LOS ANGELES — The St. Louis Cardinals knew their depth would be tested in their opening series of the regular season. The Los Angeles Dodgers tend to have that effect regardless of time of year.
But Sunday’s series finale at Chavez Ravine presented the worst-case scenario for a Cardinals pitching staff that entered the contest short-handed, and the results followed accordingly. St. Louis squandered a four-run lead in the game’s final four innings, fueled by key home runs in the eighth inning from Teoscar Hernández and Max Muncy, and fell to the Dodgers 5-4 in a frustrating defeat ultimately caused by the factors outside the box score rather than within it.
“We knew we were going to have one tough inning to get through today based on who we had in the ’pen,” manager Oli Marmol said. “We were going to have to be perfect to get through the ninth.”
The @Dodgers rallied from 4 runs down to win on #SundayNightBaseball! pic.twitter.com/gCPnhfrGUe
— MLB (@MLB) April 1, 2024
No Cardinals starting pitcher recorded a quality start in the club’s opening series (though Lance Lynn’s scoreless four-inning outing was cut short by rain). That, along with extra innings in Saturday’s come-from-behind win, led to a short-staffed bullpen. Giovanny Gallegos and JoJo Romero were not available for use after back-to-back appearances Friday and Saturday. Neither was Matthew Liberatore, who pitched two innings Thursday and two more Saturday. The remaining relievers had limitations on their usage, except for Ryan Fernandez, who had yet to pitch in the series.
So did starting pitcher Steven Matz, who entered Sunday’s game on a pitch count of 80, further stressing the lack of relief options available. Matz, intentionally built up slowly over the spring after a series of injuries last season, didn’t top 80 pitches during spring, and the Cardinals didn’t want him to surpass that mark in his first start of the season.
Their best-case scenario would have been for Matz to pitch six innings, which would have taken a nearly perfect performance against a potent Dodgers lineup. He came close, spinning 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball with a noticeable uptick in his velo and exceptional command of his changeup. But as Matz dug into the mound for the bottom of the sixth, he was already at 70 pitches and slated to see the heart of the Dodgers lineup (Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Hernández) for the third time.
Things got dicey from there. Ohtani smacked a leadoff ground-rule double. Andrew Kittredge, who pitched an inning Saturday, began warming up. Freeman followed with a nine-pitch at-bat before lining out to center, leaving Matz at exactly 80 pitches. Knowing how many outs he needed to cover and how few options remained, Marmol allowed Matz to face one more batter. Hernández doubled in Ohtani, and Marmol motioned for Kittredge.
To carry the Cardinals to the ninth, Marmol needed to create lanes for the best available matchups. By going to Kittredge, who was set up to face four consecutive righties, Marmol was hoping Dodgers manager Dave Roberts would clear his bench and pinch hit his left-handed bats. This would set up ideally for the Cardinals, who planned to use Andre Pallante in the seventh, which would then set up John King (recalled Sunday morning after Riley O’Brien landed on the Injured List with a forearm strain) for the slew of lefties Roberts would put in against Kittredge.
This went according to plan. After Kittredge walked Chris Taylor, Roberts pinch hit Max Muncy, James Outman and Gavin Lux. Muncy singled in Hernández, leading to Matz’s second earned run, but Kittredge induced a groundout from Outman and a flyout from Lux to limit the damage.
Enter Pallante, who was available for just one inning after warming up three separate times Saturday night. He breezed through the bottom of the seventh on 12 pitches, retiring Austin Barnes, Mookie Betts and Ohtani. When Pallante came into the dugout, he let Marmol know he had three more batters in him. Marmol decided to stretch Pallante out for the eighth, knowing that if the Cardinals were able to hold on to their 4-2 lead, he would not have to use King and could go to closer Ryan Helsley, who was available only with a lead in the ninth.
The eighth proved to be the tough inning Marmol was worried about. Pallante didn’t see the same success in his second inning. He retired Freeman for out No. 1 but left a hanging curveball for Hernández, who hammered it for his third home run of the series. That brought up Taylor, who would be Pallante’s final batter regardless of outcome. Taylor walked, which put the tying run on and forced Marmol to turn to King.
Marmol had planned for this. The next three hitters were the left-handed trio of Muncy, Outman and Lux. The matchup favored King and the Cardinals, starting with Muncy, who hit just .155 off left-handed pitchers last year with an OPS of .642.
He was much more successful against King. Muncy turned on a 2-1 slider and barreled it for a 420-foot lead change, his first homer of the season and the ultimate game-deciding play. Cardinals power hitters Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Gorman and Nolan Arenado went down in order in the top of the ninth to end the game.
Max Muncy’s 1st HR of the season was a no-doubter! 😤 pic.twitter.com/YA3XQgtVOU
— MLB (@MLB) April 1, 2024
“You’re going to have matchups you don’t love based on being short in the ’pen,” Marmol said. “That’s why you use Kittredge early, to create a lane for King because you know you’re going to have to use him. So do it early enough so at least it lines up a little better for him later.”
Sunday’s loss will be chalked up to arm shortage, emphasizing the importance of durability from the starting rotation and the bullpen. The Cardinals didn’t turn to Fernandez at high-leverage points during this series. Perhaps that’s by design, as Fernandez’s first outing with St. Louis will also serve as his major-league debut. But given the strength of the teams the Cardinals face opening the season, St. Louis needs every spot it can get. Fernandez’s Rule-5 status complicates that matter.
Being without two key pitchers in Sonny Gray (hamstring strain) and Keynan Middleton (right forearm strain) also underscores the importance of health, something Marmol keeps in the front of his mind as he manages pitchers’ workloads in March and April.
“If you want (these guys) for the remaining part of the year, then you better be careful early,” Marmol said. “We’re not going to push them to more than what we agreed to.”
The Cardinals were certain to be under scrutiny early given how last season transpired. Sunday’s outcome, and losing three of four to the Dodgers to open the season, does nothing to change that.
(Photo of Cardinals manager Oli Marmol and players at the mound during an eighth-inning pitching change Sunday: Jayne-Kamin-Oncea / Associated Press)
