Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals SQUANDER Key Sweep -- How Did Doubleheader Get AWAY From Them?

Starting point is 00:00:00 One out away from sweeping the double header and then things fell apart in a major way. A disappointing end to a long day of baseball in Cincinnati. 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 of Jady Hafferin. And this episode of Locked on Cardinals is brought to you by Cal Sheet for a limited time.

Starting point is 00:00:34 Download the CalShe app and use the code locked on. You're going to get $10 off when you trade $10. On today's show, we've got a full double header to talk about. We're going to talk about Joshua Bayes and people are starting to raise some eyebrows. Should we be concerned with Joshua? And we'll talk about what the wild card picture looks like after what happened on Monday where one of the teams that the Cardinals are trying to chase has a player that's MIA. So, and I debated on whether or not to start with good news or bad news here.

Starting point is 00:01:08 And I landed on, hey, you know what, let's get the bad stuff out of the way first. Like a band-aid just got to rip that sucker off. It's going to sting a little bit. But we're going to get through it, okay? Because not everything is as doom and gloom as some people would make you think after a tough loss, obviously, in game two on Monday night. The Band-Aid is the ninth and tenth thinnings that was covering the wound that was the bottom of the sixth inning, where Andre Palante coughed up a three-run lead, which got the Reds back into the game in the first place. And it was a game that it felt like it was in the bag, man.

Starting point is 00:01:49 You know, everything was going the Cardinals way at that point. They were able to overcome that sixth inning where the Reds tied. up and ended up being one out away from completing the sweep of this doubleheader and then one swing of the bat and everything just flipped and the cartels found themselves dealing with multiple things that would eventually lead to their downfall and what ended up being a shocking loss to the reds now first things first mindset after something like that happens you can't sit here and we can't dwell you can't dwell on what just happened all right it's something that major league baseball players are are able to do very well.

Starting point is 00:02:33 And that's turn the page, move on to the next day because the season doesn't stop. You know, it's not like football where you have a bad game or you blow a game and then you got a whole week to think about it. You know, they're playing tonight, you know, the show goes on. So we all know it sucks. You had a lot of momentum going into the day with the back-to-back wins in Chicago over the Cubs. You take game one of the double header, a game that you really should have won easily, considering how many opportunities you had, but ended up being a two to one ball game.

Starting point is 00:03:06 But for the team to have, you know, to kind of have a sort of off game in that first game where they weren't going, it made sense when you, when you bake in the travel and the time change and the game time. I'm not trying to make excuses here, but this stuff certainly affects the players. You know, the Reds were just sitting there waiting for the Cardinals while the Cardinals had to deal with a bunch of other things to get there. And game one just had a different vibe than Game 2 did. Game 2 had a totally different vibe. And it was one where it felt like the Cardinals were in control of this thing by that sixth inning.

Starting point is 00:03:43 They were down one, nothing early. But things changed in the third inning when Yvonne Herrera throws out Allie Dela Cruz attempting to steal second base. And as you probably know, Yvonne hadn't thrown out a runner since 20. 24, 62 consecutive runners had successfully stolen a base against Ivan Herrera, while he was the catcher. We're all of them his fault, of course not. They're running on the pitchers as well as Ivan, but still, 62 in a row. That's a long time.

Starting point is 00:04:14 And at first, what was funny here was at first they called them safe by the Cardal's challenge, they get it overturned, and kind of similar to how Caesar Prieto, reacted when he broke his O for the season. The other day, Herrera requested the baseball and got to keep it, which I thought was great. Doesn't hurt to have a sense of humor about things when they aren't going your way. And as fate would have it, Herrera leads off the next inning. And I even nudge my wife and I'm like, he is for sure hitting a home run in this bad. Like he's going yard.

