St. Louis Cardinals pitchers spoil strong offensive output in first road series

The St. Louis Cardinals entered their first road series of the year with a 4-2 record and sole possession of first place in the National League Central. They'll leave Boston with a 4-5 record and a third-place spot.

The Cardinals came into Boston to face off against the Boston Red Sox, one of baseball's best up-and-coming teams thanks to the efforts of Chaim Bloom some four or five years ago. The additions of third baseman Alex Bregman and pitcher Garrett Crochet this past offseason paired with a strong young core of Kristian Campbell, Rafael Devers, and Triston Casas among others gives Boston a shot at contending for a World Series trophy this year.

Make no mistake, the Red Sox are a very good team this year, and Boston is also an incredibly hard place to pitch in. Over the last three years, Boston's Fenway Park has ranked as the second-most hitter-friendly park in baseball behind only Coors Field in Colorado. Therefore, it was expected that there would be an offensive deluge. To the extent that was reached, however, was unexpected.

Poor performances from several Cardinal pitchers ruined offensive comebacks and efforts by Cardinal hitters.

The Cardinals offense has been one of the best in the league so far. The Cardinals rank second in baseball in runs per game with 6.89 runs per game. Their .301 team batting average is best in the league by a wide margin. They also rank first in the league in on-base percentage, second in slugging percentage, and second in team wRC+.

This offensive prowess was on full display throughout the weekend, as the Cardinals averaged 6.67 runs per game in Beantown. The issue, however, is that Cardinal pitchers allowed nine runs per game in the three-game series.

On Friday night, starting pitcher Erick Fedde allowed six runs in only three innings. This tasked long-man Steven Matz with logging three more innings of his own in which he allowed two runs. Relievers Ryan Fernandez and John King then came in and gave up three and two runs, respectively. The Cardinals offense made pushes in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and ninth innings, only to have their efforts at a comeback squandered by the bullpen.

Saturday's game was postponed due to inclement weather, so a doubleheader was in store on Sunday. Andre Pallante drew the start in game one, and he fared marginally better than Fedde did two days prior: Pallante gave up two runs in 4.1 innings, but he couldn't go long enough to spare some relievers for game two.

This time, it was All-Star closer Ryan Helsley who blew the Cardinals' lead late in the game. He walked four batters in the ninth inning with a one-run lead, and the game went into extra innings. Ryan Fernandez pitched again, and he allowed a walk-off double in the bottom of the tenth inning. The blow-ups by Helsley and Fernandez came after the Cardinals took a 4-3 lead in the top of the eighth inning thanks to a two-run double by Pedro Pages.

The second game of the doubleheader on Sunday was a drubbing at the hands of the Red Sox. The Cardinals lost 18-7, and it would have looked a lot worse had infielder Thomas Saggese not hit a three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning.

Starting pitcher Miles Mikolas allowed nine runs on 11 hits in only 2.2 innings. Gordon Graceffo, the club's 27th man for the day, allowed seven runs on nine hits in three innings pitched. John King then allowed one final run in his 0.2 innings of relief. It was a blistering across the board.

Of the 12 pitchers who appeared in the weekend series against the Red Sox, only four didn't allow a run: Kyle Leahy, Chris Roycroft, Phil Maton, and JoJo Romero. The remaining eight pitchers allowed at least one run in their appearances this weekend.

The Cardinals offense, perhaps the area of the team with the most question marks surrounding it heading into the season, has done more than anyone could ask to start the year. The pitching, however, has left much to be desired.

Comebacks have been wasted, strong individual performances have been spoiled, and the Cardinals now sit one game below .500 thanks to an aged pitching staff that just can't perform up to snuff anymore. If the Cardinals want to compete this year, the pitching staff will have to make some major changes.

St. Louis heads to Pittsburgh for their first series against a division rival. Matthew Liberatore will draw the start in game one, and Sonny Gray will follow for game two against Pirates ace Paul Skenes. Erick Fedde will be back on the bump Wednesday in the series finale.