Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals' Small Ball TRIUMPHS Over Shohei Ohtani And The Los Angeles Dodgers' Power

Starting point is 00:00:00 The ugly shirt is back or the loud shirt or the winning shirt, whatever you want to call it. It is back because the Cardinals group of younger guys spoils the show. Hey, O'Tonnie show in L.A. You are Locked on Cardinals. Your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Hello, the Cardinals. I'm J.D. Hafford and I'm your host for Locktown Cardinals. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network covering your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:34 follow me on Axis and Jdysports Radio the podcast. At L.O. underscore Cardinals. We're on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Lockton Cardinals, a show for Cardinal Nation, who is celebrating today because of a victory that they had in Los Angeles, giving you all the info about the birds on the bat each and every day. I'm excited. I'm happy. It's nice to finally win one.

Starting point is 00:00:58 How about them redbirds? The same team that, yes, lost two of three to the Colorado, a team that is on base for the worst record in the history of the sport. Just defeated the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in a three game series for the second time this season. Five to three victory filled with a lot of really good moments. Some moments as well. Nobody's perfect. But some really good moments.

Starting point is 00:01:30 And the first thing I want to talk about. I want to talk about I'm excited for the win. very happy. I'm happy to have the ugly shirt, the loud shirt back on. It's been a while. It's been hanging in the closet over there for quite some time. It's been a bit since the Cardinals were able to win one. So glad to have it back on. Anyway, I want to point out first how well the team responded after getting their butt spanked by L.A. the night before. Tuesday night was not a lot of fun. And maybe it's easier for these guys to move on from games like that. They've had plenty of practice this season moving on from blowout losses.

Starting point is 00:02:09 But to take the field on a Wednesday, a day game after getting beat up like they did the night before, to have to face the best player on the planet, Shohei Otani and his wizardry on the mound and at the plate. On a day they were giving out the replica Shohayotani World Series rings and somehow overcoming that and coming away with the victory to take the series. it should be applauded. It should. I don't think it would have surprised any of us if the Dodgers had come out and boat raced our Cardinals in game three.

Starting point is 00:02:46 And I'm not saying it because the team, like they don't have a fighting spirit or they roll over for anyone because I don't think that at all. I think the team and Holly and the coaching staff, they come prepared each and every day with every intention of competing at a high level. Some days you just don't have it. But I think it should be. acknowledge that coming back and having to deal with Otani and somehow get a victory in this one, it's not an easy thing to do. So good job. Second thing, show Hey, Otani is awesome. That dude is really,

Starting point is 00:03:21 really good. I mean, you talk about a guy who seems like he could do pretty much anything he wants on a baseball field. I mean, my goodness, you watch his stuff on the mound and how easy he makes it all look, just a really special talent. But it's also proof that baseball is as much of a team sport as any sport. Because even on a day where Otani comes out, there's four innings, strikes out eight, picks up his 1,000th hit on a very impressive. What was the final? Was it 421 feet? I also saw where it was 440 feet. Either way, get the snot out of the ball for the two run home run. And it was his 1,000. Ted, I still don't understand how the angels let that dude get away and got nothing for them.

Starting point is 00:04:07 That's incredible to me, that that actually happened. There is another fly in here today. I don't know where they're coming from. Anyway, I still don't understand how the angels let that happen. In my lifetime, the only thing I can compare to seeing Otani as far as the Cardinals go is like watching Prime Albert Pooholz or Mark McGuire. when he was in his prime with the Cardinals and, you know, was smacking 65 and 70 home runs where every plate appearance was must be TV. Watching Shohei is a lot of fun to watch.

Starting point is 00:04:43 He really is. And he was putting it on the Cardinals in this one. He did everything he could to get the Dodgers the victory. But yet the Cardinals persevered. They did not fall under the Shohei Otani sword. They end up coming back and winning this thing. The third thing was I was impressed with the way the Cardinals didn't let the game get out of hand, which it looked like it was going to happen on multiple occasions. It was teetering there for a bit.

Starting point is 00:05:14 You know, you're playing a team that is superior in talent, which the Dodgers are. Let's not kid ourselves. Your margin for error is very, very thin. It is very thin. Do you see these things? I can't smack one of them. I hit one with my glove before we started. I thought I got all of it, but apparently there's more in here.