Starting point is 00:04:46 I predicted he was going to go to left field in the bleachers. That didn't happen. But he did it at a home run. Boom. Third pitch he sees, puts it over the wall in center. field ties the game up at one 14th home run of the season for Yvonne Herrera. And that kind of got the Cardinals back on track. You know, it was a, it was a good moment, back to back great moments, really for Yvonne Herrera with the throwing out of L.A. de la Cruz and then hitting the home

Starting point is 00:05:10 run after that. So we're feeling good. And then the cards keep the pressure on. They get back to back singles by Burley and Walker. Eventually Burley comes around to score to a two out RBI single by Mason win. The wife will back me up on this one as well. I nudged her and I'm like, look for right field by Mason Wynn. This is kind of what he's been doing when he's driving runners in. He's taking things to the opposite field. There was a big area there where the second baseball room will normally be. Punches it right through there.

Starting point is 00:05:39 So 50th RBI of the season for Mason Wynn, which is just six away from tying his career high that he set back in 2024. I know he's, you know, the OPS and stuff that it's not. where you want it with, with Mason win right now. What does he, let me just double check on this. Because I know he's, he's like it.

Starting point is 00:06:03 Yeah, his OPS plus 80 right now. And that's obviously, you know, 20% below league average, which is not where you want to be. But here he is driving in 50 RBI. He's not hit with the power that he, that he did early on.

Starting point is 00:06:16 But, you know, the other thing he's doing a lot more of his striking out. That's for sure. So he needs to figure that out. But either way, he gets his 50th RBI. And now the Cardinals are up two to one. And they tackle on two more in that sixth inning,

Starting point is 00:06:34 lead off double by Jordan Walker at a big day. And, you know, overall, Nathan Church trips an RBI single to make it 3-1. Right. Torres takes a walk. And with two down, Blaze Jordan comes through with an RBI single, the left field. Torres seemingly sacrifices himself over at third base to ensure that the run scores. Although with Church of speed, I think he makes it without. that. So you kind of let the reds off the hook there because the top of the order was coming up and you

Starting point is 00:07:00 would have had two men on for JJ Weatherholt, which, you know, was a good situation to be in. And instead, the inning's over. So I can't say that was smart base running there. But I get the idea of what they were doing. Either way, four to one lead, though, Palantes on the mound. Palante's been one of your best pitchers this year. And so you're now to the point where you expect Andre, to go out and win games like this, right? Seemed pretty safe, but the Reds battle back in the bottom half. They take advantage of multiple pitches by Andre. They just caught too much of the plate.

Starting point is 00:07:33 He misses his spots. And even though the Reds have multiple guys hitting under 200 in their lineup, which is hilarious by the middle of August, they're still Major League hitters. And if you're going to throw them over the heart of the plate, they're going to hit that stuff. And J.J. Bladay, Eh, E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. A. E. E. E. Ureneos, a couple of veterans,

Starting point is 00:07:49 they both single on those types of pitches where you just caught too much of the plate. Torres was like right down the middle. Lucky that one didn't land in the seat somewhere. And the actual killer base hit was the one that you give up to the rookie Hector Rodriguez, who's hitting under 100, I think, when he got into that at bat. Four or two at this point when he comes to the plate and Andre just serves one up right down the middle, 95 miles an hour on a tee for the rookie. Right down Broadway, he smacks it to center for a two out two run single and all the momentum is back with the Reds. Herrera was set up inside on the pitch.

Starting point is 00:08:26 He simply missed his spot. This wasn't the best Andre Palante's look this year. And obviously, you see the results where he gave up a bunch of hits, gave up a bunch of runs. Cardinals will end up coming back. They retake the lead in that eighth inning after Jordan Walker singles, Mason Wynn walks, Jordan Steele's third. Not sure if Mason Wynn missed a sign or whether or not Jordan,

Starting point is 00:08:50 just had the green light, ran on his own and stole third base. I don't know, but for whatever reason, Mason Wynn doesn't run on the play. Jordan Walker steals third base. Mason Wynne stays at first, which at first you're like, well, okay, whatever. But Torres gets the single. And if Mason wins in scoring position at that point,

