Game Recap - May 1 - Cardinals fall short in Detroit, lose game and series

01/05/2024 21:39

A new day, a new month. Same offense, though.

Pre-Game Notes

• Comerica Park is mostly neutral, with a slight favor to LH batters. It isn't truly neutral, in that it has some odd dimensions which distort things, but all the quirks seem to cancel out. For example, 420 to CF isn't exactly friendly to a batter (ask Pedro Pages about that). But narrow foul areas and shorter RF fence help out hitters. I've heard the place is tough to field bunts, as well.
• Yet another matinee today with a day off tomorrow. Cardinals will get two nights in their own beds before the next game, which is home against the White Sox Friday night. I believe we are officially through the opening rugged stretch to the season.
• This games ends the tenth series of the season. Closing out series positively has not been a Cardinal trait. Better was the word for this series. This would be a good place to start.
• Don't expect a lot of strike outs or walks on either side today. Batted ball luck may define the outcome today.

Line-up (and roster) Machinations

• Miles Mikolas toes the mound for the Cardinals.
• Burleson at first today, with Goldy at DH. Gorman drops to 8th
• Leahy returns to Memphis after his cameo as the 27th man yesterday. Rom was moved to 60-day IL to make room on the 40 for Leahy.
• The bullpen seems to be in decent shape, considering yesterday was a double header and Matz' aborted start. Wouldn't expect to see Fernandez, Robertson or Gallegos today, but everyone else should be good to go, with another off day tomorrow to cushion any usage.
• Carlson started his rehab yesterday. 3 PA, 2 BB, 1 K all at DH. I figure in a normal universe, he'd need 30 or so PA's on rehab, but realistically, he could come back Friday and likely give them at least as much offense in CF as they've gotten so far this year from the combination of Siani and Scott.

The Game

T1 - Cards out quickly, as Donovan lines out, Contreras K's (his 7th in 24 hours), and Noot flies out.

B1 - Riley leads off with a double on a hanging change up. He advances to 3rd as Canha grounds out. Perez bails MM out by popping out and Carpenter grounds out 3u.

T2 - Cards out quickly again. Arenado lines to 3rd, 104 mph. Goldy K's. Burly out 1-3.

B2 - Vierling singles at 110 mph! Torkelson pops out. Keith doubles at 105 mph. Starting to see some really hard hits against MM. Baez grounds out. HBP Kelly, but Greene grounds out 3-1. Tigers up 1-0.

T3 - Offense continues to sleep in. Winn K's. Gorman flies out to left. The AB wasn't bad, though. Took a ball the other way. Siani singles! He is hot (as in the AAAA version of hot). Donovan out 4-3.

B3 - Canha pops out. Perez K's. But then the wheels come off a bit. Carpenters singles at 102 mph, continuing the hard hit parade, then Vierling launches a 410 foot HR that would have been out in EVERY MLB stadium (and probably every minor league one, too). MM should not face him again. Torkelson drives a 105 mph single. Ugh. Keith flies out to end the rally. The bucket of flattened baseballs is filling rapidly, tho. Tigers now up 3-0.

T4 - Contreras leads off with his own ball flattening HR to center. Nootbar K's. Boy, he is really struggling. Seems like whoever hits third, well, they bat third, but they don't hit at all. Arenado scorches another ball into a line-out. Goldy grounds out at 106. Cards cut lead to 3-1.

B4 - MM gets a pretty quick inning. Baez flies out. Kelly and Greene both K.

T5 - Burleson singles. Winn pops out. The league is catching up to him, and his ABs are degrading. Gorman lines right to first base for a double play.

B5 - MM has another pretty quick inning. Canha flies out. Perez lines out. Carpenter pops out. Tigers still up 3-1.

T6 - Siani singles again! He is scorching hot. They may have to move him to the 3rd spot in the lineup to calm him down some. Donovan lines out to RF. Contreras with his 8th K in 24 hours turns into strike 'em out, throw 'em out DP. Siani with the CS, poor jump.

B6 - Will MM come out for the 6th? Vierling and Torkelson lead off and both have smoked balls off him. Vierling grounds out to third. Torkelsen K's. Keith gets jammed and flies out. Ten straight batters retired by MM to close out his quality start. 6 IP, 3 ER, 4 K, 0 BB.

T7 - Vest in, Maeda out. Maeda 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 K, 0 BB. The BABIP gods were kind to Maeda today. Noot leads off with a single after working a 3-2 count. Recently, he has been working 0-2 counts a lot more. Arenado with his third hard hit, finally buys a single. Goldy grounds into 5-3 DP. Wentz in for Vest, as Hinch wants the lefty to face Burly. Burly's splits suggest this might not be the move to make, but Burly complies by producing a backwards K. He fouled off a down the middle FB, then took two called strikes on the outside corner at the knees. Tough deal. He let the pitcher and umpire dictate, especially on that 2 strike pitch. Cards still down 3-1.

B7 - Liberatore in. Baez grounds out. Kelly K's. Greene grounds out. Very clean inning. Liberatore seems to be finding a rhythm, figuring out what works to get batters out. Seems a lot more aggressive in the zone now. Finished with a 97 mph sinker up in the zone.

T8 - Wentz remains in. Winn grounds out. Gorman breaks a bat grounding out. Fermin pinch hits for Siani, preserving Siani's perfect 2-2 day. Fermin rewards the move with a single to left. Donovan walks. First walk of the day for either team. Wentz out. Lange in to face Contreras for only the 3rd AB with RISP the Cardinals have had all day. Contreras K's. Again. Nine times in 3 games. Wow!

B8 - Goldy in at first, as Cards lose DH with all the shuffling. Noot to CF, Burly to RF. Romero in for Liberatore. Canha grounds out to Winn. Perez loops single to center. Ibanez singles to right, Perez to third. SacFly by Vierling. Meadows, pinch running for Ibanez, is caught stealing. I think that might be the 2nd CS of the year for the Cardinals. Tigers now up 4-1.

T9 - Do or die ninth. Noot grounds out. Arenado flies out. Goldy walks. Burleson K's. Tigers win 4-1.

Post-game notes (and random musings)

• Sometimes I wonder about the value of having a home day off. Seems like a lot of players don't really live in STL and have families elsewhere. Those guys would pretty much only spend about 81 nights in STL and otherwise live out of a suitcase for 81 road games, plus 6-ish weeks of spring training. I wonder, for them, where the "it's good to be home moment" occurs during the season, and where they find a place to get away and de-compress for a few.
• Is the offense starting to stir, and get better? I checked. Goldy, Siani and Burly are on recent upswings, all the others are trending down, with most hitting below .200 recently.
• It's funny how hard it is in baseball to reach and then break above the .500 mark.
• Remember when the Cardinal's killed LH pitchers? No more.
• Back home against the White Sox on Friday.