Cardinals Waste McGreevy’s Strong Start, Fall to Marlins 4-0

The Cardinal Chronicle
Cardinals Waste McGreevy’s Strong Start, Fall to Marlins 4-0
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

Michael McGreevy gave the St. Louis Cardinals every chance Friday night.

The offense gave him nothing.

The bullpen could not hold the line late, Max Meyer continued his unbeaten run, and the Cardinals opened their weekend series against the Miami Marlins with a 4-0 loss at Busch Stadium.

It was a pitcher’s duel for seven innings.

Then it became another frustrating Cardinals loss.

McGreevy was excellent. He worked six scoreless innings, allowed five hits, walked one and struck out four. He threw 94 pitches, 56 for strikes, and kept Miami off the board despite having to work harder than Meyer across the field.

That was the difference in the starting matchup.

Meyer was not just good. He was efficient. The Miami right-hander went seven scoreless innings, allowed only two hits, walked two and struck out five. He needed just 89 pitches to get through seven, and for most of the night, the Cardinals never made him uncomfortable enough to change the direction of the game.

That is the hard part of this one.

St. Louis did get a quality start. The Cardinals did get the kind of outing from McGreevy that should have been enough to win a tight game at home. They did keep the Marlins off the board through seven innings.

But the offense never arrived.

The Cardinals finished with only three hits: singles from Jordan Walker and Lars Nootbaar, plus a late double from José Fermín. That was it. No extra-base threat until the eighth. No sustained pressure. No crooked inning. No big swing. No real answer for Meyer.

For a team trying to stop a rough stretch, that made the night feel even heavier.

Miami threatened early but could not break through against McGreevy. In the first inning, Griffin Conine walked and Kyle Stowers singled, putting runners on the corners. McGreevy answered by getting Otto Lopez to line out to right, ending the threat and keeping the game scoreless.

He continued to manage traffic from there.

The Marlins put runners aboard in the second, fourth and fifth, but McGreevy kept making pitches when he needed them. One of his sharper moments came in the fifth when he picked off Esteury Ruiz at first base, erasing a runner and helping himself out of another inning.

That is pitching.

It was not overpowering, but it was composed. McGreevy changed speeds, worked through contact, and kept the Cardinals in a game where one run might have meant everything.

The problem was that St. Louis could not find that one run.

The Cardinals’ best chance came in the seventh. Iván Herrera was hit by a pitch to open the inning, and Alec Burleson walked. Jordan Walker grounded into a fielder’s choice, leaving runners at first and third with one out. Lars Nootbaar then worked a walk to load the bases.

Busch Stadium finally had a moment.

Masyn Winn came up with a chance to break the scoreless tie, but he grounded to short, and Herrera was forced out at the plate. Nathan Church followed with a lineout to left, and the inning ended with the bases left full.

That was the game’s turning point.

The Cardinals had finally gotten Meyer into trouble, but they could not finish the inning. When a pitcher like Meyer gives a team one real opening, that opening has to be taken. St. Louis let it pass.

Miami did not.

JoJo Romero handled the seventh cleanly after McGreevy exited, keeping the game scoreless. But in the eighth, George Soriano entered and the Marlins finally broke through.

Ruiz singled to open the inning and stole second. Graham Pauley followed with a double deep to right, scoring Ruiz and giving Miami a 1-0 lead. After a short rain delay, Soriano returned to the mound and tried to limit the damage, but the inning kept dragging.

Conine and Xavier Edwards walked, loading the bases. Stowers then grounded to first. Burleson stepped on the bag and fired home, where Herrera applied the tag on Pauley. The initial call was out, but after review, the call was overturned, and Miami had a 2-0 lead.

That one stung.

In a game where runs were almost impossible to find, Miami had two. The Cardinals still had none.

The Marlins added on in the ninth against Max Rajcic. Joe Mack walked, Ruiz walked, and Jakob Marsee singled to center, scoring both runners and stretching Miami’s lead to 4-0. That turned a tight pitcher’s duel into a much more comfortable Marlins finish.

Calvin Faucher handled the ninth for Miami, and the Cardinals went quietly.

The final line was simple and sharp: Marlins 4 runs, 8 hits, no errors; Cardinals 0 runs, 3 hits, no errors.

Miami did not homer. It did not need to. The Marlins used speed, walks, contact and late execution to win the game. Ruiz scored twice and stole two bases. Pauley doubled in the first run. Stowers drove in the second. Marsee drove in the final two.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, could not cash in their one big chance and did not create enough smaller ones.

That is how a strong start gets wasted.

McGreevy deserved better. He gave the Cardinals six scoreless innings against a Miami club playing good baseball. Romero did his job in the seventh. But Soriano took the loss after allowing two runs in the eighth, and Rajcic allowed two more in the ninth.

The bullpen did not completely implode, but it lost the margin.

When the offense scores zero, the margin is microscopic.

This was not a night where St. Louis was beaten by one defensive mistake or one unlucky bounce. This was a night where the Cardinals simply did not hit enough. Meyer controlled the game. Miami’s bullpen finished it. And the Cardinals were left with another quiet offensive night at Busch Stadium.

After Thursday’s rainout and the rotation shuffle that pushed McGreevy into this series opener, the Cardinals needed a clean reset. They got the starting pitching portion of it.

They did not get the rest.

That is the frustration.

The Cardinals are now 42-37, and the Marlins moved to 43-39. The series continues Saturday night, with Dustin May expected to get the ball for St. Louis.

The Cardinals do not need to overcomplicate the lesson from Friday night.

McGreevy gave them a chance.

The offense did not take it.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: Michael McGreevy, St. Louis Cardinals | MLB