Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals Defense COLLAPSES, Jordan Walker POWERS Offensive Surge, Kyle Leahy SHINING

Starting point is 00:00:00 One extremely sloppy inning ends up sinking the Cardinals chances at a sweep. But what a statement made by this team with their series win over the Chicago Cups. 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 there, Cardinals fans. I'm J.D. Hafford.

Starting point is 00:00:30 And today's episode is brought to you by Fandul. The biggest stage of world soccer is here. Let there be goals on Fandall. Visit fandle.com to get started. Now, happy 4th of July. I hope you guys had an outstanding weekend. I hope you came back with all your digits. Didn't make any big mistakes there.

Starting point is 00:00:49 Got a lot to get to. A ton to get to on today's show. What a week it was for the Cardinals who had to go on the road and take on the NLE East Leading Braves. Then the Chicago Cubs, you blast the Braves on Thursday. You trounce Chicago on Friday. Jordan Walker is named an All-Star. The boys go out and take care of business on a very strange weather night at Wrigley on Saturday

Starting point is 00:01:12 that had both rain and fog delays. And then they went for the sweep on Sunday. Had a chance to do it, but ended up falling short in a 6 to 4 loss. So let's start there because the Cardinals, who looked pretty lifeless about a week ago, when they lost four straight games at home to the Diamondbacks and then to the Marlins, scored seven runs in four games, had won. three in a row and five of their last six and seemingly resurrected their playoff life in doing so. Like just when you thought they were falling apart and they were dead and done,

Starting point is 00:01:48 here they come again, which is fantastic. You know, watching them against Arizona and Miami, it had me questioning whether or not that maybe this team has run out of steam a little bit at the finish line of the first half of the season. So many young players that a lot of them have played this much baseball in this short amount of time. And I worried about that. I did it. But prove me wrong. They answered the bell at a major way. Two blowout wins, which we hadn't seen since, what, June 9th and 10th against the Mets. You had the game against Atlanta where you had the big seven run, seventh inning. Then you come

Starting point is 00:02:22 out and you pulverize the Cubs with a 17 run, 17 hit assault. Follow both of those games up with a three to nothing shutout win despite the travel, despite the weather. despite playing in enemy territory, the Cardinals were winning. It was awesome. It was amazing. How much fun was that to watch? And then he had a chance to really rip the Cubs' hearts out with a sweep at Wrigley. You had Libby on the mound coming off an outstanding start against the Braves.

Starting point is 00:02:53 So which Libby would we get? That was really the question. It's the question we have about every Matthew Livertor start. What's it going to look like? How bad is he going to be? How good is he going to be? Which inning is going to be the bad one? is he going to have the really bad inning in this way?

Starting point is 00:03:07 A lot of questions, okay? He's very inconsistent. We know this. And early on, it was like, oh, boy, it's the not so good version of Matthew Libbittor. You had, first off, the hit by PCA in the first inning, the lead off the game. Are you kidding me with that little squib spin, haruny type of hit? Like, what in the hell was that? Like, just seeing that.

Starting point is 00:03:28 You're like, all right, all right, baseball gods. They're going with the Cubs today. He starts the game with that. Literally one of the weakest hits you're ever going to see. And like I don't know. I don't watch every game of every team. But this seems to happen to the Cardinals so much that it drives me insane. And I'm not going to stop complaining about it.

Starting point is 00:03:50 The little weak-ass infield swinging butt hits, it feels like it happens to him at least twice a game. It's annoying. And of course, it's PCA, which makes it even more annoying. And then you know he's going to run. because Herrera is behind the plate and that's what he does. Steels second base off Libby and Herrera because everyone steals off. It is what it is. They know that they can run on him whenever they want.

Starting point is 00:04:14 Then you get a double by Alex Breggman in the right center gap, makes it one to nothing. He ends up walking Carson Kelly on two very questionable calls, which I posted about on X. I'm like, those two look pretty good called balls by the home plate umpire. It ends up hitting Michael Bush. Sackfly makes it two to nothing. and you're in a hole and you're like, all right, is Libby going to get through three innings of this one? But Libby settles in, look pretty good the rest of the way. Shutting out the Cubs throughout the next four innings.

