Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals Rally, Dustin May DELIVERS Stellar Outing Against Boston!

Starting point is 00:00:00 There he is. The Cardinals finally got a glimpse of the version of Dustin May they were hoping for in their win over the Boston Red Sox. 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 Jadden. And on today's show. We're going to check in with our friends down at Memphis. They had a crazy inning on Friday that I want to tell you about. We've also got the three stars from Friday night. big league game and their win over Boston, but we're going to start with what we saw in this game, which was a total team effort. We saw it at work and jumping right into what helped get this team to a point in the game where they still had a chance to win was starter Dustin May. Now, Dustin May, big red, as he's known as, has had about as bad of a start to his season as you could ask for. The only way it would have been any worse is if he had gotten injured.

Starting point is 00:01:00 And it wasn't for a lack of trying. He's now been hit by at least two ground, balls up to metal or line drives like like they're trying they're trying but haven't been able to knock him out yet which is great um but the numbers he was putting up before friday night's game you know they were bad the first two starts complete disasters got pummeled by both the tampa bay race and the Detroit tigers to the tune of 13 runs on 17 hits two home runs three walks all of that in just seven and a third innings not good 15.95 er a rate an opponent batting average of close to 500. Yeah, not good. The Cardo's decided not to spend a whole lot of money this offseason on free agents at all. So when the one guy that they did take a chance on as far as

Starting point is 00:01:45 starting rotation goes and decided to fork over a little bit of dough at 12.5 million, when he comes out of the gate like this, it's going to get people talking and not in a good way either. Even after his last start, Dustin May seemed like he was at a loss for words as to what was going on. What were the problems? Was it mechanics? Was he tipping pitches? He didn't seem to know, but he was eager to get into the lab with Dusty Blake and company and figure it out. I don't know if he was tipping pitches, but I could tell you that from what I've seen, it was control, his inability to live on the edges was certainly an issue. You know, when they put that little white box up on TV for you to see the strike zone. And when you see a pitcher hitting those

Starting point is 00:02:30 lines on that box, that's a good thing. That's the ultimate goal. That's where you want to pitch. That's where you want to live. And if you're getting too much of the space on the inside of those particular lines, big league hitters are eventually going to hit the ball and they're going to hit it hard. And that was the biggest issue. Watching those first two starts, he was just missing over the heart of the plate way too much. Whether it was up or down in the zone irrelevant. It was always like kind of center of the plate. And just commiser. man in general just seemed to be an issue. He was still searching for it. Release point maybe was an issue. I'm not sure. But Friday night,

Starting point is 00:03:07 Dustin May's command night and day difference, right? And it showed in the box score. Six innings, two runs. Only one of those are earned runs. Four hits, four punchies, no walks, hit a guy, but that happens. You know, his stuff moves so much that, you know, things get so nasty with the breaking balls that I expect that to happen from time to time. He hit a left-handed hitter in the back foot because the ball just just got so much movement on it. And, you know, sure he was facing his former team. And there's always that added incentive to go up against somebody else you played for. And yes, the Red Sox have not been a very good offensive team so far this season.

Starting point is 00:03:51 Many thought they were going to be much better than this. And the early going has been rough. But you can't control how good or bad the team is that you're facing. you can only control what you're doing. Friday, Dustin May was in complete control. He was very good and gave us all a glimpse into what he can be when he's got his ish together. Getting ahead and counts is key for every pitcher.

Starting point is 00:04:13 May was able to do that. 13 of 21st pitches for strikes. He also kept the ball out of the air, kept it on the ground with that nasty sinker that he has there in his arsenal. He induced eight ground ball outs and a 32% called strike with free. all of that is what you're looking for when it comes to Dustin May. Those are important numbers, keeping the ball down, keeping it in the yard, and getting the swing and miss,

Starting point is 00:04:38 which is something that, you know, the cartels have been searching for. And we're hoping that they could find with Dustin May. Now he's not a guy that's going to probably put up eight, nine strikeout games for you very often. But a lot of weak contact has got so much movement, great velo. After the game, he spoke with the media, said, you know, I needed that bad. I've definitely been scrambling, trying to figure some stuff out. Having those two outings in a row was definitely not good for the thought process going

Starting point is 00:05:05 forward, but I'm definitely glad to have a good one. He got through six innings on just 75 pitches, which was certainly impressive. Many were wondering if he'd come out for the seventh inning. I was one of them. I was like, well, 75 pitches. Like, are they going to stretch him and see if he can do it? But apparently the reason why they pulled the plug on that was because of the lengthy bottom of the sixth inning that.

Starting point is 00:05:27 the Cardinals had at the plate. So I'll I decided to go to the bullfin for the final three frames instead. And you know how when you go to, let's say a driving range for my golfers out there and you crush one? And you're like, I'm going to walk away. I want to end on a good one. Kind of what I felt happened on Friday night. He'd pitch so well.

