Matthew Liberatore had a really strong 4 innings, but it was a 41-pitch 5th inning that ended his night and allowed the Athletics to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2.
After a relatively quiet first three innings, the Cardinals were first to score in the top of the 4th inning when Nolan Gorman singled to right followed by a single from Masyn Winn as Gorman advanced to third after the play was mishandled by right fielder Thomas. That brought up Nathan Church as he flipped a single over short which scored Gorman and gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead.
The bottom of the 5th inning would be the undoing of Matthew Liberatore and the Cardinals chances at winning Wednesday night. With one out, Hernaiz singled to center and then Stefanic singled. Liberatore then walked Langeliers to load the bases. That brought up Nick Kurtz who unloaded them and gave the Athletics a 4-1 lead they would not relinquish.
Matthew Liberatore would finally finish the 5th inning allowing 9 hits, 4 earned runs, striking out 5 and walking 2. Matt Svanson pitched one inning of scoreless relief, but both Justin Bruihl and Gordon Graceffo would allow a run in the 7th and 8th innings giving the Athletics a 6-2 lead which is how the game would eventually end.
The Cardinals had their chances. In the 8th inning, they’d get singles from Pages and Wetherholt and a sac fly from Ivan Herrera, but Jordan Walker struck out after Alec Burleson singled stranding 2 runners on base. St. Louis would also have two runners on in the top of the 9th after Fermin singled and JJ Wetherholt was hit by a pitch, but Herrera popped out to second and Burleson struck out to end the game.
To look at the bright side, JJ Wetherholt had 2 hits and was on base 3 times. Alec Burleson had 3 hits. Masyn Winn and Nathan Church both had 2. The Cardinals will try to win the series on Thursday afternoon as Michael McGreevy takes the mound for St. Louis while Jacob Lopez gets the start for the Athletics. First pitch scheduled for 2:10pm central time. The game broadcast will be available on Cardinals.tv.
