Kyle Leahy Gets the Ball as Cardinals Try to Avoid Sweep
The Cardinal Chronicle
Kyle Leahy Gets the Ball as Cardinals Try to Avoid Sweep
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
The Cardinals have reached the part of the weekend where the fans just want them to win the finale.
After dropping the first two games of their weekend series against the Miami Marlins at Busch Stadium, St. Louis returns Sunday afternoon trying to avoid a sweep and stop a slide that has turned a long homestand into something closer to a warning light.
First pitch is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. CT at Busch Stadium, with right-hander Kyle Leahy getting the ball for the Cardinals against Miami right-hander Tyler Phillips.
The Marlins have taken the first two games of the series by scores of 4-0 and 5-1. That means the Cardinals have scored one run in 18 innings against Miami, and that lone run came Saturday night on a Masyn Winn RBI single. For a club trying to stay in the National League race, that is not nearly enough offense, especially at home.
Friday night was a wasted pitching effort from Michael McGreevy. Saturday night was not much better. Andre Pallante gave the Cardinals length, working into the seventh inning, but Miami stacked hits, put pressure on the defense and kept adding on. Pallante allowed a career-high 11 hits and five runs in 6 2/3 innings, and the Cardinals again spent most of the night trying to find an offense that never really arrived.
That has been the difference in this series.
Miami has played clean, confident baseball. St. Louis has looked flat, tight and a half-step late.
The Marlins come into Sunday as one of the hottest clubs in baseball, having won four straight and eight of their last nine. They are also 18-5 in June, the best mark in the majors this month. That is not a fluke weekend. That is a team playing with rhythm, energy and belief.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, have lost four straight and seven of their last nine. That is not panic territory by itself, but it is absolutely attention-getting territory. The standings still matter, and the Cardinals are still in the race, but contenders cannot keep letting winnable home series drift away.
Now Leahy gets the assignment of stopping the skid.
Leahy enters at 5-4 with a 4.24 ERA and 62 strikeouts. His season has had its uneven stretches, but Sunday gives him a clean, simple job: give the Cardinals a competitive start, keep Miami from jumping out early, and do not force the offense to chase from the first few innings.
That is especially important against a Marlins team that has been excellent at applying pressure. Miami does not need to beat a club with one big swing. The Marlins have done plenty of damage with contact, speed, stolen bases and timely hits. Xavier Edwards, Otto Lopez and Javier Sanoja have made life difficult by getting on base and forcing the issue. Kyle Stowers has driven in runs. Liam Hicks gives them power. This is a lineup that can make an inning messy if pitchers start giving them extra chances.
Leahy has to stay ahead.
No free passes. No leadoff walks. No middle-middle mistakes when Miami has traffic. The Marlins have already shown they will make the Cardinals pay for those.
Phillips comes in at 1-2 with a 3.09 ERA and 49 strikeouts. His overall numbers are solid, and he gives Miami another right-hander capable of keeping a struggling Cardinals lineup uncomfortable if St. Louis starts chasing. The Cardinals cannot afford to let him cruise.
That means the offensive approach has to change immediately.
The Cardinals need traffic from the top of the order. They need JJ Wetherholt and Masyn Winn creating pressure. They need Jordan Walker to be a real threat in the middle. They need Alec Burleson to keep finding ways on base. Burleson reached base for the 25th consecutive game Saturday, and that kind of consistency matters, but one steady bat cannot carry a lineup by itself.
St. Louis needs more from everyone.
Iván Herrera, Lars Nootbaar, Blaze Jordan, Jimmy Crooks and the bottom half of the lineup all have to make Miami work. This is not the day for quick outs and comfortable innings. Phillips needs to feel traffic early. The Marlins’ defense needs to be tested. Their bullpen needs to be involved before the game is already tilted.
The Cardinals also need to clean up the details.
The last week has brought too many games where one bad inning, one late leak or one empty offensive night has carried the story. That is the difference between a team hanging around and a team actually strengthening its position. The Cardinals are still contenders because the standings say they are in the race. But the baseball has to tighten up if they want that label to mean anything beyond late-June conversation.
Sunday is not about style.
It is not about winning a debate. It is not about proving the roster is finished, because it is not.
It is about avoiding a sweep at home.
It is about giving Leahy some early support.
It is about stopping Miami’s momentum before the Marlins leave St. Louis with three straight wins.
The Cardinals have played too much meaningful baseball this season to let one bad week speak for the whole club. But they also cannot pretend this stretch has not exposed some real issues. The pitching has been uneven. The offense has gone quiet at the wrong time. The margin for error has shrunk.
That makes Sunday simple.
Get a lead.
Hold the lead.
Win the finale.
Sometimes baseball does not need a long sermon.
Sometimes it just needs some players to step up.
Game Info
Matchup: Miami Marlins at St. Louis Cardinals
When: Sunday, June 28, 2026
First pitch: 1:15 p.m. CT
Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis
Probable Pitchers: RHP Tyler Phillips vs. RHP Kyle Leahy
Phillips: 1-2, 3.09 ERA, 49 SO
Leahy: 5-4, 4.24 ERA, 62 SO
Records: Marlins 44-39; Cardinals 42-38
Broadcast: Cardinals.TV / KMOX / WIJR
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Photo Credit: Kyle Leahy, St. Louis Cardinals | MLB