Quinn Mathews Settles In and Sets the Stage for Memphis Walk-Off Win
Cardinal Chronicle
Minor League Pitcher of the Day
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
Quinn Mathews Settles In and Sets the Stage for Memphis Walk-Off Win
Quinn Mathews had to answer early Friday night.
Charlotte did not ease into the game. The Knights put two runs on the board in the first inning, forcing Mathews and the Memphis Redbirds to play from behind almost immediately.
That could have been the beginning of a long night.
Instead, Mathews settled in.
The Memphis left-hander worked six innings in the Redbirds’ 4-3, 11-inning win over Charlotte at AutoZone Park, allowing two earned runs on six hits while walking none and striking out seven. After the early damage, Mathews kept the game under control and gave Memphis exactly what it needed: length, strikes and a chance.
That last part matters.
Memphis did not have an explosive offensive night. The Redbirds finished with only five hits, and the game stayed tied from the first inning until extra innings. In that kind of game, a starter cannot let one rough inning become two. Mathews did not.
He kept throwing strikes.
Mathews threw 89 pitches, 64 for strikes, and the no-walk line stands out. When a pitcher gives up early runs but refuses to add free passes to the problem, he gives himself a chance to recover. That is what Mathews did. He attacked the zone, missed bats and forced Charlotte to earn its way on base.
Seven strikeouts with no walks is winning baseball.
The Redbirds’ bullpen followed his lead. Jared Shuster, Luis Gastelum, Hancel Rincon and Austin Love combined to cover the final five innings, allowing just one unearned run. Hancel Rincon was especially sharp, throwing two hitless innings with four strikeouts.
That pitching effort gave Memphis enough time for Leo Bernal to deliver the night’s biggest swing. Bernal’s three-RBI night, capped by his ninth home run of the season, pushed Memphis to another walk-off win.
But the walk-off does not happen without Mathews steadying the game after the first inning.
That is the difference between simply starting a game and competing through it. Young pitchers are going to get hit. They are going to run into traffic. They are going to have innings that test them. The next inning is where you learn something.
Mathews answered that test.
He did not let Charlotte build on the early lead. He did not give away bases. He did not force Memphis to empty the bullpen too early. He gave the Redbirds six strong innings and handed them a game they could still win.
That is why Quinn Mathews is the Cardinal Chronicle Minor League Pitcher of the Day.
Old School Take: The first inning did not go his way, but Quinn Mathews did not fold. Six innings, seven strikeouts, no walks and a Memphis win tells you plenty. Good pitchers do not just dominate when everything is clean. They settle in when the game gets sideways.
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Photo Credit: Quinn Mathews, Memphis Redbirds | MiLB