Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Playoff Talk Is DONE After New York Yankees Sweep

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, Cardinals fans, do you hear that? Do you hear that? That right there is the fat lady. Tune it up on the Cardinals 2025 season after getting their butts handed to them and swept by the New York Yankees. You are Locked on Cardinals. Your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey there, Carlis fans. I'm J.D. Hafer and I'm your host for Locked on Cardinals, part of the Lockedon podcast network covering your team every day. You can follow me on Axe JD Sports Radio, the podcast on X at L.O.1 underscore Cardinals. We're on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and locked on Cardinals. Come find us. Today's episode being brought to you by Fandall. Football season is around the corner. Visit the Fandul app today and start planning your futures bets now. So right now, things are not good.

Starting point is 00:00:59 If you are a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals, which I am, which you are as well, because you're watching or listening to this podcast. Things did not go well this weekend. And I'm sorry I wasn't around a whole lot this weekend. I had a whole lot of family stuff that was going on, not bad stuff. So nothing like that, but like just where we were just busy doing stuff,

Starting point is 00:01:20 fun stuff for the most part. Not around to watch a whole lot of Cardinal baseball this weekend. So I apologize for, you know, not being able to tweet and stuff and do as much as we normally do online. But it doesn't sound like I miss all that much. after going through everything and watching the replays. And boy, I'll tell you what, I don't know how many nails it takes to close a coffin. But man, oh, man, does it feel like the last five games the Cardinals have played is the beginning of the end of this season?

Starting point is 00:01:48 And many fans have already written them off for good reason. But, you know, diehard believers like myself, for better or worse, tend to have what others call false hope in situations like this where people see the Cardinals are like, that's not a good baseball. team. Then there's people like me who goes, that's a not that bad of a baseball team. And I do it with all my teams. Okay. I'm a positive dude. I'm always well, you know, if this happens or that happens, this could happen. But I don't want to go through that right now. The Cardinals needed to sweep the Rockies. That's what I told you. They needed to win two of three against the Yankees. That's what I told you. And instead, they just crapped the bed and lost five. in a row. End of dream, end of story. This team ain't going anywhere. Now, the two losses against

Starting point is 00:02:39 the Rockies, we've talked about them. Unforgivable, should never happen. Losing four or six to them, same way. Should never have happened. That's pathetic. This series against the Yankees, it makes you want to say, because these games would be close for a lot of the three games. the end score, especially in the final two games, isn't exactly accurate of how the games actually were going. I mean, there were some entertaining things going on in these games and then things we get out of hand later on. But, you know, these are the types of series against New York

Starting point is 00:03:16 where, you know, you start throwing out the cliches, right? We've heard them all year long. You know, we've been hearing them for three seasons in a row, to be honest with you. They showed a lot of heart. They showed a lot of gritty. grit. They're putting in the work. These guys don't quit. And that's great. And I'm glad they give a crap and that they care because not all major league baseball players do. Like you see the effort on the field from the Cardinals. They care. I'm glad they continue to to put in the effort in

Starting point is 00:03:48 the practice and the game planning and all of that stuff. Super cool. You know what's really cool, though winning baseball games. That's what's cool. That's the good stuff. And that's what we want to see you. We just want to see you win the games. Win ball games. And they're not doing that. And it's very upsetting. And it's why a lot of us are very upset. It's why people aren't showing up at the ballpark. A major reason. I should say there's other things too. Let's start with Friday's game. Andre Palante on the mound. And what has become an all too familiar? you're seen in Cardinals games, the starting rotation gives up early runs to put the team in a hole that they got to work really, really hard to climb their way out of before even putting

Starting point is 00:04:35 their batting gloves on. You know, mentally, it's got to be exhausting to always be climbing uphill. Always feels like you're behind with this rotation. And it's not usually just, you know, one run. Pardon me, my phone is still on. I apologize for that in case you heard it. And it's not normally just one run. You know, it's usually two, three, four, five that they have to make up.

Starting point is 00:05:02 And that's a pretty big mountain to climb. When your offense, as good as it was earlier on in the season, isn't doing that stuff anymore, at least not normally. They put up some runs in this series, though. It just allows the other team to make different adjustments on how they're pitching you because they have a decent lead. So things change. The offense, obviously, will feel.

Starting point is 00:05:25 more pressure because now they're just counting down the outs that you have left to try to catch up knowing you have to score this amount to even compete in the game. And, you know, even when you get down and say it's three to nothing like I was in this one, there's no, there's no, for certain that the pitching staff is going to hold that, that they're only going to score three in the game. I mean, they got to shut them down the rest of the way. It just sucks. playing from behind is a terrible way to play any sport. And the Cardinals have done it far too many times this year. And it happened in all three of these games.