Starting point is 00:04:46 And in the top of the sixth inning, you get the Cardinals offense finally answering the bell. They had a lot of chances early on, especially that second inning where they ended up with the bases loaded, but they couldn't get anything across. And it takes the All-Star. It takes the All-Star to answer. the bell, which he does, Jordan Walker, three-run blast into the left field bleachers to make it three to two. And we're thinking, okay, all right, maybe we're going to pull this one out. This will be cool. But unfortunately, that was short-lived because the dreaded lead-off walk,

Starting point is 00:05:21 Libby walks the lead-off guy in the bottom of the sixth inning, and it starts a chain of events that would lead to the Cubs scoring four runs on just two hits. Now, this defense has been as good is anybody all season long. So it's hard to really complain about things when something finally doesn't go our way defensively. But I'm going to anyway. Because third base has been a bit of a question mark since Nolan Gorman went down. Now, how many of us thought that would be the thing that we miss most about Nolan Gorman is that his defense at third base was pretty good. You can trust him over there at third base. Blaze Jordan came up, got off to a hot start, both offensively and defensively,

Starting point is 00:06:01 but we've seen his limitations at the hot corner recently. So Jose Fermin was in there on Sunday. He's been playing pretty well, super utility guy for Ali. And they're like, all right, let's see what you can do over at third base. After the walk and then a base hit, Matt Sonson comes in.

Starting point is 00:06:20 And the first bitch he gives up is a base at the right field, which ties the game at three. He gets Ian Hap to pop out. And then what appears to be the ending-ending-grounder over to the third baseman, Jose Vermeen, should have ended it. Routine, 5, 4, 3, double play. Let's get in. Let's get out. We're done.

Starting point is 00:06:40 And Vermean's throw to second base sales wide and goes into right field. And I remember on one of the throws that he had earlier in the game, and like his arm angle was, like, dipping way low when he threw it over there to first base. I was like, why is he throwing it all weird like that? Like I understand the three-quarter throw from the infield. Like a lot of us do that, like infielders. But like he was like, it was almost underhand spinning it. It was weird. And he did it again on this particular throw.

Starting point is 00:07:11 And it sailed wide right into the outfield. So that made it four to three. Then you get a sack fly makes it five to three. Jordan Walker decides not to throw it to home play. He doesn't think he's going to get that guy. But maybe he can sneakily get the guy at third base, maybe not hustling quite as well. makes a strong throw, but it short hops for me and gets by them. Run number six comes in.

Starting point is 00:07:34 And that's all the Cubs would need. Four runs, two hits, two errors, and a walk. Turns a three to two lead into a six to three deficit. And you just can't do that against good teams or any teams, really, and expect to win. It's not going to happen. Offins can't get much going after that when they end up falling in the game six to four. I kind of felt bad for Matt Svanson, who allowed both inherits. and runners to score gave up the final two runs of the inning as well. But they weren't really

Starting point is 00:08:03 his fault. Like he got the ground ball. I know that first hit that scored the tying run. I mean, it's the first pitch of the game. Like trying to get one over, get ahead of the hitter, and they got a base hit on it. It's going to happen. But defense completely falling apart behind him. I mean, what do you want him to do? He did his job. Defense didn't do theirs. It sucks. I felt bad responsive. I felt bad. Libby command issues early. on settled in was impressed what he did you know he didn't let things get completely out of hand he was able to rebound after that tough first inning walks two hits three dudes carlos hit four batters on the day none of them intentional but you got to pitch guys inside and uh you know liby was having control

Starting point is 00:08:47 issues and he tagged three dudes uh offensively jordan walker he was your star drove in all four runs has eight rb i's in his last four games he also got the all-star not as well So we're going to talk about more positive things than the loss on Sunday, which was a bummer, but you won the series. So you got to feel good about that. You win the first two series of this 14-game stretch. You beat the Braves. You beat the Cubs. Mission accomplished, right?

Starting point is 00:09:11 You go four and two. So you can't be too upset. And then you get the all-star nod for Jordan Walker, which obviously was well-deserved. So we're going to talk about him. Coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. A big thank you to our friends at Amazon for this limited break, this back-to-school season. spend less on your kids with Amazon. Now, we all know how crazy the back-to-school shopping experience can be. When the school says, hi, your child needs a calculator or headphones, tablet for class,

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Starting point is 00:10:30 shop back to school at Amazon and spend less on your kids. Thank you again for making Lockdown, Cardinals for first listen of the day. Thank you for making Lockdown on the number one sports podcast network. What a season it has been for Big Number 18, Jordan Walker. Following Sunday's game, he is now batting 292 with 20 home run, 67 RBIs, which is tied for the major league lead with Yorna Alvarez, who some say might be the greatest hitter on the planet. He's top 10 in the National League in slugging and OPS.

