With a loss on Friday, the Cardinals secured their second losing season in three years, but were hoping to at least even the series with the Cubs on Saturday. Michael McGreevy took the mound and did not finish on a good note, allowing three runs, all of which scored on Michael Busch home runs. He was lifted in the fifth for John King.
Ryan Fernandez came in and allowed two runs over an inning. One of them came on a Seiya Suzuki home run Matt Svanson pitched a scoreless seventh inning and Jorge Alcala allowed two runs in the eighth.
The Cardinals hit a few home runs today. Nolan Arenado hit his 12th to tie the game in the top of the fourth inning. Jordan Walker also connected for a two-run shot in the seventh to pull the Cardinals closer after Fernandez gave up the Suzuki homer. Let’s get into some takeaways.
McGreevy struggles
Today was not the best day for Michael McGreevy. He seemed to settle down after the first Busch home run, but his pitch count got up there pretty quickly, and he was lifted after 4 2/3 innings of work. He allowed six hits, three runs, two walks and struck out three batters.
He finishes the season 8-4 with a 4.42 ERA in 16 starts and one relief appearance. Overall, not bad considering the state of the Cardinals pitching staff. I think he has a bright future, and he showed a lot more potential this year. I do think, however, that teams had better data on him this year, which led to a little regression. That was to be expected. I don’t think it’s a big deal, and I think he’ll be even better next year. But like Matthew Liberatore and Andre Pallante, I think McGreevy sort of hit a wall at the end of the season. But it’s better to have the growing pains now than later.
Busch dominates, nearly hits for cycle
I think the Cardinals have a new arch nemesis. His name is Michael Busch, and he continued to cook the Cardinals this afternoon. His two home runs today brought his total vs. the Cardinals on the season up to nine. He went 4-for-4 and drove in four runs in today’s game. But something funny happened in the eighth. He was just a single shy of the cycle, but then Oli Marmol chose to intentionally walk him.
I thought this was pretty funny. The game was out of reach at that point, and there was no chance of the Cardinals coming back to win, but it was nice to see him and all the Cubs fans get salty over what happened. A little gamesmanship is fun to see, even with the Cardinals out of contention.
If I were the Cardinals, I wouldn’t pitch to him at all tomorrow, assuming he’s in the lineup. I completely agree with Oli choosing to walk him. They were blown out yesterday, and you don’t want to have to deal with back-to-back blowout losses on the road to your arch rival. That would have been extra embarrassing. But the Cardinals should stay away from him at all costs tomorrow. He’s done enough damage.
The season finale kicks off at 2:20. Kyle Leahy will make the start in a bullpen game as the Cardinals look to finish the season on a high note and avoid a sweep.