Starting point is 00:09:12 if he had run with Jordan and assumingly would have been safe at second with the throw going down to third, perhaps two runs. score on that play instead. But instead it's only one. And that one run comes back to bite the Cardinals because in the ninth inning, things take a drastic turn in the Reds favor. So we'll get to all of that 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. We've all done it. It starts with a few

Starting point is 00:09:54 items on the list. Then suddenly you're shopping for supplies and then clothes and then lunch gear and then tech and about 10 other things that you didn't see coming. It all adds up fast. And when you look at the school supply list and you wonder like if you're shopping for one child or are you opening up a small office supply store with all the things you got to buy. I didn't realize first grade required this much inventory. Shopping like this can get out of control if you're not careful. And like when your kids spend days planning that perfect first day of school, outfit because they want to make a great first impression when they see all their friends again and you end up putting almost as much thought into it as they do. First day photos are going to be

Starting point is 00:10:34 worth it for sure, but it all adds up. So remember, with Amazon's low back-to-school prices, just spend less on your kids because every dollar you don't spend on them is a dollar you haven't spent on them. Shop back to school at Amazon and spend less on your kids. Thanks for making locked on Cardinals your first listen of the day. Thank you for making locked on the number one sports podcast network. Now, being that it was the end of a double header and that the Cardinals had already used their big guns like Stannick and Radley O'Brien in game one, O'Brien looked amazing, by the way, game one in that ninth inning as good as I've ever seen them throw the ball. So you didn't have your big guys to close out the game and game too. You had to roll with

Starting point is 00:11:17 the other guys in the ball pit. So did the Reds. You know, the Reds, you know, it's just the way it is. and the Cardinals tried to get by with using just Peter Strzlecky. And for eight outs, it worked beautifully. Here we are. We're thinking that he looked good. And we thought that like you get into that ninth inning, his third inning of work, mind you. And he strikes out the first two hitters.

Starting point is 00:11:46 And we feel like this one is shut the book, right? This one's done. Terry Francona goes to the bench and he calls on, Dane Myers, the pinch hit. And second pitch he sees, he smokes it into the left center bleachers for a game tying solo home run. Just devastating. Wasn't even a bad pitch.

Starting point is 00:12:10 It wasn't even a bad pitch. I've said this before. I'll say it all the time. Sometimes the hitters just win. And that's what Dane Myers did. Sinker low and in. And he just crushed it. He absolutely crushes it.

Starting point is 00:12:27 Second of the day, mind you, because he had a homered earlier in game one. Guy only had three home runs coming into play on Monday. And it's two in this double header. And this just began the downward spiral for the Cardinals that ends up with, ends up with them losing this game. 10th inning, Joshua Baez leads off, seemingly hit by a pitch, but an appeal down to the first base umpire says he swung, rings him up. So instead of first and second, nobody out, Baez has to put all its crap back on, get back in the box, and he ends up striking out instead.

Starting point is 00:13:03 So a big turn of events there. Jose Fermin would then walk. Imagine if Baez was on at that point instead. But he wasn't. Fermin walks. Mason Wend strikes out swinging after another appeal down to the first base umpire who rings it up again. This time it was a third strike call. And that prompts Olly to come storming out of the dugout. First off, he was pissed off after the call on bias.

Starting point is 00:13:31 Did not like that call. Although, if you go back and you look at the replay, it kind of 50-50, whether he swung or not, normally in that situation, if a guy gets hit by a pitch, I would assume that it would lean towards the, they would be like, no, he didn't swing and got hit. But they didn't go that way. So Ali comes out, apparently he gets tossed for just holding up his fingers.

Starting point is 00:13:53 Like, they never repeated what he said. I don't know if he was cursing or anything, but he pulls up the two fingers. He's like, that's two calls you missed. And he gets tossed for that. Umpires are so freaking soft these days. It's a joke, really. Like that's, you get thrown out for that.

