Cards Clobber Giants 10-0 for the Series Win and Hudson Worked His Sinker Magic

After the emotional peaks and valleys of last night’s roller coaster 9-8 disappointing loss, the Cards were hoping to close this series out with a victory over the Giants instead of a split before heading to Pittsburgh later tonight. With the rotation now back on regular rest, Dakota Hudson and his FIP-beating ways took the hill for the Cards. After the Cards were already ahead 8-0 after three innings, the local Cardinals broadcast stopped focusing on the game, and at that point it was easy to just tune out the action and lose sight of what was going on. For that reason, you can be forgiven for not realizing that Hudson pitched 6 innings while only allowing 1 hit, and Genesis Cabrera picked up a 3-inning save. Out of the 18 outs Hudson recorded this afternoon, 10 of them were groundouts, and in Hudson’s last 5 starts including this one, opponents are hitting just .114 against him, and he has a 0.77 WHIP. This was the 5th start this season where Hudson has allowed no runs, and he has stopped opponents from scoring in four out of his last five outings. Let’s hope the BABIP fairy blesses Hudson for the rest of his 5 starts this season, as he only had 2 strikeouts today.

For this day game and final game of a 4-game series, the Cards rested Harrison Bader, Dexter Fowler, starting Matt Carpenter at 3B, Randy Arozarena in CF and lineup catalyst Tommy Edman in RF.

Hudson started out 3-0 on Mike Yastrzemski in the top of the 1st, but got back to 3-2 and then induced him to line to Tommy Edman in RF, who made an unnecessary sliding catch. Corban Joseph flied out to short left and Brandon Belt struck out to end the inning. Left-handed hitter extraordinaire Tommy Edman lined a 2-0 center-cut fastball from starter Logan Webb into the right field corner. Giants’ RF Jaylin Davis played it well off of the carom and held him to a double. Productive out or not, Kolten Wong grounded out to 2nd base to move Edman to 3rd. Paul Goldschmidt chopped an off-speed pitch slowly to 3rd base. Corban Joseph charged and made his only possible throw to 1st base, but the throw was off-line a bit and Goldschmidt beat it out for an infield hit. Edman was going on contact and got a good jump to score and give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Marcell Ozuna chased a 1-2 slider about a foot outside to strike out. But Paul DeJong launched a center-cut 92-mph fastball over the center field fence onto the grass for a 2-run HR to extend the Cards’ lead to 3-0.

Yadier Molina grounded out to short to end the inning.

With 1 out in the top of the 2nd, Kevin Pillar worked a 9-pitch plate appearance to sharply ground a slider through the hole to left for a base hit. Brandon Crawford walked on 4 pitches. Jaylin Davis got jammed on an inside sinker and weakly lined out to Goldschmidt at 1st. Hudson continued his sinker magic, inducing Mauricio Dubon to pound a 2-seamer into the ground to short to end the inning. Matt Carpenter worked a 3-2 walk over 9 pitches to lead off the bottom of the 2nd. Randy Arozarena chopped a changeup for Joseph at 3rd close to the 3rd base line who made a nice backhanded grab to get Carpenter at 2nd on a 5-4 force. Arozarena beat out the throw to 1st. Hudson struck out trying to bunt for the 2nd out. With the count 2-0 on Edman, Arozarena stole 2nd base, but Edman grounded out to 2nd on the next pitch to end the inning.

Hudson retired the Giants in order in the top of the 3rd with 2 groundouts. Kolten Wong blooped an inside slider to center to lead off the bottom of the 3rd. Goldschmidt moved him to 2nd with a lined base hit to left on a low-and-in fastball. Ozuna chased an outside slider and flied it to left. DeJong flied out to right deep enough to allow Wong to tag up and advance to 3rd base. Molina worked the count to 3-2 before chasing a high-and-inside changeup that got away from the pitcher. But it worked out, because he somehow made contact with it and blooped it to left field for a base hit to score Wong and give the Cards a 4-0 lead. Goldschmidt was running on the pitch and advanced to 3rd base. Carpenter sharply grounded a ball to the right side. The Giants were not actually lined up in a typical shift. The first baseman Brandon Belt dove for the ball but missed. The ball went to the second baseman Mauricio Dubon. Belt got up and went back to the bag for the ball. The pitcher also raced over to help. The throw went to Belt, but he had a hard time trying to find the bag, and whiffed with his foot trying to touch it. He tried again, but by that time, Carpenter beat him to the bag by a step. The official scorer ruled this a base hit. Goldschmidt scored to extend the Cards’ lead to 5-0, and Molina went to 2nd base. Arozarena walked to load the bases. Hudson helped out his own cause by softly lining an outside fastball to right for a base hit. Molina and Carpenter scored to give the Cards a 7-0 lead. These were the first career RBIs for Hudson.

Hudson’s hit knocked Giants’ starter Logan Webb out of the game. Righty Burch Smith came out to pitch with runners at the corners and 2 out. Edman smoked a high fastball towards the middle that bounced and handcuffed Crawford at short. He lurched his body backwards while trying to field it, and it bounced off of his glove. This was initially scored as a hit, but the scorer later changed it to an error to rob Edman of his 2nd hit of the afternoon and an RBI. Arozarena scored to extend the Cards’ lead to 8-0 and Hudson hustled to 2nd base to avoid the force play. Wong popped out to short to close out the inning.