Starting point is 00:05:49 He got you your six innings. You had the day off on Thursday so everyone's fresh. It made sense to me. End on a good note. And after the game, Ali addressed that saying, you know, it was a really good start for him. And there's so much going into that one as far as just letting him see that next inning. You want him walking off the mound feeling good about himself. So confidence, obviously something that was very important here.

Starting point is 00:06:12 Ali also said he's going to be on short arrest next time. Hasn't gone seven in a while. A lot played into it. But I'm glad he was able to give us what he did today and feel good about his outing. So a great start for Dustin May, something that was sorely needed. for him personally for this fan base. He was like, oh, gosh, here we go. We paid money and that's who we spent it on.

Starting point is 00:06:35 Was this scrub? You don't have to say that anymore because I had a feeling better days were ahead. I've seen Dustin May pitch for years now. And most of the time I come away impressed and Friday night, he impressed me once again. So something for May to build off of. But the win itself was a total team effort on both sides. Yeah, the pitching and the defense, which were great,

Starting point is 00:06:55 the offense came through when it needed to. But it wasn't the normal names that were doing the damage. They drove in the run. So we'll get into our stars of the game coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. It's tax time, but for a lot of us, the old way of doing taxes is a lot, trying to book an appointment. That's not the most convenient thing, sitting in a waiting room with a stack of papers, emailing back and forth and wondering if they really get your situation. But this year, you're going to get a major upgrade.

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Starting point is 00:08:16 Your first listen of the day, thank you for making Lockdown on the number one sports podcast network. You know, baseball is finally bagging to celebrate. We're giving you a full month of the everydayer club for free. Go to Lockdown, S-Cardinals. That supercast.com. Use the code finally. F-I-N-A-L-L-L-Y. You'll unlock every episode.

Starting point is 00:08:32 add free and get access to our private listener group chat. Tap the link of the show notes and use code finally to claim your free month. All right, three stars of the game. Dustin May is clearly your top guy with that bounce back performance. Lowered his ERA from that ghastly spot he was at almost 16, down to still a rather ugly 9.45 by, hey, baby steps, baby steps. We're staying positive. You get consistent with the pitch placement from Dustin May,

Starting point is 00:09:00 a couple more decent outings and you'll see those numbers even out to a more respectable level. But let's jump over to the offense for a moment here where the Cardinals got RBIs from three different guys on Friday night. None of them are the dudes that you are expecting to see drive people in. It wasn't Jordan Walker. It wasn't Alec Berlinson. It wasn't Yvonne Herrera. Nope. Instead, you had the murderer's row of Victor Scott the 2nd, Thomas OJC, and Jose Fermin.

Starting point is 00:09:28 And each of them did it in key spots. and they did it with simple baseball. You know, it wasn't like this, you know, a three run jack or something just outstanding. It was like, oh, my gosh, what an amazing play. It wasn't. They all did it with basic fundamental baseball. So I'm going to lump them all into one big pile here for my number two stars of the game. Victor gets the sack fly in the bottom of the second inning.

Starting point is 00:09:55 Cardinals had loaded the bases with nobody out. So a huge spot. Pedro Pahas comes up. and he strikes out, which I know we've got so many people who are like, dude, get him out of here. We don't want to see this anymore. But now you've got the bases loaded still, one out. And the last thing he wants to double play, right? That's what you fear is going to happen next.

Starting point is 00:10:14 Double play, pop up on the end field, something, something, and the double play, because it's Victor Scott coming to plate odds, are there, they're not going to turn two on that guy. But still, there's a threat of it. But he gets the job done, puts the ball in the air, fly ball to left field, he scores, who are asked to make it one to nothing. He also made in this game one of the best throws I think I've ever seen him make. Didn't even get the guy out, but it was an outstanding throw from center field. Did that in the eighth inning.

Starting point is 00:10:42 Didn't get the guy at third, but like that was awesome. Like I was like, oh my gosh, he might get him. Thomas O.J.C. brings in the second run in the fifth inning after he came in for Mason Wynn, who ended up leaving the game with a left leg contusion after he got hit by a pitch. Apparently he was wrapped up post game, but wasn't overly concerned about it. But, you know, Mason's getting beat up again. That lower, this lower half is just having a tough time. The knee last year.

Starting point is 00:11:11 And then this year he's got the hip thing going on. And now he's getting hit by pitches. He's got a contusion down there. So we got to keep our boy healthy. But anyway, so he leaves the game after getting by a pitch. That was in the third inning with one out. Jordan Walker, singles ended up with two hits on the night. No home run.

