I can finally say something that I’ve rarely been able to say this season. A Cardinals pitcher got past the 5th inning without dealing with a train wreck. The truth is Matthew Liberatore was as sharp as he’s been all year. That fact combined with the St. Louis Cardinals bats waking up resulted in a series-winning victory Sunday night at Busch Stadium with the ultimate Cardinals legend Albert Pujols in the TV broadcast booth.
The Cardinals welcomed Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jordan Wicks to Busch Stadium by cracking 3 consecutive hits in the top of the 1st inning by JJ Wetherholt, Iván Herrera and Jordan Walker. Walker’s single drove in Wetherholt giving the Cardinals a quick 1-0 lead. After Nelson Velázquez grounded into a fielder’s choice, Alec Burleson hit a infield popup that landed just behind the pitcher’s mound, Herrera scored from third giving St. Louis a 2-0 lead.
For once, the St. Louis offense would not go on pause as they rallied for 3 more in the bottom of the third inning. JJ Wetherholt and Iván Herrera singled to start the inning. After Jordan Walker struck out and Nelson Velázquez lined out, Alec Burleson hit a clutch single to left scoring JJ. Then, Masyn Winn singled right up the middle giving the Cardinals 2 more runs making it 5-0 St. Louis.
Matthew Liberatore gave the Cardinals exactly the type of start they needed. He was taken out after he got Pete Crow-Armstrong out to start the 6th inning by manager Oli Marmol. His stat line for the night was 5 1/3 innings giving up no runs and allowing only 3 hits while striking out 4 and walking only 1. New callup Hunter Dobbins was brought in to keep the Cubs faces in the dirt. Unfortunately, the first batter he faced, Alex Bregman, hit a home run into the left field bullpen getting Chicago on the board making it 5-1 Cardinals. He settled down after that and struck out Suzuki and got Ian Happ to ground out to close out the 6th.
Both the Cubs and Cardinals would threaten to score in the 7th inning, but neither team could get it done. In the top of the 7th, Michael Busch hit a one-out single before Michael Conforto doubled to left, but Busch was only able to take third on the play. Hunter Dobbins would get out of the jam by coming back from a 3-0 count to strike out the mega-struggling Dansby Swanson and then getting Nico Hoerner to ground out to end the Cubs 7th. St. Louis would be equally unable to turn a rally into runs after JJ Wetherholt walked (OBP for the win) and then stole 2nd base and advanced to 3rd base on a wild pitch. Ivan Herrera would also walk, but Jordan Walker sadly hit a ball to Alex Bregman at third who quickly turned that into a double play ending the Cardinals hopes of adding to their lead.
Hunter Dobbins did a good job keeping the Cubs under tabs not just through the 8th inning, but the 9th also. His only wart was the Alex Bregman home run, but he struck out 4 and didn’t walk anybody. Solo home runs every now and then are much easier to tolerate than an abundance of walks especially in a game you’re leading, so well done, Mr. Dobbins. Congratulations getting your first career save, too.
The St. Louis Cardinals return to Busch Stadium Monday night as the Texas Rangers come to town. Let’s make sure they see all of our 2011 pennants as their bus arrives. Is David Freese available for valet service I wonder? Michael McGreevy will start for the Cardinals while Jacob deGrom will give it a go for the Rangers. It’ll be nice to see Skip Schumaker again, if nothing else. First pitch is set for 6:45pm central time with the broadcast available on Cardinals.tv.