Starting point is 00:05:37 So I apologize if you're watching on YouTube and you see me swatting things. Like it looks like I'm on like I'm on crack or something. I'm not. I just got like little gnats that somehow maybe when we let the dog out. I don't know. Either way, moving on. But you got a team that's superior in talent and your margin for air. It's very, very thick.

Starting point is 00:05:55 You know, Friday you had the excellent pitching from Sunny Gray. Volpin was good. You only had two walks, so you didn't hurt yourself, gave up just the one home run, just a solid all-around effort. And it ended with a W. Tuesday night, all sorts of mistakes happened from the pitching staff, really, who missed their spots over the plate again and again and again. And the Dodgers punish them again and again and again.

Starting point is 00:06:19 But in Wednesday's game, you know, you had the error on Alec Berlinson there in the first inning, but, you know, Libby gets out of it. Third inning, you had the leadoff double. Otani's home run. Another double by Mooky Betts. You're like, oh gosh, here we go. The short hop single, the eight-up Mason win at shortstop off of Freddie Freeman's bat. And you're like, here it is.

Starting point is 00:06:45 This is where it happens. The blowout begins. Libby escapes. He gets out of it. All right. Fourth inning, the leadoff man gets on again. Wild pitch. moves them over to second base. Then they steal third and the throwing attempt hits the bat

Starting point is 00:07:03 of the batter in the batter's box. Totally illegal. Guy doesn't have to move. Pahaz just, it's, it happens. Doesn't happen a lot, but they give an error to Pahas on the play, which is that's a really tough error, man. But normally, because the run scores there, normally a major collapse happens after that. That's what I was waiting for. And I'm sure you were two, but they minimize the damage. Three to one. You're still in striking distance. And after that, this bullpen was awesome.

Starting point is 00:07:36 They were so good. You know, Libby walks so tiny to lead off the fifth. The Dodgers got the leadoff guy on base in all five innings against Libby, which is not what you want. That is not the blueprint that you're looking for. So to only give up three runs and having all of that happen, it's kind of a miracle. It's kind of a miracle. It's not a way that I would suggest to go about doing things if you're trying to win baseball games.

Starting point is 00:08:01 But they did it. Not how you write it up, but it worked. Leahy comes in and puts out the flames. He was awesome. Gives you two and two thirds of shutout baseball with four strikeouts. He was very impressive. He was very impressive. I know we had early season, Leahy, who was really, really good.

Starting point is 00:08:21 And then he went through like a bit of a funk and was kind of not good for a while there. very impressive in this series. Jojo Romero continues his run of excellence coming in. He ends up whiffing Otani to end the threat in the seventh inning. Riley O'Brien takes care of business after that. Heck of a Houdini act by the staff in many, many innings there. But it allowed the offense enough times to finally get something done. And it helped that, you know,

Starting point is 00:08:51 Otani was only going to throw four innings because he probably could have stayed in there And God knows if they ever would have scored anything against him. I don't know. But he was awesome, but the cartels found away. Libby wasn't great. But outside of the two run home run to Otani, kind of hard to complain about his start. He didn't get the strikeouts and stuff you needed.

Starting point is 00:09:16 He was under a lot of pressure, a lot of stressful innings there. But he wiggled out of things. You would have loved to see him pitch deeper into the game. But, you know, Ali was aggressive with the bullpen. and it proved to be the right call. He went to Leahy and was like, look, Libby's on the ropes here. We need you. And he gets out of it.

Starting point is 00:09:35 And the other thing they're watching with Libby is obviously endings. The endings at this point of the year, hasn't been a starter through a full Major League season ever. So you're not trying to run him into the ground at the same time. So you're trying to be a little careful with that. I can appreciate that. But it all worked. It all worked.

Starting point is 00:09:53 But of course, you've got to score runs if you're going to win baseball games. And the cardinals were able to find some ways to get runs across. And it's the type of baseball that I love. I love. We're going to jump over to the offensive side of things in this one next and talk about the amazing Mason win and Joe Alpozo at bats because those were huge in getting the Cardinals to a spot where they could take the lead. We'll talk about that and more coming up next on Locked on Cardinals.