Starting point is 00:06:05 And it wasn't just Friday. It wasn't just Andre Palante. It happened all three games. Friday, Palante gives up three runs in the first, starting with a lead off walk, which we know is basically giving a run to the other team. It just constantly comes around to score. Then Ben Barry Bonds Rice doubles.

Starting point is 00:06:22 Aaron Judge gets a run in on a ground ball. But then with two wouts, the big head. The home run by Jazz Chisholm Jr. on a fastball. Just high, hit me. Just right there, a little bit inside, just perfect for a left-hander to smoke it over the right-field wall. Three-nothing Yankees. The homer at the time was the 25th allowed by the Cardinals of the first inning. The season tied with the Rockies for the most in the National League at that point.

Starting point is 00:06:49 Unacceptable. Palante settles in a bit after that. over the final four innings of his outing. He allows one more run. He strikes out eight hitters in the game, but the damage was done. It was done. You already put them in a hole.

Starting point is 00:07:03 Rob Raines had a great stat here over at STL SportsPage.com. The three runs in the first inning off Palante increased. The total number of earned runs, he has allowed in the first two innings this season to 30 and 47 and two thirds innings. That's an ERA of 5.66. That's awful. Nothing fun about it.

Starting point is 00:07:22 that. The Cardinals' offense had trouble with the Yankee starter, Luis Heel, locked them up for five in a third inning, allowed just one run on four hits. They end up making a game of it later on, getting one in the sixth, and then two in the seven, thanks to some big hits by Lars Neupar, Mason Wynn and Victor Scott. The real issue in this game, and it's been a problem for most of the year, are the double plays. It's haunted this team. They hit into four of them in this game and are currently seventh in the league with 91 total double plays, nine back of the A's who have an even 100. A's are in first place.

Starting point is 00:07:58 Congratulations on that. Not a snout you want to be up there in, right? Cardle's bullpen was really, really good in this one, but they couldn't overcome the four-run deficit, the hole that they were put in. And they fall in this game by a score of four to three. Great effort. You showed fight.

Starting point is 00:08:15 Still, it's an L. It's a loss. And now if I told you in game two that the Cardinals would light up, light up left-hand or Max freed, one of the big free agent signings this offseason, everybody wanted it, would light him up for seven runs, and you get to have Sunny Gray on the mound. You'd think that would do the trick to get a win, right? Nope. We'll explain how this one got out of hand and get to game three as well, which has a

Starting point is 00:08:48 some late inning issue. So we'll get to all of those coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. This episode brought to you by Price Picks, the Daily Fantasy Platform that lets you turn your football predictions into real rewards. Now preseason, already heating up. College football, not too far off too. I'm getting excited about it. Perfect time to lock in your season long, more or less picks for the 2025 football season. And you can do it all before week one kicks off. Whether you've got your eye on, let's say, a big name quarterback or breakout running backs prize picks. They make it easy to get in the game.

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Starting point is 00:10:36 Always welcome and encourage. We will be doing some Cardinals confessions a couple of times this week because there's a lot people got to get some stuff off their chest. Luckily enough, I have a platform here where I'm able to do it right to you. So I appreciate you coming in, whether it's on YouTube or listening wherever you listen to your podcast. Very sweet of you. I appreciate you.

Starting point is 00:10:56 I know I understand that this point of the season with the Cardinals, very frustrating. So we all just kind of want to grow and yell and yell about everything, which is kind of what I'm trying to stay calm. I'm trying to stay calm after what happened this weekend. But game two was very, very frustrating. All right. Four to three loss in game one.

Starting point is 00:11:17 All right. Game two is very frustrated because Max Fried, as I mentioned, one of the biggest signings this offseason. Yankees got him, which was huge for them after. the injuries they've dealt with, Garrett Cole, Luis Hiel, who just came back and pitched in that first game, but he'd been out all year.

Starting point is 00:11:32 It was a good thing they got him. And he's been one of the best left-handers in baseball for a number of years now. So for the Cardinals, who, we know they've had their struggles against lefties this year, although if you go looking stats, I'm currently hitting 249 against both lefties and righties.

Starting point is 00:11:49 So everything has evened out now. They actually rank higher in batting average against lefties. They're 11th. as opposed to righties, both 249, but righties 249 ranks 14th against lefties. It's 11. So I guess we can stop using that excuse. It's like, oh, now, here comes another.

