St. Louis Cardinals: More on Mariners Pitching

The St. Louis Cardinals found success on Friday night against the Mariners’ bullpen which is a trend that should continue.

In an article posted yesterday, I covered how the St. Louis Cardinals should feast on the Mariners’ starting pitching. In last night’s game, as I predicted, the Cardinals batters struggled against the lefty who they had never seen. What I hadn’t predicted was the ability of our batters to show up against the pen.

Let’s take a look at the Mariners’ bullpen which, like their starters, has struggled of late. In last night’s game, the Cardinals faced Nick Vincent, Joaquin Benoit, and Donn Roach out of the Mariners’ pen. Vincent pitched a scoreless/hitless inning. Roach pitched 1.2 innings surrendering only one hit. Benoit, on the other hand, surrendered two earned runs in only 0.1 innings on no hits.

Is this a continuing trend? The Mariners have struggled over their last seven games. Below, I will review the pen arms according to the Mariners’ published depth chart.

Steve Cishek has appeared in two games (2.1 innings) and has accounted for one hit, one earned run, and one strikeout for an ERA of 3.86.

Benoit, mentioned above, was at one time a shut-down pitcher and seemingly held this status into last night’s game. Over the past seven games, he has appeared in two contests surrendering two hits, zero earned runs, while amassing four strikeouts. His ERA over this period was an impressive 0.00 ERA.

Patience is key when dealing with Benoit as was displayed by the Cardinals last night.

Vidal Nuno has appeared in three games (6.0 innings) over the past seven games and has surrendered eight hits (two home runs) and six earned runs while striking out only two batters. His ERA in this period is the team-worst of 9.00.

Mike Montgomery has appeared in two games over this seven-game period and has surrendered five hits and one earned run while striking out seven batters. His ERA in this period is an impressive 1.35 across 6.2 total innings.

Vincent, discussed slightly above, has appeared in 3.1 innings (three games) over the past seven contests and has surrendered three hits (1 home run) and two earned runs while striking out four batters. His ERA in the seven-game period is 5.40 despite his scoreless/hitless inning in Friday’s game.

Edwin Diaz has appeared in three games over the last seven and has surrendered four hits (one home run) and one earned run while striking out six batters. His ERA in this period is 2.70.