Liberatore has done well this year Photo by Jeff Dean/Getty Images
The first half of this game was too much Ohtani, as he collects 8 K’s over 4 IP and added a 2-run HR. In the second half of the game, the Cardinals bullpen throttled the Dodger offense and the Cardinals came back to claim a 5-3 victory and take the series. Jordan Walker collected 3 hits, including the go-ahead hit.
Down on the Farm (and other pre-game stuff)
Some notes about last night’s games around the Cardinals MiLB affiliates
Memphis – Nice to see 3 genuine hitting prospects in their lineup. They lose 6-1, as Wetherholt and Blaze Jordan are hitless. Church gets 2 hits. Their bullpen gave up all 6 runs. No prospects pitched.Springfield – They are 25 games over .500. Last night they experienced a rare loss 5-4. Davis and Joshua Baez hitless, Bernal with a single knock. Hansen with a nice start (0 runs in 6.1). Like Memphis, the bullpen gave up all the runs. No other prospect pitched.Peoria – Newly acquired prospect Baez (Jesus) had 3 hits in a Peoria loss (they do that a lot). Honeyman had a hit. Deniel Ortiz had a hit. He’s kept his .800+ OPS even after the promotion from low to high A. Not bad for a 20-year-old kid. Not bad at all. I am wondering when we see his name grace the pages of the prospect list. In a repeating theme, no prospects pitched in this game. Really, all their valuable prospects are hurt right now.Palm Beach – They lost a 7-inning game by a score of 8-2. It’s hard to sort who is a prospect at this level. The only genuine one at this level that I know of is Rodriguez and he did not play.
Line-up (and roster) machinations
Not many roster changes this time of year, at least at the MLB level. Barring injury, the 26-man roster you see is likely to be pretty stable until Sept 1.
The line-up on the other hand portends to be a daily re-shuffle as cross runways are re-vectored depending on the particular whims of the day.
Liberatore takes the mound for the Cardinals. Ohtani takes it for the Dodgers. I’m interested to see this.I would expect Granillo and Graceffo to be on the avoid usage list today, after last night. They may want to get Fernandez right back out there after last night’s performance. That was as bad as I’ve seen in quite some time. He was so wild, he couldn’t throw it in the ocean.Burleson at first today, Contreras gets day off (not feeling well). Herrera DH.
T1 – Donovan F7. Herrera F8. Burleson backwards K.
B1 – Burleson, still contemplating his K, has an Ohtani ground ball clank off his glove for E3. Libby convinces Betts to GIDP to wipe the error out. Smith K.
T2 – Nootbaar K. Winn F7. Gorman K.
B2 – Single. F9. Pass ball on Pages. 5-3. P3.
T3 – Walker singles as infielders lose a pop up in the sun. SB quickly follows. Pages K. Scott advances the runner with a 4-3. A Donovan bunt single plates the first run of the game. Herrera K. Cards now up 1-0.
B3 – A lead-off double starts the inning. P5. Ohtani w/ 2-run HR. Double. 6-3. Single. F-8 ends the uprising. Dodgers now up 2-1.
T4 – Burly K. Nootbaar K. Winn K.
B4 – The Dodgers Pages singles. WP. Stolen base and throwing error plates another run for Dodgers. The Cardinals Pages having a very rough day defensively. P4. P6. F7. Good recovery there by Libby. Dodgers now up 3-1.
T5 – Wrobleski in for Ohtani. 4 IP. k. 8 K’s. Gorman continues the K parade. Walker singles to right. Pages doubles. Scott with backwards K in an AB that left a lot to be desired, with second and third and 1 out. Hard to describe. Was it the poor form on a foul bunt? Was it taking a FB down the middle? Was it swinging on a pitch 2 feet outside? Hard to say. Ugh. Donovan out 4-3.
B5 – Libby walks Ohtani. Lead-off man reached in every inning, so pretty much every pitch today was under stress. Leahy in for Libby. 4 IP. 3 R. 2 ER. 1 K. 1 BB. He fought himself a lot, got squeezed at key times and had a fair amount of defensive hijinks behind him sabotage his start. L9. K. F7 allows Leahy to restore order.
T6 – Herrera walks. Burleson singles. Nootbaar drives in the run with a ground out. Winn singles. Gorman K’s for the third time. Winn steals second, but Walker bounces back to the pitcher to end another promising inning. Cardinals cut lead to 3-2 Dodgers.
B6 – Leahy remains in. He K’s all three batters to come up.
T7 – Pages singles. Scott gets the SacBunt down this time. Donovan F7. Herrera K.
B7 – Single. GIDP. Leahy really cruising. But he is done, as Oli elects to have Romero face Ohtani. Leahy 2.2 IP with 4 Ks. Pretty sweet. Romero collects a K himself. Still 3-2 Dodgers.
T8 – Vesia in for Wrobleski. Burleson singles. Nootbaar F8. Winn singles. Pozo lines out F8 in a nice PH appearance. Walker singles in Burly, and Winn scores as the Dodgers throw the ball around trying to get guys out and mess it up. Ruled E5 on poor throw, but can’t overlook speedsters Winn and Walker forcing the issue there. Pages walks. Scott yet again takes a called strike three, stranding 3 more runners. Cardinals now up 4-3.
B8 – Romero remains in. 6-3. 1-3. Single. Out goes Romero, in comes O’Brien, who induces a ground out to end the inning.
T9 – Donovan singles. Herrera HBP. Burly F8, advancing Donovan. Nootbaar doubles him in for an insurance run. Winn walks to load the bases (again). Saggese K’s. Walker F8. Cardinals now up 5-3.
B9 – O’Brien remains in. First career save in the offing for him? F8. 4-3. Walk. 4-3. Apparently that 99 MPH sinker is tough to hit. Game over. Save for O’Brien. Good bullpen work all around. Cards win 5-3.
Cardinals left 11 runners on, going 4-18 with RISP.The bullpen (Leahy, Romero, O’Brien) carried 5 scoreless IP against the Dodger offense. Tip of the hat for that.Back to St. Louis to take on the Cubs this weekend.Per multiple sources (Denton, STLToday) Arenado heads to Jupiter to start his rehab, which will not start with rehab games, but more strengthening activities.