MiLB Pitcher of the Day: Brian Holiday

THE CARDINAL CHRONICLE
Cardinal Chronicle Pitcher of the Day: Brian Holiday Strikes Out 12 in Palm Beach Gem
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

Brian Holiday gave Palm Beach one of the best pitching performances in the Cardinals’ system this season.

Holiday is the Cardinal Chronicle Pitcher of the Day after striking out 12 over 5.2 scoreless innings in Palm Beach’s 2-1 loss to Jupiter on Wednesday night.

His final line: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 K

That is a dominant line.

No runs.
No walks.
Twelve strikeouts.

Holiday allowed only two hits and filled the strike zone all night. He threw 79 pitches, 56 for strikes, and gave Palm Beach every chance to win. Jupiter had very little to work with while he was on the mound, and Holiday’s swing-and-miss stuff carried the night.

The frustrating part is that Palm Beach still lost.

The Cardinals’ pitching staff struck out 19 Jupiter hitters and did not allow an earned run, but two unearned runs were enough to beat them. That is hard to do, and even harder to explain, but baseball has a way of taking a great pitching night and making you stare at the box score like it owes you an apology.

Holiday deserved better.

Yadiel Batista followed with two innings, allowing one unearned run while striking out four. Justin Militello worked the final 1.1 innings, allowing another unearned run and striking out three. Together, Palm Beach pitching allowed only five hits and one walk.

That should win most nights.

Offensively, the Cardinals had chances. Palm Beach finished with nine hits, but managed only one run. Trevor Haskins went 2-for-3 with a double. Jonathan Mejía added two hits. Alexander Frias went 1-for-4 and stole his first base with Palm Beach. Cristofer Lebrón drove in the Cardinals’ lone run in the ninth.

But the spotlight belongs to Holiday.

Twelve strikeouts over 5.2 innings is loud enough. Doing it with no walks and no runs allowed makes it special.

Palm Beach did not get the win.

Holiday still earned the headline.

Cardinal Chronicle Pitcher of the Day:
Brian Holiday, RHP, Palm Beach Cardinals
Final Line: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 K

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: Brian Holiday, Palm Beach Cardinals | Oklahoma State Athletics