Dobbins Gets the Call as Cardinals Try to Avoid Anaheim Sweep

The Cardinal Chronicle
Dobbins Gets the Call as Cardinals Try to Avoid Anaheim Sweep
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The St. Louis Cardinals will turn to Hunter Dobbins this afternoon as they try to salvage the final game of their three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels and stop their longest losing streak of the season.

First pitch is scheduled for 3:07 p.m. CT at Angel Stadium. The game will be televised on Cards.TV and carried on KMOX.

Dobbins is being recalled from Triple-A Memphis to make the start, replacing Michael McGreevy in the scheduled pitching matchup. His locker has already been prepared in the Cardinals clubhouse in Anaheim, although the corresponding roster move had not yet been announced as of publication.

The move temporarily gives the Cardinals a six-man rotation and allows the club to push McGreevy and the other scheduled starters back one day.

Dobbins will face Angels left-hander Reid Detmers, who enters the game with a 3-6 record and a 4.16 ERA. Dobbins is 1-1 with a 4.03 ERA in five appearances, including three starts, for St. Louis this season. He has struck out 23 batters over 22⅓ innings.

The Cardinals acquired Dobbins from the Boston Red Sox in December as part of the return for Willson Contreras. St. Louis also received pitching prospects Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita in the deal.

Dobbins has moved between Memphis and St. Louis throughout the season, filling several roles as a starter, long reliever and emergency bullpen option. His previous Major League start came July 7 against Milwaukee, when he allowed three runs over five innings.

The Cardinals are not asking him to save the season this afternoon, but they desperately need him to stop the bleeding.

St. Louis has lost four consecutive games and five of its last six. A loss today would give the Cardinals their first five-game losing streak of the season and complete a sweep by an Angels club that entered the series buried at the bottom of the American League West.

The Cardinals fell to 51-49 with Tuesday night’s 5-1 loss, dropping them into fourth place in the National League Central. Los Angeles improved to 41-61 and has won three straight.

Tuesday’s game was essentially decided before many Cardinals fans had settled into their chairs.

Matthew Liberatore allowed five runs in the bottom of the first inning, including a two-run home run by Jo Adell and a two-run double by Jorge Soler. Liberatore recovered well enough to work into the sixth, but the damage had already been done.

The Cardinals managed only one run, scoring in the fifth inning when JJ Wetherholt drove home Nathan Church. Alec Burleson collected three of the club’s seven hits, but St. Louis never mounted a serious comeback against Walbert Ureña and the Angels bullpen.

After blowing late leads Sunday in Arizona and Monday in Anaheim, the Cardinals never had a lead to protect Tuesday.

That may have been less dramatic, but it was no less concerning.

St. Louis has scored only three runs through the first two games of this series. The offense has produced scattered hits but very little sustained pressure, and the Cardinals have not done enough damage when opportunities have presented themselves.

Dobbins cannot be expected to pitch with no margin for error.

The Cardinals need to give him early support and force Detmers to work from the stretch. That will not be an easy assignment.

Detmers is coming off one of his strongest starts of the season, throwing six scoreless innings and striking out seven against the Detroit Tigers. He has also been one of the Angels pitchers most frequently mentioned in trade speculation as the deadline approaches.

The Cardinals have previously been connected to Detmers because he offers something Chaim Bloom is believed to be seeking: a starting pitcher with swing-and-miss ability and multiple seasons of club control.

That makes today’s matchup unusual.

The Cardinals will be trying to beat a pitcher they may also have interest in acquiring.

Detmers has never lacked talent. The 26-year-old left-hander has a four-pitch mix, misses bats and has already thrown a Major League no-hitter. His career has been marked by stretches of dominance mixed with frustrating inconsistency, but the upside remains obvious. He has 117 strikeouts over 104⅔ innings this season.

St. Louis hitters must avoid chasing his breaking pitches below the strike zone. Detmers can pile up strikeouts quickly when hitters become impatient, but he can also run into trouble when opponents force him into deep counts and make him bring the ball over the plate.

The Cardinals need better at-bats throughout the lineup.

Jordan Walker has continued to make hard contact and extended his hitting streak Tuesday, while Burleson remains one of the club’s most consistent bats. However, isolated singles will not be enough. St. Louis needs extra-base damage and production with runners in scoring position.

There is also a larger question hanging over this team as it prepares to leave Anaheim.

How will the Cardinals respond when a promising season begins to wobble?

They remain close enough to the National League Wild Card race that one good week could restore momentum. They are also close enough to the pack behind them that another bad week could change the entire direction of the trade deadline.

That is why this afternoon matters.

It is not a must-win in the strict mathematical sense, but there is a considerable difference between returning home after salvaging the finale and returning home after being swept by a team more than 20 games below .500.

Dobbins has an opportunity to make his case for a larger role in the Cardinals rotation. Detmers has an opportunity to strengthen his trade value in front of a team that may already have interest in him.

John Mozeliak will be watching from the Angels side. Chaim Bloom and the Cardinals will be watching from the visiting side.

There will be plenty of front-office intrigue surrounding the game, but the Cardinals have a more immediate concern.

They need to win a baseball game.

After four straight losses, a miserable finish in Arizona and two defeats in Anaheim, style points no longer matter.

Just stop the streak and bring a victory home.

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