The Cardinals control their own destiny, and every game will matter to both teams, which tends to bring out the best in players. It beats watching teams play out the string. For this year’s edition, I find this particularly true as I think the Cardinals have tended to play down to the level of competition, so I’m glad they don’t see teams like the White Sox or A’s.
• The A, AA and AAA seasons end on a slightly staggered basis, allowing teams to move certain priority players to another level for the last couple of weeks. Springfield may make a post-season appearance if they finish strong, and I’d expect they will not advance anyone to Memphis if they do. I wonder if Petrutz and maybe Wetherholt move up.
• As we speak, I’m making plans to be in Denver and San Francisco for the last road trip of the season. Those games might matter. Both good places to catch a game, either way.
• For much of the season, the Cardinal’s did most of their offensive damage in the middle innings. Lately, they seem to be waking the bats up a bit earlier but haven’t been able to sustain. That “lately” part is a perception, not something I’ve done the actual data collection on.
• Royals used 7 pitchers to hold the Cardinals to 8 runs. I wonder if that will have a carry-over affect tomorrow. They are off Sunday, though.