2 discouraging, 1 encouraging signs from Cardinals series loss to D-Backs

Discouraging - Pitching

Jack Flaherty is now 1-2 on the season after pitching six innings, giving up four hits, three walks, and four earned runs, including a home run to Ketel Marte. Again, Flaherty had another performance where he looked great, and after a while, he just faded.

With two runners aboard, manager Oli Marmol brought Andre Pallante in for relief. With Lourdes Gurriel and Christian Walker on, Pallante walked Corbin Carroll. Pallante then served Pavin Smith a pitch in launched for a grand slam.

This tweet from The Athletic's Katie J. Woo with a screenshot of Jack Flaherty's reaction to this home run sums up the frustration from this homer.

Pallante was optioned to AAA Memphis for Jojo Romero. The hope is to get Pallante back on track after a disappointing start to his season. Romero will be able to provide relief in the late innings as a lefty arm.

Jordan Montgomery earned his second loss of the season Tuesday. He pitched four innings, giving up ten hits, one home run, and seven earned runs. He did strike out two batters. Chris Stratton pitched 2.1 innings of relief, giving up two hits and one earned run. He did strike out a batter. Jojo Romero pitched 1.2 innings of work, giving up one hit, and one walk while striking out a batter. Jordan Hicks threw well in his inning of working, giving up a hit while striking out three batters. It is nice that even though he is working on things at the major league level, he is being effective.

Jake Woodford earned the win with five innings of work Wednesday. He gave up seven hits and four runs, including two home runs to Alek Thomas and Pavin Smith. Zack Thompson pitched an inning of relief, giving up two hits while striking out three batters. Drew VerHagen pitched an inning, walking one and striking out two batters. Genesis Cabrera pitched an inning while giving up two hits and an earned run while striking out two batters. Jordan Hicks took the mound in relief once more, pitching an inning. He walked one and struck out two batters. This is a nice improvement for Hicks. Here's hoping he uses this to continue to improve.