Leahy Looks to Continue Breakout Season Against Pirates
THE CARDINAL CHRONICLE
Game Day Preview: Leahy Looks to Continue Breakout Season Against Pirates
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
The St. Louis Cardinals will try to secure another series victory this afternoon when they host the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 1:15 p.m. CT start at Busch Stadium.
Right-hander Kyle Leahy will start for St. Louis against Pittsburgh right-hander Lake Bachar.
St. Louis Cardinals: RHP Kyle Leahy, 10-4, 3.13 ERA, 115 strikeouts
Pittsburgh Pirates: RHP Lake Bachar, 1-3, 3.70 ERA, 75 strikeouts
The Cardinals enter at 68-68 after a 4-1 victory Friday night, their second straight win after snapping a five-game losing streak Thursday against Baltimore. Pittsburgh fell to 65-71.
Friday belonged to Quinn Mathews.
Making his first Major League start at Busch Stadium, Mathews allowed one run on five hits over 5⅔ innings, walked one and struck out seven to earn his first big-league victory. It was easily his best performance since joining the Cardinals rotation.
Jimmy Crooks provided the early support with a two-run homer in the third inning, Nathan Church added a sacrifice fly in the fourth and Jordan Walker collected three hits while scoring twice.
Ryan Fernandez also provided an important 2⅔ innings from the bullpen before Ryne Stanek worked a clean ninth for the save.
The Cardinals have now won six of eight meetings with Pittsburgh this season and can clinch the weekend series with another victory today.
Leahy gives them a good opportunity to do it.
What began in March as an attempt to determine whether Leahy could hold down a spot in the rotation has become one of the best developments of the Cardinals season. His 3.13 ERA ranks among the top 20 qualified starters in the Major Leagues, and his performance has improved considerably as the season has progressed.
Over his last 11 starts, Leahy owns a 1.28 ERA, the best in baseball among pitchers with at least 50 innings during that stretch. He enters his final August start 3-0 with a 1.42 ERA in four outings this month.
The improvement has gone beyond simply preventing runs.
Leahy’s strikeout rate has climbed to 32% in August while his walk rate has fallen to 2.7%. He has also relied less heavily on his fastball and used more of a six-pitch mix, with his slider developing into one of his most effective weapons.
That is pitching, not simply throwing.
Leahy has learned to use what he has, change speeds, and give hitters different looks rather than trying to overpower everyone with one pitch. That approach has turned a former swingman into someone the Cardinals can realistically consider for next season’s rotation.
His challenge today is a Pittsburgh lineup that has struggled to score but still includes several dangerous hitters.
Oneil Cruz has had some success against Leahy, going 2-for-6 with a home run in their previous meetings. Brandon Lowe gives Pittsburgh another left-handed power threat, while Nick Gonzales continues to provide one of the more consistent bats in the lineup.
The Pirates have scored just one run in each of their last two games and only five runs over their last five. That does not mean Leahy should pitch cautiously.
Quite the opposite.
This is a lineup he should attack.
Get ahead, limit walks and force Pittsburgh to string together hits. The Pirates have not shown much ability recently to produce sustained offense, and the Cardinals should not help them by creating baserunners.
Pittsburgh will counter with Bachar, a 31-year-old right-hander who has worked primarily out of the bullpen this season.
Bachar has appeared in 45 games and thrown 73 innings, posting a 3.70 ERA with a 1.11 WHIP. His workload suggests the Pirates could treat the afternoon more like a bullpen game than a traditional start, which makes the Cardinals’ approach especially important.
They cannot allow Bachar to cruise through two or three innings on a handful of pitches and make Pittsburgh’s pitching plan easy.
The Cardinals need baserunners early and must force Pirates manager Don Kelly to begin making bullpen decisions sooner than he would prefer.
Walker enters the game swinging the bat well after his three-hit performance Friday. Church has also been productive recently, batting .353 over his last seven games with five RBI and only one strikeout.
Alec Burleson remains the lineup’s most established run producer, while Joshua Báez continues learning what Major League pitchers will and will not give him following his historic debut earlier this month.
The Cardinals do not need one hitter to carry the offense.
Friday was a good example of how this lineup should function. Crooks supplied the power, Church drove in a run without needing a hit and Walker repeatedly created traffic.
Four runs were enough because the pitching staff allowed one.
That formula will play again today.
The Wild Card remains a difficult climb. St. Louis begins the day 4½ games behind San Diego for the final National League postseason spot, with Arizona and Miami also standing between the Cardinals and the Padres.
There are only 26 games remaining after today.
That means the Cardinals need more than occasional victories.
They need series wins.
Pittsburgh is a team below them in the standings, and St. Louis has already controlled the season series. These are games the Cardinals must take advantage of if they intend to keep even an outside chance at October alive.
Friday gave the Cardinals Mathews’ first Major League victory.
Today they turn to the pitcher who has been their most consistent starter for much of the summer.
Kyle Leahy has gone from competing for a rotation spot to becoming one of the best stories of the Cardinals season.
One more strong afternoon would give St. Louis another series win — and keep whatever remains of the Hunt for a Red October moving forward.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: Kyle Leahy, St. Louis Cardinals | MLB