Tuesday night was an opportunity for the St. Louis Cardinals to rebound from a profoundly disappointing end to the road trip returning home from Philadelphia, but would they? Much of that would depend on which version of Matthew Liberatore took the mound for the Cardinals. The answer is not the one most Cardinals fans were hoping for and the end result was appalling. Not to spoil this for you if you didn't see the game, but everyone in Busch Stadium that was not an Oriole's fan should demand their money back.
The game would get off to an auspicious start in the top of the 1st inning when Matthew Liberatore fielded Jackson Holliday's dribbler on the 1st base side of the mound and fired the ball over Alec Burleson's head into right field. Pete Alonso followed that with a solid single into left field with Holliday running on the play which gave the Orioles runners at first and third with no outs. Matthew would find a way out of the jam as he got Gunnar Henderson to pop out and then struck out Mayo and Encarnacion-Strand.
The top of the 3rd inning would be similar to the top of the 1st, but the result would be much different. Taveras reached as he beat out an infield hit. Jackson Holliday whistled a single into center which brought up Pete Alonzo who was not fooled by an 88 mph changeup which he sent soaring 435 feet deep into the left field stands for a 3-0 Baltimore lead. Two outs later, Encarnacion-Strand absolutely annihilated a 94 mph four-seam Liberatore fastball 450 feet even deeper into the left field stands for a 4-0 Orioles lead. That's the longest home run in Busch Stadium this season.
The Cardinals would not go away silently. Nathan Church waited on a 72 mph curveball from Orioles pitcher Chris Bassett and ripped it 405 feet into the Cardinals bullpen giving St. Louis a run making the score 4-1.
That brief moment of St. Louis Cardinals optimism was short-lived. Matthew Liberatore would not survive the 5th inning. Jackson Holliday led off with his third hit of the night followed by another single from Cardinals nemesis Pete Alonzo. Matthew Liberatore then walked Gunnar Henderson to load the bases with no one out. Liberatore's last batter was Mayo who he surrendered a single to making it 5-1 Orioles and even though Matthew was done, Baltimore wasn't done scoring. Liberatore's replacement was Peter Strzelecki who didn't fare much better than his predecessor. He immediately gave up a single to Encarnacion-Strand which plated two more Orioles upping the Baltimore lead to 7-1. Stzelecki did accomplish one good thing during his relief outing. He struck out Basallo and…yeah, that's it. Next he hit Franklin with a pitch, gave up a single to Taveras, a single to Holliday and a double to Alonzo. When the dust settled, it was 12-1 Orioles and by the time the horrific 5th inning was done, Caleb Ferguson was in the game as the designated "you're pitching until you're too tired to pitch for the rest of the game" guy.
#matthew #holliday #inning
The game would get off to an auspicious start in the top of the 1st inning when Matthew Liberatore fielded Jackson Holliday's dribbler on the 1st base side of the mound and fired the ball over Alec Burleson's head into right field. Pete Alonso followed that with a solid single into left field with Holliday running on the play which gave the Orioles runners at first and third with no outs. Matthew would find a way out of the jam as he got Gunnar Henderson to pop out and then struck out Mayo and Encarnacion-Strand.
The top of the 3rd inning would be similar to the top of the 1st, but the result would be much different. Taveras reached as he beat out an infield hit. Jackson Holliday whistled a single into center which brought up Pete Alonzo who was not fooled by an 88 mph changeup which he sent soaring 435 feet deep into the left field stands for a 3-0 Baltimore lead. Two outs later, Encarnacion-Strand absolutely annihilated a 94 mph four-seam Liberatore fastball 450 feet even deeper into the left field stands for a 4-0 Orioles lead. That's the longest home run in Busch Stadium this season.
The Cardinals would not go away silently. Nathan Church waited on a 72 mph curveball from Orioles pitcher Chris Bassett and ripped it 405 feet into the Cardinals bullpen giving St. Louis a run making the score 4-1.
That brief moment of St. Louis Cardinals optimism was short-lived. Matthew Liberatore would not survive the 5th inning. Jackson Holliday led off with his third hit of the night followed by another single from Cardinals nemesis Pete Alonzo. Matthew Liberatore then walked Gunnar Henderson to load the bases with no one out. Liberatore's last batter was Mayo who he surrendered a single to making it 5-1 Orioles and even though Matthew was done, Baltimore wasn't done scoring. Liberatore's replacement was Peter Strzelecki who didn't fare much better than his predecessor. He immediately gave up a single to Encarnacion-Strand which plated two more Orioles upping the Baltimore lead to 7-1. Stzelecki did accomplish one good thing during his relief outing. He struck out Basallo and…yeah, that's it. Next he hit Franklin with a pitch, gave up a single to Taveras, a single to Holliday and a double to Alonzo. When the dust settled, it was 12-1 Orioles and by the time the horrific 5th inning was done, Caleb Ferguson was in the game as the designated "you're pitching until you're too tired to pitch for the rest of the game" guy.
#matthew #holliday #inning
8 days ago
