St. Louis Cardinals: Mike Leake Takes a Step Forward

Mike Leake is looking for his first win in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform, and he just took a big step towards that goal against Albert and the Angels tonight.

No, he isn’t David Price. He doesn’t throw 95, he isn’t an imposing figure, and he probably isn’t going to turn in any 20-win campaigns in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform.

But Mike Leake just gave us a glimpse of what kind of pitcher he could be in a Cardinal uniform, the kind of pitcher that Mo is paying him $80 million to be.

Leake was crafty, just like he needs to be. He worked well with Yadier Molina, stayed out of the middle of the plate for the majority of his outing, and turned in easily his best start in a Cardinal uniform.

Getting out of the bottom of the first was key after Yunel Escobar and Mike Trout singled to threaten the Cardinal starter right away.

Leake would surrender another hit in the bottom of the second to CJ Cron before locking in through the middle innings of the ballgame.

In fact, after that Cron single, Leake went on to retire the next 14 batters he faced before a Mike Trout walk in the bottom of the sixth.

Leake was getting burnt with the extra base hits in each of his prior starts. Tonight, he allowed just five singles and a lone opposite field double to Cliff Pennington.

That double turned into the Angels’ only run against him.

Leake was able to control Trout, Albert Pujols and Daniel Nava in the middle of that LA order, holding them to a combined 1-10 clip with six runners left on base.

In all, Leake surrendered six hits and a walk over 8.0 innings of one-run baseball before handing the ball over to the bullpen for the 9th.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that the offense got him eight runs of support along the way.

There’s just that feel with Leake that once he gets that elusive first win under his belt, we could see him take off and string some quality starts together as we move into the summer months.

Next: Keep the Faith with Mike Leake

Time for the pen to close this thing out and get Leake his first Cardinal win. No more letdowns! The Cards need to go on a run to close the gap between themselves and Chicago. I’d say that now is as good a time as any to do so.