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5 questions after Cardinals series loss to Mariners
The St. Louis Cardinals had another rough series, taking the final game of a three-game set. How long will this continue?
A 9-13 start to the 2023 season isn't even something the most fickle of fans could have predicted for the Cardinals. The pitching staff appears frazzled while the offense runs into patches of incredibly bad luck.
Then, games like Sundays happen and you can see the potential this team has to be better.
The Cardinals lost Friday 5-2 and Saturday 5-4. The team won 7-3 Sunday.
Could Sunday's win kick start a significant win streak?
That is certainly the hope.
The offense was firing on all cylinders and Jack Flaherty looked like the ace of old. It was wonderful.
Lead-off Noot-Bomb! #STLCards pic.twitter.com/8ZjHmU56pb
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 23, 2023
The Cardinals had a signature start to the game. Lars Nootbaar hit a leadoff home in the first inning. The blast traveled 403 feet at 107.7 mph. Nolan Arenado struck out swinging while Nolan Gorman was caught stealing second. Amid all of the chaos, Paul Goldschmidt was able to score, making the score 2-0 after the first inning.
The Mariners took the lead in the second, going up 3-2. Thankfully, that was all the Mainers were able to put together. In the third inning, the Cardinals tied things up as Tyler O'Neill singled to center field scoring Goldschmidt.
Nolan Gorman put the Cardinals ahead in the fourth inning with a homer to right-center field, scoring Andrew Knizner and Nootbaar. The home run traveled 402 feet at 100.6 mph. This was his sixth home run of the season.
Welcome back, Paul DeJong! #STLCards pic.twitter.com/99oQ070J2U
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 23, 2023
Paul DeJong made his triumphant return to the Cardinals on Sunday. He was called up from Memphis while Tyler Motter was designated for assignment. DeJong knocked a solo homer to center field, capping off the Cardinals' victory 7-3. DeJong's blast traveled 408 feet and 102.9 mph.
The Cardinals will use this win as a boost as they head to San Fransico for a four-game set starting Monday.
How is having a firey Willson Contreras going for the Cardinals?
Contreras has always been known as the guy you didn't want to play against. Now, that he's on the Cardinals, he's pretty great to watch, as he has an infectious passion that the team is learning to love.
He's all about changing the style of the Cardinals' pitching staff. This week he told reporters the pitching staff has been too "nice" this season. He wants the pitchers to get mean. A little mean, anyway. His point is that the pitching staff is not keeping hitters on their toes. They aren't mixing up their pitches. They seem to be lulling hitters into waiting for a mistake. Unfortunately, hitters have been capitalizing on those mistakes.
It will be interesting to see if the Cardinals' pitching staff takes Contreras's advice. Will they get a little mean? Will they do more to not lull the batters into patience to pounce? Contreras has a point; hopefully, the Cardinals will pounce on his advice.
Was Sunday's win a positive turn for Jack Flaherty's season?
While he had his moments, it was great to see the Flaherty we have been hoping to see since June 2021, when he went down with an oblique injury and struggled to return to form.
Sunday afternoon baseball starts now. #STLCards pic.twitter.com/vzujY2p5ZH
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 23, 2023
Flaherty is 2-2 on the season and earned his first quality start, going six innings on Sunday. He gave up five hits, including a home run to Jarred Kelenic. He allowed three walks and struck out nine batters. The most impressive statistic of the afternoon was that he induced 23 swings and misses. Flaherty used a steady mix of sliders and cutters, throwing batters off with a knuckle curve and a fastball.
This was a great performance for Flaherty to build on.
Flaherty received relief from Genesis Cabrera, Ryan Helsley, and Giovanny Gallegos. Cabrera's outing was cut short due to a pitch timer violation call from Dan Iassogna. Manager Oli Marmol quickly removed Cabrera before he could get rattled by the situation, speaking to him more about what happened in the dugout. Cabrera did have one strikeout before he was removed. Helsley finished up the inning, going 1.2 innings of relief. He walked one and struck out two batters. Gallegos pitched an inning, striking out two batters and looking sharp.
How great has Nolan Gorman's start been?
It seems safe to say that the version of Nolan Gorman we are seeing this season, is the one we hoped we would get last season. It's better late than never as this has been incredibly fun to see him flourish.
Go-Ahead Gorman comes through again! #STLCards pic.twitter.com/tTRw4HtEdH
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 23, 2023
The home run Sunday was Gorman's sixth of the season. He is leading the team in that statistic. So impressive! On Saturday, he hit a double in the third inning, to score Willson Contreras.
Gorman seems more confident at the plate this season which is a key to why we should see him continue to shine and come up big for the Cardinals more.
How great will it be see the team put everything together, consistently?
Sunday's game shows what the Cardinals are capable of when they are locked in and playing their brand of baseball: when they don't get rattled and when they are getting timely hits. And when the pitching is sharp. Even when the team may have been discouraged, they could pull it together and lock back in. This has been something they have struggled to do to start this season off. That they could do this after so much adversity to start the road trip bodes well that the team can build off what they accomplished Sunday.
They took a happy flight to San Fransisco, where they will take on the Giants over the next four days before heading to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers to end the long road trip. The Cardinals looked good to end the Seattle series, and it's something the team should be proud to build on.
Next. 5 bold trade ideas to save the Cardinals' season. dark