CHICAGO — This was not how Erick Fedde envisioned his St. Louis Cardinals debut.
Eager to pitch for a potential playoff team after spending four months in the cellar with the Chicago White Sox, Fedde took the mound at Wrigley Field on Friday afternoon ready to show why he was among the most coveted starting pitchers at the trade deadline. Instead, the Cubs tagged Fedde for five runs in the second inning to surge to a 6-3 victory, dropping the Cardinals to just two games over .500.
“You know what they say about first impressions,” Fedde said. “Wanted it to be a special one.”
Fedde felt out of sync from the jump. He relied heavily on his cutter — his bread-and-butter pitch — in the early innings but struggled to command it.
Fedde opened the second inning with a strikeout of Isaac Parades, though it took 12 pitches to put him away. Then Nico Hoerner, Dansby Swanson and Pete Crow-Armstrong tallied three straight singles, with Crow-Armstrong’s hit driving in a run. That set the table for No. 9 hitter Christian Bethancourt. Fedde knew if he threw him a cutter, it would need to be down and in. But it floated up and away and Bethancourt connected for a three-run homer to the opposite field.
Christian Bethancourt said “text me when you land” pic.twitter.com/R87NcRyBFz
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 2, 2024
Michael Busch tacked on a solo shot two batters later to cap the five-run frame. Fedde settled down after that, retiring his last 10 batters to get through five innings, but the damage was done.
“I just let the moment get a little big and let things speed up, rather than being calm and collected,” Fedde said. “I started throwing pitches a little too quickly and paid for it. A mistake I can’t make again.”
Fedde’s final three innings were more indicative of what the Cardinals believe he’ll do over the final two months of the regular season. He commanded his cutter more effectively and landed his sinker while mixing in a sweeper more. He was efficient, requiring only nine pitches in the third inning and eight in the fourth. Fedde cited a reset after the second inning as the reason for turning his outing around.
“I just tried to really slow down my windup and take my time to focus on my target,” Fedde said. “For the most part, when my cutter’s good, I’m good. For those first couple of innings, I just couldn’t get it to a location. It put me in some bad counts and I gave up some hard-hit baseballs.”
Friday’s loss can’t be placed solely on Fedde. Chicago gifted St. Louis all three of its runs with three bases-loaded walks, but the Cardinals were unable truly to cash in.
The best time for the Cardinals to strike was the third inning when a big hit could have whittled deeper into a 5-0 deficit. The Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs off Cubs starter Javier Assad, thanks to singles from Michael Siani and Masyn Winn and a walk by Willson Contreras. Paul Goldschmidt worked a five-pitch walk to force in a run. That brought Nolan Arenado to the plate, but he swung on a 2-0 cutter off the plate and flew out to left to end the threat.
St. Louis threatened again in the eighth, with Chicago relievers banding together to issue five walks in the inning, two that led to runs. Manager Oli Marmol decided to pinch hit Brandon Crawford for Siani with two outs against closer Héctor Neris, citing Crawford’s 5-for-7 history off the right-hander. But Neris pumped in four straight four-seamers, and Crawford struck out swinging.
“We had some opportunities today, we just missed a big hit there,” Marmol said. “We were just one solid hit away from it being a different ballgame.”
Fly the W!
The @Cubs take Game 2 of the series against St. Louis. pic.twitter.com/PmnA67ieb7
— MLB (@MLB) August 2, 2024
St. Louis did get a formidable first outing from new reliever Shawn Armstrong, who allowed one hit and a walk and struck out two over 1 2/3 innings of work. Armstrong will fill multiple roles in the bullpen and is comfortable pitching in any scenario. It helps he comes from the Tampa Bay Rays, a team that regularly keeps bullpen roles fluid.
After Thursday night’s heartbreaker, when closer Ryan Helsley surrendered three runs in the ninth for just his third blown save of the year, a bounce-back win on Friday felt pivotal. The Cardinals fell short and now must win their final two games to salvage a series split against their rival.
They will face scrutiny after every loss. Such is the nature of playing in a tight National League playoff picture this year. Fedde’s start can be chalked up to one bad inning. The offense, even with the addition of Tommy Pham, remains inconsistent.
The Cardinals firmly believe they’re a playoff team. But as they know, it’s not about thinking it, it’s about showing it.
(Photo of Erick Fedde: Nuccio DiNuzzo / Getty Images)