Starting point is 00:11:06 It's got 11 stolen bases. And as cool as all that is offensively, which I love. I do. I think a lot of fans do that he has always had that potential and ability to be the middle of the order slugger that the Cardinals envisioned he was going to be. But the fact that he has now become a pretty solid right fielder is quite the bonus. Because we saw him early on in his career struggling to figure out how to play the outfield. So tip of the cap to guys like John Jay and the coaching staff for working with him. Obviously, Jordan working super hard to become a better outfielder.

Starting point is 00:11:43 And I know we made the throwing error on Sunday. I get that. But he's plus five defensive runs saved, which is fourth best among right fielder's and all of baseball. The outs above averages at minus four, but he's also tied with Boston's Willier-Abray you for the most assists of any right-fielder with eight, which is second among all outfielders in baseball. Only Andy Pahas from the Dodgers has more. Now, the struggles for Jordan, well documented.

Starting point is 00:12:09 If you're a Cardinal fan, if you're an everydayer of this show, you know. On top it's been for Jordan. One of the most talented prospects in the league while coming up after getting drafted as a third baseman, mind you, in the first round and pick number 21 in 2020. That draft has been quite fruitful for the Cardinals. I don't know if you keep it scored home, but you got Walker, and then you got Mason when, and you got Alec Burleson. not bad all-star gold Glover silver slugger and three of your first four picks where are you teen kids it's

Starting point is 00:12:39 it's your turn to step up uh he's on the miners trying to figure it out so but not too shab not too shabby when you hit like that on three out of four that that's that's striking gold in the MLB draft uh by 2022 Jordan is the cardinal's top prospect by 2023 he's a top five prospect in all of baseball sky's the limit right cardinals have them on the opening day roster as a 21-year-old in the 20-23 season, has a 12-game hitting streak out of the game, but the Cardinals send him down near the end of April, despite hitting 274 with two dingers and 11 RBI.

Starting point is 00:13:14 Is he want to work him to work on getting more lift on the ball? They think it's got to be a problem if he's going to keep doing it the way he's doing it. Comes back in June and considering he's 21 and learning to play outfield of the big league level. He's played 117 games and ends up hitting 276 with 16 dingers, 51 ribbyes, 113 OPS plus. Pretty good start at the age of 21 to your big league career. But things went south after that. For whatever reason, not entirely sure of what exactly it was that they brought on the struggles for Jordan Walker.

Starting point is 00:13:51 Is it physical? Was it mental? Was it a little bit of everything? A little too much, too fast. That's a lot to put on a young man's plate. but the next two seasons were really, really tough. Get sent down at the end of April next season after struggling, comes back, struggles again, gets sent back down, comes back again in August,

Starting point is 00:14:11 hits just 201 with five home runs, 20 ribbies, and 51 games. Last year, 11 games, 21-15 average, six home runs, 41 ribbies, dealt with a wrist injury, dealt with appendicitis. And from August to the end of the season, hits just 191 with 49 strikeouts in 43 games. And it got a lot of people wondering whether or not, and Walker was going to be a bust or not. Should, I mean, there was a lot of comments.

Starting point is 00:14:36 Like, trade him while they still got some value. He's never going to be any good. The Cardinals have screwed him up. Like, it was kind of like Dylan Carlson deja vu all over again. Came up pretty good right away. Some injuries, struggles. Turns out to not be a very good ballplay anymore. For whatever reason, Dylan Carlson didn't work out.

Starting point is 00:14:57 He's had multiple chances to other places. So it wasn't just the Carls. didn't work in Tampa, didn't work in Baltimore. He's been in, I think he was even a cub at one point, but didn't work out. All right. They didn't want that to happen. The Cardinals made it very clear in this offseason that one of the top priorities, if not priority, number one, was for Ali and the organization to get Jordan Walker back to being the elite hitter

Starting point is 00:15:27 that we thought he could be when he first came up in 2023. And holy crap, as that worked out well. Jordan has been one of the most productive hitters in the game. And deservedly, he made his first All-Star game. And no, it wasn't the fans or the players vote. They got them in, which is what it is. You know, name recognition goes a long way when it comes to the All-Star games. Also, size of your market.

Starting point is 00:15:55 If all of Cardinal Nation is not voting every single day, cities like L.A., New York, these other players, they're going to beat you in the votes. It just is what it is. So no fan, no player vote, but he is going to get to Philadelphia. They call it the commissioners vote, I guess. And so he deserves there. And he's going to represent the Cardinals of Philadelphia for the game. And here's exactly what it sounded like when Jordan Walker found out he was going to be an all-star, this audio courtesy of the St. Louis Carth. In this room, this game is hard. And there's a ton of ups and downs. and, I mean, twists and turns in this game.

