McGreevy Faces Arizona in One-Game Wild Card Showdown
THE CARDINAL CHRONICLE
Game Day Preview: McGreevy Faces Arizona in One-Game Wild Card Showdown
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
The St. Louis Cardinals return to Busch Stadium this afternoon for one game against the Arizona Diamondbacks — a brief but important stop before opening a weekend series against the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night.
Today’s game is the makeup of the June 25 contest that was postponed by rain at Busch Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. CT, with the game televised on Cardinals.TV and carried on KMOX. (MLB.com)
Right-hander Michael McGreevy will start for St. Louis against Arizona right-hander Brandon Pfaadt.
McGreevy enters with a 4-7 record, a 2.92 ERA and 71 strikeouts. Pfaadt is 4-1 with a 4.58 ERA and 44 strikeouts. (MLB.com)
McGreevy was originally scheduled to pitch Wednesday’s series finale in Anaheim, but the Cardinals inserted Hunter Dobbins for a spot start and pushed the remainder of the rotation back one day.
That decision worked about as well as the Cardinals could have hoped.
Dobbins threw six scoreless innings, and JJ Wetherholt’s 15th home run of the season supplied the only offense in a 1-0 victory over the Angels. The win snapped the Cardinals’ four-game losing streak and allowed them to return home with at least a small measure of momentum. (MLB.com)
Now the ball goes to McGreevy, who will face the Diamondbacks for the second time in less than a week.
His previous start came Friday night at Chase Field, when he allowed two runs — only one earned — on six hits over 6⅓ innings. He struck out five, walked one and gave the Cardinals another quality start in their 5-4 victory. (Reuters)
McGreevy has quietly become one of the most dependable pitchers in the St. Louis rotation.
He does not overpower hitters with triple-digit velocity, but he changes speeds, commands the strike zone and consistently gives his team an opportunity to win. His 4-7 record says more about the run support and circumstances surrounding his starts than it does about how well he has pitched.
This afternoon’s assignment will not be easy.
Arizona enters the game at 53-49 and currently occupies the third and final National League Wild Card position. The Cardinals are 52-49, only one-half game behind the Diamondbacks. Pittsburgh is also one-half game back, making this a direct head-to-head contest between clubs separated by almost nothing in the standings. (MLB.com)
For all the talk about games in April and May counting the same as games in July, this one carries more weight.
A Cardinals win would move them ahead of Arizona by winning percentage and strengthen their position in an increasingly crowded Wild Card race. A loss would allow the Diamondbacks to create a little more separation before St. Louis begins a three-game divisional series against Cincinnati.
These teams know each other well.
The Cardinals and Diamondbacks played three games in Phoenix immediately after the All-Star break. St. Louis won the opener behind McGreevy, but Arizona answered with a 5-3 victory Saturday and then delivered one of the most painful losses of the Cardinals’ season Sunday.
St. Louis built a 7-0 lead in the series finale before Arizona came all the way back to win 8-7 in 10 innings. The Diamondbacks scored eight unanswered runs, handing the Cardinals a loss that carried over into the first two games of their series in Anaheim. (MLB.com)
Wednesday’s victory over the Angels finally stopped the slide.
Today gives the Cardinals an immediate opportunity to answer Arizona’s comeback with a response of their own.
Pfaadt will also be seeing the Cardinals for the second time in less than a week. He held St. Louis to two runs over 5⅓ innings Saturday, allowing six hits while striking out three in Arizona’s 5-3 victory. (MLB.com)
The 27-year-old right-hander has experienced an unusual season.
Pfaadt opened the year in Arizona’s rotation, moved to the bullpen and was eventually optioned to Triple-A Reno. Since returning to the rotation, he has looked like a different pitcher.
He simplified his delivery, changed his position on the pitching rubber and entered last weekend’s start having gone 4-0 with a 2.14 ERA in four outings since returning from Reno. (MLB.com)
The Cardinals saw the improved version Saturday.
Pfaadt mixed his pitches effectively and kept St. Louis from putting together a sustained rally until late in the game. The Cardinals eventually brought the tying run to the plate, but the early deficit proved too much to overcome.
Today, the offense needs to make adjustments.
St. Louis scored only four runs during the three-game series in Anaheim and won Wednesday despite collecting just one run. Dobbins and the bullpen made that stand up, but consistently asking the pitching staff to win games without offensive support is not a sustainable plan.
The Cardinals need more than scattered singles.
They need extra-base hits, productive at-bats with runners in scoring position and better production from the middle of the order. Wetherholt continues to provide impact at the top of the lineup, but one rookie should not be expected to carry the offense every afternoon.
Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson and Iván Herrera must help create traffic and damage against Pfaadt. Masyn Winn and the bottom of the order also need to do a better job of extending innings and turning the lineup over.
The Diamondbacks present plenty of problems for McGreevy.
Corbin Carroll’s speed and power can change a game quickly. Ketel Marte and Geraldo Perdomo are difficult outs near the top of the order, while former Cardinal Nolan Arenado gives Arizona another experienced run producer in the middle of the lineup.
Arenado played an important role in Arizona’s win Saturday, collecting two hits and driving in two runs. His presence adds another familiar face to a matchup already carrying plenty of history and postseason significance. (MLB.com)
McGreevy’s task will be to control the running game, limit free passes and keep Arizona from creating the kind of extended innings that fueled Sunday’s comeback.
He has already shown that he can handle this lineup.
Now he must do it again.
There is also the question of fatigue.
The Cardinals played Wednesday afternoon in Anaheim, traveled home and now must play an afternoon game in St. Louis on what had originally been scheduled as an off day. Arizona arrives after scoring a season-high 15 runs Wednesday and has won eight of its last 10 games. The Cardinals are 4-6 during the same stretch. (MLB.com)
Nobody will be interested in excuses.
Both teams knew this makeup game was on the schedule, and both are facing the same basic challenge: show up, compete and find a way to win an important baseball game in the middle of a demanding stretch.
The Cardinals’ decision to use Dobbins in Anaheim gave every regular starter an additional day of rest. That could prove valuable as the club begins a stretch of home games and continues trying to stabilize a rotation that has been carrying a heavy workload.
It also places McGreevy exactly where the Cardinals want him today.
On the mound in an important game.
This may be listed as a one-game makeup, but it has the feel of something larger.
Two clubs are separated by one-half game in the Wild Card standings. They played an emotional series less than a week ago. One side left Phoenix believing it had pulled off a season-changing comeback. The other spent the next several days trying to recover from it.
Wednesday’s win in Anaheim gave the Cardinals a chance to breathe.
A victory today would give them something more valuable — a chance to move back into postseason position before the Reds arrive at Busch Stadium.
The schedule says this is one isolated afternoon game.
The standings say otherwise.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: Michael McGreevy, St. Louis Cardinals | MLB.com