photo: Tyler O’Neill (Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports)
At home, the St. Louis Cardinals went 2-4 for the week, including a sweep by Atlanta. The debuts of the new veteran starters were overshadowed by bullpen missteps. Left-fielder Tyler O’Neill is swinging a hot bat for the 55-56 team.
2022 schedule announced
The St. Louis Cardinals’ will open the 2022 season on the road with a three-game series at Pittsburgh beginning on Thursday, March 31, followed by a two-game series at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs on April 4 and 6. The home opener is scheduled for Thursday, April 7, against Pittsburgh.
St. Louis’ 20-game Interleague schedule features matchups with all five AL East opponents.
The complete 2022 regular season schedule can be viewed at cardinals.com/schedule.
Game Recaps
Monday, August 2 – Off day
Tuesday, August 3 – Cardinals 1, Braves 6
The St. Louis Cardinals began a three-game home series with the Braves and the Cardinals were the victims of a lackluster offense and the Cardinals debut of starter Jon Lester. The Braves put up five runs in the first two innings, and though the 37-year-old settled down, the Redbirds offense was unable to come back.
Lester pitched five innings and gave up six runs on nine hits, all coming in the first and second innings. The left hander struck out four and walked two. T. J. McFarland relieved Lester and tossed two scoreless innings. Luis Garcia and Justin Miller each threw a scoreless inning. Lester took the loss, his sixth of the season.
St. Louis’ offense was held scoreless until the ninth inning. With two out, Tyler O’Neill singled to left field, and advanced to second on defensive indifference. Yadier Molina singled, and O’Neill scored. That one run was the extent of the ninth inning rally.
The offense managed eight hits, but most were scattered across nine innings. O’Neill was 3-for-3 and Molina was 2-for-4.
Wednesday, August 4 – Cardinals 4, Braves 7
The Cardinals lost to the Braves in the second game of the series, primarily because pitching could not hold an early lead.
St. Louis got off to a 3-0 start in the first inning. Dylan Carlson and Paul Goldschmidt singled, and Nolan Arenado blasted a three-run home run to left center field. Atlanta began chipping away at the lead with a run in the fourth inning and a run in the fifth inning.
In the sixth inning, the Braves took the lead 4-3. The Cardinals tied it 4-4 in the seventh. Matt Carpenter singled and Tommy Edman was hit by a pitch. A double steal sent Carpenter to third and Edman to second. Paul Goldschmidt’s sac fly scored Carpenter.
The tie did not last long. The game got away in the eighth when the Braves put three runs on the board.
Arenado was 2-for-4 with three RBI and was the only Cardinal with multiple hits.
Starter J.A. Happ pitched five innings and gave up two runs on five hits. The 38-year-old left hander struck out four and walked one in his Cardinals debut. Ryan Helsley relieved and surrendered two runs in 2/3 of an inning. He was charged with a blown save. T.J. McFarland got the last out of the sixth. Genesis Cabrera pitched a scoreless seventh. Working deliberately, Giovanny Gallegos had an off night, yielding three runs in the eighth and absorbing the loss. Luis Garcia tossed the final 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Carpenter and Edman each stole a base. Harrison Bader made a fielding error.
Thursday, August 5 – Cardinals 4, Braves 8
The Cardinals were unable to hold off the sweep by the Braves, as they lost 8-4 in the third and final game of the home set. The Cardinals took a 4-2 lead into the eighth inning, but the bullpen gave it up in a big way.
Starter Wade LeBlanc pitched six innings and gave up two runs on three hits, struck out one and walked three. Genesis Cabrera tossed a scoreless seventh. Giovanny Gallegos started the eighth and surrendered three runs in 2/3 of an inning. Alex Reyes came in to finish the eighth but could not record an out. He walked four, hit a batter and allowed three more runs. The two Millers, Justin and Andrew, combined to finish the game without yielding any more runs, but the damage was done.
The Braves got on the board first, scoring one run in the top of the third. The Cardinals answered in the home half of the third to take a 2-1 lead on a solo home run by Andrew Knizner and an RBI single from Nolan Arenado.
The Braves tied it 2-2 in the fourth. In the sixth, the Redbirds regained the lead. Tyler O’Neill singled and Matt Carpenter singled. O’Neill advanced to third on a fly out by Harrison Bader, then scored on a wild pitch. The Cardinals increased the lead to 4-2 in the seventh when Tommy Edman doubled, and Paul Goldschmidt drove him home on a single.
In the eighth, the bullpen imploded, and the Braves put up six runs. The Cardinals could not overcome the four-run deficit in the final two innings.
Goldschmidt and O’Neill were both 2-for-4.
