Dodgers series brings St. Louis Cardinals Good, Bad and Ugly

It started off so well but ended so poorly. The Cardinals lost a three-game set to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

There were moments the Cardinals had fans cheering and moments that made them wonder what just happened. This series seemed to emulate how the Cardinals have been … so good some nights while so frustrating other nights.

The Cardinals won on Tuesday 7-6. They lost on Wednesday 7-6. And the Cardinals closed out the series with a 4-0.

The Cardinals welcome their NL Central rival Cincinnati Reds to Busch Stadium to close out the first half of the season. Here’s hoping the Cardinals close the first half with some fun and wins.

Now let’s discuss what happened in their series with the Dodgers.

The Good

Albert Pujols

Albert Pujols hit the 685th home run of his career in the second inning of Tuesday’s game. The homer, which was the sixth of his season, came off Mitch White and traveled 386 feet at 103.9 mph.

Absolutely beautiful shot! Also of note? Pujols giving a high five to St. Louis’s own, Nelly! It was definitely getting in her’!

Andrew Knizner

Andrew Knizner was 3-for-4 on Tuesday.  In the second inning, Knizner singled to center field, scoring Corey Dickerson.

In the fourth inning, Knizner singled to right field, scoring Dickerson. In the eighth inning, Kiz hit another single to left field, scoring Lars Nootbaar.

Knizner was 2-for-2 on Wednesday. Paul Goldschmidt singled to right field in the third inning, scoring Knizner and Tommy Edman. In the fourth inning, Knizner doubled to left field, scoring Lars Nootbaar.

Nolan Arenado

Nolan Arenado was 1-for-3 on Tuesday. Arenado singled to center field, scoring Dylan Carlson.

On Wednesday, Arenado knocked his 18th home run of the season on a fly to left field, scoring Goldschmidt. The home run traveled 384 feet at 100.5 mph.

Arenado also had some spectacular plays in the hot corner. Take a look at this gem!

The Also Good

Dylan Carlson

Dylan Carlson is filling in for the injured Harrison Bader quite well in center field, making amazing catches and hard throws to catch runners off guard. Check out this dandy from Wednesday.

Carlson was 2-for-3 with a walk on Thursday.

Nolan Gorman

In the third inning of Tuesday’s game, Nolan Gorman knocked his eighth home run of the season. The homer traveled 417 feet at 104.8 mph.

Lars Nootbaar

Lars Nootbaar was 1-for-1 with a run scored on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Nootbaar hit a single to center field, scoring Pujols. Nootbaar advanced to second base thanks to a fielding error by Cody Bellinger.

Nootbaar was optioned to Memphis prior to Thursday’s game as Tyler O’Neill returned from the injured list. It’s unfortunate to see him have to go to Memphis but I am sure he will make a triumphant return.

Bad: Pitching

The Cardinals lucked out Tuesday with a good effort bullpen game. It came close to disaster though.

Jordan Hicks pitched 1.2 innings, giving up a hit and three walks. He did strike out one. Hicks reached a knee-buckling velocity of 103.2 mph. Johan Oviedo earned his second victory of the season after 1.1 innings of work, giving up two hits, a walk and one run. He also struck out one.

Matthew Liberatore struggled in his 2.1 innings of work, giving up four hits and three runs, including a home run to Trea Turner. Junior Fernandez pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up two hits, a walk and one run.

Packy Naughton looked sharp in his inning of work, striking out one. Ryan Helsley pitched one inning of work, striking out two and reached a staggering velocity of 102.8  mph. Giovanny Gallegos decided to make things interesting in his one inning of work. He did get his 10th save of the season. He gave up a hit, a walk and a home run to Freddie Freeman. He did strike out two batters.

Wednesday’s pitching efforts will be discussed in the Ugly section.

On Thursday, Dakota Hudson earned his sixth loss of the season. He pitched 6.2 innings, giving up six hits, one walk and four runs, including a home run to Gavin Lux. Drew VerHagen pitched two-thirds of an inning. He gave up two hits and one walk.

T.J. McFarland had a successful return to the mound. He pitched 1.2 innings without giving up any hits or runs.

Thursday’s poor pitching effort was compounded by a lack of offense as the Cardinals were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. They left six runners on base. Scoring would have been awesome.