Starting point is 00:16:33 And so many times where we get in a place where we doubt ourselves, this is why this one's super special. This all-star selection, Jaywalk, isn't about, in my opinion, three months of production, brother. This is about three years of perseverance, and you've done a hell of a job. This whole entire room has seen this dude get criticized, sent down. A ton of people doubting whether you will.

Starting point is 00:17:00 would ever become the player that you're becoming right now. And through that entire process, you have stayed true to yourself. That's special. Last week we talked about, man, just confidence you borrow from results, disappear with the results. But when you draw it from who you're becoming, nobody can take that from you, dude. And this is a great example of that.

Starting point is 00:17:21 So be proud of also the guys in this room because a lot of these boys had your back through that process. And today we get to congratulate you for being an all-star. All have my bag every step of the way. Reach out to me when I really needed it at the bottom at the bottom. But, I mean, I don't even know what to say, man. It's truly an honor and you are with me the whole way through. So it means a lot.

Starting point is 00:17:47 I mean, I'm almost in tears right now because you all know how hard it was for me for sure these past few years. So, I mean, it means the most I can celebrate it with you all. So I appreciate you all. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Love it. Pretty cool stuff.

Starting point is 00:18:06 Pretty cool stuff. Derek Gould at STLt Today.com wrote that several players said knowing the struggles Walker went through from first round picks that demoted as a rookie to searching for his swing this offseason to possibly not making the team this spring brought tears to their eyes as well. You can tell these guys all care about each other. And they know that this job isn't easy. You know, it's not easy to go in day in and day out, get criticized every day. Every time you have a bad day, you get destroyed.

Starting point is 00:18:33 pretend you have a good day. Hey, we love you, but you still suck the other day. Like, it's not easy. Some more nuggets from gold. He is the Cardinals first outfielder chosen for the All-Star game since Matt Holiday and the first round pick by the team to be an All-Star since Michael Waka in that same summer. Walker is the first homegrown outfielder to represent the Cardinals since Albert Pooholz was playing left field in 2003. Ray Langford was the Cardinals last homegrown full-time outfielder to go to the All-Star game did it in 1997, five years before Walker. was even born. Walker is the youngest Cardinals' All-Star position players since Albert Huolz. He also joins Ted Simmons and Gary Templeton as the third first round pick position players to

Starting point is 00:19:13 eventually represent the team in the All-Star game. Walker was selected 21st overall in 2020. Now, do I think Walker should be the only Cardinal there? We know Ollie's going as coach, so we won't be alone. But do I also think Alec Berlson, J.J. Weatherholt or Riley O'Brien, should be there? Absolutely. Absolutely, I do. And maybe one of them ends up getting to go. especially Burley and JJ. I know Riley's had his struggle. Still, he's right up there with the league leaders and saved. So hard to ignore that.

Starting point is 00:19:40 But at the same time, Burley with his RBI's, JJ, you know, who is probably going to win the NL rookie of the year, barring a collapse in the second half here. But, you know, you saw the telecast yesterday talking about all the different war stats, that how good he's been defensively, offensively. I mean, there's just a lot of talent in the National League. in general. So it's hard to get you get these guys on the team. And pound for pound, they're two of the best players of their positions, but the name recognition, obviously, is not there for either one of them just yet, just yet. So I'm not upset about it by any means.

Starting point is 00:20:18 There's just a lot of good players in the National League. So, but you keep doing what you're doing, you'll get there. One guy who's been pitching like an All-Star recently has been Kyle Leahy. We're going to talk about him next on Locked on Cardinals. The biggest stage of world soccer is here in every match feels like it has the potential for a memorable moment. One goal can completely change the energy of a game. It can shift momentum and alter the outcome in an instant. Not just goals, too. Red cards can also have that effect.

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Starting point is 00:21:28 The tension starts to build up. The crowd gets into it. We've all seen those matches where it's scoreless for a while, like the game of the internet against France. 0-0, and it took a penalty shot to get a winner in that one. So, you know, one goal completely flips the game. Suddenly, everyone's pressing. Like I said, crowd comes to live. Final 20 minutes becomes much watch television.

Starting point is 00:21:49 It's awesome watching last night's game. Who was it? It was Mexico and England. Like, England was down a guy, just like the U.S. was in their last game. And Mexico was pressing the whole time. And it was like, oh, my gosh, they're going to tie it. It just didn't happen. And now you get the benefit, though, from every.