Starting point is 00:11:28 runs, but a couple of knocks and a run scored. So good stuff from Jordan. Urias walks, and it was the birthday boy, Thomas O'JC. who was turning 24 on Friday. Singles the left field to score Walker from second. By the way, so, you know, watching Walker run because he's on base a lot more now and you're seeing him run a whole lot more, did you realize that Jordan Walker, which I've always told you was super fast?

Starting point is 00:11:51 Like, you just don't realize it because he's so big. 94th percentile in sprint speed now. 94th percentile in sprint speed. The dude is six, seven. And it paid off here. Ties the game up at two. He's able to score from second base on a base at the left field. Now it's first and second.

Starting point is 00:12:10 You got Jose Fermina at the play. This guy's barely seen any action all season. So to see him come up in a situation and come through is awesome. You know, to have everybody kind of chipping in when they get a chance. That was cool. Huge play. Key Wild pitch actually was one. but got us to that point because now you're at first and second after the RBI single by C.

Starting point is 00:12:32 J.C. and they uncork a wild pitch, which moves the runners up to second and third. For Meein gets the sack fly to left and make it three to two. Again, none of this is considered exciting baseball, but it's excellent fundamental baseball. I think Chip Carey said ABC baseball by the Cardos. It's exactly what it was. Nothing special. Just getting your job done. Do your job.

Starting point is 00:12:53 And that's what they were able to do. and that's how they got the lead three to two. And that's what good teams do. They come through when they need to. When you have an offense that is not stacked top to bottom with sluggers, you got to find a way to create offense. One of the Cardinals, ways that the Cardinals have been doing this so far this year is by taking a lot of walks.

Starting point is 00:13:14 It's been huge. You get on base any way you can, right? Walks are as good as a hit. After six more base on balls on Friday night, they down got 59 on the season, which is tied for fifth. most in all of baseball. They've only struck out 108 times, which is the seventh lowest amount in the league. Get them on, get them over, get them in. This team's doing it. They kind of stunk in

Starting point is 00:13:38 those situations on Friday, if we're being honest, two for 13 with runners in scoring position. They left 12 men on base, so they should have been able to do a whole lot more damage against Boston, but they let them hang around. So you don't want to do that too often. Good teams are going to burn you. When you let them hang around like that, they'll find way. ways to get those runs on you instead and turn those Ws into L's. But luckily Boston isn't hitting well at the moment. So it worked out for the Cardinals. Final start of the game, I'm going with Jojo Romero, guys.

Starting point is 00:14:07 That eighth inning could have turned out to be a killer. Lead off double to right. Say down Raphael, it slaps one down the line in the right field. Lead off double, great speed. Duran comes up next. He lines out to Victor Scott and Center, which is when he made that awesome throw by Rafael's speed so good. He was able to sneak in at third base. Jojo then hits Caleb Durbin to make it first and third. And you're like, oh boy. And then he falls

Starting point is 00:14:34 behind Yoshita 2 and O. And you're like, oh, gosh, here we go. And this was kind of the moment where the game was teetering. What was going to happen? Is Jojo going to be able to escape this? Clearly didn't have his best stuff. But can he reach back and find something and get out of this? but he gets the borderline strike, which pulls it to two and one. And then he comes all the way back to get Yoshita looking on that nasty slider for out number two. Yoshita just frozen in the box. And then he gets Wilson Contrares to fly out to deep right center to end the threat. Hell of a Houdini moment by Jojo, just not letting that tying run score after a lead off double.

Starting point is 00:15:12 He's been awesome this year. Anything you've wanted from Jojo, he's giving it to you. Seven appearances, seven and two thirds innings. No runs, five hits, five K's opponents hitting just 185 against him. beautiful job by the great Jojo Romero. Can we call him that? Is that like his magician name, Jojo the Great? Sounds good.

Starting point is 00:15:30 Shout out to Ryan Stannick, the other free agent signing other than May that has not been all that good. Not the best beginnings to his Cardinals career, but he's able to blast through that seventh inning. You pull Dustin May, who's pitching so well, he comes in and you're like, oh, boy, all right. He's been a little shaky. Goes right through the Boston Red So. 10 pitches is all it took him to get the three outs. He strikes out the last guy, piss pump. You know, I do love the energy of Stannick.

Starting point is 00:15:59 And I hope we, I feel like him settling into that seventh inning roll, it's going to be a good spot for him. And then Riley O'Brien, nails down his fourth save of the season with two groundouts and a strikeout to end it. Another comeback victory for the Cardinals. They're sixth of the season. The team's now four and oh in one run games. Three of those come in extra innings.

Starting point is 00:16:17 They're winning the tough games. It is very, very scary to walk that thin line every single night. It is very stressful for everyone involved, including us as the fans. But so far, the results are coming out in favor of the Cardinals who are now eight and five. They're tied for first in the NL Central with Milwaukee and Pittsburgh and tied for the third best record in all a major league baseball. Only two other teams have nine wins right now. It just kind of shows you the parody right now going on in the league.