Starting point is 00:14:11 Like, that's, I feel like that's soft. That's extremely soft. So Ali gets thrown out. Cards don't score in the top of the 10th inning. First hitter in the tent for the Reds, Ellie de la Cruz, who smashes one. granted 111 miles an hour over to third base that goes right through Blaze Jordan. It was a missile.

Starting point is 00:14:30 I know that you are hoping that at least Big Boy, Blaze Jordan over there is going to knock it down at the very least. But it goes right through them. Official score gives him a walkoff double, which, again, I think that's a joke. It goes right through your third baseman. I don't care how hard you hit it. This is the major leagues. Major League infielders are supposed to knock that down at least. And the good ones, the really good ones, like Aronado,

Starting point is 00:14:56 the guy that we've had over there for many years, would have made that play. But not that it really matters, but I just find it annoying because that's an error in my opinion. But game over, game over. So instead of a sweep, you get the split. And, you know, maybe it was meant to be this way. Anyhow, because in game one, the Cardinals,

Starting point is 00:15:12 I thought they were going to blow that one because they had so many chances to step on the throat of the Reds in that game. They just couldn't do it. You know, and again, when you go to why it might, have been a slow start for the Cardinals. They had a lot of people on base, but they just weren't coming through. But, you know, when you go on vacation and you travel somewhere, the time change is a real thing, right? We all have to adjust to it. And the Cardinals are going from Chicago to Sensi, so that changes because Sensi's East Coast. So they lose an hour. They got to deal

Starting point is 00:15:40 with the airports, the hotels, getting settled in the night before, try to get some sleep. Then you got to get up early. You got another early start. That's five straight day games for the Cardinals, which is completely abnormal. That is not how it normally. works out. So I kind of expected them to struggle a little bit in that first game, and they did. They go one for 13 with runners in scoring position. They strand nine, but somehow they hang on to get the two to one victory. Quinn Matthews shows why he's an exciting yet frustrating talent for the scene, four headings, one run, two hits, seven strikeouts, but he also had three walks. And his pitch counts were constantly big, you know, 95.

Starting point is 00:16:23 pitches to get through four innings. And I know there was some really tough at bats in this one. The one that stands out, obviously, is the 11 pitch of bat with Dane Myers, or who should we call him Babe Myers? Solo bomb in the end, made it two to one after that 11 pitch marathon at bat, which, you know, they kept battling and, you know, eventually he won. But overall, I think you got to be pleased with what you saw from Quinn Matthews, who was sent back to Memphis because he was that 27th man that got brought up for the double header. So he gets sent back to Memphis today. The bullpen, though, I mean, come on, give them some props in this one. And they almost pulled it off by not allowing any runs on the day.

Starting point is 00:17:05 You know, they get five shutout innings from the bullpen, one hit, one walk. They strike out eight in game one. Riley O'Brien accounts for three of those in the bottom of the ninth inning to get his 31st save of the season, which is now tops in the National League, second best, only to Brian Baker's 35 in all of baseball. And then if not for, you know, what happened at the very end of game, too, like you almost got away with all of it. And the bullpen almost threw a shutout. But in the end, Reds do what they do. Jordan Walker on the day, five for eight, huge day, a couple of doubles, stolen base. He looked great.

Starting point is 00:17:41 Alec Berlinson, three more hits, picked up both RBI's in game one, which now gives him the Major League lead in RBI.BIs. He's now got 92. you. Joshua Baez. All right, let's talk about Joshua real quick because you look at just the stat sheet. If you just look at like the box scores, you see, okay, he's 0 for 15 with six strikeouts since he hit those three home runs

Starting point is 00:18:06 to start his major league career. And somebody doesn't look at all of the data that's available, sees that and goes, uh-oh, maybe he's not that good. Maybe he doesn't belong here. Some fans are starting to be concerned. but everyone needs to calm down for his second because here's the first thing. He's a rookie.