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Starting point is 00:12:21 Got a nice little following growing there on TikTok too, so I appreciate all of you. Feedback always welcome and encourage, good or bad. We're going to need to do some Cardinal Confessionals on Friday, aren't we? Just to see what everybody's saying about what the Cardinals. did in Los Angeles after, you know, having a stinky pooh session against the Padres. And then to see them do so much better in Los Angeles, it makes me happy tear to my eye. Anyway, Carl's offense was not the problem in this series, right? You know, tough pitching matchup on Monday against Tyler Glass now, but they end up winning

Starting point is 00:12:56 the game, three to two. Tuesday, they score six overall, but it's not much of a game ever because the Dodgers pounded the pitching staff, who was horrendous, for the most part, not everybody, but for the most part. Then on Wednesday, the Cardinals, you know, clearly overmatched by Shohei Otani, which is not something to be embarrassed about. This dude is disgusting. He's the best player on the planet. But for the pitching staff to hold the Dodgers at bay, to keep them in striking distance,

Starting point is 00:13:23 and for the Cardinals to battle the way they did against that L.A. bullpen after Otani was out, that was freaking awesome to watch. and let's start with the first thing when they got the runoff, Otani in that, what was it, third inning, second inning, or any of what is that? I mean, I got to double check this. Hold on. Because now I remember, but it was the, it was the blunt single, third inning, third. Was the RBI bunt single by Brennan Donovan?

Starting point is 00:13:50 Like, who doesn't love seeing the offense take advantage of the shortcomings of the defense they're playing and or taking advantage of the defensive setup that the other he might have. You know, how many times have we as Cardinal fans begged for these guys to start bunting, especially when the shift was the way it used to be. It's still bad from time to time, but not quite as extreme as it used to be, but where we're like, just bun it. Just try. Just give it a chance. Just put the thought that you might do it in the head of your opponent. And let's see what the adjustments are that they have to make. Are they going to start cheating in more? Does that allow more hard hit balls to get past them against the corner infielders.

Starting point is 00:14:36 Can the other team even handle buns well? Are they even good at fielding the buns? You know, not everybody's got Nolan Aronado down there at third base to scoop it up bare hand and make, you know, throw right on the chest of the first baseman every time. Try it. Let's see what can happen. You know, it's another way to put pressure on a team when you are not a squad that hits a lot of home runs, which the cardals are not.

Starting point is 00:15:01 They don't do it a lot. But that doesn't mean you can't win baseball games by doing it in scoring runs in other ways. You know, everyone is so obsessed with power. And it's great if you got it. It's fine. It's an expensive trait to go out and pay for to go find those guys. But I also see plenty of teams like, oh, I don't know, the league leading Milwaukee Brewers, who win a ton of games and don't hit a lot of home runs.

Starting point is 00:15:29 They rely on, and this is going to make me sound like an old man. And I just celebrated a birthday, which is why the balloons are in the background there. But it's going to make me sound like an old, but that's how they used to do it in the old days. Pitching, defense, speed, do smart things on offense that doesn't rely on the three-run homer, bunting, just putting the ball in play in situations, moving runners over, sacrificing, taking walks, stealing bases, brewer steal a ton of bases. They create offense. The Brewers have only three more home runs than your St. Louis Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:16:06 Three. They only have 18 more hits than the Cardinals. Yet they got 61 more runs. Cardinals hit into a lot of double plays. The Brewers do not. That's a key thing. But they just play the game very, very smart. So to see the Cardinals kind of do a Milwaukee Brewers impersonation.

Starting point is 00:16:31 against the Dodgers, I loved it. I loved it to see them score the way they did in the third and then in the sixth inning again. It was awesome. In the sixth, they take advantage of a leadoff walk by Yvonne Herrera. We've always been on the other side of things where we're like, oh, yeah, we walk the leadoff person. That person's going to score, aren't they?

