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4 takeaways as Cardinals avoid sweep by Padres
After getting shut out in three consecutive games, the St. Louis Cardinals finally broke the cycle and won with help from the team’s youngsters.
The Cardinals had a terrible string of bad luck as they lost to the San Diego Padres on Tuesday 5-0 and Wednesday 1-0. But with some help from the club youngsters, they pulled out an impressive 5-4 victory over the Padres Thursday.
The Cardinals head north to Los Angles to play a crucial three-game set against the Dodgers.
The Cardinals are 88-63 atop the NL Central with a 7.5-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers. Their magic number to officially clinch a playoff spot is 5.
Let’s discuss some of the issues from the series with the Padres.
Cardinals’ lack of hitting and scoring is concerning
On Tuesday, the Cardinals were 0-for-4 as a team with runners in scoring position. They struck out five times and stranded seven on the basepath. Wednesday’s game was worse as Padres starter Blake Snell took a no-hitter through the seventh inning. Albert Pujols knocked a single to right field in the seventh, and Juan Yepez followed that up with a single to right field, but that was all the offense the team could muster.
Snell threw 13 strikeouts in the game.
Even with their win Thursday, the Cardinals were still 1-for-4 as a team with runners in scoring position and stranded six on the basepath.
This stretch of games has been frustrating to watch. Here’s hoping the team continues to battle to get their hitting back on track.
Cardinals starters keep the team in games but still struggle
Miles Mikolas lost but still looked better Wednesday. Mikolas main problem was that he was going up against Blake Snell who had a no-hitter through seven innings.
Mikolas pitched six innings, giving up three hits, two walks, and one run. He struck out six batters. Jake Woodford and Jojo Romero had clean innings of relief.
On Thursday, Jack Flaherty had his best start in a couple of seasons. He earned the win after going six innings, giving up four hits, four walks, and two earned runs, including a homer to Jurickson Profar to leadoff.
When the Cardinals were down in the game, the number of hits Flaherty gave up was frustrating, with the lone home run bringing fans a sense of dread felt during the whole series.
The outing was another notch to show how far Flaherty has come and is something he can build on as the Cardinals head to October.
Steven Matz pitched a clean seventh inning. Ryan Helsley attempted to make things interesting in his inning of work. He struck out one and walked one but did give up a home run to Manny Machado. Giovanny Gallegos earned his 14th save as he pitched the ninth inning, striking out a batter.
Adam Wainwright has concerning outing for the Cardinals
As Wainwright spoke with media after his 10th loss of the season, he admitted to being in a “dead arm” period. That’s not good. Wainwright pitched six innings, giving up six hits, two walks four earned runs and a homer to Ha-Seong Kim. He did strike out one.
While Wainwright said he felt better after this start, it’s still concerning to know he’s feeling dead arm. With the Cardinals bringing back an improving Dakota Hudson, this may allow the Cardinals to give Wainwright a break to rest up before the playoffs.
Wainwright and Yadier Molina did have their 326 start as a battery, just building up their record.
Cardinals break out of a slump with youngsters stepping up at the plate
In the fifth inning, the Cardinals broke their scoreless streak with a solo shot to right-center field off the bat of Lars Nootbaar. It was his 13th this season The homer traveled 386 feet at 100.2 mph.
The legend of Brendan Donovan grew Thursday. Donovan knocked a grand slam home run to right center field, scoring Dylan Carlson, Nootbaar, and Tommy Edman. The homer traveled 418 feet at 103.8 mph. This was so good to see from the rookie.
Hopefully, the mini-slug fest serves as a jumpstart for the Cardinals as they head down the stretch to October baseball.
Next. Cardinals: St. Louis listed as potential destination for these 3 stars. dark