Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - How Sweep It Is!

Starting point is 00:00:00 The St. Louis Cardinals bust out the brooms against the San Francisco Giants, thanks in part to a heck of a combination at the top of the order. And another gem by Sunny Gray, who continues to be one of the best in the business. You are locked on Cardinals. Your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey there, Cardinals fans. I'm J.D. Haffern and I'm a national radio sports anchor. Born and raised in the Lou and a lifetime Cardinals fan. and I'm your host for Lockdown Cardinals,

Starting point is 00:00:35 part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, covering your team every day. You can follow me on TwitterX by going to at JD Sports Radio. You can follow the podcast at L.O. underscore Cardinals. I want to thank those of you who make Locktown Cardinals your first listen to each and every day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:53 You can also find us on YouTube. And by the way, round of applause. Thank you so much. We have passed a 10,000 subscriber mark on YouTube. So I appreciate you guys for those of you. Step on by the YouTube site and check out the visual aspect of this show. Doesn't mean there's a problem with doing the audio thing all the time.

Starting point is 00:01:13 But it's kind of cool to have both of them going for, you know, whatever, whatever suit your fancy, really. So thank you to all of you for subscribing and commenting and interacting. Make sure you hit the notification button. So you know when those new episodes are posted. This is a show serving Cardinal Nation and giving the best fans in baseball. That's you. All of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by Price Picks, the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports.

Starting point is 00:01:38 Go to PriceFix.com slash locked on MLB and use code all overcase locked on MLB for a first deposit match up to $100. So let's get a go, baby. Isn't winning fun? Isn't winning fun? Like seriously, how much fun did you have this weekend? Like, yeah, the cool Rickwood game on Thursday. You get the day off on Friday, but then Saturday and Sunday, how much fun was it watching your St. Louis Cardinals? defeat the San Francisco Giants and sweep them in the three games series.

Starting point is 00:02:07 Did it make the sting of losing two out of three to the Marlins go away just a little bit? A little bit. And our fans, I know they're so in tune with things that I know. I know that in the comments today that I'm going to have a few people at least say something like, that was great, but they lost to the Marlins. They've lost to the White Sox. They've lost to the Rockies. It proves that this team isn't any good.

Starting point is 00:02:31 I know they're going to be there. I know it. They're going to be trolling. They're ready to pull anyone who's excited and whose heads are up in the clouds right now, just floating around, enjoying the fact with those big smiles on their faces that, you know, the Cardinals are nationally best 24 and 13 since May 12. They're now two games over 500 at 39 and 37. They're five games back of the Milwaukee Brewers and the division,

Starting point is 00:02:58 which is still a decent amount, but doesn't quite feel as a, unreachable as it did before. They're a game up on the Padres for the second wildcard spot. They're four and a half back of the Atlanta Braves for the top wild card spot. They've got the, what is it, fifth, best winning percentage in the National League. That's what that second wild card spot means. They're 12th in all of baseball now. It's been a nice little run.

Starting point is 00:03:29 And the Braves just so happened to be in St. Louis over the next every day. So we can really test what the Cardinals are against one of the best teams in Major League Baseball, despite being without two of their best players for the rest of the season. But the Cardinals are a good home team. They're 20 and 15 at home, technically 19 and 15 at Bush Stadium because the Rickwood game was a home game. But they're a much better team at home. They got a much better record than than they do on the road. And it was a great weekend of baseball for the Cardinals. Let's go to Saturday's game. They get the 9 to 4 victory, one of the few wins where they didn't have to claw and scrape at the end of the game to get the final result.

Starting point is 00:04:08 You have the power display by Alec Berluson, his first career two home run game, personal best five RBIs in that one. The Cardinals had four home runs in that game. Biscuits with two, Goldie and Donnie hit them as well. Top of the lineup. Mason win, Alec Berluson, pretty darn good, pretty darn good. I'm trying to remember who's, who was it? It said early on in the season, the Mason win being at the bottom of the order was kind of a bad idea because a lot of hitters get a confidence boost.

Starting point is 00:04:41 Like you bat a guy eighth. He kind of bats like an eighth place hitter. But you move a young guy up to the top of the lineup and they kind of feel a little bit better about themselves, a little more confident. I don't know who it was that said that so many weeks ago. Let me know if you guys remember it all. Probably some dude who sports a loud ass old man shirt after a series. wins for the Cardinals. I'll let you figure out who I'm talking about.