Starting point is 00:16:50 Well, Cardinals flip the script there. They get the walk, burly singles off the lefty, which is cool. And then Newt puts the ball in play, just a ground ball. but it gets the run in. Nothing special. Sounds so simple, right? It can be when you got the right personnel and you don't strike out. And they had a chance to do more. And that was kind of a theme in this game too, because there were plenty of chances for the Cardinals to do a lot more damage and they didn't. But they had first and third and one out in the situation. But Gorman strikes out instead of putting it in play.

Starting point is 00:17:25 Walker grounds it back to the pitcher, very like a fire crackle that fizzles and just. doesn't pop. But they do cut the lead to three to two in the situation. So they peck away. They at least get one. It's those kind of innings that when you don't get any that you're just like, it drives you insane, right? Then in the eighth inning, Burley leads off with another single against the new pitcher Vesia. Newt flies out on the first pitch, which brings up Mason when. And, you know, Mason, we've said it before. He's been so good since the All-Star break. And this is bad was huge. It's two bats in a row that are huge here. Wendt sees 10 pitches,

Starting point is 00:18:04 fouls off six of them, before winning the battle and singling into left field. Outstanding at bat that wears down Vesia, who only had to throw three pitches of the first two guys. Ali turns to Joel Pozo off the bench for Gorman. Gorman had struck out three times, did not look good at the plate. You got a weapon like Pozo off the bench who leads the league

Starting point is 00:18:29 and pinch hit RBI's. is tied for the league lead and hits, I think, as a bench editor. Been awesome off the bench. Why not use him? And he had another strong and bad here. He sees eight pitches before ripping one into center field that even though he tagged it, unfortunately it gets caught. And even though he didn't get ahead, he did a job because he's got Vesia on fumes now.

Starting point is 00:18:52 Vesia, three pitches to the first two guys, 18 to Mason win and Joel Pozo. That brings in Jordan Walker. and yeah, we're not seeing the power from Jordan Walker yet, and maybe we never will. I'm not going to hold my breath. Jordan Walker is going to be a 30 home run guy. Maybe he ends up being like Jason Hayward, where he's a big dude, looks like he ought to be hitting 40 home runs a year and just doesn't. But if he's hitting line drives and he cuts down on the strikeouts, you give me Jordan Walker hitting 290 with like 15 to 25 home runs and like 80 RBIs. I am going to be thrilled.

Starting point is 00:19:30 I'm okay with that. I don't need him to hit 35 home runs all the time. But I need him to hit line drives like he did in this particular event. He comes through line drive, base knock to left center, ties the game up. And then the cardals get aggressive with their base running, which is another thing that I love for them to do. I don't like seeing it on base hits to left field and a runner trying to score from second. We've seen that happen too many times with Pop Warner this year.

Starting point is 00:19:56 I don't want to see that crap. but I do like aggressive base running. I like them trying to push the narrative and make the defense actually, you know, defend their positions better. And that's what they did here. Jordan Walker gets the hit. He's got great speed,

Starting point is 00:20:15 obviously. And they see the throw coming into third base. He doesn't stop at first. He rounds it and goes hard into second base. The throw goes to third base. Runner is safe there. and they try to get the runner at second. They try to get Walker, who's trying to stretch it into second base,

Starting point is 00:20:34 get back into scoring position, and they take advantage of it. The third baseman Freeland spikes it, trying to make that throw, goes into right field, go ahead, run, score. All of a sudden, you look at up, and it's like, Cardinals are up four to three. And it was contact skills, tough at bats,

Starting point is 00:20:53 base hits instead of home runs, using the speed of Mason, and Jordan Walker. That is fun baseball. That's good baseball. And you can sign me up for that all day, every day. I'm in. I'm in.

Starting point is 00:21:06 I'll take it. You don't want to pay for power hitters. Fine, but you got to find other ways to win. Find contact guys that can make life miserable for the opposing pitchers. Like some of the other smaller market teams do. Instead of paying for power, they let those guys walk out the door. And then they find other guys who can do things very, very well. instead of that one way of doing things,

Starting point is 00:21:31 like that one trait of having power, they find guys who have speed, defense, contact, instead of power. And they find ways to win that way. Then the cardals in the ninth inning do it again with productive at bats. Donnie lead off single. Herrera gets hit by a pitch. Burley just misses one.

