Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Masyn Winn ELECTRIFIES Busch Stadium with Game-Winning Dash To Beat The Chicago Cubs

Starting point is 00:00:00 Are you not entertained? The Cardinals and Cubs put on a classic at Bush Stadium on Tuesday, and you won't believe how the game winning run was scored. This is Locked on Cardinals. You are Locked on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, the Cardinal fans. I'm J.D. Hafford and I'm your host for Lockedong Cardinals. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day. Follow me on X at JD Sports Radio as well as the podcast. at L.O. underscore Cardinals. If you're on YouTube, make sure you come by, see us, like, subscribe, and comment, hit that notification button so you don't miss anything. You can also find us on TikTok and Instagram. This is a show serving Cardle Nation and giving the best fans in baseball all of

Starting point is 00:00:48 the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code locked on MLB at Monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. So first and foremost, if you're watching on YouTube, you can see I do have my like a flashy summer shirt on right now. This is not in any way, shape, or form a significance of winning the series or anything like that. We just had the minor league baseball team I worked for. We had a morning game today, which is why this is coming out so late.

Starting point is 00:01:19 So this is kind of what we wear during day games. But it is a hot mother out there. My goodness, I tell you what. But apologies for this getting out as late as it is. But I wanted to be able to talk to you guys about last night's game. this was a lot of fun. The St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs have had some pretty entertaining games over the course of this rivalry. And Tuesday and I was just another one with the Redbirds picking up the 8-7 victory to move to two and a half games back of the Cubs and the NL Central.

Starting point is 00:01:47 And the offense is clearly something we are going to talk about in today's episode, but something that I have praised the Cardinals for this year and why, in my opinion, they've been a more competitive team and a more entertaining team than they were in 2024 is just the ability to do the fundamental things right. Fundamentals are so big in the sport. When your, when your roster is not loaded with superstars and you're not overflowing with money, which, you know, the Cardinals aren't spending money right now, not that they don't have the money. They just decided not to spend it this time. You just, you got to do the little things right, day in a day out to win ball games. That's how you're going to do it. And that's something that

Starting point is 00:02:28 the Cardinals have done more times than not. Of course, they're going to have their moments where they make a base running blunder. And of course, we pointed out, they're going to see it where they make an error in the field or they miss a cutoff man or they fail to move runners over in certain situations. They are human after all. It's going to happen. But to minimize the amount of times that you make those mistakes

Starting point is 00:02:50 or don't fulfill what you need to get done in those situations will essentially improve your chances at winning baseball games. And on Tuesday night, the Cardinals were the ones doing the little things, right? while the Cubs were the ones making mistakes. And one of those mistakes ended up costing them the game in the end. And the other thing that stands out about what the Cardals have been up to is their ability to come from behind. They just do not quit. There have been plenty of situations this year where the Cardinals have been down.

Starting point is 00:03:22 And if it was years past, if it was the 2023 team or even last year's 24 team, most fans would have written them off, right? You've been like, they're down four. This one's over. Moving on to the next one. This year it's different. Cardinals were up to nothing, then quickly down five to two. And it seemed like the Cubs would have their number in this one. It was one of those situations where you're like, oh, man, five, two after the home run,

Starting point is 00:03:45 you're like, all right, well, you know, Sears is probably going to be split. But the boys, as they all have often done so far this year, they punch back. You keep hearing that, that they punch back. They get knocked down. They get right back up and punch back. they retake that lead seven to five. And on a one out two run double by Mason Wend, which was a huge hit for him.

Starting point is 00:04:07 He had a great night, hell of a night for him with the Cardinals. But he gets that double. And the next batterer is Alec Berluson. So the Cardinals have the lead 7-5. Mason went standing on second base. And Burleson lifts a deep fly to center. The ball clearly is traveling well the last couple days in the heat. And it sends Cubs Phenon, Pekro, Armstrong,

Starting point is 00:04:28 to the center field wall where, he nonchalantly makes the catch. And as soon as I saw him do it, and I saw the way he was reacting in his body language, I'm sitting there with the boys and I'm like, I'm like, you forgot how many outs are more? You forgot how many outs are war?

Starting point is 00:04:43 And the Cardinals noticed. Mason Wynn was tagging up on the play to go to third anyway. He never stops running. Pop Warner continue, gives him the windmill. He's like, go, go, go, go. Scores all the way from second base.

