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 bullpen: 9 IP, 11 R, 10 ER, 18 H (0 HR), 4 BB, 7 K, 10.00 ERA, 2.44 WHIP, .409 BAA

Who’s Hot: Matt Bowman

Bowman’s role with the St. Louis Cardinals increases every time he delivers another scoreless outing. He’s thrown four scoreless innings so far this season, including 1 1/3 in the series against Washington. On Wednesday, he held a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning by inducing a ground ball for the second out of the inning. It was his second hold of the year.

Bowman’s allowed just two baserunners all season (both singles), and struck out three. Mike Matheny‘s choice to use him in the eighth inning with two runners on and one out in a 3-1 game speaks to his ever-increasing confidence in the righthander.

As Brett Cecil and Kevin Siegrist have struggled early on this season, look for Bowman to get more opportunities to pitch in the late innings alongside Trevor Rosenthal, as was the case in Wednesday’s 6-1 win. Rosenthal started the inning with a strikeout, but after he allowed three consecutive singles, Bowman recorded a big out before Cecil ultimately ended the inning.

Who’s Not: Kevin Siegrist

Siegrist entered the season as the team’s projected eighth inning set-up man, but he’s yet to appear in such a scenario.

In the first game of the series, he was ambushed for four runs in the bottom of the eighth with his team already down by two. He recorded only one out and needed Jonathan Broxton to finish off the inning. Broxton didn’t do any better, surrendering three more runs.

The lefty also walked two in his forgettable outing. In 2 1/3 innings this season, he’s allowed five runs, four hits, walked four, and struck out one. The most alarming statistic among those is the four walks. He’ll continue to struggle if he fails to get ahead in counts and command the fastball.

Look for Siegrist to get the opportunity to rebound and regain trust in Matheny as a lethal late-inning option. Cardinal Nation can only hope his performance in Washington was simply a fluke and that he’ll move past it. The Cardinals need Siegrist to be the reliable option out of the ‘pen that he’s been all his career with St. Louis.