Even in Defeat Against Phillies, Cardinals' Rookie Lefty Found Way to Salvage Some Success
Quinn Mathews was tagged for 10 hits and seven earned runs -- MLB worsts in his three career starts -- but he battled to retire eight of the last nine batters he faced to save the Cardinals bullpen for Sunday's series finale against the Phillies.
Video Transcript
If you're wondering how the St. Louis Cardinals fared on Saturday night in Philadelphia, let's put it this way.
Reserve catcher Pedro Pez ended up pitching the eighth inning.
Yeah, it was that ugly.
The Phillies beat the Cardinals 12-2.
Clearly, the Cardinals are a tired, beat-up team right now.
They just played the 10th game in this three-city, 11-game road trip, and things got ugly early on Saturday night, and they didn't get much better as the game went along.
I'm John Denton with Roundtable Sports.
Quinn Matthews was making the third start of his major league career.
He pitched well in Toronto.
He pitched well earlier this week in Cincinnati.
Saturday night did not go well.
Matthews gave up three runs in the first inning, gave up four runs in the third inning, and the only two good things that went right for Matthews was he struck out Bryce Harper three times, and he pitched well in the fourth and fifth innings to save the bullpen.
Later on, Ryan Fernandez, who was recently recalled when Andre Palante was put on the injured list, Fernandez gave up a three-run home run to Bryce Harper.
That made it, you know, turned it into a laugher.
Two good things at the end of the game.
J.J. Weatherholt did hit his 18th home run of the sea- 17th home run of the season.
He drilled a ball 403 feet off of Jose Alvarado.
It is Weatherholt's 36th game this season, a multi-hit game, so that was a positive.
Pez almost took a line drive right back at him when he was pitching in the eighth inning.
He did give up Kyle Schwarber's 38th home run of the year, but he got three outs and he saved the Cardinal bullpen, so that was a plus.
But this was a rough night.
Quinn Matthews was tagged for 10 hits, seven earned runs, and a walk.
But, you know, him steadying himself, realizing that he had to eat some innings to protect the bullpen.
He got-- he retired his final six in a row in the fourth and fifth inning, so that was good.
Sunday will be interesting.
The Cardinals have Kyle Leahy going on the mound.
The Phillies are countering with Christopher Sanchez, the All-Star Game starter.
If the Cardinals can find a way to win this one, it will deadlock the season series, which could help the Cardinals in tiebreaker things if they finish tied at the end of the season.
What Saturday night's loss also did was it ended the Cardinals' streak of five straight series wins.
The Phillies are gonna win this series.
They're either gonna win two to one or they're gonna sweep it.
The Cardinals responded to six straight series losses coming out of the All-Star break by beating the Yankees, the Rockies, the Phillies, the Cubs, and the Reds.
It's been a good run.
It got them back in it.
But they're at the end of a three-city, 11-game road trip that's really beaten them up.
Mason Wynn couldn't play on Saturday night because of a thumb issue that he heard earlier in the week sliding in.
Everson Pereira is hurt, took a pitch off the back of his hand.
The Cardinals just put Andre Palante and Hunter Dobbins on the injured list, so they are a beat-up team right now.
They need to get through tomorrow's game, get Monday's off day, and then try to rest up and get healthy for the final stretch if they're gonna make a playoff kick.
Anyway, that's your Cardinal Beat report for Saturday night.
I'm John Denton with Roundtable Sports.
