Tuesday’s Game Report: Orioles 13, Cardinals 1
By Rob Rains
Three times in the first five innings, Matthew Liberatore had runners on first and third with nobody out. He got out of the jam in the first inning but wasn’t able to do it the other two times.
Pete Alonso hit a three-run homer as part of a 4-for-4 night in the third and then the Orioles blew the game open with eight runs in the fifth inning in the opener of a three-game series at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals had to throw 62 pitches to get through that inning.
The loss was the fourth in a row for the Cardinals, and for the second time in the last three games, they had to use catcher Pedro Pages to pitch the final inning.
Jackson Holliday, the son of former Cardinal Matt Holliday, celebrated this first game at Busch with three hits, an RBI and two runs scored.
The Orioles sent 13 hitters to the plate in the fifth, with Liberatore being charged with four of the runs after he left the bases loaded and all three runners scored.
Here is how Tuesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The only run for the Cardinals was a home run by Nathan Church leading off the third … Church had two of the Cardinals seven hits but they only had two at-bats with a runner in scoring position … Joshua Baez beat out an infield single in his first at-bat at Busch but was hitless after that … Nolan Gorman was back in the lineup as the DH after being recalled from Memphis but was 0-of-4, striking out three times.
On the mound: Liberatore was charged with eight runs in his four-plus innings of work … Peter Strzelecki took over with the bases loaded and let all three runs score, then gave up another run as he retired only one of the seven hitters he faced … Pages, who pitched an inning on Saturday night in Philadelphia, allowed a leadoff single in the eighth but then got a fly out and got Holliday to ground into a double play.
Key stat: In the last four games, Cardinals starters combined have pitched only 17 innings, leaving the bullpen, including Pages, to cover 17 2/3 innings.
Worth noting: Liberatore also gave up a 450-foot homer to Christian Encarnacion-Strand, the longest home run at Busch Stadium this year … Masyn Winn was placed on the 10-day injured list before the game, retroactive to Saturday, because of the sorethumb which he hurt on a slide last week in Cincinnati. Gorman was recalled from Memphis to take his place on the roster … Rainiel Rodriguez had his second consecutive two-homer game on Tuesday night for Double A Springfield.
Up next: Michael McGreevy will get the start on Wednesday night in the second game of the series.
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