Cards fail to overcome the road blues
Game Result
The Cardinals travel to Cincinnati without their offense and are unable to back a quality start by Pallante, dropping the series opener 3-1.
Pre-game Notes
- Cards coming off a successful series win against the Brewers.
- Saw a John Denton article on mlb.com re: Phil Maton here. Maton sounds like a guy that fully expects to be traded at the deadline. Can’t blame him.
- The Reds have won 4 in a row and are 2 above .500 (courtesy of a 3 game sweep at Colorado) and +41 run differential. Could they be good this year? Their pitching isn’t bad but count me as a skeptic.
- Intriguingly, they’ve been .500 at home.
- Their leading players by WAR are Hays, Wynns and Lux. That would be three interesting career year players if that holds up. Hays has 5 HR in 49 AB.
- Of their +41 run differential, +22 of it came in one game … a 24-2 drubbing of the Orioles. It may take all season for pythag to stabilize for them.
Line-up (and roster) Machinations
- Pallante for the Cardinals. A ground ball pitcher in a park where ground balls are a good thing. Martinez for the Reds. He has not gotten off to the best start.
- Barrero up for the Cardinals. Sags back to Memphis. Interesting move. Does this say more about Barrero’s opportunity, the need for a RH hitting CFer, Winn’s back or a way to get Sags regular ABs?
- Loutos is designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man for Barrero. Barrero is out of options, so he is with the MLB club or he goes through the DFA process if he doesn’t pan out.
The Game
A rare night game for me to recap. Will try a new format, without score card entries and inning-by-inning breakdown. This on the assumption that many of you watched or listened to this game live.
Nootbar and Arenado pair up a couple of doubles for an early 1-0 lead for the Cardinals. Trevino with a solo shot tied it in the third, continuing the trend that every flyball Pallante throws leaves the yard. Lots of groundballs, though. A Lux single followed by a Marte triple gave the Reds a lead. Pallante seems sharp. Velo good, up around 96 with the FB.
Martinez keeping pace with Pallante, doing a good job keeping hitters off balance. He has benefitted from a couple of at ‘em balls and this slow team’s tendency to rack up GIDPs (3 of first 6 innings ended this way). Winn attempted a SacBunt with Pages on 2nd and Scott on first, no one out, again proving why SacBunts aren’t particularly useful as Pages is cut down at third.
Pallante ran out of gas with 1 out in the 6th. A walk-double-walk sequence produced a run, giving Cincy a 3-1 lead. A GIDP bailed him out of further damage. Lux 3 for 3 up to now. Apparently, he can hit pitches down the middle with the best of them. Three ABs in row ended with 94+ MPH in the heart of the plate and he smacked all of them. The scouting report that he can’t hit hard stuff is evidently wrong.
Martinez was out after six innings with 1 ER. Ashcraft first out of the bullpen K’s the side (Gorman, Walker, Pages). Santillan extended the hitless streak to 8 ABs in the 8th. Pagan finished the job. Can’t say the Reds bullpen is super impressive, but the Cardinal’s road offense isn’t top notch.
O’Brien relieved Pallante (6 IP, 3 ER, 4K). That 97 from him looked good. 2 singles and a walk complicated the inning but a GIDP and an assist from John King to get Cruz on a ground out closed out the 7th. Kings continues to work out his infield defense through the 8th to keep the bullpen load down.
Post-game Notes
- I notice Ryan Fernandez did not pitch this weekend in Memphis.
- I also noticed JJ Wetherholt got back on the field yesterday after more than a week out with the flu.