Friday, August 6 – Cardinals 4, Royals 2
The Cardinals continued the homestand with three against the cross-state Kansas City Royals. Game 1 on Friday was a 4-2 win for the Redbirds.
Paul Goldschmidt got it going for the Redbirds with a solo home run in the first inning. The lead widened to 2-0 in the second. Tyler O’Neill singled and Yadier Molina walked. O’Neill scored on a single by Paul DeJong.
O’Neill hit a solo home run in the fourth to make it 3-0. In the fifth, Dylan Carlson doubled and scored on a single by Goldschmidt.
The Braves finally got on the board with two runs in the sixth. The Cardinals bullpen was able to hold the Royals scoreless for the final three innings.
O’Neill went 4-for-4 on the night with an RBI and two runs scored. Goldschmidt was 2-for-4 with two RBI.
Cardinals stopper Adam Wainwright pitched seven innings, yielding two runs on seven hits and two walks. T.J. McFarland and Alex Reyes (25th save) handed the final two frames.
Saturday, August 7 – Cardinals 5, Royals 2
The Cardinals beat the Royals 5-2 in the second game of the weekend series. The offense put up runs early and added on to conclude the victory.
After a nine-day absence, Kwang-Hyun Kim made the start but had a shortened outing. The left hander pitched four innings, gave up two runs on four hits, struck out three and walked two. Luis Garcia relieved and tossed two scoreless innings and was awarded the win, his first as a Cardinal. Ryan Helsley, Genesis Cabrera, and Giovanny Gallegos each threw a scoreless inning. Gallegos earned his second save.
The Cardinals got on the board in the first inning, scoring two runs on a single by Yadier Molina. The Royals tied it 2-2 in the top of the fourth, but the Redbirds quickly answered in home half of the inning. Paul DeJong doubled and Tommy Edman singled. Pinch hitter Matt Carpenter doubled, and DeJong scored, Edman was thrown out at home trying to score. St. Louis regained the lead 3-2.
Nolan Arenado hit a solo home run in the fifth to widen the lead to 4-2. In the sixth, DeJong and Edman single, and pinch hitter Lars Nootbaar plated DeJong on a single. The Braves were held scoreless after the fourth inning.
DeJong was 2-for-3 and Edman was 2-for-4. Molina drove in two. Jose Rondon was picked off first base.
Sunday, August 8 – Cardinal 5, Royals 6
The Cardinals failed to sweep the Royals, dropping the final game on Sunday. An eighth inning rally tied it up before a two-hour rain delay in the ninth stopped play with the Royals having men on base and no outs.
The Cardinals scored first on a solo home run by Dylan Carlson in the first inning. After the first the Cardinal offense shut down for five innings while the Royals put up five runs over the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings to take a 5-1 lead.
The Redbirds offense finally awakened in the seventh and eighth innings. In the seventh, pinch hitter Jose Rondon singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Paul Goldschmidt drove Rondon home on a single.
In the eighth, the Redbirds scored three to tie it. Harrison Bader led off with a single. Andrew Knizner drew a walk. Pinch hitter Matt Carpenter was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Lars Nootbaar pinch ran for Carpenter. Carlson’s sac fly scored Bader. Goldschmidt drove in Knizner on a single and Nootbaar came home on Nolan Arenado’s single.
The ninth began with a single by the Royals’ Hansel Alberto. Jarrod Dyson bunted, and Goldschmidt made a wide throw attempting to get Alberto out at second. Alberto ended up at third and Dyson went to second. Then the rain began, and the game was delayed for two hours.
When action resumed, the Royals scored one on Alex Reyes and the tie became a 6-5 lead for Kansas City. The Cardinals went away with a whimper in the bottom of the ninth.
Carlson, Goldschmidt, and Arenado had two hits. Carlson and Goldschmidt both had two RBI. The top three in the lineup did all the damage, with the exception being a single by Bader, a single by pinch hitter Rondon, and a double by starter Jon Lester.
Lester pitched 5 1/3 innings and gave up five runs on six hits. The left hander struck out two and walked two. Justin Miller and T.J. McFarland combined for 2 2/3 innings of relief. Alex Reyes gave up the winning run in the ninth and took the loss, his fifth of the season.
In the field, Goldschmidt and Tyler O’Neill each made a throwing error.
The Big Picture
The Cardinals did not have a good week. They were swept in three games by the Braves and won 2 of 3 from the Royals, ending the week 2-4. The Braves series was particularly frustrating in that two of the three losses were late inning bullpen meltdowns (as was Sunday’s loss to KC). The first game loss to Atlanta was on the offense.