Starting point is 00:05:05 Anyways, in that game, and pretty much any game that both of these guys are at the top of the lineup, it's winning Burleson, who are set in the tone for the offense, which has come to life. Saturday, they had six of the team's 13 hits and they light up former Cardinals pitcher Jordan Hicks for five runs and four innings. I don't feel bad about it at all. It was good to see Hicks. He looks good, looks healthy, looks fit, still looks wild, had problems against left-handed

Starting point is 00:05:30 hitters didn't look like much different than the Jordan Hicks we saw when they tried to make him a starter, although he's been a lot better this year for the Giants. But that was nice. That was nice because I know you come into that game and you're worried that you're going to get one of those Jordan Hicks revenge games, which is something we talk about. We joke about. Every time we play a former cardinal, they're going to just beat the snout out of us. On the other side of things, on the mound, Michaelis, Miles Michaelis, got that ugly inning out of the

Starting point is 00:05:54 way in the first inning. That's what I'm going to go with. It was excellent after that, though. You have to admit that. And I know it's easy to jump on Miles because he doesn't have dominating stuff. And no, he didn't get a quality start in this particular game, but he was still awfully good after having a rough first inning, which, again, they weren't hitting line shots all over the outfields. It's not like they were smashing him off the wall against him. But because he's around the zone so much, because he doesn't have dominating stuff, you know, these balls that aren't hit so hard, they just find grass against Miles Michaels.

Starting point is 00:06:24 It's part of his deal. and for him to follow up the tough first inning and to bear down and get things back on track, that was great. It would be nice to see him go out and toss seven innings of one-run ball each and every time, but that's not realistic. So for him to write the ship and keep the team in it, fantastic stuff out of Miles Michaelis.

Starting point is 00:06:46 That's what you needed. He ends up with four runs on six sits and six innings. You get Jojo Fernandez, Kyle Leahy mopped up. So impressed with Kyle Leah. he's been really good. So that was awesome. Obviously on Saturday, a fun game to watch. Sunday, arguably more fun to watch, even though things got a little more tense later on in the game, but it was the Sunny Gray Show on the mountain as he flirted with something that has never been done by a St. Louis Cardinal in the history of the franchise, the storied franchise. We'll talk about that next on Lockdown Cardinals.

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Starting point is 00:11:09 Leave your comments on YouTube as well as on Twitter X anytime you want. Your feedback. That's right. Yours is always welcome and encouraged. I want some feedback on what you guys are thinking about Sunny Gray these days because I remember, and I'm sure you do too, you remember all the people who try to tell you that Sunny Gray wasn't an ace. Don't use that verbiage to describe Sunny Gray.

Starting point is 00:11:29 Ray, he's not an ace. He's not a number one, maybe just a decent number two. Where are these people lately? Have you seen them around? Anybody? Anybody? You check under some rocks or some blankets or something. Where are these guys hiding?

Starting point is 00:11:46 Perhaps you caught a glimpse of them when they kind of peeked their little heads out of the dirty troll caves that they live in in the game against the Rockies. But for the most part, they've been cooped up, haven't they? They've been cooped up. along with the Burleson and Mason win haters as well, who try to tell you these guys can't hit. They're garbage. They can't hit at the major league level.

Starting point is 00:12:09 Where are they now? Where are these people? Have you seen them? If you do, tell them I said hi. Tell them I say hi and that we don't miss them. And they can continue living in their cold, damp caves for as long as they want. And I can picture them in my head right now.

Starting point is 00:12:26 They're like the mutants from like the scary movie wrong turn. and just all little trolls, just hanging out, trying to conjure up something new to complain about. Because the complaining about Sunny Gray, that ship has sailed. That ship is a dot on the horizon. It is way out there. It's gone.

Starting point is 00:12:46 Sunny Gray was brilliant on Sunday. Retiring the first 20 hitters he faced, a perfect game for six in two-thirds edicts. Before he gave up that solo home run to Patrick Bailey, which ruined everything. The perfect game, the no-hitter and the shutout all at once. Just a beautiful display of pitching, not throwing, pitching, which is something that is a bit lost in today's game. Nowadays, you've got all these guys who can throw 100 miles per hour, right?

