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 get shut out Friday

Jack Flaherty had another frustrating outing as he pitched five innings, giving up four hits, six walks, and run runs. He was able to strike out three batters. It will be great if Flaherty can figure out what's going on so he can stop walking so many batters, and get them out on strikes. The Cardinals need Flaherty to be the top-tier pitcher the team wants.

Andre Pallante took over in the sixth inning, giving up three hits and one earned run while striking out one batter. Jordan Hicks pitched in the seventh inning. He gave up a home run to Willy Adames. He did walk one batter and struck out another.

Packy Naughton pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up a walk and striking out one. Chris Stratton pitched the final third of the inning.

Brendan Donovan, Alec Burleson, and Jordan Walker each had a hit on Friday. Nolan Arenado was 2-for-4 on the evening. The team was 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position, leaving eight on the base path.

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.