Cardinals Open September Road Trip With Big Test in LA
The Cardinal Chronicle
Cardinals Open September Road Trip With Big Test in Los Angeles
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
The Cardinals are out of runway for soft explanations.
September is here, the standings are real, and St. Louis opens the final month with one of the toughest assignments on the schedule: three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.
The series begins Tuesday night in Los Angeles, with first pitch scheduled for 9:10 p.m. CT. Right-hander Michael McGreevy gets the ball for the Cardinals against Dodgers left-hander Eric Lauer.
The Cardinals enter at 68-70 after dropping the final two games of their weekend series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. They have lost seven of their last nine, slipped two games under .500 and now begin a nine-game West Coast road trip that will take them through Los Angeles, Colorado and San Francisco.
That makes this series more than just another stop on the schedule.
It is a test.
The Dodgers enter at 82-55, leading the National League West and again looking like a team built for October. Their lineup has star power, their rotation has front-line arms, and their run prevention has been among the league's best.
For the Cardinals, the challenge is obvious.
They have to find a way to stop letting winnable games slip away, while also proving the final month is not simply about waiting for tomorrow.
Sunday’s 5-4 loss to Pittsburgh was another example of where this team is right now. The Cardinals trailed 4-0, fought back, had the tying run at third in the seventh inning and still came up short. Alec Burleson drove in his 100th run of the season, a significant milestone in any era, but it came in another loss.
That has been the problem.
There have been moments.
There have not been enough wins.
Now the Cardinals go to Los Angeles with a roster that looks a little different. With September roster expansion underway, St. Louis has added outfielder Victor Scott II, catcher Leo Bernal and right-hander Hancel Rincón. Catcher Jimmy Crooks was optioned to Triple-A Memphis as part of the roster shuffle.
Those moves add speed, defense, catching depth and another arm to a pitching staff that badly needs help.
Scott brings elite speed and outfield range. Bernal gives the Cardinals one of their better defensive catching prospects and another look behind the plate. Rincón gives the bullpen a fresh right-handed option and could make his major league debut if he gets into a game.
That is the development side of September.
The standings side is less forgiving.
The Cardinals still have games to play that matter, but the margin is shrinking. The injuries have piled up, the rotation has thinned, and the offense has been too uneven to cover all of it. Hunter Dobbins and Andre Pallante remain on the injured list. JJ Wetherholt is dealing with a wrist issue. Masyn Winn could return early in the road trip, but the Cardinals are still not playing with a full deck.
That puts even more importance on McGreevy in the opener.
McGreevy enters at 5-9 with a 3.86 ERA and 98 strikeouts. His record does not tell the full story. He has been one of the steadier arms available to the Cardinals, and in this series, steady has value. St. Louis cannot afford to turn every game into a bullpen problem by the fourth inning.
The opener is the game the Cardinals need to target.
Lauer enters at 8-6 with a 4.78 ERA and 70 strikeouts. Against this Dodgers rotation, that is the most manageable matchup on paper. That does not mean easy. Nothing about this series is easy. But with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tarik Skubal scheduled for the next two games, St. Louis cannot afford to sleepwalk through Tuesday night.
The Cardinals need traffic early.
They need Burleson, Jordan Walker, Iván Herrera, Joshua Báez, Nolan Gorman and the rest of the lineup to make Lauer work. They need Victor Scott II’s speed to matter if he gets into the lineup. They need Bernal, if used, to bring stability behind the plate. They need the bottom of the order to give them something more than empty innings.
Walker remains the biggest power presence in the lineup, with 27 home runs and 97 RBIs. Burleson has been one of the steadiest bats on the club, carrying a .288 average and now sitting at 100 RBIs. Those two have to be in the middle of anything St. Louis does offensively.
But this cannot be a two-man offense.
The Dodgers are too deep for that.
Los Angeles enters the series averaging more runs per game than St. Louis, with more home runs, a higher team batting average, and a better pitching staff by ERA. The Dodgers also hold opponents to a much lower batting average than the Cardinals’ staff has allowed this season, which underscores the separation between the two clubs.
