6 key St. Louis Cardinals performers in Giants series

It was a good weekend for the St. Louis Cardinals as they won their series with the San Francisco Giants.

After a terrible loss Friday, the Cardinals put on an absolute show for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball to win their series with the Giants.

The Cardinals lost Friday 8-2. The Cardinals won on Saturday 4-0. On Sunday, The Cardinals won 15-6.

The loss on Friday featured terrible hitting and worse from the pitching staff.

Jordan Hicks pitched five innings, giving up three hits, two walks, and three earned runs. He was able to strike out three while inducing seven swings and misses. Hicks topped out on pitching velocity at 101 mph. This was his third loss of the season.

Packy Naughton pitched 1.1 innings, giving up a hit and a walk while striking out three batters while inducing four swings and misses. Jake Walsh pitched two-thirds of an inning, walking one and striking out one while inducing two swings and misses.

Nick Wittgren had a rough third of an inning, giving up a hit and a walk, and two earned runs. T.J. McFarland’s two-thirds of an inning was worse, giving up three hits and three earned runs. He was able to strike out one.

Jake Woodford pitched the final inning, giving up two walks while striking out one and inducing two swings and misses.

The line-up was 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left six runners on base. Harrison Bader and Tyler O’Neill each grounded into double plays.

The Cardinals looked better in the 4-0 victory on Saturday. With solid pitching and some good at-bats, the Cardinals got a big win.

Brendan Donovan got the scoring started for the Cardinals in the second inning. Donovan knocked a double on a liner to right field, scoring Yadier Molina.

This was Dakota Hudson’s third win of the season.  The bullpen then stepped up to help shut out the Giants.

Dakota Hudson looked great earning his third win of the season on Saturday.

Hudson pitched five innings, giving up two walks and five hits while striking out two while inducing two swings and misses. Hudson’s pitches ranged in the low 90s and high 80s.

Genesis Cabrera earned his fourth hold of the season with one inning of work where he struck out two.  Andre Pallante earned his second hold of the season going one-third of an inning, giving up two hits and a walk. Ryan Helsley earned his fourth hold of the season, walking one and striking out one. Helsley’s pitching velocity topped out at 101.1 mph.

Giovanny Gallegos pitched the ninth inning, giving up a hit while striking out two and inducing four swings and misses.

Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina started their 311th game as a battery on Sunday, earning their 203rd victory together. The win makes them the winningest battery in MLB history. Amazing!

Wainwright looked sharp in six innings of working, giving up three hits, two walks, and two earned runs. He, unfortunately, gave up a homer to Joc Pederson. Wainwright had five strikeouts and induced seven swings and misses. He is now 4-3 on the season.

T.J. McFarland pitched an inning giving up one hit and struck out one while inducing three swings and misses. Drew VerHagen pitched an inning, walking one. The final pitcher of the game was quite a surprise in Albert Pujols. We’ll discuss his performance later in this post.

The Cardinals, now 19-15 on the season, looked great on Saturday and Sunday. They looked like they were having fun. Hopefully, they keep this up as they hit the road. They have a four-game set with the New York Mets beginning Monday at Citi Field.

Yadier Molina

Molina knocked a huge double that traveled 400-feet at 105.6 mph in the second inning of Saturday’s game. This was Molina’s 2,128th career hit, moving into sole possession of sixth place amongst catchers of all time. He was knocked in by Brendan Donovan

Molina also reminded runners why it’s not a good idea to try to run on him.

Molina was 2-for-3 with one run and four RBI.

In the first inning, Molina singled on a liner of center field, scoring Juan Yepez and Albert Pujols. Molina was tagged out after trying to reach second base.

In the fifth inning, Molina knocked his second home run of the season on a fly to left off of Zack Littell. He drove in Pujols, who was waiting for his longtime friend with a hug. The blast traveled 417-feet over the visiting bullpen at 107.8 mph.

Tommy Edman

Tommy Edman had a slow start to the weekend series going 0-for-3 on Friday with a walk and a run but leaving two on base.

Edman had a fly-out in the eighth inning that traveled 367 feet at 96.8 mph.

Edman was 1-for 4 on Saturday. He hit his fourth home run of the season in the fifth inning. Edman launched the homer on a fly to right-center field off Jakob Junis. The blast traveled 381-feet at 97.6 mph.

On Sunday, Edman was 1-for-5 with two runs and one walk. He did strike out once and left two on base. Edman walked in the seventh inning, ultimately reaching third base. Andrew Knizner was hit by a pitch, scoring Edman. Dylan Carlson knocked a single to right field scoring Brendan Donovan.

Nolan Arenado

Nolan Arenado had a rough night at the plate on Friday, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout, leaving two on base.

Arenado served as the designated hitter on Saturday, going 2-for-4. Arenado hit his 12th double of the season on a line drive to left field off of John Brebbia. The big hit scored Paul Goldschmidt. The hit traveled 349-feet at 97.2 mph.

Arenado was a hot topic during the Sunday Night Baseball telecast due to an interesting story from ESPN’s Jeff Passan regarding the many changes Arenado made this offseason to improve at the plate and at third base.

Arenado was 1-for-3 with two runs, two RBI, and a walk on Sunday.

In the fourth inning, Arenado hit his eighth home run of the season on a fly to left field, to score Goldschmidt. The homer was hit off Zack Littell. The blast went 376-feet at 102.8 mph.

Albert Pujols

Sunday’s game was one for the memory book for the future Hall of Famer.

Pujols was the designated hitter in Sunday’s game. He was 2-for-3 with two walks, and two runs.

In the third inning, Pujols singled to center field, scoring Paul Goldschmidt. Juan Yepez was tagged out attempting to reach third. Pujols hit traveled 235-feet at 103.1 mph.

He also appeared on the mound for the first time in his historic career. It wasn’t the best of outings, but he and anyone watching had fun.

He pitched the ninth inning, giving up three hits and a walk, while giving up four earned runs. He gave up two home runs, one to Luis Gonzalez and the other to Joey Bart. Unfortunately, he now has an ERA of 36.00. Yikes! But, he gave the bullpen a break and that’s what matters.

Pujols said of pitching, “It was a dream come true.”

Juan Yepez

Juan Yepez had a slow weekend when you consider his hot start, but broke out of that slump on Sunday.

On Friday, Yepez was the designated hitter for the game. He was 1-for-4 on the night.

On Saturday, Yepez played right field. He went 0-for-3, walking once and striking out once.

Yepez played left field and first base on Sunday.

He was 2-for-4 with two runs and a walk. Yepez scored one of those runs on a single from Yadier Molina.

Andrew Knizner replaced Yadier Molina in the sixth inning of Sunday’s game. Knizner knocked a single on a liner to right field allowing Nolan Arenado and Yepez to score.