Starting point is 00:18:26 It's been a whirlwind of a start to his career where he gets shipped to Chicago, barely had any sleep, has this incredible moment, gets his stuff sent to the Hall of Fame. He's become the talk of baseball. And now he's got to kind of settle in and become a part of this team. And we knew that the strikeouts were going to be a thing with Joshua Baez. This is not unfamiliar territory. It's something that he is. it's just part of his game.

Starting point is 00:18:51 If there's one part of his game that you point at and go, we would like to see that improve. It's the amount of strikeouts that he has. But when he is hitting the ball, the guy is stinging the hell out of it. They just keep finding gloves instead of finding grass at the moment. In game one on Monday, second inning, his line out of the center field was 107.1 off the bat.

Starting point is 00:19:18 That's an expected batting average of 6.30. 30. Fourth inning, 106 miles per hour off the bat, force out. Expect the batting average is 190, but he hit the ball hard. Seventh inning, 11.9 miles per hour off the bat, ends up being a ground out because he gets robbed of extra bases by gold glove winner Key Brian Hayes over at third base. Expected batting average on that one was 540. Then in game two, sixth inning, he smokes one to center field again. 104.6 off the bat, an expected batting average of 780 is caught at the wall.

Starting point is 00:19:59 And I'm sure Ollie's going to get him a day off in the next three days. I'm sure he will. But right now, it's not that Joshua Bias is doing anything wrong at the plate. He's just run into some unfortunate luck more than anything else. You know, the strikeouts are going to happen. But if a couple of those balls just from yesterday get down, are people freaking out about them and worried about him? Probably not.

Starting point is 00:20:25 So calm down. Everybody calmed down. You got to have it. You know what? You're making me sound like John Moseilac, where you're like, you've got to have some patience in this in this game. You really do.

Starting point is 00:20:39 I'll play for you right in a. A fan base right now is a little bit of patience. Forever a little bit of patience plus as a little patience. So just be patient. Being patient about this and too patient. I'll really just ask for people's patience. all of this. Yeah, yeah.

Starting point is 00:20:52 You're going to have to deal with that for a little bit, okay? And remember, pitching is adjusting to Joshua Baez. Joshua Baez is adjusting to the pitching that he's seeing. So, but just looking at those stats, like, he's fine. He's fine. And you got to let him learn. Like, you can't just bench him all of a sudden because he has three games where he didn't get a hit.

Starting point is 00:21:16 Like, you don't, that's not how you help somebody. Like, they're going to have to learn anyway. So calm down. Everybody relax. Up next, how did things change in the NL wildcard after what the Cardinals and Reds did on Monday? What is going on with the Cattell Marte plus a preview of tonight's game? We'll get into it all next on Locked on Cardinals. More baseball season. Make baseball season more this year, I should say, on Calci, America's number one prediction market platform. You can trade on every single game. So the St. Louis Cardinals are trading at 52% to beat the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, meaning that a $100 trade pays out. $185.62 cents if they win. If you go with the Reds who are trading at 48%, $100 trade,

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Starting point is 00:22:53 Cardinals your first listen of the day. Thank you for making Lockdown on the number one sports podcast network. You know, wild card picture. Cardinals win one. They lose one, unfortunately. Cubs win in 10 innings over the White Sox, big night for PCA, who walked it off for them. Phillies beat the Marlins.

Starting point is 00:23:08 Phillies have won four straight. So they help us because they make the Marlins lose, but they win. So that's like, eh. Padreys lost to the Mets, two to one. Arizona gets destroyed by Boston, 11 to 1. And Arizona's second baseman is MIA.