Starting point is 00:04:55 It reminds me of the highlight of Ozzie Smith scoring from second base in the World Series in 19, 82. If you've ever seen that highlight where the center fielder makes the catch and he slips on the warning track and falls down, Ozzy scores all the way from second base. It reminded me of that so much, although PCA didn't fall down in this one. He just forgot how many outserv work. So he ends up scoring from second and it's a sack fly for Alec Berlinson, which he's probably like, yeah, doesn't hurt my average, makes it eight to five. So a big situation, one of the most basic parts of the game. After each out, you'll see the players.

Starting point is 00:05:34 You know, they signal to each other how many outs there are just to remind each other. And for whatever reason, PCA forgot. Brain cramp, brain fart, whatever you want to call it, and the cardals took advantage of it, doing the little things. They turned one simple mistake into what ended up being the game winning run when everything was said and done. That's now 19 come from behind victories for the no quick cardinals, which puts them among the top 10 in baseball. the Dodgers, ironically, lead with 29, thanks to all their starting pitching injuries. So they're constantly playing from behind so far this year. And then you've got the defensive side of things that were going on with the Cardinals in this one.

Starting point is 00:06:11 Two plays in particular that I want to talk about that stood out to me from this game. And of course, we're going to get into the offense finding their power stroke as well. So more to come about this huge victory for the Cardinals on Tuesday night. Coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. check your bank account and wonder, where did my money go? I had more in there and it's not there anymore. Well, it's easy to lose track when you're dining out, when you're online shopping, just entertainment things. How about all the different channels and stuff you pay for with cable and all the subscriptions you have? You know, it's easy to lose track. And that's where Monarch money

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Starting point is 00:08:10 when the Cardinals are playing well and they're winning, especially when they're beating teams like the Reds and beating teams like the Cubs. Even when they were beating the White Sox, people were like, nah, white socks, who cares? Now that they're beating some teams that are pretty good and playing well, you're starting to see the turn. And, you know, there's the vibes that are going on online. And I appreciate that in the comments section. So let us know your feedback. It's always welcome and encourage good and bad, but enjoying the good stuff right now. One thing the Cardinals have been known for during their successful years, and they've had a lot of them, is the defense.

Starting point is 00:08:46 They've got a record 53 gold gloves in their storied history. Gold Glovers littered all over the place, right? Like through the years, I mean, obviously Yadi comes to mind, Albert, Jimmy Edmonds, Ozzie Smith, Scott Rowland, Edgar Rintzeria, Colton Wong, Adam Wainwright, Mike Mathini, Terry Pendleton, Willie McGee, Tom Pagnos, Keith Hernandez, over at first. Base, Bob Gibson, Kurt Flood, Bill White, Ken Boyer, Harrison Bader, Tyler O'Neill, Tommy Edmund, Paul Goldschmidt. And of course, you've got two guys on the roster right now. They've got a couple. Nolan Aronado, he's got a few in his closet. And then Brendan Donovan has won a gold glove as well. And there's other ones. I'm forgetting. I don't know of them all off the top of my head, but I thought that was pretty good list. But this year, the Cardinals once again had been one of the top

Starting point is 00:09:33 defensive teams all season. And with a pitching staff, like, they have that lacks the swing and miss of most teams. What the Cardinals have done so far this year has been nothing short of spectacular. To be able to do what they do defensively day in and day out, it's awesome. And I know as Cardinal fans, we appreciate that. They currently lead the league and out's above average with a plus 26. The next closest Astros at plus 19. So that's a sizable lead. And in the game on Tuesday, there were two huge defensive plays that stood out. The first one was the catch and foul territory by Alec Burleson in that seventh inning. We know that Burley is not your prototypical outfielder.

Starting point is 00:10:15 He's not the fleet is to foot. He's not going to cover a whole lot of ground. But somehow some way, he ends up covering a lot of ground in this one and goes out and makes this catch. Seventh inning, Cardinals are threatening to tie it or the Cubs are threatening to tie it up. And Burley makes the best catch of the season for him. Runners on second and third, two outs. And you get that strange bun by PCA.

Starting point is 00:10:38 which brings in Dansby Swanson, who pops one in foul territory down that right field line. Burley goes tumbling into the netting, makes the grab. It's stuck in the netting, actually. Just an incredible play from a guy who is not known for his glove. He's a bat first guy, and he makes an incredible play and helps in the Cubs threat. Then in the ninth inning, with the Cubs threatening yet again, two outs, runners on second and third. And again, it's Danesby Swanson, who hits a chopper to third base.

