Cardinals’ Offense No Show Again as Braves Even Series
The Cardinal Chronicle
Cardinals’ Offense No Show Again as Braves Even Series
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
Michael McGreevy gave the St. Louis Cardinals another chance Wednesday night.
The offense gave him almost nothing.
The bullpen gave the game away late.
After opening the series with a needed road win Tuesday night, the Cardinals could not build on it Wednesday at Truist Park. Atlanta beat St. Louis, 5-1, evening the three-game series and handing the Cardinals another frustrating loss built around a familiar combination: too little offense and too much late-inning leakage.
This one was not complicated.
The Cardinals scored in the first inning, then disappeared.
Iván Herrera doubled to deep center with one out against Reynaldo López, giving St. Louis an early scoring chance. Alec Burleson grounded out, moving Herrera into position, and Jordan Walker followed with a two-out single to right field to bring him home.
The Cardinals had a 1-0 lead.
They also had their last run of the night.
That is the hard part.
St. Louis had a chance to make López work early, but the inning ended when Lars Nootbaar struck out. From there, the Cardinals’ offense went quiet enough to make the early run feel more like a memory than a foundation.
Atlanta answered immediately in the bottom of the first. Drake Baldwin singled to shallow center, and Ozzie Albies drove a ball deep to right field. Baldwin scored on the double, but Walker made a strong relay play from right field, and Albies was thrown out trying to stretch the play to third.
The run tied the game 1-1.
The defense helped prevent more.
For a while, that mattered.
McGreevy settled in after the first. He gave the Cardinals six innings, allowing two runs on three hits, walking one and striking out three. He threw 87 pitches, 57 for strikes, and kept St. Louis in position to win a low-scoring road game.
That has become a recurring theme with McGreevy.
He may not always dominate. He may not pile up strikeouts. But he competes, limits damage, and gives the Cardinals a chance. On Wednesday night, he did exactly that again.
The problem is that the Cardinals continue to ask him to work with almost no margin.
Atlanta took the lead in the third when Albies struck again, this time launching a solo home run to right-center field. It was his 13th homer of the season and gave the Braves a 2-1 lead.
That was all McGreevy allowed.
He kept the game right there.
The Cardinals just never responded.
After Walker’s first-inning RBI single, St. Louis did not produce another hit. JJ Wetherholt walked in the third, but the Cardinals could not turn it into anything. The lineup struck out eight times, produced only two hits, and never forced the Braves to manage traffic for any extended stretch.
That is not enough.
Not against Atlanta.
Not on the road.
Not when the starting pitcher gives you six competitive innings and hands the game over with the deficit still sitting at one run.
The Braves’ bullpen handled the middle innings cleanly. Dylan Dodd worked a scoreless sixth. Didier Fuentes followed with a scoreless seventh. By the time the Cardinals reached the eighth, the game was still within reach on the scoreboard, but it did not feel like St. Louis had enough offensive pulse to change it.
Then the bottom of the eighth turned a close game into a comfortable Atlanta win.
Justin Bruihl opened the inning and could not keep the deficit at one. The Braves put traffic on the bases, and Michael Harris II singled to center to score Baldwin, pushing Atlanta’s lead to 3-1. Mauricio Dubón followed with a sacrifice bunt that brought Albies home, stretching the lead to 4-1.
Gordon Graceffo entered and could not completely stop the inning. Austin Riley singled to left, bringing home another run and making it 5-1.
That was the meltdown.
It was not one grand swing. It was traffic, pressure, poor execution, and a Braves club taking advantage of every extra chance. The Cardinals had spent seven innings trying to survive with a one-run offense. The eighth made that impossible.
Atlanta finished with five runs on six hits. Albies did the heaviest damage, going 2-for-3 with a double, a home run and two RBIs. Baldwin scored twice. Harris drove in a run. Dubón helped manufacture another. Riley added the final blow.
The Braves did not need a huge offensive night.
They just needed more than the Cardinals.
That bar was not high.
St. Louis finished with one run on two hits. Herrera had the double and scored the only run. Walker had the RBI single and also made the defensive play that cut down Albies in the first inning. Wetherholt drew the only walk. Everyone else went quiet.
The middle of the order did not carry the offense.
The bottom of the order did not extend innings.
The Cardinals did not put together anything after the first inning.
That is how a winnable game slips away.
McGreevy deserved better. His line was strong enough to win with normal support. Six innings, three hits, two runs, one walk and three strikeouts should give a club a real chance. Instead, he was left trying to make one early run stand against a first-place team in its own ballpark.
That is a bad way to live.
The Cardinals have been here too often lately. Strong-enough starting pitching. Empty offensive innings. A late bullpen crack that makes the final score look more decisive than the game once felt.
Wednesday fit that pattern almost perfectly.
The series now sits even at one game apiece. The Cardinals won the opener behind Matthew Liberatore’s rebound start and a three-run homer from Nathan Church. They had a chance Wednesday to take control of the series, put pressure on Atlanta, and guarantee at least a road series win before Thursday’s finale.
Instead, they are back to needing the rubber game.
There is still a chance to leave Atlanta with a series victory.
But the Cardinals will need more than two hits to do it.
They will need more than one early run.
They will need the bullpen to hold the line instead of turning tight games into uphill climbs.
The pitching gave them a chance Wednesday night.
The offense did not take it.
The bullpen caved to give the Braves a win.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: Michael McGreevy, St. Louis Cardinals | MLB