Starting point is 00:13:14 They all can do it, but none of them can pitch. Well, I shouldn't say none of them. That's wrong of me. A lot of them don't know how to pitch, though. They just go out there and throw the ball as hard as they can and try to get you out. But Sonny Gray is a pitcher. He's not going to throw 100 miles per hour. He changes speeds. He changes locations. He did it brilliantly on Sunday. And it was just awesome to watch. And I hope you enjoyed it.

Starting point is 00:13:40 Finish with eight strikeouts and seven innings when his ninth game of the season, which now second most of Major League Baseball. Nine wins is second most. Ten is the highest, I believe. I believe. Let me double check. Let me triple check on that for you. But I believe that's where we're at.

Starting point is 00:13:56 Let me get it pulled up here for you right quick. just to make sure. I don't want to talk out of turn here and be like, oh, no. Yeah, 10. Rangers Juarez, Chris Sale, Seth Lugo of Kansas City. All have 10. And then there's Sunny Gray with nine and a few other people tied with him there. Zach Wheeler, Carlos Rodon of the Yankees, Luis Heel of the Yankees. So it's a pretty good company there for one, Sunny Gray. So second most in MLB and NL. Lowered as ERA to 2.81, which is now the fourth lowest in ERA in the National League 12th overall in Major League Baseball. Since that game against the Rockies,

Starting point is 00:14:35 where we know Sunny Gray was visibly upset after the game about his performance and how he didn't like it. Pitch like poop, right? Trending in the wrong direction. Didn't like it. He's made three starts since then. The Cardinals have won all three games. He's personally 2-0 has thrown 21 and 2 thirds inning.

Starting point is 00:14:53 So an average of just over seven innings per start has allowed four runs, 10 hits struck out 21. His ERA's at 1.66, batting average against a 139. Just elite stuff. Elite stuff. He's right now definitely in the conversation for the NL Sa Young Award as of right now. Would he win it right now? No, he wouldn't.

Starting point is 00:15:20 But in the discussion, in the conversation for sure. after the game he talked about an attacking mindset, which is something that he brought up after the game against Colorado, how he was, you know, he needed to stop nibbling. Just go after hitters, trust your stuff. And that's what he's done. And the results speak for themselves. Offensively, you got on the board three pitches into the game.

Starting point is 00:15:42 Thanks to you. Guess who? Winning Burley. Which, by the way, I need a cool nickname for these guys. I know Mason wins middle name is Blaze. So I was thinking, Blaise and Biscuits. Yeah, yeah, you guys like that one? Let me know in the comment section.

Starting point is 00:15:56 If it's lame, just let me know. If you hate it, let me know. But those guys have been so good at the top of the order. Then your other hot bat in the lineup, at least one of them that's like been the other hottest bat. Brandon Donovan, he doubles, knocks in Burley, two to nothing. Donnie's now driven in runs in six consecutive games. Matt Carbenter gets in on the fun.

Starting point is 00:16:15 RBI single makes it three nothing. And this all against not some no-name dude. We're talking about Brandon Webb. You know, we're talking about a guy that is one of the best pitchers in baseball, one of the best in baseball. He's been so good over the years. Amazing, right? Logan Webb.

Starting point is 00:16:38 Why did I say Brandon Webb? Old Diamondbacks pitcher, sorry. Sorry, long weekend, folks. Anyway, but Logan Webb, Logan Webb. He's been amazing, right? And the Cardinals come out and put up three runs against him. Burley adds another one in the second inning. RBI single. Two for four on the day, two RBIs.

Starting point is 00:16:58 His batting average is now up to 285 on the year, which is inside the top 15 in the National League. Mason went at 299. He's seventh in the National League, in case you're wondering. Blazing biscuits. Anyway, when things tightened up later on in late in the game, four to three, remember, we're in the eighth inning. Jojo Romero walked a couple of hitters who come around to score.