Starting point is 00:11:06 and similar to the way Nico Horner tried to distract Aronado on Monday. PCA tries everything he can legally do to interfere with the play. He does that little stutter step. He kind of good shuffles to go around Aronado, dangerously close to interference, but he didn't do it. But Nato ends up grabbing it barehanded, rifles it over to Contreras, who makes the awesome stretch and they nail Swanson by a step to end the game. Just a beautiful play, both of them.

Starting point is 00:11:36 standing place. Aronado is having another outstanding season with the glove over at third base if you haven't noticed. Probably not going to win the gold glove because Brian Hayes for the Pirates is off the charts again. He's a plus 9 DRS and a plus 12 ounce of average. Nato is not chabby plus four DRS and plus three outs above average respectively, which has them in third place in both of those categories in the National League. But what Nato's doing, you know, getting to see him play day in and in Deiata, I don't know when Key Brian Hayes is making these plays. You know, the Pirates have lost a lot of games.

Starting point is 00:12:10 So I don't know when he's doing them all. But it appears to me when Nolan Arnato makes these plays, they're like in huge moments. They are game-changing moments that he's pulling off these awesome, awesome plays over at third base. And it's showing up. You know, he's winning games with his defense. He's also winning some games with his bad too. he's had some major, major hits.

Starting point is 00:12:37 But almost had another web gym on Tuesday. Earlier in the game, Suzuki ends up beating out that throw. But even that, even to make it close was like, what? How did you even do that? But again, it's the little things that the Cardinals are doing that makes average teams good.

Starting point is 00:12:53 And it makes good teams great. And while the Cardinals are getting that effort in this game on Tuesday, the Cubs are out there for getting how many outs there are and watching foul balls bouncing. off their heads. Like what happened to Shaw on the fourth inning? Matt Shaw over there at third base. I thought he hit his head on like one of the chairs when he went into the netting over

Starting point is 00:13:15 there or he hit a fan or something like that. And then they showed the replay and he just misplayed it, misjudged it. And the ball hits him right on the noggin. Just bunk. And normally you just laugh it off and you move on. But to add insult to injury, the next pitch is when Nolan Gorman hits the game time. home run. The little things, man, the little things. And it's paying off for the Cardinals. Speaking of Gorman and home runs, how about the Cardinals' offense? How about what we've seen

Starting point is 00:13:48 from this St. Louis Cardinals' offense? I know all year, they've been pretty good anyway, but the last couple days, the power, the power is showing up all of a sudden. So we're going to talk about that, and we're going to preview tonight's game. We'll do it next on Locked on Cardinals. Guys, you've probably heard of Viagra or Cialis. Maybe you've even tried that. But if you're looking for something beyond the usual pill, it's time to meet Ruggiet ready. Ruggiet ready is a next-gen prescription treatment,

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Starting point is 00:15:31 Thank you again for making Lockton, Carnels your first listen today for your second listen. Check out the all new. Lockdown, MLB Game Night, every game every night, all season long. Get local analysis on a national scale. You can find MLB Game Night on Locktime. It will be on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. I need a drink of water. I've been talking all morning. And finally, I get to put this podcast together for you guys. And I've been wanting to do it since last night. We do MLB game night after the games are done. So I didn't have a time to do it last night. And then I had to be up at 8 o'clock

Starting point is 00:16:04 this morning to head to our morning game, our splash day for the minor league team. So I'm getting this together now. And it's exciting to talk about it's a fun time to be a St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan right now because they're playing good ball defensively and offensively. The Cardinals' bats have gotten as hot as the weather has been in St. Louis, which has been unforgiving, right? Specifically, their ability to hit home runs is something that has stood out in these last two games after hitting four bombs on Monday. They pop three more on Tuesday night. Lars Neupar got the scoring going. You'd love to see him turn things around after really struggling bad for a couple of weeks there. Gets that two run.

Starting point is 00:16:46 Tater in the second inning, his team leading 11th long fly of the year. Then in the third inning with the Cardinals down five to two, Mason win rips his seventh of the season before Gorman ties things up in that fourth inning. The home run ball has not been a major part of the Cardinals arsenal this season. And that's okay. I'm completely okay with that. I have said this from day one of this podcast since I started working on it, that I will take a team that puts the ball in play, does the smart things on the base paths, gets singles and doubles. I will take that instead of a lot of home runs and a lot of strikeouts. I don't want to see it.

