5 thoughts after Cardinals avoid sweep to the Giants

1. That was a disasterous series.

Yes, Thursday's win was great. But the rest of the series was shockingly disappointing.

Jordan Montgomery had a solid effort Monday, going six innings. He gave up five hits, a walk, and a run while striking out six batters. Drew VerHagen came to calm things down in the seventh, but gave up two hits and a walk, allowing three runs to score, including a home run from JD Davis.

After all the runs were scored, Marmol decided to bring Jordan Hicks to an apparent low-leverage situation in the ninth. While he gave up a hit, Hicks did strike out two batters.

Tuesday evening was a real gut punch for the Cardinals.

The Cardinals were able to tie the game at one all in the third inning with a home run off the bat of Tommy Edman. This was his fourth home run of the season. The blast traveled 408 feet at 103.8 mph. The Giants retook the lead in the fourth inning as Jake Woodford gave up a home run to Mike Yastrzemski.

The Cardinals were trying to make things interesting in the eighth inning as Tyler O'Neill hit a double to right field, scoring Dylan Carlson. The Cardinals took the lead when Paul Goldschmidt singled to left field, scoring Tommy Edman and O'Neill. The Cardinals were in the lead 4-2.

Yaz doubled for the Giants to score Joc Pederson, scoring 4-3. The Cardinals could still hold on for a victory with their closer, Ryan Helsley. Right? Not so much, Blake Sabol hit a walk-off home run to center field to score Yaz and give the Giants a 5-4 win.

That was an absolute gut punch to watch.

The Cardinals got off to a great start Wednesday as Paul Goldschmidt homered twice for the team. In the first inning, he hit a home run to left-center field 397 feet at 109.6 mph. Goldschmidt's second homer came in the third inning on a fly to center field 425 feet at 107.2 mph.

In the fourth inning, Steven Matz seemed to lose control. He gave up a home run to LaMonte Wade Jr. He allowed a single to Austin Slater to left field, scoring Blake Sabol. In the fifth inning, Jordan Hicks threw a wild pitch, allowing Mitch Haniger to score. This apparently wasn't a low-leverage enough situation.

Zack Thompson gave up a home run to Wilmer Flores to continue the disappointment, scoring Haniger. In the eighth inning, the Cardinals lost a challenge resulting in a single from Michael Conforto, which scored Thairo Estrada. Later that inning, Wade tripled to score Conforto.

In the ninth, the Cardinals tried to make things interesting as Paul DeJong knocked a double to left field, scoring Alec Burleson. Unfortunately, that was all the Cardinals could muster in their comeback attempt.

While Thursday's win was great, fans hope it will be a stepping stone to a better ending to this long road trip as they take on the Dodgers.