Starting point is 00:23:28 Their star second baseman can tell Mark, This was big news yesterday. Apparently just did not show up at Fenway Park for the series opener against the Red Sox due to what the team would call later a personal matter. He was placed on the restricted list. No one seemed to have any other specifics on what he was dealing with. They know that he flew in with the team from Atlanta on Sunday night was in Boston on Monday. All the reports I've seen are that he is still in Boston, but just didn't. go to the game like something i don't know if it's a family man i don't know you can only you're speculating

Starting point is 00:24:04 there which you hate to do so we don't know what he's dealing and you know i obviously we hope it's nothing serious and that he's he's good but at the same time that's kind of good news for the cardinals if the diamond macs are going to be without it for a little bit you know and it would have been huge for the cardinals to gain that extra game with the winning game two but instead they remain three back in the wild card where san diego is still in the third spot they're tied with with the Marlins at three back, and there are two back of Arizona, who's a game behind San Diego. And Arizona is now dealing with, not only do you have this Cattel Marte issue, but our old friend Nolan Aronado apparently is dealing with trunk discomfort,

Starting point is 00:24:45 which I had to look up because I am not a medical doctor. I don't know all these terms. I was like, trunk discomfort, what the hell is that? I thought they were talking about his butt. I really did. But that is not the case. Apparently trunk discomfort, for comfort is listed as pain, tightness, and soreness in your torso. It includes your chest, your abdomen, your back, and your sides. Doctors often use this broad term when a specific diagnosis is not yet clear. Most people would just chalk it up as general soreness, but trunk discomfort is what they call it.

Starting point is 00:25:20 I never heard that term in my life. But now we know, right? And knowing it's half the battle, G.I. Joe's style. But again, for the Cardinals, you can't worry about the other teams. You just got to go out and take care of your own business right now. You've got to win more ballgames than you lose. That's the only way you're going to catch these people. And tonight, Cards and Reds are added again.

Starting point is 00:25:39 You got Kyle Leahy on the mound who has been outstanding. He gets the knot against the lefty Andrew Abbott, right-handed heavy, hitting a lineup from game one on Monday. Although they didn't score much, they had tons of opportunities. The whole, they strand of small village on the beach. base pass again one for was it one for 13 with runners at scoring position you would expect them to do better especially in that ballpark so i would imagine you'd see a similar lineup tonight but i would expect j j wetherhold to get the start and be at the top of the lineup and not joshua bias but

Starting point is 00:26:12 i i don't i wouldn't expect joshua byes be sat out by any means like keep him in there he needs to be behind burly or walker all he's going to put the three four five guys uh that's that's where i i think he belongs um but again calah lehi's going to to get the start tonight. Exceptional for the last three months, last seven games. He's three and with a 1.75 ERA. I think it's like nine straight games. He's allowed two-heard runs or less. Like he's been outstanding. So keep him going is obviously a key to this one, but also a key in this one, I think, is going to be the jump on the Reds early so that they don't carry any of the momentum that they just gained from Monday's second game into tonight's game. So you want to squash

Starting point is 00:26:55 that ish quickly. So jump on them early if you can. Best way to go about it and take care of business. I don't know how else to put it. That's just, that's got to be the mentality right now. Take care of your business. And Cardinals need to do that. Again, you came into the series. You know it was going to be tough, five and four days. You're one in one. So now it's a best of three series. You would like to get out of here with at least three wins. If you can make it four, more power to you. Calah, he's the right guy tonight. You know, if you wanted anybody going right now,

Starting point is 00:27:32 it's him to get you up in the series with a second win. So hopefully that happens tonight. And we'll be here to talk about it throughout the game this evening and post game. So thanks for making a lockdown cardinals. First listen every day. If you haven't already, give us a follow on X at L0 underscore Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:27:49 TikTok, Instagram at Lockdown Cardinals, like to subscribe on YouTube if you haven't already. For your second list, and check out MLB game night every game every night until a world series champion is crowned. You can find MLB game night on the Lockdown MLB YouTube channel or wherever you get your podcast. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. We will see you next time on Lockdown Cardinals. Have a great Tuesday.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - St. Louis Cardinals SQUANDER Key Sweep -- How Did Doubleheader Get AWAY From Them?

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