Starting point is 00:17:22 It's boring baseball. I think it's terrible. I think it's awful and I don't like it. I prefer the small ball. I don't even want to call it small ball, but I just, I prefer keeping the carousel going on the bases, to keep putting the ball in play, keep making the defense, make plays, put the pressure on them. That's what I want. need home runs all the time. But damn, it has been fun to watch the last couple of nights in the

Starting point is 00:17:49 month of June, the Cardinals now have 29 home runs as a team, which ties up for ninth in the league with the Colorado Rockies. They only hit 23 and 22 as a team in April and May. And it's been the bats of Alec Berluson and Nolan Gorman. They're getting more at bats. They're getting more playing time. And that has helped lead the charge. Burley's got five. And then Gorman is tied with Arana and Contreras with four. Gorman only has. at two all season until this month. Lack of playing time is a major culprit of the reason why he didn't have as many home runs, but at the same time, he just wasn't having as good at bats.

Starting point is 00:18:24 And now you're still going to get the strikeouts from Nolan Gorman. That's never going to go away. But he's taking much better at bats. He looks more confident up there. And I've always said, I feel in my personally, I feel it's a mental thing with Nolan Gorman than a physical thing. I don't see his swing changing all that much or getting too far out of whack. It's not like when Newt's struggling where just everything looked weird. Gorman just needs to feel more confident. He's got to build confidence. And to do that,

Starting point is 00:18:55 you got to have playing time. And now that he's getting the playing time, because, you know, people are injured. Yvonne Herrera's out right now. You're seeing him develop that confidence. and you're seeing it in his approach at the plate. And that was a missile that he hit to tie the game up at five. Mason win, your player of the game, though, give him credit, two for four, but four RBIs, two runs scored, including the game winner, scoring from second base, which was clearly a special moment for Mason when he said after the game that he had done it once before in low A,

Starting point is 00:19:27 had been looking to do it ever since to do it again, and to be able to do it in the big leagues against the Cubs, said that's what dreams are made. of right there. So very cool that Mason felt that highly about that situation. And it was cool. Like I was excited about it when it happened. Pitching wasn't as sharp yesterday as you like it to be. I always give credit to the opposition when they deserve it. The Chicago Cubs have a very good lineup. So not easy for anybody to just breeze right through them. What you saw Matthew Libertor do on Monday night is not normal. That's not what people normally do.

Starting point is 00:20:05 to the Chicago Cubs. So Michael McGreevy, not being quite as sharp as we're used to seeing him, I'm not all that surprised. And it really was one really bad mistake, which was the sinker right over the heart of the plate, San Jose Suzuki, who parked it into the visitor's bullpen for the home run. And that gave the Cubs that five to two lead. Outside of that, McGreevy wasn't all that bad.

Starting point is 00:20:27 He really wasn't. He only lasts four and two-thirds innings. He allows those five runs on seven hits, only one strikeout. He didn't have his best stuff. But you saw him working with it. Again, one bad pitch is really what undid things and made things look much uglier than they really wore for McGreevy. So better days to come, obviously.

Starting point is 00:20:46 Stephen Mats, two-run Dinger to Nico Horner. I didn't even think it was that bad of a pitch. Deco Horner just made a good swing and just lifted it out of there. You know, again, sometimes the hitter wins. It happens. That was in the sixth inning to cut things to eight to seven. And so now you're starting to chew your nails a little bit. You're like, oh boy, oh boy.

Starting point is 00:21:08 How's our bullpen going to react? Okay, because, you know, they're going to have to put some work in in this one. But Jojo Romero, Phil Meanton, Ryan Housley, they bent, but they didn't break. Thanks to the Cardinals defense, obviously, who came up huge. And they ended up putting up three shutout innings to save the game. Phil Meiton, quietly having an insanely good season. What a signing this has been for the St. Louis Cardinals. Started off really well.

Starting point is 00:21:33 then things evened out a little bit, right? You know, as they normally do. But after the one in one-in-one third inning on Tuesday, he's now got a sparkling 1.76 ERA over 32 appearances. Has 16 holes, which ranks third in the National League, fourth in the major leagues. Like, he's been incredible. You know, that was the spot that Ryan Fernandez was supposed to be holding down, right?

Starting point is 00:21:58 That didn't work out very well earlier on the season. They signed Phil Meantown late. he comes right in prepared to pitch. You know, it didn't take him long to get up to speed and boom. He's been outstanding for the most part this season. So huge signing there. So give credit to Mowen Company. Hellsley once again,

Starting point is 00:22:16 had some traffic on the basis, giving up singles to Kyle Tucker and PCA in that ninth inning. But now he's got 15 saves, which is ranked fifth in the National League. And I know, I know, he doesn't feel like he's really that reliable. because there's people on base almost every time he comes into the game. Very rarely do you find that clean inning? It's always very, very stressful.

