Tarps Off, Leahy On: Cardinals Find Energy, Edge in Wins Over Royals

The Cardinal Chronicle
Tarps Off, Leahy On: Cardinals Find Energy, Edge in Wins Over Royals
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The Cardinals had more than one story worth telling Saturday at Busch Stadium.

There was the baseball story, and it mattered. Kyle Leahy gave St. Louis six strong innings, the Cardinals beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2, and the club continued to build momentum in a season that has felt more alive with each passing week.

But there was also the ballpark story — the kind of thing that does not show up in the box score but can help define a homestand.

One night after a group of Stephen F. Austin club baseball players helped turn a Friday night walk-off win into one of the livelier scenes of the season, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol leaned into the moment. After praising the energy from the right-field seats Friday, Marmol bought out the remaining tickets in the “Tarps Off” section for Saturday and Sunday and made them available to fans for free. The club announced more than 1,000 tickets were claimed across the two games, with the seats gone in under an hour.

That is not normal manager behavior, and that is the point.

Marmol did not treat the moment like a sideshow. He recognized something real: Busch Stadium had life. The Cardinals fed off it Friday, and they fed off it again Saturday. The Stephen F. Austin group was delayed returning to the ballpark because it had a game of its own in nearby Alton, Illinois, but by the fourth inning, the now-famous right-field crowd had made its way back into the stands.

Shortly afterward, the Cardinals answered Kansas City’s tying run with two runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Baseball people can roll their eyes at “vibes,” and most of the time they probably should. Winning is still built on pitching, defense, timely hitting and not walking the leadoff man. That has not changed since dirt was invented.

But anyone who has spent time around a good baseball town knows the crowd matters when the product gives people a reason to care. Busch Stadium has sounded different lately. The Cardinals are playing with more edge, the fans are responding, and the connection between the field and the seats is starting to feel like something again.

That was the setting for Leahy, who gave St. Louis exactly what it needed.

The right-hander worked six innings of one-run baseball, setting a new career high for innings in a single game, and continued his strong May with a 1.10 ERA for the month. For a pitcher still proving he can grow from a bullpen role into a dependable starter’s workload, Saturday was not just a good outing. It was a checkpoint.

Leahy did not overpower the moment. He controlled it. He gave the Cardinals length, kept Kansas City from building a big inning, and allowed the offense to find its footing after the Royals tied the game in the fifth. For a club still trying to stabilize its rotation and avoid putting too much nightly strain on the bullpen, six innings from Leahy carries more weight than one line in a game story.

That kind of start changes the feel of a day. It shortens the bullpen. It gives the dugout confidence. It lets a team play from a position of order instead of scramble.

The Cardinals’ 4-2 win over Kansas City also came with some color that only baseball can provide. The SFA group continued its roll calls from the right-field seats, drawing reactions from Cardinals players and even Marmol, who played along when fans chanted his name.

Masyn Winn said he loved seeing the group get recognition, calling it something he had not seen before in his time at Busch Stadium. Victor Scott II even answered the crowd with a little step-back basketball celebration from the outfield.

It would be easy to dismiss all of this as a weekend novelty, and maybe it will be. Baseball has a way of humbling anything that gets too cute. But there is something worth noting here.

The Cardinals have spent much of the last few years trying to reconnect promise with performance. Fans have heard about the future. They have heard about development. They have heard about the plan. What they respond to, though, is winning baseball with a heartbeat.

This weekend had that.

Marmol buying tickets will not win the division. Shirtless college club players will not fix a rotation. A loud right-field section will not turn a fringe contender into a finished product.

But a manager recognizing the pulse of his ballpark, a young team feeding off that energy, and a converted reliever giving the club six strong innings in a rivalry game — that is a good Saturday at Busch Stadium.

Old School Take

There is no need to overthink this one.

Fans show up. Players respond. A pitcher gives you six innings. You beat your in-state rival. The ballpark has some life again.

That is baseball the way it ought to feel.

Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports