Cardinals Drop Series Finale in Extras

29/04/2024 01:35

The Cardinals, going for the series sweep, lost a heartbreaker Sunday afternoon 4-2 against the Mets in 11 innings.

In a game that saw very little offense by either team, St. Louis found themselves up a run in the 11th inning on a Brenden Donovan RBI single. With the lead Mathew Liberatore trotted back out for his 3rd inning of work out of the bullpen. Liberatore was able to get two quick outs on a Tyrone Taylor ground out that advanced the ghost runner to third and a Jeff McNeil line out.

After getting former Cardinals Harrison Bader into a quick two-strike count, a fastball that caught too much of the zone was driven back up the middle to tie the game 2-2 on what was the Mets final strike.

The Mets Mark Vientos was the next batter who put a two-strike two-out sinker 404ft over the center field was just over the outstretched glove of Cardinals center fielder Michael Siani. Dropping the Cardinals record to 13-15 and saddling Lberatore with his first loss of the season.

This game, however, was highlighted by a great pitching performance by the whole St. Louis staff who was given a lead on a Michael Siani sacrifice bunt in the 5th inning.

The game began with five strong innings from starter Lance Lynn who gave up one run on five hits, three walks while striking out three.

Lynn started the 6th inning but three straight hits, the big one being a Francisco Lindor leadoff home run, chased Lynn from the game. This brought in Ryan Fernandez who was able to wiggle out of the first and second nobody out jam with relative ease. Fernandez went on to pitch another scoreless inning giving him three strikeouts in two perfect innings of work.

This drops the Rule 5 draft pick's ERA down to 2.45 on the young season while striking out batters at an impressive 12.27 K/9.

Gallegos was able to come in after Fernandez and help get though the seventh inning with Liberatore navigating traffic on the base paths keeping the game tied 1-1. Liberatore went on to pitch the rest of the game in truly what can be called a tough luck loss because the 24 year-old southpaw pitched an excellent game saving a short handed bullpen.

The bullpen as a whole was able to put out many fires as they stranded 10 Mets on base. The problem being the offense faced the same fate. Before the 11th inning RBI single the Cardinals were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position against Jose Quintana and the Mets.

The quiet day from the offense meant the end to the longest on base streak in the MLB as Nolan Arenado went 0-for-5. His streak, which started on March 30th, ended at an impressive 25 games which was his longest such streak as a Cardinal.

Despite losing this heartbreaking game, the Cardinals were still able to win their second straight series. They will look to make is three series wins in a row as they travel to Detroit to take on the Tigers at Comerica Park Monday evening. The first game of the series will see Steven Matz take on Kenta Maeda. First pitch is at 5:40 CST.