Starting point is 00:22:05 goal that is scored. USA versus Belgium tonight. The whole nation's going to be watching as the international team tries to move on and we'll have their leading goal score, Fallorand Balogon in the lineup. Like the red card he got, FIFA said, you're not suspended. So good news, good news for Fuller and Balligan. So from the opening whistle to the final kick, let there be goals on Fandall. Visit fandle.com to get started out. Running a business shouldn't feel like you're trying to connect a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together. One app for accounting, another for inventory, another for sales. Somehow, none of them talk to each other.

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Starting point is 00:23:32 it was a coordinated effort across the entire organization to revamp the player development, add more coaches, allow the younger players to take over and succeed. And so far, it's working. Great organizations win because operations matter. And that's why you should get O-D-O-D.com slash locked-on. Try for free today at O-D-O-O-O-com slash locked-on. That's O-D-O-O-O-O-O-com slash locked-on. Thanks again for making Locked on Cardinals for the first list of the day.

Starting point is 00:24:02 Thank you for making Lockdown on the number one sports podcast network. For a third straight game, Kyle Leahy took the ball, and held his opponent in check on Saturday. Five innings, no runs, three hits, two walks, six strikeouts. He does it on 77 pitches. And you can knock him and continue to knock the Cardinals for not going deeper into games with some of their starters if you want. But I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been looking around the league and watching other teams who are dealing with a lot of pitching injuries, shoulders, elbows, fatigue. They're dropping like flies across the league.

Starting point is 00:24:36 And here you got our St. Louis Cardinals who are being a little extra cautious with their guys. The only guy they let to throw a lot of pitches in a game, really, was Dustin May. And what happened? He started to feel the effects in his back. All right? So the Cardinals are being a little extra cautious. They keep guys between 75 and 90 pitches for the most part, but their guys are staying healthy. Oh, and they're winning, by the way, too. The Cardinals, yeah, you notice that still in the third wildcard spot.

Starting point is 00:25:08 They're doing a pretty good job. Leahy's evolution into a solid piece of the rotation. It's taking some time as he transitioned from reliever to starter. First six starts, he goes three and three ERA 5.5 to 32, 38 hits against 11 walks, 16, 18 runs against just 22 strikeouts, to 29 in the third inning. So not great, Bob. Then it may, things were better.

Starting point is 00:25:30 Alapha, five starts, 2 and 0, ERA at 2.8, 26 hits against, It's 11 walks still there, but cuts the home runs down to two. Just eight runs against his strikeouts go up to 24. Does that in one last start. So 24 and 25 and two-thirds innings so much better, right? Then the first three starts of June. We come back down a little bit, kind of like a roller coaster. More like April here.

Starting point is 00:25:53 Oh, and one record. ERA is at six. 20 hits against four walks, which is good, knock those down. Only one home run, but 10 earned runs in just 15 innings with 13 strikeouts. seemingly anything hit against them would do damage. In that stretch right there, teams were batting 404 on balls and play. So anytime they put the ball in play, it seemed like it was finding a hole. Maybe it's a little bit of bad luck in those three games,

Starting point is 00:26:19 but that's crazy that a 404 batting average, which is a batting average on balls and play. That's nuts. But the last three starts, he's been outstanding. 2-0, ERA 0.5-5. Just eight hits against, no home run, seven walks, which is a little high, obviously, in three starts, but it feels like that's part of his game. 14 strikeouts, though, one run against, 16 in the third innings. Saturday night, he was using the slider more than anything, but it was a pretty steady mix throughout. 17 sliders, 14 fastballs, 13 sinkers, curve and change through 12 of those each, sweeper at nine.

Starting point is 00:27:00 That's what we call pitching these days. It's not just fastball, slider, and like a splitter, and let's see if we can throw it past people. Kyle Leahy is pitching. Previous game against the Marlins, gave up one run over five innings. It was more fastballs than that one, 32 percent, to be exact. Then it went change-up, curveball, slider, sweep, or sinker. He throws six and a third shot out of innings against the debacks, a game that the Cardinals would ultimately lose, but not because of him.

Starting point is 00:27:25 He didn't do anything wrong. In that game, it was fastball, which is normally the pitch that you're going to throw the most. fastball, slider, sweeper, sinker, change curve. Now, you're always going to have your main pitches, but to see him constantly switching it up and finding success in different ways against different opponents, that's very encouraging. Again, that is what we call pitching, not throwing, but pitching. And a lot of the Cardinals have to be pitchers because they don't possess the 98, 99, 100 mile an hour fastball that you can zip past people. They don't have a lot of swing and mix, which is something that they're working on as an organization.

