St. Louis Cardinals: Recapping the Series Loss Against the Nationals

After a six-game homestand followed by a three game series on the road against the Washington Nationals to begin the 2017 season, the St. Louis Cardinals’ record stands at 3-6.

The St. Louis Cardinals‘ first road series of the year got off to a miserable start, dropping games one and two to the Washington Nationals by scores of 14-6 and 8-3. In the third game of the series Wednesday, the Cardinals won 6-1. They’ve now lost two of three in each of the first three series they’ve played this season.

Monday, April 10: Nationals 14, Cardinals 6

W: Tanner Roark (2-0, 4.09)

L: Adam Wainwright (0-2, 7.00)

STL HR: Jedd Gyorko (1)

Tuesday, April 11: Nationals 8, Cardinals 3

W: Gio Gonzalez (1-0, 0.69)

L: Lance Lynn (0-1, 5.23)

STL HR: Randal Grichuk (2), Aledmys Diaz (3)

WSH HR: Daniel Murphy (2), Matt Wieters (1), Jayson Werth (3)

Wednesday, April 12: Cardinals 6, Nationals 1

W: Mike Leake (1-1, 0.60)

L: Max Scherzer (1-1, 2.13)

STL HR: Stephen Piscotty (1)

Up Next for the Cardinals: @ New York Yankees, April 14-16

Up Next for the Nationals: vs. Philadelphia Phillies, April 14-16

The series got off to a rough start for the St. Louis Cardinals, as they were tagged for twenty-two runs and thirty hits in the first two games. After Adam Wainwright and Lance Lynn each allowed two runs in five innings in their first starts of the season, both allowed six runs against the Nationals. Wainwright lasted four innings. Lynn lasted five.

The bullpen continued to raise concerns. Washington hitters torched the Cardinals’ relief corps with a .409 batting average in the three games. A silver lining was Trevor Rosenthal‘s return. He struck out the side in order in his first appearance this season

An offense that appeared hapless in two losses to the Cincinnati Reds over the weekend put up six runs in the first and third games of the series, but only three in the second game. Two of those three runs were courtesy of solo home runs hit by Randal Grichuk and Aledmys Diaz.

The Redbirds avoided the sweep in the third game of the series behind the arm of Mike Leake and the bat of Stephen Piscotty. Leake out-dueled Max Scherzer, the reigning Cy Young Award winner in the National League. The Cardinals have an off day Thursday before opening a three-game weekend series against the New York Yankees Friday in the Bronx.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the performances in the series loss against the Nationals.

St. Louis Cardinals rotation: 1-2, 16 IP, 12 R, 9 ER, 20 H (3 HR), 6 BB, 14 K, 5.06 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, .303 BAA

Who’s Hot: Mike Leake

Leake salvaged the third game of the series for the Cardinals, getting his first win of the season in a scoreless seven-inning effort. After drawing the tough-luck loss in his first start of the season last week, Leake improved on his eight-inning, one-run performance with seven sterling innings against a team that put up twenty-two runs in the first two games of the series.

After allowing back-to-back hits to open up the bottom of the first, Leake picked off Anthony Rendon at first base and then proceeded to retire the next nineteen hitters in consecutive order.

With two outs in the seventh inning, he allowed back-to-back singles to Daniel Murphy and Ryan Zimmerman, ending the streak. He then froze Jayson Werth, representing the tying run, with a sinker on the outside corner for strike three and the third out of the inning.

Werth was the last hitter Leake faced. He threw a total of 104 pitches in his seven innings of work. Through two starts, he’s 1-1 with a 0.60 ERA. In fifteen innings, he’s allowed just one run, ten hits, one walk, and struck out thirteen. Leake is the only St. Louis starter to record a quality start in each of his first two times on the mound this season.

A ground ball pitcher, he’s induced sixteen ground-ball outs in his two starts this year. If Leake can keep up the efficiency and effectiveness as the season moves forward, he’ll be an extremely valuable asset in the St. Louis Cardinals rotation.

Who’s Not: Adam Wainwright

Wainwright held the Chicago Cubs to just two runs on three hits in five innings pitched in his first start this season. He didn’t fare so well against the Nationals in start number two. It took him ninety-six pitches to throw 4+ innings. He allowed six runs (five earned) on eleven hits, walking two and striking out three.

It seemed like the Washington lineup hit just about everything he threw hard, and the pitch count and traffic on the bases swelled early and often as a result. He allowed a base hit to begin each of the five innings he started.

Through two starts, Wainwright is 0-2 with an ERA of 7.00. His WHIP is 2.00. Opposing teams are hitting .350 against him. His next start will be Sunday night in the finale of the weekend series against the Yankees in New York. He’ll look to right the ship under the bright lights in prime time.

St. Louis Cardinals offense: .238 BA, 15 R, 15 RBI, 4 BB, 27 K, 3 SB, 3 2B, 4 HR, .333 RISP

Who’s Hot: Stephen Piscotty

Piscotty didn’t drive in a single run during the Cardinals’ first homestand. He did get banged up and missed three games, but for a guy who figures to make a home in the cleanup spot in the lineup, he needed to get going soon.

He drove in two runs with a pair of singles in the first game of the series and hit the ball hard in both of his fly ball outs. Piscotty went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in the second game, but bounced back with a huge performance in game three.

He drove in the first run of the game with a double to left-center field with two outs in the first inning. In the fifth, he collected another 2-out RBI with a bloop single to shallow left. In the eighth inning, he flew out to the warning track in left-center, getting just under a fastball.

The next inning, he didn’t miss his pitch. With two on and two out, he padded his team’s 3-1 lead with a three-run bomb 420 feet to left-centerfield, his first home run of the year. That put St. Louis up 6-1 and all but secured the Cardinals’ only win of the series.

With his long ball, he joined Jedd Gyorko, Randal Grichuk, and Aledmys Diaz as the other Cardinals to go deep in the series. Grichuk’s home run was his second of the year, and Diaz’ was his third.

Overall, Piscotty went 5-for-13 in the three-game set, driving in seven runs. He went 5-for-7 with runners in scoring position, something he excelled at in 2016 when he hit .363 in those situations.

His batting average is up to .273 after a slow start to the season, and his on-base percentage stands at a robust .385. The Cardinals need Piscotty to take hold of the fourth spot in the lineup, and if he continues to perform the way he did against the Nationals, he’ll be a valuable cleanup hitter this for St. Louis.

Who’s Not: Jhonny Peralta

Matheny has given Peralta every opportunity to grab the regular role at third base to begin the season, but his bat is dragging far behind the confidence his manager is displaying in him.

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He started the first two games of the series and went 1-for-6 with a strikeout. A bit of bad luck came his way when a hard-hit ball in the hole in the fifth inning of game one was turned into a double play by Washington shortstop Stephen Drew.

Peralta was switched out of game two for Greg Garcia after going hitless in his first three at-bats. In the third game, he sat the bench as Jedd Gyorko drew the start at the hot corner.

He’s just 3-for-20 to begin the season. He has no extra-base hits and has not reached base at all save for his three singles. Eight of the seventeen outs he’s made have been strikeouts. He’s started six of the team’s first nine games, but Gyorko might squeeze him for more playing time moving forward.

Gyorko hit his first home run of the season in garbage time late in game one, and got hits in both games two and three when he started at second and third base, respectively.

Next: Closer Seung-Hwan Oh's Troubling Start to 2017

The Cardinals need to keep pushing across runs to string together some wins moving forward. They’ve got the Yankees next before returning home for a brief homestand of three games against the Pittsburgh Pirates.