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Cardinals good, bad and ugly in Royals series
Despite a terrible start, the Cardinals took the home and home series with the Royals.
The St. Louis Cardinals battled to win out the home and home series against the Kansas City Royals, struggling two days while saving an offensive onslaught for Wednesday. It was frustrating but good to see the team get it together on Wednesday.
Monday, Cardinals 1, Royals 0
Steven Matz earned his third win of the season going a smooth six innings, inducing 11 swings and misses. Matz gave up four hits but struck out four batters. Kodi Whitley earned his first hold, going one inning and striking out two. Nick Wittgren got his fourth hold of the season, pitching the eighth inning.
Giovanny Gallegos earned his fifth save of the season, pitching the ninth inning. He induced seven swings and misses, gave up one hit but looked confident in striking out two batters.
The Cardinals’ lone run will be discussed in The Good section.
Tuesday, Cardinals 1, Royals 7
Dakota Hudson earned his second loss of the season and the Cardinals’ offense was dismal.
Hudson gave up nine hits over six innings. He gave up two walks and three runs including a home run to Bobby Witt Jr., this was the first homer of his career. Hudson did strike out four. T.J. McFarland pitched a third of an inning, giving up two hits and two runs. He did strike out one. Jake Woodford pitched 1.2 innings, giving up four hits, one walk, and two runs.
The remainder of this game is discussed in the Ugly section.
Wednesday, Cardinals 10, Royals 0
Adam Wainwright looked great in his 310th start with Yadier Molina.
3⃣1⃣0⃣ pic.twitter.com/sunlQCpnqT
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 4, 2022
Wainwright is now 3-3 on the season. The pair earned their 202nd win for the Cardinals. Waino pitched seven innings Wednesday, giving up only one hit and one walk while striking out two. He was able to induce eight swings and misses. T.J. McFarland pitched one inning, only giving up a hit. Packy Naughton pitched the ninth inning, giving up two hits while striking out one.
The Cardinals’ offensive explosion will be discussed in The Good section.
After the series, the Cardinals head to San Francisco for a four-game set with the Giants.
Let’s discuss the good, bad, and ugly of this series.
The Good
Needing a jolt, the Cardinals got one with a mix-up of their unbelievable line-up. The Cardinals got things going early Wednesday with a five-run first inning. Nolan Arenado had a five-RBI afternoon after getting moved up to the third slot in the line-up.
In the first inning, Arenado launched his seventh home run of the season on a fly to left-center, allowing Tommy Edman and Paul Goldschmidt to score. Arenado’s blast traveled 410-feet at 105.3 mph.
No doubter from Nolan! pic.twitter.com/MpLGkJ4SDv
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 4, 2022
Tyler O’Neill seemed to get the most help moving from third in the line-up down to the sixth spot. O’Neill hit his first triple of the season on a liner to center field, allowing Juan Yepez to score. Yepez made his major league debut on Wednesday, playing right field.
Harrison Bader got a sacrifice fly to right field, allowing O’Neill to score.
In the seventh inning, Arenado singled to right field scoring Paul DeJong and Edman. In the eighth inning, DeJong knocked a sacrifice fly to left field, allowing Bader to score.
In the ninth inning, Tyler O’Neill hit his first home run since Opening Day. O’Neill’s second homer of the season was knocked to left field and allowed Dylan Carlson to score. The home run traveled 387-feet at 105.1 mph. Unbelievable.
Tyler makes it a perfect 🔟! pic.twitter.com/PUq1hvxFf6
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 4, 2022
On Monday, the Cardinals got their lone run in the first inning. Paul Goldschmidt hit his second home run of the season on a fly to left field. The blast traveled 383 feet at 107.3 mph.
On Tuesday, the Cardinals got their lone run on a single to left field from Tyler O’Neill, allowing Tommy Edman.
The Bad
Run production, or the lack of run production, was terrible for the Cardinals during the Monday and Tuesday games.
On Monday, the Cardinals were zero for three with runners in scoring position. They had three runners left in scoring position.
On Tuesday, the Cardinals were 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position. Andrew Knizner was the lone runner left in scoring position with two outs. About six runners were left on base.
On Wednesday, Harrison Bader, Dylan Carlson, and Brendan Donovan were left on base in scoring position with two outs. The team had seven runners left on base.
Yes, the Cardinals have some games where they hit with unbelievable consistency. But this team has so many dynamic players known for their bats, it’s terrible to see them struggle so much. After seeing such success on Wednesday when the Cardinals changed up the line-up, the Cardinals can’t be afraid to switch things up to find success.
The Ugly
Tuesday’s game was all-around ugly for the Cardinals.
With Dakota Hudson on the mound, the Royals got their scoring started in the second inning with a home run off the bat of Bobby Witt Jr., to left-center field. It was the first in his career for Witt. Harrison Bader appeared to throw the ball to fans, however, it was thrown into the waterfalls in the outfield. It’s not clear if Bader did that on purpose. According to MLB.com, the Royals were able to retrieve the ball for Witt and were having it framed for him.
In the fourth, Witt grounded into a double play, allowing Ryan O’Hearn to score.
In the seventh inning, Edward Olivares knocked a double to left field, allowing Nicky Lopez to score. Andrew Benintendi singled to right field, allowing Olivares to score. Whit Merrifield hit a sacrifice fly to center field, allowing Benintendi to score. Witt singled to left field, allowing Hunter Dozier to score. Michael A. Taylor singled to right field, scoring Witt.
Just a terrible combined inning of work for T.J. McFarland and Jake Woodford. Bad luck happens. Hopefully, the Cardinals can prevent this from happening again.
dark. Next. Why the St. Louis Cardinals shouldn't pursue Robinson Cano