The St. Louis Cardinals have threatened to get their act together a few times already this season, and after consecutive victories over one of the hottest teams in baseball, with one of the hottest offenses around, it all seems in alignment now.
After reaching .500 for the third time this season by defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, the Cardinals repeated the feat in the series on Tuesday. Now at 6-5, St. Louis has a winning record for the first time in 2019.
The Cardinals will meet the Dodgers again Wednesday, seeking their first three-game winning streak of the season.
“We’ve played really well without not getting really hot,” Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We’ve got guys, myself included, that are not hitting what they’re capable. (Paul Goldschmidt) is not going to hit .190. [Yadier Molina] is not going to hit .160.”
Goldschmidt hit a home run in a 4-0 victory against the Dodgers on Tuesday and Molina had two run-scoring doubles in his first two at-bats.
And the Cardinals’ pitching staff not only held the Dodgers without a home run for the second consecutive game, but also shut them out for the first time this season. Before this series, the Dodgers had hit a home run in every game this season.
Miles Mikolas and Dakota Hudson were the starters that got the job done for the Cardinals in the first two games of this four-game series. John Gant and Jordan Hicks provided solid relief on Monday. On Tuesday, John Brebbia was the first of five relievers who led the Cardinals to their first shutout of the year.
The Cardinals’ bullpen has a 3.49 ERA, with Brebbia not allowing a run in 7 2/3 innings.
The Dodgers are far from panic mode. Even without home runs in consecutive games, Los Angeles still has 24 this season, which leads the National League.
And after a three-game sweep at Colorado over the weekend, the Dodgers can still return home with a 5-2 road trip if they can take the final two games of this series.
Cardinals right-hander Jack Flaherty (0-0, 3.86 ERA) will try to take what he learned from Mikolas and Hudson in facing the Dodgers on Wednesday. He was 0-1 against the Dodgers in two starts last season with a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings.
Kenta Maeda (2-0, 3.09) will start for the Dodgers. He did not start against the Cardinals last season, but gave up one run in three relief appearances against them. He is 2-0 lifetime against St. Louis with a 4.19 ERA in six appearances (three starts).
The Dodgers could use some innings from their right-hander. Relievers threw 5 1/3 innings Sunday at Colorado, and 6 1/3 innings Monday, when Hyun-Jin Ryu left with an injury. They added another three innings Tuesday.
So when Ryu went on the injured list Tuesday with a groin issue, the Dodgers recalled reliever JT Chargois instead of a starter.
“I just don’t think right now with where we are with the ‘pen, we just don’t have the luxury to carry a guy who isn’t going to pitch for another four days,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, according to mlb.com.