Starting point is 00:17:19 And it was a guy, everyone who wanted DFA, not too long ago, and Brandon Crawford comes up with the clutch two-out RBI double, scoring Dylan Carlson, who had just doubled as well. People have punted on Dylan Carlson, kind of coming into play now with the Siani rib injury. So, but Brandon Crawford made that nice play at third base. Comes up, RBI double, a little more playing time, a little more consistency. He hasn't been quite as disgusting at the plate. So has had a couple of big hits recently.

Starting point is 00:17:52 but that gave him a five to three lead and then hellsley finally gets a drama free one two three ninth inning to wrap it up it hadn't happened in that you know where it was that easy in a while but gets that league leading 26th save of the season the running redbirds made an appearance in this one as well which was fun some thick dudes out there stealing bases i mean Pedro paez alec burleson gets two no one gorman gets one these are some thick dudes with some meat on their bones and And they obviously picked up on something when it came to the Giants because they were running. And they got four more stolen bases, which I believe season high for the team in one game. And I know fans appreciate that brand of baseball as much as I do. So super fun to watch. And they pick up the win. Five to three.

Starting point is 00:18:39 They complete the sweep. Feels good. Got to love it, which is why you get the corny old man shirt, which by the way, getting a ton of compliments on from people, which I did not think. I thought people thought this shirt was hideous. I think it's hideous, but people seem to like it. But one thing we do have to worry about it, not to be a Debbie Downer about anything that's going on with the team, but we do have some injuries to talk about. We do have some good news, but the Cardinals did have to play on Sunday without Nolan Aronado,

Starting point is 00:19:08 who I'm sure you heard was out with some nerve irritation in that left forearm, but the Cardinals are about to get one of their big pieces back in the lineup. So we've got the latest on the injuries that include one Wilson Contreras coming up next on lockdown. Cardinals. Get supplies from the site that's made for the skilled trade. Supplyhouse.com. Supplyhouse.com is the reliable way to order plumbing, HVAC, and electrical products online. They're easy to use website. It's packed with helpful resources and the latest product information to help you get the job done right. Show a complete inventory of over 200,000 parts from over 400 top brands and get your order delivered right to your door with fast shipping from coast to coast.

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Starting point is 00:20:32 So join the thousands of trade pros already benefiting from their free membership at supplyhouse.com slash TM. In order plumbing, HVAC, and electrical supplies from anywhere with just a few clicks at supplyhouse.com. Locked on has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel. It's now available on YouTube and on the Amazon Fire TV and the free fire TV channels app. Locked on Sports Today is here for you 24-7 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local experts of locked on, plus our national shows covering every league. Find Locked on Sports Today now available on the Free Fire TV channels app. So the Cardinals, we know, have had their fair share of injuries this year, specifically in the outfield is where a lot of the damage has been done. Noah Arnato going on to that list is not exactly helping matters, but it's tough because it's weird stuff.

Starting point is 00:21:29 You know, as I mentioned, he's out Sunday, nerve irritation in the left forearm. What? How many times have you heard that injury? Doesn't happen a lot. Had the injury happened when he suffered, when he got a check swing in the game on Saturday, which caused him to leave the contest. So he did get a shot to relieve the discomfort is being reevaluated on Monday. Part of me just says, put the guy on the IL.

Starting point is 00:21:55 Like he's dealing with a bunch of stuff right now. he's getting hit in the hand, he's got the forearm. We think there's some back stuff that keeps going on with them and hasn't really been talked about, but part of me says just put him on the eye out. Let him heal for a week and a half. You've got the horses to cover third base right now. Because it's not like you're getting Nolan Arnato at 100% and he's hitting 305 with 15 home runs and 45 RBI.

Starting point is 00:22:25 He's not even that guy right now. you know, you love having them, obviously, big piece of your team, but he's not doing you any good if he's hurt all the time. So you've got guys like Gorman and Donovan and Crawford and for mean, who can all play third base. So maybe getting him off his feet for a week or so might be good. But we all know that Nato is a gamer. He's probably not going to want to do that. It isn't trying to miss any time if he can help it. So we'll see what happens. A guy that they should be getting back here could be today. Wilson Contreras could be back.