Shohei Ohtani remains the first name on the scouting report. He leads the Dodgers with 30 home runs and 80 RBIs. Freddie Freeman is still one of the best pure hitters in the sport and continues to produce at Dodger Stadium. Max Muncy, Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernández, Tommy Edman, Kyle Tucker and the rest of the lineup give Los Angeles enough length to punish mistakes from the first inning through the ninth.
The Cardinals cannot give them extra baserunners.
No leadoff walks. No defensive gifts. No two-out mistakes with traffic on base. No innings that should be over but keep going because St. Louis failed to finish a play or a pitch.
That has been too much of the season already.
Wednesday’s matchup gets even tougher, with Yamamoto scheduled for Los Angeles and the Cardinals’ starter still listed as TBD. Yamamoto enters at 12-8 with a 2.56 ERA and 153 strikeouts. He gives the Dodgers a front-line starter who can control the strike zone, miss bats and make a struggling offense look even more uncomfortable.
Thursday brings Skubal, another left-handed test and another reminder of how steep the gap can look. Skubal enters at 8-7 with a 2.84 ERA and 153 strikeouts, giving the Dodgers another arm capable of taking over a game.
The Cardinals’ starters for Wednesday and Thursday remain unannounced, adding to concerns about the early success of this road trip.
This is where the injuries show up. Dobbins and Pallante being down is not just a line on the injury report. It changes how the Cardinals cover a series. It changes how aggressively they can use the bullpen. It changes how much pressure lands on McGreevy, Liberatore, Kyle Leahy, Quinn Mathews and whoever else is asked to get outs.
A nine-game road trip in September is hard enough.
Starting it against the Dodgers with pitching questions is a different level.
Still, the Cardinals cannot treat this series like a measuring-stick exercise they are already excused from failing. They need wins. They need cleaner baseball. They need to show that the final month is more than a prospect showcase and more than another chapter in the promise of tomorrow.
There are things worth watching.
Bernal’s arrival gives St. Louis a look at a catcher who may factor into the organization’s future behind the plate. Rincón gives the bullpen another arm at a time when innings are precious. Scott gives the Cardinals speed and defense that can change late-game decisions. Burleson’s march through a 100-RBI season deserves attention. Walker’s development remains one of the biggest stories on the major league roster. Báez still has the kind of power that can change a game with one swing.
But all of that plays better when the Cardinals are winning games.
That is the part September will not let them avoid.
The Dodgers do not need help. They already have enough. The Cardinals cannot give them extra outs, short starts and quiet innings.
The assignment is simple, even if the opponent is not.
Win the opener.
Make Los Angeles work.
Get length from McGreevy.
Do not let Yamamoto and Skubal turn the final two games into damage control.
The Cardinals begin September in Los Angeles with a difficult series and a shrinking margin.
Now they have to show what is still left in this season.
Series Schedule
Tuesday, September 1
St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers
First Pitch: 9:10 p.m. CT / 7:10 p.m. PT
Where: UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium
Probable Pitchers: RHP Michael McGreevy vs. LHP Eric Lauer
McGreevy: 5-9, 3.86 ERA, 98 SO
Lauer: 8-6, 4.78 ERA, 70 SO
Broadcast: SportsNet LA / Cardinals.TV Presented by bet365
Wednesday, September 2
St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers
First Pitch: 9:10 p.m. CT / 7:10 p.m. PT
Where: UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium
Probable Pitchers: Cardinals TBD vs. RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Yamamoto: 12-8, 2.56 ERA, 153 SO
Broadcast: SportsNet LA / Cardinals.TV Presented by bet365
Thursday, September 3
St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers
First Pitch: 9:10 p.m. CT / 7:10 p.m. PT
Where: UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium
Probable Pitchers: Cardinals TBD vs. LHP Tarik Skubal
Skubal: 8-7, 2.84 ERA, 153 SO
Broadcast: SportsNet LA / Cardinals.TV Presented by bet365
Series Info
Matchup: St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers
Where: UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
Records: Cardinals 68-70; Dodgers 82-55
Series: Three games, Tuesday through Thursday
Cardinals: Third place, NL Central
Dodgers: First place, NL West
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