Starting point is 00:12:08 No, it's just pitchers. Can't hit anybody. But for the Cardinals to light up max free, seven runs, eight hits, two home runs, in five innings of work, to have your number one on the mound. in Sunny Gray, on the mound at home, where he's had a ton of success, and still lose, is just a massive kick to the family jewels. Once again, Cardinals fall behind in the first inning. It's a reoccurring theme this weekend, as I pointed out.

Starting point is 00:12:50 Yankees go single, walk, double, one to nothing, three hitters in. Awesome. Then another single brings in another. it's two to nothing before they even get to grab the bats. But the offense, once again, we're like, all right, hold on, let's get gone. They fight back. Burley takes advantage of Jason Dominguez in left field.

Starting point is 00:13:13 There's a terrible defensive outfielder. It ends up getting a triple. Yvonne Herrera singles of men, leads cut in half. Awesome, right? Then they put up four in the bottom of the second inning against Max Fried. Thanks to a lead off walk by Gorman, which is great. Singles by Paez, Victor Scott, and then you get the Mason win, three run Jack,

Starting point is 00:13:37 which feels like a moment for Mason when. And I talked about this in last week's last episode, where I was like, I want Mason when to kind of get put on the map in this series. And this was a moment for him, right? Three run Jack grabs the lead, five to two. And you got Sunny on the mound. You trust him more than you trust any starter in your rotation. Three run lead at home.

Starting point is 00:13:59 This one should be in the bag. And instead, he just gets destroyed. It's torched for a solo home run by Aaron Judge, which I don't really frown about that because it's Aaron Judge. He's amazing. But then Ben, Babe Ruth Rice goes yard against him in the fourth to make it six to five. And the lead's gone. The thrill is gone.

Starting point is 00:14:25 And the fans who did come out in the Bush Stadium, are like jaws down on the ground. They're stunned. I was stunned. That's not 19 home runs, by the way, given up by Sunny Gray on the season, two off his career high, which he sent last season at 21.

Starting point is 00:14:41 How do you spell regression? Sunny goes just five innings, allow six runs on nine hits, two dingers, seven strikeouts, but he leaves trailing, blows a three-run lead. Not what you wanted or needed from your top guy in the midst of a three-game losing streak,

Starting point is 00:14:57 especially after your offense. pulled you back out of the deficit you put them in and gave you a nice cushion on top of that. Once again, it's just unacceptable. That can't happen. Then we get to the bullpen in Calahey, who had been really good recently, seven games leading up to this game against the Yankees, ERA of 0.82, had his worst appearance of the season. He's had a couple bad ones. Every reliever does.

Starting point is 00:15:25 But Bro never retires a batter in this one. He allows four straight hits, including a three-run double by Ben friggin' rice. And the game was blown open. Now it's nine to five. Card streamed it to nine to seven on a dinger by Gorman, which you love to see because you want to see progress. But then Roder Rane Munoz, I think he just sucks, guys. I know he's got a nice arm, but I think he sucks.

Starting point is 00:15:53 Has he done anything good? comes in and wiped away any hope for a comeback again by giving up three more runs, including a home run to Ryan McMahon. RBI hits by Rice. Jism Jr. makes 12 to 7. And we knew after the trade deadline that this bullpen would face some challenges. There are guys like Rotary Munoz who were going to have to eat some innings at some point. And you were hoping to get through having these kind of guys pitch without getting bringing up much, you know, in return.

Starting point is 00:16:29 And it ain't working, man. It ain't working. That's why he's not on this roster again. He got sent back down on Sunday. But just it was a bad all-around game for the Cardinals pitching staff in general who got abused by the Yankees top three hitters in the order. Trent Grisham goes four for five. Rice goes bonkers.

Starting point is 00:16:49 Home run, drives in seven by himself on a three for five night. so much that he got supercharged on MLB of the show because his game was so huge. Apparently he's done this already this year too, by the way, which I did not remember that. But Vin Rice drove in 7 against somebody else earlier this year too. So anyway, it just, it always blows me away, though, when a guy is clearly on his A game. And we just keep pitching you. Anyway, Judge, two for three with a home run, he's Aaron Judge. Another fun staff from Rod Brains at SGL Sportspage.com.

Starting point is 00:17:20 Rice became the fourth visiting player in Bush Stadium three history, to drive in at least seven runs. The others to do it were the S.C.O. Pugge of the Dodgers in 2018. You're going to love these names. Marco Scootero of the Giants in 2012. J.R. Towels of the Astros. Who? I don't know that is. Driving eight runs in a game in 2007?

