Cardinals Next Stop a Three-Game Series Against Athletics

The Cardinal Chronicle
Cardinals Next Stop on the Road a Three-Game Set Against Athletics
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The St. Louis Cardinals continue their West Coast swing Tuesday night with a three-game series against the Athletics at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, California, a stop that still feels strange for anyone who remembers the Oakland days, but counts the same in the standings.

St. Louis enters the series still very much in the National League Central race after splitting a four-game series against the San Diego Padres. The Cardinals won the first two games at Petco Park before dropping the final two, including Sunday’s 3-2 loss in 10 innings.

The Athletics have been better than some expected and come into the series as a legitimate challenge, not a soft landing spot. That makes this a better matchup on paper than the old assumptions might suggest.

The Cardinals have played strong baseball away from Busch Stadium, and that matters here. Good clubs take care of these road pockets, especially after a disappointing end to a series they had a chance to win in San Diego.

The setting is part of the story. Sutter Health Park is the temporary home of the Athletics as the franchise plays away from Oakland and awaits its planned move to Las Vegas. It is a different environment than the old Coliseum, smaller and more intimate, but the Cardinals cannot afford to treat it like anything less than a major league assignment.

The series opens Tuesday night with Andre Pallante facing left-hander Jeffrey Springs. Pallante comes in at 3-3 with a 4.34 ERA, while Springs enters at 3-2 with a 3.89 ERA.

For Pallante, the assignment is straightforward: keep the ball on the ground, avoid the crooked inning and make the Athletics earn their way around the bases. He does not have to dominate, but he does have to stabilize the front end of the series. After the Cardinals let Sunday get away late in San Diego, a clean start Tuesday would go a long way toward getting the road trip pointed back in the right direction.

Wednesday brings Matthew Liberatore against right-hander J.T. Ginn. Liberatore is 2-1 with a 4.07 ERA, but his last start was much better than the surface number. He held San Diego to one run on three hits over six innings Thursday night, striking out six in one of his stronger outings of the season. The Cardinals won that game 2-1, and Liberatore gave them exactly what they needed: length, poise and a chance to win.

That is the version of Liberatore the Cardinals need to see more often. When he works ahead and trusts his full mix, he gives St. Louis a legitimate mid-rotation look. The Athletics counter with Ginn, who enters at 1-1 with a 3.62 ERA. It is the kind of matchup where the Cardinals’ offense needs to make Ginn work early and avoid letting a young arm settle into a rhythm.

The finale Thursday afternoon gives St. Louis the most favorable pitching look of the series, at least on paper. Michael McGreevy, now 3-2 with a 2.18 ERA, gets the ball against left-hander Jacob Lopez, who enters at 3-2 with a 6.11 ERA.

McGreevy is coming off a terrific start in San Diego, where he threw six shutout innings, allowed just one hit, walked two and struck out a career high nine batters in a 6-0 Cardinals shutout. The St. Louis bullpen finished off a one-hit win that night, retiring the final 16 Padres hitters.

McGreevy has quickly become one of the steadier stories in the Cardinals’ rotation. He does not pitch like a man trying to impress the radar gun. He pitches like a man trying to win the count, win the inning and hand the ball to the bullpen with the game still under control. That plays in any ballpark, and it especially plays on the road.

Offensively, the Cardinals continue to look for steady production from the middle of the order. Alec Burleson has been swinging a hot bat, Jordan Walker remains a key run-producing presence and Masyn Winn continues to give St. Louis energy at the plate and in the field. When the Cardinals are at their best, they are not waiting around for one big swing. They are grinding at-bats, taking extra bases, and forcing opponents to make clean plays for nine innings.

The Athletics bring enough offense to make the Cardinals pay for mistakes. Shea Langeliers has been one of their top power threats, and the Athletics have shown they can put pressure on opposing staffs when they get traffic on the bases. This is not a lineup St. Louis can sleepwalk through, especially in a ballpark and setting that still has a little unknown to it.

The Cardinals’ bullpen will also be worth watching. Riley O’Brien’s blown save Sunday was a rare crack in what has otherwise been one of the better early-season stories for St. Louis. Closers give up leads. That is baseball. The important part is how quickly the club gets back to normal usage and trust. A clean ninth inning sometime in this series would do more than protect a win; it would put the rhythm back where it belongs.

For St. Louis, this series is about discipline. Do not let the odd ballpark, the late start times or the name change fool anybody. The Athletics are playing competitive baseball, and the Cardinals need to answer with the same kind of road focus that has served them well through the first quarter of the season.

After letting a series win slip away in San Diego, the Cardinals need to make this stop count.

Series Schedule

Tuesday, May 12
Cardinals at Athletics, 8:40 p.m.
RHP Andre Pallante, 3-3, 4.34 ERA, vs. LHP Jeffrey Springs, 3-2, 3.89 ERA
TV: Cards.TV
Radio: KMOX

Wednesday, May 13
Cardinals at Athletics, 8:40 p.m.
LHP Matthew Liberatore, 2-1, 4.07 ERA, vs. RHP J.T. Ginn, 1-1, 3.62 ERA
TV: Cards.TV
Radio: KMOX

Thursday, May 14
Cardinals at Athletics, 2:05 p.m.
RHP Michael McGreevy, 3-2, 2.18 ERA, vs. LHP Jacob Lopez, 3-2, 6.11 ERA
TV: Cards.TV
Radio: KMOX

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