Starting point is 00:16:47 So it's been great. It's been fun to watch, and I hope you've been enjoying it as well. Up next, we'll have a preview of game two on Saturday night. Plus, we'll check in on our boys in the minors because Memphis had a wild game and one crazy inning. We're going to talk about it coming up next on Locked on Cardinals. Workplace chaos, deadline stacking up inbox. It's overflowing in the one position you still got to fill. Guess what?

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Starting point is 00:18:20 This is a job for Indeed. Sponsored jobs. Thanks for making a lockdown cardals. You first list another day. Thank you for making it locked on the number one sports podcast network. To the farm we go where the Memphis Redbirds come up just a bit short. And their comeback attempt, they lose 9 to 8 extra innings to Charlotte, down 7 to nothing at one point. And we know the offense has been crazy for Memphis.

Starting point is 00:18:52 Four home runs in one inning. Four home runs in one inning to come back and tie it. Joshua Baez. Colton Ledbetter, Ramon Mendoza, Blaze Jordan, all leave the yard, Baez and Ledbetter. Those were their first home runs of the season. So good to see them get out the Schneide. Baez, Jordan Mendoza and our buddy Nelson Velasquez.

Starting point is 00:19:13 Nelly posted a multi-hit effort. All of those guys did, but end up losing this one. Starter Bruce Zimmerman, the veteran left-hander who's down there, excellent start. Five innings, two runs, seven-Ks, but Bolton got beat up a little bit. Skyler Hales gets left. it up for four runs in two-thirds of an inning. Gerson Moreno gives up a couple. Ryan Fernandez had the only clean inning or the only clean, I should say, appearance in the game. Didn't

Starting point is 00:19:40 give up anything. Struck out a couple. Still hasn't a lot of run in six appearances. And then old friend Chris Roycroft went an inning in two-thirds, gives up the game winning single. But, you know, the guy started on second. They moved him over to third. And then everybody said, ended up winning the game. Charlotte walks it off an extra innings nine to eight. But again, this offense in Memphis has been something special. Blaise Jordan is hitting 400 still with four home runs and nine ribbies. Brian Torres, the little man, hitting 394, Cesar Prieto, 385. Jimmy Crooks is at 316, but he's got four bombs and 10 ribbies.

Starting point is 00:20:14 Also has 16 strikeouts and 38 at bat. So for those of you who are like, get Pahas out of here, get crooks up here. Probably not going to happen for a little bit, but the offense continues to hum at Memphis. Cardinals and Red Sox are going to butt heads again on Saturday night at Bush Stadium. Boston will have their very expensive for agent acquisition. Ranger Suarez on the mound. So another lefty for the Cardinals to go up to just like early on Friday. That'll be putting Kyle Leahy on the mound for the Redbirds who had a solid but unspectacular start against Detroit. Enough to get the wind, though, last time out allowed two runs over five innings to get the first victory under his belt for the season. Meanwhile, Suarez came over from Philly, where he had put up back-to-back seasons of 12 and eight records, both seasons, ERA under 3.5. First two starts as a member of the Boston Red Sox had been

Starting point is 00:21:07 underwhelming to say the least. Four runs on seven hits in his first outing lasted just four and a third against Houston. That one was followed by four runs on six hits against San Diego. So not exactly what the Red Sox were hoping they were going to get when they paid for him. Opponents are hitting 371 against him so far. And most of that damage has really come against his sinker, which opposing batters are hitting 538 again. So it's sinker, cutter, change up.

Starting point is 00:21:34 All of those pitches are getting knocked around. The change up is at 500. The cutter at 333. Let's hope the struggles continue on Saturday night at Push Stadium. First pitch scheduled for 615. And you can watch that one on Fox. Thanks for making a lockdown cardinals, your first listen of the day. If you haven't already, give us a follow on X at L1 or square Cardinals

Starting point is 00:21:56 at a JD Sports Radio. You can find us on TikTok and Instagram at Locked on Cardinals. Like, subscribe on YouTube, help our channel and our love for the Cardinals grow. A reminder that if you never miss an episode, the Everydayer Club is something that is built just for you. Get Locked on Cardinals ad free, plus members only Discord access and more. Full free month right now by using the code finally. That's F-I-N-A-L-L-L-Y. Add to Locked on STL-Cardles.com to join the club.

Starting point is 00:22:21 For those of you on the video side of things and looking at my, cream jersey that I'm wearing in honor of Saturday's game. We're going to send you to the first ever 24-7 national lockdown podcast network YouTube channel on audio. Make sure your second listen is Locked-on MLB. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. Hope you're enjoying the show like I am so far. It's been fun to watch.

Starting point is 00:22:44 We'll see you next time on Lockdown Cardinals.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals Rally, Dustin May DELIVERS Stellar Outing Against Boston!

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