Brandon Crawford walked to lead off the top of the 5th. Davis forced Crawford at 2nd with a grounder to 3rd. Dubon grounded into what could have been a double play to short, but he beat out the throw to 1st by a step and the Cards could only get the force at 2nd. Lefty Chris Shaw pinch hit for the pitcher Smith and grounded a 3-2 slider to Goldschmidt at 1st to end the inning. For the bottom of the 5th, Shaw stayed in the game at 1st base, and righty Sam Coonrod came in to pitch in the #3 spot. With 1 out, Carpenter played pinball with a changeup. Grounding it sharply into the shift, it bounced off of the webbing of Shaw’s glove at first close to the line. Dubon overran it a bit when the ball bounced the other way, and Carpenter ended up with a base hit. After Arozarena worked a 3-2 walk, Hudson sacrificed the runners to 2nd and 3rd. But Edman struck out looking at a fastball on the inside corner to strand the runners.

Righty Shaun Anderson came out to pitch the bottom of the 6th. Goldschmidt worked a 3-2 walk with 1 out. Goldy was surprised because he thought he was going to be punched out for offering at an outside slider, but the first base umpire ruled that he didn’t go around. Anderson struck out both Ozuna and DeJong to end the inning. With Hudson at 97 pitches, Shildt brought in lefty Genesis Cabrera to make his first appearance in the majors since June 23rd. He was brought up to the club as the 26th man for the August 31st doubleheader, but has not pitched until now, and has 11 days of rest since his last minor league start. He retired the side in order with 1 strikeout. The Giants made a number of changes for the bottom of the 7th. Donovan Solano, who had pinch hit for Brandon Crawford in the top of the 7th, stayed in the game at 2B, with Dubon moving from 2B to SS. Aramis Garcia, who had pinch hit for Stephen Vogt in the top of the 7th, stayed in the game at catcher. They then made a double switch, bringing in lefty Connor Menez to pitch in the #5 spot, and Joey Rickard to play LF in the #3 spot, with Mike Yastrzemski moving from LF to CF. Andrew Knizner pinch hit for Molina and grounded a slider sharply to short that ate Dubon up with a hop for a base hit to left. Carpenter walked, and Arozarena struck out. Cabrera hit for himself and struck out. Edman popped out on the first pitch to short to end the inning.

Knizner stayed in the game at catcher in the top of the 8th and Tyler O’Neill replaced Ozuna in LF. With 1 out, Dubon grounded an outside slider through the right side for a base hit. Shaw lined an inside fastball to right for a base hit to move Dubon to 2nd. But Cabrera escaped the inning without any damage by inducing both Yastrzemski and Joseph to strike out swinging at sliders in the dirt. Righty Kyle Barraclough came out to pitch the bottom of the 8th, and the Cards emptied their bench. Edmundo Sosa pinch hit for Wong and grounded to the pitcher on the first pitch. Yairo Munoz pinch hit for Goldschmidt and grounded out to short on the third pitch. O’Neill laid off a couple of sliders after whiffing at one, and launched a 3-2 outside fastball off of the right-center field wall for a double. Rangel Ravelo pinch hit for DeJong and blasted a 1-1 high fastball into the bullpen in left-center for a 2-run HR—his first in the majors—to extend the Cards’ lead to 10-0.

After he came out for the curtain call, Knizner worked a 3-2 walk on a very close fastball near the outside corner. Shame on you if you have a problem with Cardinal fans giving Ravelo a curtain call in this situation. The man spent parts of 10 seasons in the minor leagues and 838 career minor league games before he got a shot in the bigs. Carpenter grounded out into the shift to end the inning.

For the top of the 9th, Ravelo stayed in the game at 1st, Sosa stayed in the game at 2nd, and Munoz stayed in the game at SS. After Rickard lined a base hit to center to lead off the inning, Garcia moved him to 2nd by squibbing a grounder to the mound for a fielder’s choice out. Evan Longoria pinch hit for the pitcher Barraclough and grounded out to short. Solano grounded out to 3rd to end the game. By pitching 3 full innings and preserving the Cards’ lead, Cabrera earned his first major league save.

Odds and Ends

Both the Cubs and Brewers were idle this afternoon, but square off against each other in a 4-game series in Miller Park starting tonight at 6:10 Central time if you’re looking to watch more baseball today...Phillip Ervin hit a walkoff solo HR that gave the Reds a 4-3 victory over the Phillies in the bottom of the 11th...The Pirates host the 49-89 Marlins tonight at PNC Park before the Cards come to town for a 3-game series starting tomorrow. In case you missed it, the Johnson City Cardinals won the Appalachian League Championship 2 games to 1 with their 8-6 victory over the Burlington Royals last night. The Cards had to win 2 straight victories on the road in the 3-game series to get the job done. Down 5-4 in the top of the 7th after Johnson City starter Jake Sommers allowed 5 runs (4 of which were unearned) in 3 innings pitched, the Cards scored 4 runs in the inning. 3B Malcom Nunez went 2 for 5 with 3 RBIs, including the game-tying single in the 7th. William Jimenez, who had entered the game in the 5th, stroked a 2-run double for what would turn out to be the game-winning RBI. Will Guay picked up the win with 3.1 IP of relief and 4 strikeouts and Dylan Pearce picked up the 2-inning save with 3 strikeouts of his own. This was the 5th time this decade the club won the Championship, with titles in 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2016.