St. Louis

Cardinals

That means Sonny Gray will get an extra day off next week, and Erick Fedde will face the Blue Jays on Friday instead of the Reds on Thursday. Steven Matz will go to the bullpen to make room and could pitch in relief as soon as Sunday. Lynn has been out since the end of July with knee inflammation.

The Cardinals just keep on winning extra-inning games. They’ve won in extras on back-to-back nights and three times in their last three tries. Coincidentally, all three have come against the Brewers. Baker played the hero in this one with his 10th inning single off Hoby Milner to set up the victory. Baker has shown impressive power with two homers, a double, and nine RBI in just 19 at-bats since being called up, but isn’t much more than a short-side platoon partner with Alec Burleson at DH right now.

This may have been Gray’s best start of the second half. He worked his fastball, sinker, sweeper, and cutter beautifully while mixing just enough changeups and curveballs to keep the Brewers guessing. All six of those pitches forced at least one swing-and-miss and Gray didn’t have an inning in which he threw more than 20 pitches. It’s a shame JoJo Romero blew his win when Eric Haase hit a home run on the first pitch he threw out of the bullpen. Alas, this was still a tremendous start from Gray against one of the hottest lineups in the National League. He’s scheduled to face the Reds at home next time out.

The Cardinals were open to a quick recall for Gorman if he started out hot in Triple-A, but it hasn’t happened. It looks like he might be a non-factor for the rest of the season.

Helsley blew his fourth save of the season when he allowed an RBI single in the 11th to Willy Adames. The run wasn’t earned, at least, and the Cardinals were able score three in the 12th with Helsley shutting down the Brewers bats in the bottom of the inning. He also struck out four, so fantasy managers get a little bit of better with the bitter blown save.

The homer was a solo shot to left-center that traveled an estimated 430 feet. The former MVP drove in a run earlier in the contest with an RBI double, and gave the Cards a 4-3 lead in the 11th with an RBI single. Goldschmidt has been a disappointment in 2024, but this was a nice day as he picked up his 21st homer, ninth steal and upped his RBI total to 58.

Matz was making his first start since April 30, and all things considered it went relatively well. The southpaw gave up homers to Jackson Chourio and Joey Ortiz, but allowed just one other hit with three walks and seven strikeouts. The Brewers are a tough nut to crack right now, and the 33-year-old did show some swing-and-miss stuff. The question now is when Matz pitches again, as the Cardinals haven’t lined up their rotation just yet.

Goldschmidt’s disappointing season, which almost surely will produce the worst OPS of his career (.712 right now), prompted the question. After all, he is about to turn 37, and he’s unsigned beyond this year. Goldschmidt, though, wants to keep going. He might have to settle for a one-year deal in free agency.

Pages now has five home runs on the season. He hit a solo shot off Freddy Peralta in the third inning and another one in the fifth inning. Pages is hitting .250 with a .686 OPS and 20 RBI in 148 at-bats this year.

Pallante gave up five hits, walked five and struck out three. He was done in by two home runs. He allowed a three-run shot to Willy Adames in the first inning and a two-run shot to Rhys Hoskins in the fourth inning. Pallante had allowed more than three earned runs in only two of his previous 10 starts. He has a 4.07 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and 71 strikeouts in 97 1/3 innings on the year. The 25-year-old right-hander is set to face the Mariners at home this weekend.