Starting point is 00:21:51 Like he was just a hair off of putting that one over the wall, gets at the deep center. Donnie moves up on that fly ball. then Newt smokes one off the center field fence for a double to make it five to three. And again, they should have gotten more because they end up having to walk Mason win, who they shouldn't have been messing with in the first place to load the bases. Thomas and Jacey comes up. He strikes out very quickly.

Starting point is 00:22:12 Walker flies out to center field. That threats over. But they took advantage of the situation they were given. Lead off guy gets on, take advantage of the hit by pitch, get another run in. And that put a big old smile on my face. It was so much fun to watch. Jojo gets his fourth win of the season. Riley O'Brien picks up his first major league save.

Starting point is 00:22:32 Jordan Walker has three hits. I know one of them was a ball that got lost in the sun at the second base. And had to get out of the way of because he's like, ah. But who's counting? Right? Still counts as a hit. Line drive in the scorebook.

Starting point is 00:22:45 Line drive in the box score. That's what we say for things like that. He gets three heads. Cardles again, four for 18 with runners in scoring position. That has to improve. Like, you've got to do better than that. But to get the win. So I'm not going to bitch and moan too much.

Starting point is 00:23:00 This was only the second series the Cardinals have won since sweeping the Guardians in late June. Been a while. Out of their last 10 series, the only one in which they won two out of the three games was against the Washington Nationals. So this was so much more like the team that we saw playing well in April and May, you know, doing a lot of the small things right. And I hope it sticks around because you got the Cubs coming in next. And the Cardinals have a chance to play spoiler, right? Cubs have dreams of competing for a world championship this year. They've had a really good season so far,

Starting point is 00:23:41 but they're kind of cold at the moment. Maybe the Cardinals can pounce on that. So we're going to take a look around the division and talk about what's happening in the NL Central because it's been an impressive division again this year, even though everybody said that it was going to be one of the worst. So we'll get into that and more coming up on live. Locked on Cardinals. We've all been there logging on early and waiting forever for concert tickets to go on sale, only to lose your spot for a show that you've been dying to see.

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Starting point is 00:25:14 Last-minute ticket's lowest price, guaranteed. Thanks again for making Locktown Cardinals, first listen today for your second list and check out the new Lockedon MLB game night, every game, every night all season long and local analysis on a national scale. You can find it on Locked on MLB's YouTube channel or wherever you listen to your podcast. All right. So the NL Central is once again becoming a force to be reckoned with here in 2025, even though everybody said going into the season, the Cubs didn't do enough to be considered somebody that we're going to think might win a World Series. The Milwaukee Brewers, they let Willie Adamas go.

Starting point is 00:25:57 They traded Devin Williams. They're clearly tanking. They're not doing anything. The Cardinals didn't sign anybody, the Phil Mayton, the Cincinnati Reds. What do we make of them? They brought in Terry Francona. But, you know, are they really, are they that good? Most people thought, no, that this division was going to stink. No. Once again, it is one of the more competitive divisions in baseball.

Starting point is 00:26:23 And you're going to have at least two teams from this division go to the playoffs again. The Brewers are running away with things at the moment. They're now 70 and 44 on the year, 23 and 7 in their last 30, 16 and 4 in their last 20, and nine and one in their last 10. They're playing, you know what the Detroit Tigers were doing on the American League side? That's what the Brewers are doing on the National League side. Now, did they do enough at the trade deadline to push them into the areas of, say, teams like the Dodgers and the Mets and the Phillies and the Yankees, you know,

Starting point is 00:26:59 they're not going to get talked about like those guys. They're just not. But I think they're okay with that because they're beating everybody. I caught a lot of flack last season for saying too many good things about the Milwaukee Brewers last year. People were making fun of it. Like, why are you on there? You know what all the time? Why are you on them all the time?

Starting point is 00:27:19 Because they do the things that I want the Cardinals to do. First of, winning baseball games is the most important thing. But their approach to the game offensively in particular is something I think the Cardinals should be striving for. When it comes to pitching, you either have the talent or you don't. And the brewers have a much more talented group of pitchers, both starting and in relieving than the Cardinals do. And it's going to take a while before they can build up a stable of pitchers like that. It's why having Matthew Libertor make the strides he is this year. And Andre Palante figuring out and trying to be more consistent is very, very important.