That is the story of the 2021 St. Louis Cardinals. It is the offense at times and the pitching at other times. The team can’t seem to have both working at the same time on a regular basis. The goal of winning all of the August series against sub .500 teams has gotten off to a poor start.
New pitchers Jon Lester and J.A. Happ are doing what they were acquired to do, give the team innings. Both have been adequate. Adam Wainwright is still Adam Wainwright if there is any consolation to be had for Cardinals fans. Otherwise, the pitching is what it has been all season, inconsistent and giving up walks by the boatload.
The offense runs hot and cold. The player who is hot now will likely be cold soon. Case in point is Harrison Bader, who was red hot post All-Star Break but has started August with a whimper. Tyler O’Neill gets hot for a while, then does nothing but strike out for a while. It is the same song with virtually every player in the starting lineup.
Currently O’Neill is hot, as he leads the offense over the last seven days with an OPS of 1.429. From there it drops to Nolan Arenado, second with an OPS of .822, Dylan Carlson (.768), Paul Goldschmidt (.755), Harrison Bader (.510), Paul DeJong (.449) and dead last is Tommy Edman (.390). Matt Carpenter has an OPS of 1.833 in four at bats. His recent pinch-hitting appearances have been very good, but anyone who sees him as an Edman replacement needs to remember he is a below-average defender.
One bright spot in the endless gloom is that Jack Flaherty should be returning to the rotation this week. Miles Mikolas could soon follow. What that means for Happ and Lester remains to be seen. Both Flaherty and Mikolas will likely be eased in, so some modified rotation may be implemented for the first week or so, maybe a six- or seven-man rotation for a short time or tandem appearances.
The Cardinals will continue with series against sub .500 teams for most of August. The Pirates are next on the list, followed by a second shot at the Royals. Then the fun begins when the Brewers come to town on August 17. The first-place Brewers are 10.5 games in front of the Cardinals. After that brief interlude it’s back to the Pirates two more times and two games with the Tigers in between the Pirates. There are many bad teams to potentially feast on, but the Cardinals record in this regard is not encouraging. Win series remains the mantra.
Note: The Cardinals are also eight games out of the second wild card, with four teams ahead of them, including division-rival Cincinnati.
NL Central Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct | GB |
| Milwaukee | 66 | 46 | 0.589 | |
| Cincinnati | 61 | 51 | 0.545 | 5 |
| St. Louis | 55 | 56 | 0.495 | 10.5 |
| Chicago | 52 | 61 | 0.460 | 14.5 |
| Pittsburgh | 41 | 71 | 0.366 | 25 |
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
There are no trade or acquisition rumors to report.
Transactions
- 8/3 The Cardinals sent RHP Miles Mikolas on a rehab assignment to the Springfield Cardinals.
- 8/3 The Cardinals sent Daniel Ponce de Leon on a rehab assignment to the Springfield Cardinals
- 8/6 The Cardinals sent Jack Flaherty on a rehab assignment to the Springfield Cardinals.
Injury Report
- RHP Miles Mikolas (right forearm tightness), remains on the 60-day injured list. The right hander made his most recent rehab start in Springfield on August 8 and pitched 5 2/3 innings, yielding seven runs including three long balls. Mikolas is targeted for a mid-August return.
- RHP Jordan Hicks (right elbow inflammation) remains on the 60-day injured list and the team seems less optimistic that he can return to pitch sometime before the end of the season.
- 2B Max Moroff (left shoulder subluxation) remains on the 60-day injured list after suffering a shoulder injury in a batting practice session. Moroff had surgery on the shoulder and is out for the rest of the season.
- RHP Jack Flaherty (left oblique strain) remains on the 60-day IL. Flaherty made several rehab starts with the Memphis Redbirds and one rehab start with the Springfield Cardinals. The right hander will return to the roster on the road trip, potentially in Pittsburgh but also possibly in Kansas City where the DH is used.
- RHP Dakota Hudson (Tommy John surgery) was expected to be out all the 2021 season. Hudson is tracking well toward an Opening Day 2022 return, though a late 2021 season return is possible.
- RHP Daniel Ponce de Leon (right shoulder inflammation) remains on the 10-day injured list. The right hander had three relatively successful rehab outings for the Memphis Redbirds, but his August 3 appearance for the Springfield Cardinals was not. At the present time, Ponce de Leon is being evaluated as to his next steps.
- RHP Carlos Martinez (right thumb ligament sprain) had surgery on July 16 to repair his thumb ligament. The surgery makes it less likely the right hander will return to pitch this season. If that is the case, Martinez may have thrown his last pitch as a Cardinal. Martinez is on the final year of his contract, and though the team holds options for 2022 and 2023, they are not expected to pick them up.