Starting point is 00:22:40 And everyone hits the piss out of his fastball. But the slider is still exceptional. If I could gift Ryan Helsley something, it would be either a cut fastball or a splitter. To give the opposition something else to look for. except for the straightest fastball you've ever seen and the slider. You know, is forcing fastball doesn't have a ton of movement.

Starting point is 00:23:09 Yeah, it's 101, but it's straight. And these guys tee off on 101 now. It's not as special as it used to be when you don't have other pitches to go along with it. I mean, he would be filthy if he had a splitter or a cutter. Did you just get it off the barrel, just that little bit? So I don't know what it takes to learn those types of pitches. You know, I don't know how difficult or easy it is.

Starting point is 00:23:35 I'm sure if it was easy, he'd already done it by now. But that's what I wish for Ryan Halsley. As he gets older and eventually the velocity is going to drop even more. He's going to have to find other ways to get people out other than just trying to sneak a fastball or get him to chase that slider. It's got to be something else. So it be something nice to work on to see if we could find that for him. But got the job done. I know it wasn't pretty.

Starting point is 00:24:01 Took an outstanding play by Aronado to do it, but it's team game, got it done. Another victory. So that's great. Wednesday's matchup. We've got Eric Fetty on the mound tonight against the Cubs left hander, Matthew Boyd, who's been pretty darn good for them. Six and three, two point eight four ERA and 15 starts.

Starting point is 00:24:18 They're going to have Shota Emanaga pitch on Thursday. So Matthew Boyd here. This month, Boyd is one-in-one, 2.22 ERA. and very similar to what you saw from Andrew Abbott from the Reds on Sunday. Not a lot of hard contact against him. Doesn't walk people. So you got to swing the bat. Only throws 93 on average with the fastball.

Starting point is 00:24:43 He's got a change. He's got a slider. Those are his three primary pitches. I hope the Cardinals learned something from the struggles that they had against Abbott on Sunday to prepare and do better against Matthew Boyd on Wednesday night. So yesterday, the Cardinals DFA'd Jose Barrero claimed Garrett Hampson off waivers from the Reds. Hampson's 30 years old, joins his third team of the season, which you're like, oh, what's the point of this guy? Sixth team in his career, 60 plate appearances this year with Arizona and Cincinnati.

Starting point is 00:25:14 Only hit 167, but that's not really his thing. All right, he's more known for the defense and his base running. Statcast has him in the 85th percentile, the average sprint speed. So speed, you know, never slumps. So nice to have. And he's also very versatile. So he can play second base, shortstop. It plays all three outfield positions.

Starting point is 00:25:39 Pretty darn good with the glove. Spent most of his time when he does play in the outfield in center field. Think of him as the right-handed version of Michael Siak. Like that's basically what he is. Not a great hitter. We're run into one here and there. but it's more about defense, latent games, speed, being able to come off the bench and run for people and help out in those kind of ways as well. And he's more versatile than Michael Siani, who only plays outfield.

Starting point is 00:26:13 He can play those and play the infield as well. So just another tool to use for Ali Marmal. Barrero didn't have any minor league options yet. You're wondering why would you D.OFA? It's because he didn't have any options less. So he couldn't just be sent down. Personally, I hope they don't lose them on waivers. I'd be shocked if somebody didn't grab them.

Starting point is 00:26:33 But I hope he's able to stick around. He just really, he needs to play more. And he was hardly getting any playing time whatsoever with the card dolls. But he's still got talent. And I would hate to lose them to another organization. But I feel like that's probably going to happen. But anyway, thanks for making a lot on cardinals. Your first listen every day.

Starting point is 00:26:51 Be having already. Give us a follow on X at L1 underscore Cardinals and at JD Sports Radio, TikTok and Instagram at Lockdown Cardinals, like subscribe on YouTube. We're pushing towards 13,000 subscribers on YouTube. So if you're somebody who loves Cardinals content, you love baseball content, and this is something you like.

Starting point is 00:27:09 Make sure you hit that subscribe button and come join us. We'll be hooking you up all the time throughout the season and the off season. We're always here for you. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. We'll see you next time. Hopefully I'm wearing the Cardinals ugly shirt when we meet next time. And as Cardinals go for a series victory tonight,

Starting point is 00:27:25 against the Cubs.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Masyn Winn ELECTRIFIES Busch Stadium with Game-Winning Dash To Beat The Chicago Cubs

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