Cardinals drop series to Brewers as Walker, Arenado shine

The Cardinals managed a win Saturday but dropped the first and final games of the season. The team struggled through all phases of the game.

The Cardinals lost Friday 4-0 and Sunday 6-1. They won Saturday 6-0.

The drama between manager Oli Marmol and outfielder Tyler O'Neill seems to have ended. Marmol told the media he called him out for the lack of hustle because he wants to help unlock the next level of performance from O'Neill. It's not clear if that was how O'Neill received it. While he started in all three games, he struggled at the plate. O'Neill was 3-for-12 over the weekend series.

Hopefully, O'Neill relaxes and processes what Marmol intends to do with him. It doesn't appear to be petty or malicious. He wants to maximize O'Neill's potential. Marmol might be able to better maximize his talents by returning him to left field, where he won two Gold Gloves. This would allow Marmol to return Dylan Carlson to center field, where he has been successful.

Nolan Arenado hit the 300th home run of his career, the first of his 2023 season. The blast came in the third inning of Saturday's game. The shot traveled 394 feet to left field at 104.3 mph. The home run scored Paul Goldschmidt on the drive.

Meanwhile, Jordan Walker is having an epic start to his career. He has hit in the first nine games of his career.

Walker joins Hall of Famer Ted Williams as the only players age 20 or younger to start their career with a hitting streak of 9 games. Amazing! That's quite the company to join. He will surpass many more records.

Pitching was still a huge concern after this weekend's set. It will be good to have Adam Wainwright back. But as his return date is unknown, the Cardinals must alter their current rotational setup to latch on to some winning and consistency. Also, Packy Naughton was placed on the 15-day injured list with a left forearm strain. The move allowed Genesis Cabrera to be called up from AAA Memphis.

Let's discuss this series some more.

Cardinals have big win on Saturday

Jordan Montgomery had an excellent outing as the pitcher earned his second win of the season. He pitched seven innings, giving up three hits and two walks. Montgomery struck out nine batters. He was very effective in the outing. Hopefully, he builds on this, as the team needs a dependable starter of Montgomery's caliber.

Zack Thompson pitched an inning of relief, giving up two hits and a walk. He struck out one batter. Drew VerHagen had an effective ninth inning of work. He gave up no hits and struck out one batter.

The Cardinals got the scoring going in the first inning Saturday. Nolan Arenado hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Tommy Edman. Willson Contreras singled to right field, scoring Dylan Carlson.

In the third inning, Nolan Arenado hit the first home run of the season, the 300th of his career, on a fly to left field, scoring Paul Goldschmidt.

And then Jordan Walker came to bat.

Walker knocked his second home run of the season, on a liner to left center field. He scored Tyler O'Neill.

There could have been more for the Cardinals as the team was 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and left 10 on the base path.

Cardinals return to losing frustrations

Jake Woodford earned his second loss of the season, and it is safe to say, the experiment of having him start games should end soon. Woodford pitched 4.2 innings, giving up six hits, and three earned runs, including a home run. He did strike out five batters. And he walked one.

Genesis Cabrera pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up one hit. Andre Pallante had a lousy inning of work Sunday, giving up four hits and three runs, including a home run to Christian Yelich. He did strike out three batters.

Jordan Hicks pitched two-thirds of an inning, striking out one batter. Ryan Helsley pitched an inning of work, walking one while striking out two batters.

The Cardinals got their lone run in the fourth inning when Jordan Walker singled to center field, allowing Nolan Arenado to score. Unfortunately, that was all the Cardinals were able to achieve on Sunday.

The Cardinals traveled to Denver to take on the Rockies in a three game set starting Monday.