Starting point is 00:17:43 How the hell that out? Who the hell is J.R. Towels? At least the other two, Pueig and Scooter I'd heard of. I don't know what that is. But anyway, on top of the carnage, in this particular game. The Cardinals also suffer another injury. They lose Victor Scott,

Starting point is 00:17:57 who went to rob a ball in center field, came down on his ankle, awkwardly, it was hobbling. We know Victor's game is all about speed, right? And when you can't walk or run, that's going to be a problem. So sprained ankle had to leave the game, ended up going on the IL on Sunday.

Starting point is 00:18:18 So now the team is without Brendan Donovan and Wilson Contreras, who are dealing with injuries, but the team refused to put them on the IL over the weekend. So they were short-handed all weekend. No-on Aronado, as we know, out, trying to get strength back in his shoulder down in Florida. And now Victor Scott also out. So not ideal.

Starting point is 00:18:40 And to, you know, save face, you had to turn the ball over to Miles Michaelis on Sunday. Yeah. Who actually, Miles didn't pitch back. bad. He didn't pitch bad, but we had more late inning issues, which ruined this game for the Cardinals, even though they fought and came back again. We'll talk about it next on Locked on Cardinals. August 26th is officially Fandall Futures Day. It's a brand new holiday for football fans who live for bold predictions and preseason hunches for just 24 hours. It's exclusive. 24 hours only.

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Starting point is 00:19:38 I'm a Packers owner. So, you know, it's hard for me to bet against the green and gold. We've got some good things going on this year. I don't think a lot of people are picking them to win the whole thing. But, you know, you got Jordan Love in year three of starting, although he's dealing with an injury already. Josh Jacobs was a great pickup last year for their backfield. He's a horse. New first round wide receiver, Matthew Golden is getting rave reviews.

Starting point is 00:20:02 You got other wide receivers, Jaden Reed, Romeo Dobbs, Don Tavian Wicks. Can the D step up in year two of Jeff Hapley's system? We'll have to find out. But what about some of the other main guys, like the Chiefs and the Eagles? You know, nothing wrong with those teams right now. The Bengals who I've talked about,

Starting point is 00:20:17 Bills, Rams fans, Matthew Stafford, how's his back? You're going to be all right? Kind of a big deal. They went out and got former Packer, Devante Adams, this year, to replace Cooper Cup, Pooka Nakua, their new number one guy. So, you know, some interesting stuff going on in L.A. for the Rams fans that are still fans from the St. Louis years.

Starting point is 00:20:37 But this is the Fandulap today. Start planning your futures bets now because Futures Day is one day and one day only. Fandual, play your game. Thanks again for making Lockstone Cardinals your first listen today for your second list. Check out the new Locktown MLB game night. It's every game every night. else he's a longer local analysis on a national scale. You can find it.

Starting point is 00:20:59 It'll be game night on locked on. It'll be YouTube channel wherever you listen to your podcast. Miles Michaelis doesn't normally walk people. But on Sunday, decided to throw another wrinkle into this mix of garbage that was this weekend for the St. Louis Cardinals. He walks five guys. Yeah?

Starting point is 00:21:17 Although he kept most of them from scoring, he gave up three in the top half of the fourth. And it was a one out walk that got the ball rolling in that inning that started the the rally for the for the Yankees. Goldie, who finally got to start, doubles, and then there was three straight singles, just like that, three nothing Yankees.

Starting point is 00:21:39 Guess what? Cardinals having to play from behind again. So you had three to nothing, two to nothing, and three to nothing. That sucks, man. But the Cardinals offense, I don't know, they don't shy away from the challenges. We're back to take a four to three lead on a Joe Al Pozo home run, which was a really cool moment. If you haven't seen the story yet, go online to MLB.com or Cardinals.com and check out the write-up

Starting point is 00:22:07 the dead and dead. Really cool story because, you know how it was Players Weekend and they all had the bats and stuff. Well, Joe Al-Pozo's bat had the handprints on his bat of his son who had suffered a stroke right after being born. And then he also had the hands of other kids that he went to visit at Mercy Children's Hospital. So they were all their handprints were on the bat. Really cool story. They asked him to hit a home run and he ends up doing it.

Starting point is 00:22:39 And it's an awesome moment to say the least. That would have been a great storybook ending. Problem was it got wasted after a lead off walk. I'll be it on some awful umpiring by Nick Lentz who missed not one but two calls in this particular at bat enough to where it sent Ali over the edge and he got ejected. Lentz was actually really good on the day. If you go to his umpire scorecard, he had a really good day. Just a horrible abat to miss a couple calls.

