Cards Lose Battle of the Bullpens, 5-4

The Cardinal Chronicle
Cards Lose Battle of the Bullpens, 5-4
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The St. Louis Cardinals had the lead, the starting pitching, and enough offense to win a tight road game Sunday afternoon at Target Field.

What they did not hllpen.

The Minnesota Twins rallied late and beat the Cardinals 5-4, taking the rubber game of the weekend series and handing St. Louis a frustrating loss in a game that was sitting there for the taking.

This one was not a blowout. It was not a breakdown from the first pitch. It was not one of those games where the Cardinals were chasing uphill all afternoon.

That is what made it sting.

Michael McGreevy gave the Cardinals exactly what they needed. He worked six innings, allowed two runs on seven hits, walked two and struck out two. It was not overpowering, but it was efficient, composed, and competitive. In a ballpark where the Twins had already shown this weekend they could turn a game sideways in a hurry, McGreevy gave St. Louis a chance to win.

For six innings, that looked like enough.

Alec Burleson opened the scoring in the fourth inning with a solo home run to right field, his 13th homer of the season, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Minnesota answered in the bottom half when Victor Caratini hit a two-run homer to right-center, putting the Twins in front 2-1.

The Cardinals came back in the sixth.

Nathan Church reached base, and JJ Wetherholt delivered the biggest swing of the afternoon for St. Louis, driving a two-run home run to right field. The blast put the Cardinals ahead 3-2 and continued what has become a steady run of impact from the rookie infielder.

Wetherholt was not finished.

In the seventh inning, José Fermín singled, Church reached again, and Wetherholt lined a base hit to center to score Fermín and give the Cardinals a 4-2 lead. On the road, with McGreevy’s work already in the books, that should have been the moment St. Louis seized control.

Instead, the game turned into a bullpen test.

And the Cardinals lost that test.

JoJo Romero entered in the seventh and could not hold the two-run lead. The Twins put traffic on the bases, and Byron Buxton singled home Luke Keaschall to cut the lead to 4-3. Royce Lewis followed with a single to left-center, scoring Ryan Kreidler and tying the game at 4-4.

George Soriano came in and limited the damage, but the tie had already changed the entire feel of the afternoon.

The Cardinals had a chance in the eighth, but Minnesota’s bullpen answered. Andrew Morris struck out Jordan Walker and Lars Nootbaar, allowed a single to Blaze Jordan, then struck out Masyn Winn to end the threat.

That inning mattered.

In the bottom of the eighth, Soriano got the first two outs. Then Keaschall doubled to left, and Kreidler followed with a double to left-center, scoring Keaschall and giving Minnesota a 5-4 lead.

It was a two-out hit, a two-out run, and the decisive blow in a one-run game.

The Cardinals went quietly in the ninth. Fermín grounded out, Church struck out, and Wetherholt flied out to deep center as Yoendrys Gomez closed the door for Minnesota.

For St. Louis, the offensive highlights were real, but not enough. Wetherholt finished 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. Burleson homered and drove in the other run. Church reached three times with two hits and a walk. Fermín had two hits and scored a run. Blaze Jordan added a hit and continued to look comfortable enough in the big-league box, even as the Cardinals came up short.

But the middle of the order had a rough day. Jordan Walker went hitless and struck out three times. Lars Nootbaar went hitless and struck out twice. The Cardinals struck out 11 times overall, and in a one-run game, those empty at-bats add up fast.

The final line told the story well enough: Twins 5 runs, 13 hits, 1 error; Cardinals 4 runs, 8 hits, no errors.

This was not a game the Cardinals gave away with sloppy defense. It was not a game where the starter put them in a hole. It was a game where the bullpen had to protect a late lead and could not finish it.

That is baseball, but it is also the kind of loss that can follow a team onto the plane.

The Cardinals leave Minnesota having dropped two of three in a series they easily could have won. Friday night slipped away late. Saturday brought the power show and a 9-6 win. Sunday was quieter, tighter, and just as painful in its own way.

There is no need to turn one loss into a full-scale investigation. The Cardinals are still playing winning baseball, and there was plenty to like in McGreevy’s start, Wetherholt’s production, and Church’s continued ability to reach base.

But this was a winnable game.

And when a team is trying to stay in the thick of the National League race, those are the ones that stay with you.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports &  MiLB Today
Preserving the Past, Promoting the Present, and Projecting the Future.

Check out The Cardinal Chronicle for more St. Louis Cardinals coverage, daily farm reports, prospect updates and old-school baseball commentary:
www.cardinalchronicle.com

Photo Credit - George Soriano | Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images