Starting point is 00:22:58 One for five while serving as the DH at Memphis on Sunday. He has played six games during his rehab assignment. Not great numbers. Three of 21 trying to get that timing back. The athletics, Katie Wu says his true testing point, they're not so much worried about his hitting abilities, but they wanted to see what he was like catching back-to-back games, which he did on Friday and Saturday,

Starting point is 00:23:21 and apparently came out of those games just fine. She brings up there was a scary moment on Saturday during a collision at home plate, which is all the Cardinals needed as far as somebody to get. There's not supposed to be collisions anymore at home plate. What is happening? But Contreras reported no issues afterward. She also mentions that with Yvonne Herrera on the injured list due to back tightness. Just another back injury for this team.

Starting point is 00:23:43 The logical corresponding move is to option Nick Raposo to Memphis again. Remember he was brought up with Herrera going down and keeping Pedro Paul has on the, as the reserve. Pedro's been amazing behind the plate. He's starting to show some glimpses here offensively, coming up with some good hits. And obviously, the series against Chicago was fantastic, was involved this weekend in the offense. But what he's doing behind the plate,

Starting point is 00:24:07 pitchers love them. The team's playing well. They're winning a lot with him back there. It's hard to move that guy away from that, right? Like, why Rush Wilson-Cutris behind the plate if you don't have to? Pedro, getting the job done. My guy, Michael Siani, latest on him, left Saturday's game with the bruised ribs following another highlight real catch. Had the x-rays done, they came back clean, so he should be available tonight if they need him.

Starting point is 00:24:34 It just kind of depends on how he's handling the pain of the ribs right now. So if he needs an extra day, you've got Dylan Carlson. You're not freaking out there. The Cardinals also received good news on Tommy Edmund, right wrist surgery, large nupe bar, the oblique strain over the weekend. Both are inching closer to rehab assignments. according to Katie Wu, and there is optimism both can return before the All-Star break. No updates on Stephen Matt's really, still down with the back issue, again, a back issue after his recent setback.

Starting point is 00:25:03 Now, Katie says with the way the timeline is, try to get his, you know, if he was to come back and get back up to the, you know, 80 pitch counts where they like their pitchers, that he wouldn't return until after the trade deadline, which would obviously affect what the cardals are going to do at the deadline, where, clearly we're in buying mode at the moment. So I personally still think they need to get at least, at least one more veteran pitcher who is better than what Lance Lynn gives you. Lance Lynn needs to go back to number five.

Starting point is 00:25:36 You need somebody who can be a four. And if you can do better and get somebody who can be a two or a three, you're not going to find anybody that's going to be better than Sunny Gray. But if you can find somebody better than that, awesome. See what you can get. But no low-hanging fruit, please, Moe. We don't need that. But I can envision something like the Jose Cantana, Jordan Montgomery trades.

Starting point is 00:25:56 That's kind of what I'm expecting them to go after. After being scratched, just minutes before his last scheduled start, Kyle Gibson, listed as the starter on Tuesday against Atlanta. So that's good news. Seems to be doing fine. So good to hear. Braves in town for the next three games and then the Reds for four games starting on Thursday. Tonight, the Braves who have lost, Spencer Strider, Ronald CUNY Jr., side-on candidate.

Starting point is 00:26:22 rating MVP, both of them, gone for the Atlanta Braves, and they are still eight and two in their last 10. I don't know how they do it. It's incredible how they run the show there in Atlanta, and they're second in the NL East to the Philadelphia Phillies. They're a really, really good team. So going to be a tough couple of days, going to be a tough, the next three.

Starting point is 00:26:43 So a good test for the Cardinals, obviously everybody's feeling pretty good about themselves right now, a lot of optimism, lot of momentum for this team right now. They're having a good time out there. So I hope they stay carefree and loose going into this series against Atlanta. You know, don't look at them as like, oh my gosh, they're the Atlanta Braves. Here they are. Go out there and do your thing. You know, have fun. Play smart baseball. We'll see what happens on the diamond. They got a different Spencer on the mound tonight. Spencer Schwellenbach will be your pitcher tonight against

Starting point is 00:27:16 Lance Lynn. So looking forward to the matchup tonight. Thank you for making Lockdown Cardinals. your first listen every day. If you haven't already, please give us follow on Twitter X at L0 underscore Cardinals and a JD Sports Radio and like and subscribe on YouTube to help our channel and love for the Cardinals grow. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason, and I will see you next time on Locktown Cardinals.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - How Sweep It Is!

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