Starting point is 00:28:04 But the guys they got in there right now, most of them are pitched contact dudes. And you have to do what they're doing. You have to switch it up. You got to mix, mix speeds, mix pitches, moving around the zone. That's pitching. That's the art of pitching. Now, does this mean that since he's had these three games that he's figured it all out and is going to be that reliable guy the rest of the year? History says no.

Starting point is 00:28:28 history says no he'll regress again for a couple of starts at some point i'm sure but the ability to take what's going on learn from it rebound has kind of been the theme of the cardals roster and season so far and kylee he is a prime example of a guy that's getting a chance to be a starter now work through issues when he's got him but isn't immediately punted to the side because of these issues they want him to succeed. And Kyle Leahy's not some young guy either, by the way. I know when we think about him, we're like, oh, gosh, like Kyle Leahy, you know, he's only been on the club for a couple of years, you know, so what is he, 23, 24, no, he's not. Kyle Leahy, I believe, I just want to make job double checking, but I believe Kyle Leahy is 29 years old. Is he not? Let me double check here.

Starting point is 00:29:20 Let me double check here. Yeah, he's 29 years old, born in 97 in Boulder, Colorado. So this is something that, you know, they wanted to succeed. And I don't know if he's got ever going to make a fixture, Carmel's rotation in the future moving forward. But to get production out of him now at his age 29 season, I think he's doing a pretty good job. Doing a pretty good job. So I hope he keeps it going. You know, I hope he's learned a lot. And so far, last three games, we've seen it.

Starting point is 00:29:53 Anytime this team gets knocked down, though, when we talk about, you know, rebounding from things, this team, just in general, anytime they get knocked down, they seem to pick themselves up and fight back. Tough loss for, like, in the series against the Marlins. Wasn't good. They look bad. They go and beat the Braves and the Cubs on the road. Four and two to start this 14 game stretch, which now features five games in four days

Starting point is 00:30:17 against the first place Brewers, which sucks. But it's a chance to see what you've got. got. You know, the, the brewers, I think they're one and four against the brewers so far this year, which is, which is rough. But they're going to have five and four against them. And then you get three more against the Braves before the All-Star break. I said they needed to go 500 or better to be considered a legit playoff contender. And that means at this point, because of the good four-and-two start, they would need to win four of the next 10, which I certainly think is feasible. But after you go four-and-two, don't you just want more? Now you want more. You know, game one is tonight at Bush.

Starting point is 00:30:52 Dustin May will be on the hill for the Cardinals. He's trying to bounce back from back to back, fugly performances and also getting hit by a line driving the ankle, which did not look like it felt very good. But the fact that he didn't go on the IEL and is ready to go in his next start is pretty encouraging. I did not think that was going to happen. But like I said, they've struggled against the Brewers, as most teams do.

Starting point is 00:31:14 And this is a chance to get them back at Bush Stadium and see what you can do against them. Can they rise to the occasion once again? couldn't they win this series? Can they take three of five and get a winning record against them just right here? Now, I have no dreams or aspirations that they're going to catch the brewers in the division. I think that's probably already done, but they've got to keep winning to stay pace with the Cubs and in the wild card. And I know the Braves aren't playing great right now, but you can't drop four or five to the brewers here and feel good about yourself. Like that's just going to really zap some of the energy they've just gotten in the momentum from beating the Braves and the Cubs.

Starting point is 00:31:54 So we'll see what they got. You know, it's hard to doubt this team. They've been proving us wrong all year long. Why wouldn't they prove us wrong again? Can't make the mistakes you did on Sunday. That's for sure if you want to beat Milwaukee. Thanks for making Locktown Cardinals for first listen every day. If you haven't already, give us a follow on Axadella underscore Cardinals, TikTok, Instagram, and Lockdown Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:32:11 Like subscribe on YouTube and help our channel and love for the Cardinals grow. We're making that push for 15,000 subscribers. need your help to get there. For your second listen, find me all night, locked on MLB game night, every game every night until the World Series champion is crowned.

Starting point is 00:32:25 You get local analysis on a national scale, find MLB game night on locked on MLB on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. Happy Fourth of July. Hope you had a great weekend, and hope you enjoyed the series wins over the Braves and the Cubs. Let's get after them, Brewers next.

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