Game Summary
Two first inning homeruns by Wetherholt and Walker spotted the Cardinals to an early 3-0 over Paul Skenes, who would ultimately require 100 pitches to make it through five innings. Burleson and Gorman tacked on RBI hits following Pirate mistakes (error, WP). Another game where the Cardinals 3-4-5 hitters collect RBI. That seems like a good sequence.
On the pitching side, Hunter Dobbins leads out with 3.2 hitless innings, then comes unraveled when a hit breaks the sequence, and subsequently walks five of the next seven batters, allowing the Pirates to cut the lead to 5-3. The bullpen continued the parade of free passes and HBP, further slicing the lead to 5-4.
A late game (8th inning) eruption plates five runs for the Cardinals to make this game a bit of a laugher, as much as can be funny with the recent bullpen history. Pittsburgh plates a late but ultimately useless run in the bottom of the ninth (aided by a throwing error by Walker) to produce the final score of 10-5.
The Cardinals’ bullpen was a mixed bag. Tasked protecting a 4-run lead over 4.2 following innings, they did accomplish that, with assitance of the offense. Bruihl allowed 2 inherited runners to score. Graceffo with a pretty clean 1.1 IP. Romero gave up a solo HR. Stanek with a pretty nice relief inning. Svanson gave up a run in his inning when the game was out of hand. Only 1 walk over 4.2 relief innings, coupled with 4 K. Like I wrote, mixed bag.
It all totalled up to a win and a Cardinals sweep (a mop?) of the Pirates! And they come home with a bullpen that has piled up a lot of innings and walks. The middle of the Cardinal order had 7 RBI today, and the line-up in total had 14 hits to overcome 12 Ks.
Line-up (and roster) machinations
- An early start today, 1235a Eastern.
- Pretty standard line-up against LHP, if you view Church a fixture in LF.
- Ryan Fernandez optioned to Memphis to make room for Dobbins.
- Tink Hence optioned to Cardinals’ FCL (Florida Complex League) affiliate in Jupiter. He gets some time in the pitching lab down there. @DGoold reports that the option to FCL is in lieu of placement on the MiLB development list. Apparently, because Hence is on the 40-man roster, he can NOT be placed on the MiLB development list. Assigning him to FCL accomplishes the same thing – gets him to Florida to work in the lab, outside game situations.
The Game Details
T1 – Wetherholt leads off with a solo HR. Herrera reaches on throwing error (E5). This was later changed to a hit. Burleson backwards K. Walker with a towering 2-run HR. Gorman K. Winn K. Odd inning. Cards up early 3-0.
B1 – K. F-8. K. Good start for Dobbins.
T2 – Church K. Pages single. Scott II bunts Pages over the second, but JJW pops out to strand the runner.
B2 – P6. L9. 4-3. Dobbins doing well, but some deep counts adding to pitch count.
T3 – Herrera K. Burly awarded a single on a dribbler to short that Griffin threw away, error on the throw, putting Burly on second. Walker lines out. Gorman picks up the RBI. Winn bounces back to Skenes 1-3. Cards now up 4-0.
B3 – Griffin K. Infield single. Davis GIDP to make a quick inning.
T4 – Church P5. Pages K. Scott II K. Skenes strikeouts piling up now.
B4 – 4-3. 4-3. A double breaks the hitless string. A walk extends the inning, as does another, and yet again another walk with the bases loaded. Dobbins becomes unnerved giving up his first hit????? Griffin grounds out to end the threat. Pirates cut the lead to 4-1.
T5 – Wetherholt singles. Trying to figure out all the fuss about the Skenes guy. Herrera backwards K on a failed challenge. WP. Boy, the Pirates make a lot of mistakes. Burleson singles in JJW. Walker K. Gorman out 5-3. Cardinals now up 5-1.
B5 – Leadoff walk. Cruz walks. Dobbins walks have really piled up now. Bruihl in for Dobbins. He starts his day with a pitch clock violation. A deep fly to center gathers an out but advances two runners to scoring position. A double Reynolds plates 2 runs for the Buccos. 4-3 ends the rally. Pirates cut the Cards lead to 5-3.
T6 – Ramirez in for Skenes. Winn K. Church grounds out 6-3. Pages with an infield hit (yes, an infield hit!). Scott II out 4-3.
B6 – Graceffo in for Bruihl. Cardinals are going to have to find another 12 bullpen outs today if they want to sweep. He avoids the obligatory first batter walk syndrome with an HBP, instead. He follows with a P4, K and 5-3 to navigate the inning. Cardinals still up 5-3.
T7 – Montgomery in for Ramirez. Wetherholt walks. Herrera lines out L8. Burleson F8. Walker forces out Wetherholt.
B7 – Graceffo back out. 4-3. Romero in for Graceffo. Starts with a K. Lowe HR (416 ft) tightens the game some more. Gotta love that lefty lane. Will see them in the ninth, again, I suspect. A walk extends the inning. A K finishes it. Pirates cut the lead to 5-4. No more room to cut.
T8 – Mattson in for Montgomery. Gorman singles. A Winn line drive is misplayed for an error, advancing runners to second and third. This later re-scored to a hit, as well. Church doubles in two runs. Pages F8. Scott II walks. Wetherholt L8. He has hit the ball hard today. Herrera walks. Devenski in for Mattson. Burleson singles in two more. Walker with an RBI single. Gorman K to end the eruption. Cardinals now up 10-4.
B8 – Stanek in for Romero. 3u. F8. Single. Backwards K. Pretty clean inning for Stanek, noticeably lacking in walks.
T9 – Winn P4. Church L8. Pages K.
B9 – Svanson in for Stanek. 4-3. Single. Double, plus throwing error by Walker plates a run. F8 advances runner to third. L7 ends the game (not as nerve-wracking as yesterday’s last out!). Cardinals win 10-5.
Post-Game Notes
- In The Feed, check out Today on the Farm – Thursday 4/30 for updates on MiLB action.
- The Cardinals head back home today with an upcoming homestand against LAD and MIL before heading west. Expecting Wrobleski, Sasaki and Sheehan as the Dodgers’ trio of pitchers.
- The Cardinals ran themselves out of challenges early, which was unfortunate because this umpire missed a number of strikes later.
- To my eye, the Pirates got out-managed at every step this series. Probably starting with the 8-pitcher bullpen game to start the series. It was a brilliant move until it wasn’t and set a lot of things in motion that could go wrong. And things did go wrong for them, in bunches. A good pitching team gave up a ton of runs to a team that is not an offensive juggernaut, and likewise couldn’t find a way to overcome a bullpen having trouble throwing strikes.
- Pirate mistakes were a theme of this series … unforced errors, wild pitches, passed balls, throwing to wrong base. The scorer can change them back to hits all he/she wants, but they are still plays not made. Much to clean up for them.