Starting point is 00:23:12 Those two, they were strikes. They were in the zone and this walk would cost the Cardinals because lead-off walks always do, it seems Grisham comes around a score to tie the game up against Cal Leahy. Then in the ninth inning, the Cardinals' defense just falls apart behind Jojo Romero, who has two straight appearances where things do not go well. You get the two errors on Sejacy, although you could argue Bellinger's was a hit. I would have gave him a hit. I gave Sejc an error on that one.

Starting point is 00:23:41 But there's also pass ball that inning. You had two walks, and Paul Goldschmidt double makes it eight to four. And that was it. That was that. Cardinals didn't do jack squat the rest of the game. I think after the Pozo thing, it was like 12 or 13 guys got retired. It was bad. Goldine is returned to Bush Stadium, 3 for 5 with two doubles and an RBI.

Starting point is 00:24:03 That's not shocking. Former players own this team. I don't know if other teams deal with it, but it is hilarious. When any sort of meaningful cardinal comes back or the Cardinals have to play, because they will beat the snout out of the Cardinals. It's just you can write it in pen that it's going to happen. Congratulations to Nathan Church, who did get called up from AAA Memphis. Cool moment for him to get called up and started.

Starting point is 00:24:31 O for four, though, on the day. He took the place of Victor Scott, who got placed on the IEL. The team, like as I said, they never did put Donnie or Contreras on the IL, so they just played shorthanded all weekend because they needed another challenge, I suppose. why not have the pitchers throw with their opposite arms in this series against the Marlins? That'll be fun. Let's see if we can really get things screwed up and goofy.

Starting point is 00:24:56 Newt leaves the game with muscle cramping on Sunday. I get it. The heat is brutal, but that's all I need is for him to go down again. I said this on MLB game night. Last night, it feels like the Cardinals have a 4A team out on the field right now. They're better than a AAA team. Not quite good enough to be a major league. league worthy team either. And because of this, they've lost five in a row. Might as well start

Starting point is 00:25:22 playing the golf trips for for October, man. This is, this is, this is it. You know, nothing about this team makes me believe they're going to turn it around anymore, especially with the injuries that they're dealing with. They're five and a half back in the wild card. And now I'm just hoping and, you know, if there's something to look forward to, it is watching some of these younger guys, hopefully gain more experience. and turning it, turn it into something good for next year. Mason, Wynn, Gorman, Walker, C. J.C. Burley, now Church, who was hitting very well at Memphis. Libby on the Mountain tonight, you want to see him be better than he has been.

Starting point is 00:26:03 Hopefully the fatigue or whatever he's going through right now. Hopefully it's better. Does it lead to something severe injury-wise? So got to be careful with him. He's on the mountain tonight against the Marlins, again, their young ace in the making. and Yuri Perez. He's very, very good. Maybe at some point later we see a JJ Weatherholt, who continues to destroy AAA pitching.

Starting point is 00:26:25 Jimmy Crooks would love to see him up. I don't need to see a whole lot of Pedro Pajas anymore. It's fun seeing Joe Alpozo come in and pinch it and stuff, but, you know, why not? I would like to see Jimmy Crooks get a shot. That would be cool. But just a really deflating weekend overall and deflating homestand overall,

Starting point is 00:26:44 which started with such promise when you win two of three against the Cubs, and it ends with a thud, losing two in a row to the Rockies, three in a row to the Yankees, and you have a three and six homestand. Like, it needed to be flipped for them to continue to be a part of the wild card conversation. As of right now, in my opinion, they're not. They're not. They got to show me, they've got to pull something out of their butts

Starting point is 00:27:09 to make me talk about that stuff again, because as of right now, don't want to. I don't want to. They don't deserve to. Thanks for making a Lockstone Cardinals, though. Your first listen every day, if you haven't already, give us a follow on X at L.O. underscore Cardinals and the JD Sports Radio. You can find us on TikTok and Instagram and Lockedong Cardinals, of course, on YouTube. Make sure you head on over to the channel if you're listening to the podcast version. Head on over to YouTube. Check it out and, you know, give us a like, give us subscribe. You'd appreciate it. It helps our love for the St. Louis Cardinals grow.

Starting point is 00:27:42 You guys are the best fans in baseball. We'll see you next time. Molocton Cardinals.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Playoff Talk Is DONE After New York Yankees Sweep

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