Looking Ahead
The next road trip begins with a Monday travel day to Pittsburgh to begin a three-day series with the Pirates on Tuesday. The announced pitchers for the series are J.A Happ on Tuesday, and Adam Wainwright on Wednesday. The Thursday starter has not been finalized but could be Jack Flaherty.
The team travels to Kansas City to play the Royals in a weekend series beginning Friday, August 13. After a Monday, August 16 off day, the Cardinals begin a homestand that starts with a three-game series with the Brewers beginning on Tuesday, August 17. The homestand continues with a weekend series with the Pirates.
The Cardinals regular season schedule can be found here.
Blast from the Past
Last month, the Blast from the Past series looked at notable events in past Julys in Cardinals history, which included many trades and acquisitions. This week, we look at key August transactions from the past. Prior to 2019, teams could acquire players via waivers after the trade deadline. Teams would often add players past the deadline to help down the stretch, ones who may or may not have been available at the trade deadline. The August “waiver wire”, as it was known, was abolished in 2019.
In perusing the transactions history page on Baseball Reference, this writer found that the Cardinals, at least during the first week of August, were not particularly active with transactions. Many that were listed were free agent signings who never saw time at the major league level but were sent to the minors to play out the season. The Cardinals’ other transactions included releasing players in August.
Three acquisitions within the last decade or so during this week in August were notable only because they are names that current Cardinals fans may recognize. A summary of those transactions follows.
The first is a pitcher who should be well known to fans who followed the team during the mid-2000s. In the first round of the 2000 draft, the Cardinals picked a left-handed pitcher named Chris Narveson. Narveson played from 2000-2004 in the Cardinals minor league system. On August 11, 2004, Narveson was traded to the Colorado Rockies in the Larry Walker deal. The Rockies sent him to Triple-A to finish the season then traded him to the Boston Red Sox in March 2005.
On August 8, 2005, the Cardinals re-acquired Narveson via waivers from the Red Sox. He was sent to Memphis to finish the season. Narveson finally made his major league debut with the Cardinals, the team that originally drafted him six years earlier, on September 8, 2006. Narveson made five appearances in September, including one start on September 22 against the Houston Astros. In his five appearances he had an ERA of 4.82.
Narveson was sent back to the minor leagues in 2007 but a shoulder injury kept him out for most of the season. In December of 2007 the Brewers signed Narveson as a minor league free agent. The rest is history.
The second August transaction to be covered was not a waiver transaction but a free agent signing. On August 5, 2008, the Cardinals signed free agent Felipe Lopez, recently released from the Washington Nationals. Lopez played in 43 games with the Cardinals that season, posting a slash line of .385/.426/.538.
Lopez became a free agent again at the end of the 2008 season and signed with the Diamondbacks. Two years later, Lopez came back to the Cardinals on a one-year deal for 2010. Lopez’ second stint was much less successful at the plate, but many fans may remember his role in a 20-inning game against the Mets at Busch Stadium on April 17. Lopez started at shortstop, was moved to third base, then ended up pitching in the 18th inning. He tossed a scoreless frame, but the Cardinals eventually lost, 2-1. The Cardinals released Lopez on September 21, 2010.
The final August transaction is more recent. On August 5, 2018, the Cardinals claimed pitcher Tyson Ross from the San Diego Padres. If Cardinals fans remember, the Cardinals rotation was a mess due to injuries to Wainwright, Wacha, and Martinez. Most thought Ross would join the rotation, but he ended up making only one start and spending the rest of the time in the bullpen.
Ross performed well in his short time as a Cardinal. He made his first and only start on August 12 against the Royals and pitched six innings, giving up two runs. The Cardinals won that game 8-2. Ross then went to the bullpen and made eight more appearances. He finished the season with a 2-0 record and an ERA of 2.73. Ross signed as a free agent with the Detroit Tigers in December 2018.
Those are the three notable August transactions for the period August 2 to August 8.
Exclusively for members of The Cardinal Nation
2021 Prospect Guide now 20% off!
Now available, The Cardinal Nation 2021 Prospect Guide is back for a fourth year. It includes over 250 pages of in-depth commentary about the very best St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguers, including dozens of color photos.
20% off Blowout Sale now underway on the spiral-bound, printed version.
https://thecardinalnation.com/order-the-cardinal-nation-2021-prospect-guide-now/
Not yet a member?
Join The Cardinal Nation for the most comprehensive coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals from the majors through the entire minor league system.
Follow Marilyn Green on Twitter @Marilyncolor.
© 2021 The Cardinal Nation, thecardinalnation.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.