5 takeaways from St. Louis Cardinals series win over Reds

Cardinals have a thrilling win on Friday

Jack Flaherty had an excellent outing Friday, going five innings, giving up six hits, two walks, and four earned runs. He did strike out five batters. Zack Thompson pitched the sixth inning, walking one and striking out one. Jojo Romero pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up two hits, including a home run to Kyle Farmer.

Chris Stratton earned his ninth win with one-third of an inning of relief. Giovanny Gallegos earned his 11th hold of the year, pitching the eighth inning and striking out one.

After pitching an immaculate ninth inning, Ryan Helsley earned his 18th save. All nine pitches thrown were strikes. It was amazing.

Brendan Donovan singled on a grounder to second in the third inning, allowing Tyler O’Neill to score thanks to a throwing error from Jonathan India. Nolan Arenado singled on a liner to right field, scoring Paul Goldschmidt.

Albert Pujols inched closer to history as he hit his 19th homer, or 698th of his career, on a fly to left field off Raynel Espinal. Nolan Arenado scored on the big fly.

In the seventh inning, Goldschmidt doubles to left field, scoring Donovan. Arenado then doubled on a fly to left field, scoring Goldschmidt.

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Arenado also had an epic defensive gem in the fifth inning. Donovan Solano reached base on a fielder’s choice as Arenado threw from an awkward position on his knee to nail Kyle Farmer at the plate.

Cardinals look sharp in matinee portion of Saturday doubleheader

Dakota Hudson pitched eight innings, earning his eighth win of the year. He gave up six hits, two walks, and a run. He did strike out five batters. Andre Pallante pitched the ninth, giving up a hit and striking out one batter.

Tommy Edman singled to left field in the second inning, scoring Brendan Donovan. Paul Goldschmidt walked with the bases loaded, allowing Yadier Molina. In the third inning, Donovan singled to right field, allowing Dylan Carlson to score.

Yadier Molina hit his fifth homer of the year on a fly to left field, scoring Donovan.

Cardinals sweep doubleheader with a wild 11-inning win

Jose Quintana pitched eight scoreless innings, giving up two hits while striking out six batters. Ryan Helsley pitched the ninth inning, giving up a hit and striking out one batter. Giovanny Gallegos pitched the tenth inning, striking out two. Steven Matz earned his fifth win of the season with a solid inning of work in the 11th inning, striking out one batter.

Paul Goldschmidt reached based on a fielder’s choice by center fielder Nick Senzel, who was positioned at third base. Senzel’s throw to home hit Andrew Knizner in the elbow, allowing him to score.

It was another wild walk-off victory for the Cardinals. Unbelievable!

Cardinals fall flat in Sunday finale

Jordan Montgomery earned his fifth loss in a game where the Cardinals offense could not get it together.

The team was 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position. They left five on the base path.

Montgomery pitched 5.1 innings, giving up seven hits, two walks, and three earned runs, including a home run to Stuart Fairchild. He did strike out nine batters. Montgomery’s last couple of outings haven’t been that good, so here’s hoping he shakes this off in preparation for the playoffs.

Jake Woodford pitched 2.2 innings, giving up one hit and striking out three. Packy Naughton pitched one-third of an inning, giving up two hits. Chris Stratton pitched an effective two-thirds of an inning.