Dustin May did his part by giving the St. Louis Cardinals a quality start Wednesday night against Skip Schumaker’s Texas Rangers. Unfortunately, Nathan Eovaldi was just a little bit better. In the end, it would be so many missed opportunities that would cost the Cardinals dearly. A terrible relief effort in the top of the 9th wouldn’t help either. More on that later.
The Cardinals bats were actually put to good use Tuesday night (unlike the previous night) as St. Louis was first on the board in the bottom of the 2nd inning. After Bryan Torres walked, Masyn Winn singled to center which brought up Jimmy Crooks who dumped a ball into short right field scoring Torres and giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Not getting any additional runs in the 2nd would sadly be a sign of things to come Tuesday night.
The next Cardinals run would come from a player that all of us collectively hope is a sign of good things to come. Nolan Gorman showed his largely unrealized power by going the opposite way on a 93 mph four-seam fastball and elevating it 373 feet into the left field seats giving the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.
Unfortunately, the Cardinals 2-run lead would not stick as the Rangers strung together hits in the top of the 5th inning as Evan Carter reached on an infield hit where Masyn Winn and JJ Wetherholt partially collided. Kyle Higashioka followed that with a single of his own moving Carter to third. Lopez grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored Carter cutting the St. Louis lead in half 2-1. Joc Pederson would then rip a double down the right field line which scored Lopez tying the game 2-2.
The Rangers would take the lead in the top of the 6th inning when Jake Burger drew a one-out walk. He then was moved over to second on a groundout from Duran. Alejandro Osuna singled to right which scored Burger making it 3-2 Texas. That would end Dustin May’s night. He gave St. Louis 5 2/3 innings allowing 5 hits and 3 earned runs with a stellar 9 strikeouts and just 2 walks. JoJo Romero would come in from the pen and get the last out in the Ranger’s 6th. After the Cardinals failed to take advantage of another Masyn Winn hit in the bottom of the 6th, JoJo would return to the mound to try and keep the Rangers close in the top of the 7th inning. He was only partially successful as the Rangers managed to double their lead on a combination double, successful sacrifice bunt, questionable hit-by-pitch and then sacrifice fly to make it 4-2 Rangers. The hit-by-pitch call of Joc Pederson was challenged by St. Louis, but the review officials in New York didn’t see enough to overturn it and it stood.
The Cardinals were not done, though. JJ Wetherholt, who had 2 hits on the night, led off the bottom of the 7th with an opposite field single past the shortstop. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Iván Herrera was then hit by a pitch which gave St. Louis runners on first and second with none out. Alec Burleson would make the Rangers pay as he smoked a single to left field scoring JJ making it 4-3 Cardinals as Herrera advanced to third on Burleson’s hit. Jordan Walker then did something he hadn’t done all night. He made contact with a 76 mph curve from Eovaldi muscling it out to left field for a single scoring Herrera and tying the game 4-4.
That ended Nathan Eovaldi’s night as Skip Schumaker turned to lefthander Jalen Beeks in relief. Manager Oli Marmol called on Nelson Velázquez to come off the bench and give the Cardinals the lead. He unfortunately struck out as did Masyn Winn who followed. Marmol called on José Fermín to pinch-hit for Nolan Gorman, but he lined out to left field which means the Cardinals had runners on first and third with no one out, but could not bring in any additional runs. Disappointing.
George Soriano was the Cardinals 8th inning answer out of the bullpen. His first pitch resulted in a ground ball deep into the hole at short, but Masyn Winn came up with an absolutely dazzling play throwing out Jake Burger with his rifle arm. That wasn’t his only act of incredible glove work against Burger as he also robbed him with an excellent play in the top of the 4th inning.
Jimmy Crooks had a good night at the plate. His second hit of the night was a double down the right field line to lead off the bottom of the 8th for St. Louis. Thomas Saggese would pinch-run for Crooks as Victor Scott II would unsuccessfully try to bunt him over popping out to third base instead. JJ Wetherholt was also unable to advance Saggese as he popped out to short. The Rangers would bring in Cal Quantrill to face Iván Herrera to try and keep the game tied. One pitch later, Herrera grounded out to short to squander a great chance to take the lead going into the 9th. Disappointing. Again.
Riley O’Brien was brought in to keep the game tied in the 9th, but he would invite trouble by walking the first man he faced which was Evan Carter. He would make matters worse by throwing a wild pitch as Carter advanced to second. Kyle Higashioka singled to right giving Texas runners at first and third with no outs. O’Brien would turn to a disappearing slider to strike out Lopez for the first out, but Joc Pedersen dumped his third hit of the night into left field giving the Rangers a 5-4 lead. That bloop hit would be followed by another one for Jung doubling the Texas lead to 6-4. Nimmo added a sacrifice fly to compound our misery making it 7-4 Rangers.
Andre Pallante will lead the charge Wednesday night as it’s game 3 of the St. Louis Cardinals series versus the Texas Rangers to try and avoid a sweep. MacKenzie Gore is scheduled to make the start for the Rangers. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45pm central time and the game broadcast will be available on Cardinals.tv.
