Clock’s ticking: Cardinals sink back to .500 as Cleveland romps, 7-2, and trade deadline nears

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Clock’s ticking: Cardinals sink back to .500 as Cleveland romps, 7-2, and trade deadline nears

Fri, 07/30/2021 - 02:58
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Jul. 29—CLEVELAND — The move the Cardinals aim to pursue as Friday’s trade deadline races near could address an underlying reason why, even freed from coarse play and June’s quicksand, they have been unable move away much at all from a .500 record.

Cleveland socked four home runs — three in one inning, two in the game by Franmil Reyes — against starter Kwang Hyun Kim and soared to a 7-2 victory Wednesday at Progressive Field to split a two-game interleague series and once again leave the Cardinals perched on middling, at 51-51. The Cardinals spent less than a week in Ohio, visited two cities, and were at .500 three times. They have been unable to reach escape velocity from its orbit because of starts like Wednesday’s.

Brief outings have been big speedbumps.

“Starting pitchers are really important for the team (for) the consecutive wins,” Kim said after allowing five runs on five hits in 2 2/3 innings. “(Pitchers) who are really good are ones who can be in really good condition for a long time, not going through ups and downs.”

The loss, Kim’s only loss in July, ended a six-game winning streak for the Cardinals in his starts. It’s been the lefty’s resurgence that’s brought a complement to Adam Wainwright and stability to a rotation frayed and left ragged by injury. His truncated outing Wednesday was a reminder of why the Cardinals are shopping for a pitcher — a winning streak is often only as long as the next day’s starter. The Cardinals entered Wednesday 7-3 in their previous 10 games — the best in that stretch in the league — but they only won three consecutive games once in July.

They haven’t been two games better than .500 since June 16, but they’ve been at .500 seven times since. They try to get on a roll and the rotation stays in a rut.

“I feel like we’re playing and getting the most out of what we have pretty consistently,” manager Mike Shildt said after pointing to the team’s seven wins in 10 games. “And that’s ultimately all we can do.”

That is, until the “what we have” changes.

What has hinted at being a frenetic trade deadline — enhanced by July being the only trade deadline now — accelerated all around the Cardinals on Wednesday. The first-place Brewers addressed a sagging offense by acquiring switch-hitter Eduardo Escobar from Arizona. The second-place Reds added three pitchers via two trades. The Cardinals made calls. The front office declined comment Wednesday and habitually tends to close ranks as talks crescendo. The Cardinals have positioned themselves as a shopper not a seller, but within limits.

The Cardinals have been exploring trades for a starter. That market may be waiting for the headliner, Washington’s ace Max Scherzer, to move (if at all) and then the teams still in need of starters can scramble as asking prices adjust based on demand. The Cardinals are looking for innings, reliable innings, but would rather spend patience waiting on the returns of Jack Flaherty and Miles Mikolas than a top prospect on a shortterm fix. The next time a Cardinal throws a competitive pitch the trade deadline will have happened.

“We’ll see where it goes, see what happens,” Shildt said. “I’ll be supportive either way regardless of which direction or how we go, if we go anywhere.”

How a quality starter would aid the Cardinals is as clear as their record is level and as immediate as the box score from Wednesday’s game.

Since Flag Day, the Cardinals have had 17 games when the starter has allowed three or fewer earned runs and pitched at least 5 1/3 innings, two outs shy of a quality start. The club is 14-3 in those games. In the other 20, they’re 5-15. They’ve won seven consecutive games when the starter goes at least 5 1/3 and allows three or fewer earned runs and haven’t lost consecutive games like that since the last week of May. (With a lackluster offense they lost 13 consecutive games in June when the starter allowed three or more earned runs and pitched five or fewer innings.) Their winning streaks could be paved with modest starts — but they’re jarred before they gain momentum by potholes like Wednesday.

In the third inning, Shildt turned to bench coach Oliver Marmol and, he recalled later, noted where all of Kim’s outs had been to that point.

“Man, the ball is in the air a lot,” he said.

And then the ball was in the air a long way.

Five of Kim’s first six outs came on fly balls, and the one that didn’t was a caught stealing. Reyes led off the second with a home run that traveled an estimated 446 feet and left the ballpark, bounding onto an adjacent street. Kim (6-6) allowed three home runs total in the shortened 2020 season. He allowed that many in the span of 15 pitches in the third inning. And on three different pitches, too. Cesar Hernandez tagged a fastball to center for two-run homer that erased the Cardinals’ one-run lead. Jose Ramirez drove a changeup to left center for a solo homer. And Reyes launched a slider 421 feet to rightcenter for the 11th multi-homer game of his career and first since April.

Of the five hits Kim allowed, the one that wasn’t a homer — a single — chased him from the game and left four relievers to handle the remaining 16 outs.

“It’s always the battle of pitcher and hitter,” said Kim, who pledged to “scrutinize” what went awry Wednesday, with translation from Craig Choi. “As a pitcher you have to off-balance the hitter. I wasn’t successful with that, and when I must throw strikes I threw balls. Just a bad performance by me.”

Cleveland did not strike out until the seventh inning, and that contrasted with the 11 strikeouts the Cardinals had, only four against starter Zach Plesac. Rookie Dylan Carlson scored both Cardinals runs and put them briefly ahead, 2-1, with a solo homer on a full-count pitch from Plesac (6-3). In the fifth, a rally stalled before it started when Paul Goldschmidt singled and Nolan Arenado was struck on the right forearm by a pitch. That left a bruise and tingling sensation that forced him from the game, but not before he was stranded on base.

Plesac got the next three hitters to fly out.

“It’s been a bit of a grind,” Carlson said of trying to detach from .500. “We’re a confident team. We know we’re a good team. We know we can make things happen. It’s been a little bit of a grind. We’re staying positive.”

There are indicators the Cardinals can cling to, whether it’s the rising tide of offense from Harrison Bader or the early returns on health from two starters. After Wednesday’s game, Shildt made the point that stitching together a consistent, consecutive wins comes when these improving elements mesh. That takes production from all aspects of the roster.

And, for the next several hours, one aspect of the organization.

The front office is on the clock