Walker’s Late Homer Not Enough
THE CARDINAL CHRONICLE
Walker’s Late Homer Not Enough in Cincinnati
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
CINCINNATI — Jordan Walker gave the St. Louis Cardinals one more chance in the ninth inning Wednesday night, but the rally came up short in a 5-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.
Walker hit a two-run homer off Emilio Pagán in the ninth, cutting Cincinnati’s lead to one after JJ Wetherholt was hit by a pitch. José Fermín followed with a double, putting the tying run in scoring position, but the Cardinals could not complete the comeback.
The loss evened the five-game series at two games apiece and left St. Louis with another frustrating one-run defeat in Cincinnati. The Cardinals had a 2-0 lead, received a strong strikeout start from Matthew Liberatore and brought the go-ahead run to the plate late, but Cincinnati did enough in the sixth and eighth innings to take control.
Liberatore was sharp for most of the night. The left-hander worked six innings, allowed three runs on four hits, walked none and struck out nine. He threw 100 pitches, 65 for strikes, and retired long stretches of the Reds lineup with swing-and-miss stuff.
The damage came in the sixth.
With the Cardinals leading 2-0, Matt McLain doubled to left and Elly De La Cruz followed with a single to center. Sal Stewart then hit a three-run homer to center, turning a two-run St. Louis lead into a 3-2 Cincinnati advantage.
That swing changed the game.
Before that inning, Liberatore had given the Cardinals exactly what they needed against Chase Burns, one of the National League’s better young arms. Liberatore struck out the side in the fourth and added two more strikeouts in the fifth, keeping the Reds off the board through five innings.
The Cardinals gave him a lead in the fourth. Alec Burleson walked with one out, moved up on a wild pitch and scored when Nathan Church singled to left with two outs. Masyn Winn walked, and Bryan Torres followed with a single to right, scoring Church and moving Winn to third.
St. Louis had a 2-0 lead and a chance to do more, but Blaze Jordan struck out to end the inning.
That was part of the story. The Cardinals had traffic against Burns, who needed 104 pitches to get through five innings, but they could not separate. Burns allowed six hits, two runs and two walks while striking out eight.
St. Louis had another chance in the fifth after Wetherholt singled and Burleson followed with a base hit to right, putting runners at the corners with two outs. Walker struck out to end the inning.
The Cardinals also had two runners on in the sixth after Joshua Báez singled, stole second and Jordan walked, but Jimmy Crooks flied out to end the threat. In the seventh, Iván Herrera walked, took second on a wild pitch and moved to third on Burleson’s groundout, but Fermín popped out with Walker aboard to end that inning.
Those missed chances mattered once Cincinnati moved in front.
Luis Gastelum gave the Cardinals a clean seventh, striking out two, but the Reds added two runs in the eighth against Justin Bruihl. José Trevino singled, and McLain reached on a bunt single to the mound, with Trevino scoring on a throwing error by Jordan. McLain later stole second, moved to third on De La Cruz’s deep fly ball to center and scored when Dane Myers reached on an infield single.
Bruihl loaded the bases with a walk to Eugenio Suárez, but he struck out Tyler Stephenson and got TJ Friedl to foul out to catcher Jimmy Crooks to keep the Cardinals within three.
Walker nearly made that stand up.
After Wetherholt was hit by a pitch and Burleson moved him to second with a groundout, Walker drove Pagán’s pitch to right-center for his 25th home run of the season. It was Walker’s 90th RBI and gave the Cardinals life after they had been down to their final outs.
Fermín’s double kept the pressure on, but the Reds held on.
Wetherholt finished with two hits and a run scored, while Walker drove in two with the late homer. Church and Torres had the Cardinals’ other RBIs. Báez reached base twice and stole two bases, giving St. Louis some pressure from the lower part of the order.
The Cardinals finished with nine hits and six walks but left 10 men on base. They struck out 12 times and went just 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Cincinnati had seven hits, but Stewart’s three-run homer and the two-run eighth were enough. Stewart drove in three, Myers drove in one and McLain went 3-for-3 with a double, two runs and a stolen base.
For St. Louis, it was another game where the pieces were there but the finish was not. Liberatore pitched well enough to keep the Cardinals in it. The lineup created chances against Burns and the Cincinnati bullpen. Walker supplied the late swing.
The Cardinals simply left themselves too much to do.
Reds 5, Cardinals 4.
A late push from Walker.
Another one-run loss in Cincinnati.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: Jordan Walker, St. Louis Cardinals | MLB