Starting point is 00:27:56 It's why Quinn Matthews and Michael McGreevy and Tchauretti and Tinkets and now, you know, fifth overall pick Liam Doyle. It's why they're so important because if you're ever. going to compete with these types of teams, but you're not going to pay for the big market free agents, and the cartels have shown no interest in doing that, then you've got to beat them in a different way. And you're going to have to follow the blueprint of teams like the Brewers and the Detroit Tigers and the Tampa Bay Rays and, you know, these smaller market teams. It's drafting, developing, but making smart free agent signing. finding the right leadership.

Starting point is 00:28:39 That's what you got to do. And hopefully Highen Blumen Company will be able to do that real, real soon. But they need to hit on these guys. You know, they need to trade guys to find younger arms that they can groom like they did at the trade deadline this year. I know we're disappointed because there was a lot of A ball guys. I get it. But again, they're trying to find as many arms as they possibly can because it is so empty in the organization right now. Cardles won't see the Brewers again until September.

Starting point is 00:29:09 They'll play him six times. Cubs, though, they just got done losing two of three to the Reds at Wrigley. Reds won't go away. They made some solid deals at the deadline. They got pieces like Key Brian Hayes, Miguel Anduhar, Zach Lattel. Not huge names, right? But they serve a purpose. And they became important pieces for that Cincinnati Reds team.

Starting point is 00:29:30 Will it be enough to catch Chicago? That's debatable. But, you know, if they get Hunter Greenback. if Nick Lodolo can overcome the blister issues on his pitching hand. Andrew Abbott has been really good. Now you got Lattel in the mix to go with Brady Singer and rookie Chase Burns. I mean, that rotation beats the snot out of what the Cardinals are throwing out there. Like, there's not, I mean, is there a pitcher on that roster that wouldn't be at least the number two on the Cardinals right now?

Starting point is 00:30:01 No. They got rookie Chase Burns, too. You know, it's, they've done a good job of collecting guys. And Brady Singer and Zach Lettel, these are not dudes that cost a whole bunch to get. But the Red signed them and the Cardinals didn't. The Cardinals are withering away with guys like Miles Michaelis right now. You know, they went down the Eric Fetty way and it blew up in their face. So they just got to be better with their decision making.

Starting point is 00:30:28 And hopefully Heinblum is the guy that can do that. Cardinals are five and a half back in the wild card. so they're trying to play spoiler, not saying it's impossible to get back into this thing. Odds aren't great, though, right? Let's be honest with ourselves. And who better to play spoiler against than Chicago Cubs? Like, why not?

Starting point is 00:30:44 They're back in town this weekend. Last time they met at Bush, it was a series split, two-two. Remember the Cardinals won the first two, and that's when they were like two and a half back in the division. They were right there. They were ahead of the Brewers at that time. And then they got blanked in the next two games, and it set them on a downward spiral the rest of the way.

Starting point is 00:31:03 And I hope it's different this time around. I want this to be fun, entertaining baseball. I hope that there's some decent crowds because, you know, all these other teams that I've been watching, you know, they got packed houses and then you got the Cardinals who were like, what, 19th in ticket sales right now or attendance. And it's just so sad to see. And I'm not blaming you as a fan for not going. It's just it's sad to see, you know, it sucks.

Starting point is 00:31:28 McGreevy versus Boyd on Friday to be a Palante against Colin Ray on Saturday. then Sunny and Imanaga on Sunday night baseball. Can the Cardinals capitalize on the series win in L.A. and carry the momentum over into the weekend against Chicago, another team that, you know, the Cardinals seem to play up to their opponent's levels. Here you go. This is another good team.

Starting point is 00:31:51 Let's see what they got. Thanks for making a lockdown Cardinals for first listen every day. If you haven't already, give us a follow on X at L.O. underscore Cardinals and a J.D. Sports Radio, TikTok and Instagram at Lockton Cardinals, of course, on YouTube as well. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason, and we will see you next time on Lutton Cardinals.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals' Small Ball TRIUMPHS Over Shohei Ohtani And The Los Angeles Dodgers' Power

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